RISK! Podcast Episode Summary
Podcast: RISK!
Episode: Sexploration
Air Date: January 20, 2026
Host: Kevin Allison
Featured Storytellers: Shem, JC Cassis (host segment), Noye Brown West
Episode Overview
This “Sexploration” episode of RISK! brings together deeply personal and hilarious stories about sexuality, identity, medical trauma, and body autonomy. True to RISK!’s uncensored ethos, these stories explore unspoken depths of shame, desire, adversity, and discovery. Kevin Allison and contributors share tales that are by turns funny, raw, and poignant, spotlighting how our most taboo or awkward experiences shape us.
Key Segments & Discussion Points
1. Shem’s Guide to Sexuality
[03:29 - 15:54]
Storyteller: Shem
Background and Setup
- Shem grew up as a neurodivergent, nerdy child of immigrants in South London, raised by a strict, divorced Jehovah’s Witness father.
- Their outsider status made them a frequent target for school bullies:
“I was what you might call a target rich environment for bullies.” [03:42, Shem]
The Bullying Dynamic
- Yaziz, the only other working-class Black child in school, becomes Shem’s main tormentor.
- Notably, Yaziz humiliates Shem by dumping yogurt on his crotch and telling everyone Shem had “cummed on himself.”
- Eventually, after catching Shem forging a parent’s signature, Yaziz recruits them to do all his homework. An uneasy friendship forms.
Cultural & Sexual Awakening
- Visiting Yaziz’s lively, Ghanaian Muslim home exposes Shem to Black cultural touchpoints suppressed in their own upbringing (e.g., rap music, slang, FUBU, Wu-Tang).
- Yaziz lends Shem a book: Women On Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Sexual Fantasies by Nancy Friday, which Shem reads in secret.
“Suddenly I was engulfed in the multifaceted lead and complex sexuality of middle aged American women." [06:57, Shem]
Impact & Self-Discovery
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The book feels “too adult” but profoundly expands Shem’s awareness of sexual diversity, pleasure, and especially vulnerability.
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The stories in the book show it's possible “to be weird and desired,” helping Shem understand they are queer and nonbinary—even if they lack exact language.
“I felt weird, but that it was okay to be weird and there was a space and place for weird people and that it was even possible to be weird and desired.” [09:36, Shem]
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Years later, as adults, Yaziz credits Shem with academic success, never realizing the other gift he gave by giving Shem that book.
“He has no idea what he did for me and he doesn’t listen to podcasts, so it’s gonna stay that way.” [15:41, Shem]
Notable Quote
“From what I had gathered, the male orgasm was... Whereas the female orgasm was: a small galaxy was birthed within me, stars crumbled through my body, vibrating with possibility and tingled as I awoke him.” [08:13, Shem]
2. JC Cassis on “The Joy of Sex” and the Mystery of the Big Toe
[15:55 - 19:07]
Host/Segment: JC Cassis (post-Shem on stage at Caveat)
Discovering Classic Sex Literature
- JC Cassis confesses to reading The Joy of Sex as an adult (having grown up without it in the house).
- Surprised, not by the drawings, but by the book’s repeated advice: that men should stimulate their partner’s clitoris with their big toe.
“Literally a handful of times... the guy keeps advocating for putting his naked big toe on his female partner’s clitoris.” [16:24, JC Cassis]
Audience Poll & Comedic Take
- Cassis polls the audience: almost universally, a “no” to the big toe, with maybe one “maybe.”
- Wraps with a blanket sex rule:
“Treat somebody else's clitoris the way you would want your clitoris treated.” [19:00, JC Cassis]
Notable Moment
- Cassis’s incredulity at the advice (“What the... How does everyone know this book? And everyone has overlooked the repeated proclamations of, like, you’re not doing sex right if you’re not putting your big toe on a woman’s clitoris.” [17:29, JC Cassis]) is both hilarious and a great example of RISK!’s unfiltered approach.
