Podcast Summary: Bawdy Storytelling – Episode 68: "Tonight’s the Night" (Midori)

Host: Dixie De La Tour
Featured Storyteller: Midori
Date: April 3, 2019

Episode Overview

This episode of Bawdy Storytelling features sex-positive storytelling with renowned educator and writer Midori. The main story, shared live, revolves around Midori’s first sexual experience and the thoughtful, supportive preparation that went into it. Woven throughout are elements of empowerment, friendship, coming of age, and the transformative power of women supporting women. The episode also celebrates community engagement, as Dixie shares a moving listener letter about breaking silence around sexual abuse, emphasizing the far-reaching impact of candid storytelling.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener Impact & Community Connection

• Dixie opens the episode by discussing the powerful impact the podcast has on listeners. She reads an emotional email from Chelsea, a listener who found healing and empowerment through the show, ultimately helping expose and confront generational sexual abuse in her family.
  • Quote [04:54]:
    “When I found myself singing along to your theme song and saying the word vagina for the first time, I felt so free and empowered. So much so that I started talking about the sexual abuse out loud. And… my aunt called me and told me the same thing happened to her. ... I was unashamed and unencumbered with that filthy embarrassment.” — Chelsea, as read by Dixie
• Emphasis on how sharing and hearing stories can break cycles of shame and secrecy, catalyzing personal and collective change.

2. Introducing Midori: Storytelling and Credentials

• Dixie introduces Midori as a pioneering kink educator, author, and artist known for her “Head, Heart, Hands” educational approach and advocacy for self-actualization and shame reduction.
  • Quote [09:43]:
    “She calls this her Head, Heart, Hands method to create a space where people are allowed individual self exploration. Fundamentally, she is motivated by helping people to create authentic and intimate relationships while emphasizing self actualization, shame reduction, acceptance and justice.” — Dixie De La Tour

3. Midori’s Story: "Tonight’s the Night"

[Begins ~11:39]

Setting the Scene

• Midori opens with a sensual, filmic description—a woman (herself at 18), fresh from Japan, living with foster parents in rural Washington, soaking in a bath, imagining seduction.

Navigating Adolescence as an Outsider

• At 18, Midori is negotiating a new culture and adolescence as an exchange student. She doesn’t fit in—intellectual, creative, more adult than her peers.
• Her social group (“the weirdo table”) includes Naomi (a studious future librarian) and Carol (sexually adventurous, supportive, resourceful).

A Gentle, Old-Fashioned Courtship

• A 24-year-old man named Donald, intrigued by Midori after hearing her order rum balls at the town café, initiates contact. Their courtship involves literature, music, and respect for her inexperience.
  • Quote [15:04]:
    “He would make himself available, but would never push. Night after night, I would make it home by curfew.” — Midori

Preparing for a First Time—With a Village of Girlfriends

• Carol and Naomi conspire with Midori to coordinate her first sexual experience, helping her with:
  • Careful planning: working out the timing with graduation events and her mother’s visit
  • Sexual safety: getting birth control at Planned Parenthood, discussing additional protection (“I got second and tertiary method of birth control and safe sex satisfaction. Because I’m a nerd. Yes.” [~20:38])
  • Wardrobe: crafting homemade stockings and shopping for a lace teddy
  • Inspiration: referencing a sensual perfume ad and sending Donald seductive, scented letters via mail

Execution: Claiming Sexual Adulthood

• On the night of the senior "all-nighter" (a graduation event), Midori sneaks away, aided by her friends’ alibi.
• Arrival: greeted at Donald’s apartment with champagne, strawberries, and a Murphy bed with tiki print sheets.
• Transformation: sheds her schlubby “decoy” clothes for seductive attire.
• Detailed, tender description of intimacy, focusing on consent, care, and mutual discovery rather than performance or cliché.
• Morning after: Donald celebrates her with breakfast, a champagne bath, and affection. He wears her stocking as a cravat, a symbolic keepsake.
  • Quote [26:58]:
    “In the morning, he makes me breakfast. And then takes me into the bath and pours bottles of champagne over me—tingly skin—and then washes every inch of me. Feeds me strawberries, dresses me in the baggy sweats. He takes one of my fishnet stockings and wraps it around his neck into a cravat.”
• Debrief with friends at Denny’s who help her keep up the ruse for her mom, reinforcing the theme of a supportive female network.

Takeaway: Reframing "Losing Virginity"

• Midori reframes the narrative: not about losing virginity, but about “claiming adult sexual right.”
  • Quote [28:28]:
    “There’s no virginity to be lost. There is adulthood to be gained. And it takes a village of girlfriends.” — Midori

4. Music and Levity

• Interspersed are comedic, sex-positive songs by Shirley Noem, adding levity and musicality:
  • "Ass Flower" — a hilariously explicit ballad about exploring anal sex for the first time [28:50–34:52]
  • Notable lyric [30:30]: “Tonight is the night, it’s tighter than tight…it might take more than an hour, but tonight I’ll give you my a—”
  • The recurring theme: openness, humor, and honest conversation about sexual exploration.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dixie, on community response [03:02]: “I don’t love sitting alone in a room... I love live shows because I can see faces and have conversations and I wanted to have a conversation with you and I can’t believe how much response I got this week.”
• Midori’s reflection on sexual agency [~28:28]: “There’s no virginity to be lost. There is adulthood to be gained. And it takes a village of girlfriend.”
• Carol’s wisdom in sexual health [~19:40]: “You know how long it takes for birth control to kick in, right?”
• On adolescent awkwardness [17:15]: “Which mostly felt like being trapped in a car with an overeager golden retriever. Paws, tongues, funny smell. High school boys. Ugh.”

Key Timestamps

• Listener letter and impact: 03:00–11:39
• Introduction of Midori: 09:40–11:39
• Midori’s story begins: 11:39
• Meeting Donald and preparation: 13:00–21:00
• Planning and getting help from friends: 19:30–23:00
• Night of the first sexual encounter: 23:08–28:50
• Reframing virginity/adulthood: 28:28
• Shirley Noem’s "Ass Flower": 28:50–34:52

Tone & Style

The episode is candid, humorous, and heartfelt. Both Dixie and Midori are unflinchingly honest, mixing humor with sincerity, and always centering agency, consent, and the importance of supportive friendship. The inclusion of listener stories and musical interludes mirrors the ethos of sex-positivity and community care.

Conclusion

This episode of Bawdy Storytelling stands out not only for its riveting personal narrative—from Midori’s uniquely orchestrated, thoughtful first sexual experience—but for showcasing the power of sharing stories. Through vulnerability, creativity, and humor, the podcast creates space for healing, self-discovery, and celebration of erotic agency. Listeners walk away reminded that growth, pleasure, and safety often bloom within communities of trust and support.