The human need for intimacy
Kinsey Institute director and sex researcher Justin Garcia on why the need for intimacy is vital for our wellbeing and has helped us survive as a species.
Listen 50:15
(photo credit: Anna Powell Denton)
Justin Garcia is a sex researcher visited a brothel in Nevada as part of his work. Browsing the menu of available sex acts, the most expensive one caught his eye. It was called the White Whale, or the Girlfriend Experience. The manager explained that sex wasn’t necessarily part of what was on offer, but “you’ll get a hell of a cuddle.” What the clients were buying was intimacy!
This week: why the need for intimacy is vital for our wellbeing and has helped us survive as a species.
It’s a question that Garcia explores about in his new book, The Intimate Animal: the Science of Sex, Fidelity and why we Live and Die for Love.
He’s an evolutionary biologist and executive director of The Kinsey Institute, one of the world’s leading organizations for the study of sexuality. We’ll talk about the push and pull of intimacy.
WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.
Brought to you by The Connection with Marty Moss-Coane
A case out of the Radnor School District, where a student allegedly used AI to generate nude images of classmates, is raising urgent questions about sexual harassment and AI.
Air Date: March 17, 2026 12:00 pm
Listen 51:42
1 in 4 American Adults Is a Caregiver. So Why Does It Feel So Lonely?
A look at the challenges of caregiving,, from changing relationships, to dealing with loneliness and burnout.
Air Date: March 13, 2026
Listen 49:51
How to end a long-term relationship without causing lasting damage
Psychoanalyst and advice columnist Lori Gottlieb and author Cathi Hanauer on divorce, breakups and separating without causing too much pain.
Air Date: March 13, 2026 12:00 pm
Listen 50:29