3. Noye Brown West – “When I Came”
[22:10 - 43:29]
Storyteller: Noye Brown West
Medical Trauma and Racial Bias
- Noye shares a series of harrowing encounters with American healthcare, beginning in childhood with the negligent medical care that led to the death of her baby sister and her mother’s near-death.
- Expounds on how language barriers and systemic racism affect medical outcomes for minorities, sharing many personal health struggles: bleeding ulcer at 12, hip fracture at 13, OCD undiagnosed for 5 years due to racism and bias.
The Colonoscopy Journey
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Noye, due to a family history of cancer and personal precancerous findings, must endure frequent colonoscopies from the age of 20.
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Describes the elaborate prepping rituals (clear liquids, hotel rooms to spare roommates, pre-emptive coping strategies).
“Not me, Ms. OCD was like, I'm gonna do that two days before. I want my shits to be clear. All right? I was familiar with anal.” [26:31, Noye]
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Details the stress and trauma that build as doctors are dismissive, and one OB-GYN’s negligence necessitates a hysterectomy (the loss of uterus and cervix).
Sex, Kink, and Orgasm on the Table
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The story’s climax (pun intended) comes when, following an especially stressful and overdue colonoscopy, Noye wakes up realizing she’d had an orgasm during the procedure:
“Turns out when I came to, I had come to. All right? I had an orgasm after my, or during my colonoscopy, I guess.” [39:10, Noye]
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The staff act awkwardly, perhaps embarrassed. Her husband takes it in stride:
"That sounds like you. Sounds like something you do." [41:00, Noye]
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Noye jokes about looking up the price of endoscopes for new kink inspiration, and interprets not getting billed for the procedure as a sign the hospital just wants her to go away.
Advocacy and Takeaway
- Concludes with reminders about the importance of self-advocacy in healthcare, especially amid systemic injustice, and the strange comfort found in bodily absurdities.
“You can have so much fear around medical procedures, and rightfully so... but then you have that one, like, amazing one that just feels so good, and you just feel so silly about it after.” [42:43, Noye]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- Shem: “I was engulfed in the multifaceted lead and complex sexuality of middle aged American women.” [06:57]
- JC Cassis: “There’s no way this is happening again.” [17:28], regarding repeated “big toe” advice in The Joy of Sex.
- Noye Brown West: “Turns out when I came to, I had come to.” [39:10], beautifully summing up the twist of orgasm on the operating table.
- Noye’s Husband: “Yeah, that sounds like you. Sounds like something you do.” [41:00]
Rousing Call to Action & Closing Reflection
[43:30 - 49:24]
- Kevin Allison closes with a passionate statement on injustice, referencing the murder of Renee Nicole Good and broader abuses of power by ICE and the U.S. government, urging collective action and storytelling as tools for change:
“We must be telling our stories. We must be helping other people tell their stories. We must be organizing, protesting, boycotting, calling representatives. The generations of the future will be asking: what did you do when the threat to humanity was greater… than ever before in the history of our species?” [44:45, Kevin Allison]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- Shem’s Story: [03:29 - 15:54]
- JC Cassis on Sex Books: [15:55 - 19:07]
- Noye Brown West’s Story: [22:10 - 43:29]
- Kevin Allison’s Closing Reflection: [43:30 - 49:24]
Episode Tone & Style
The episode is deeply personal, daring, and laced with both comedy and vulnerability. Every contributor bravely shares the kinds of stories often buried by shame, inviting laughter and empathy in equal measure. The explicit honesty and occasional raunchiness is balanced by moments of tenderness and, finally, urgent political advocacy.
Takeaway
“Sexploration” is classic RISK!: boundary-pushing, hilarious, and meaningful. Through stories about sex, medical mishaps, and the politics of bodies and belonging, the episode reminds listeners that the everyday — even our messiest, oddest moments — is rich with meaning, possibility, and the power to connect.