What if marriage doesn’t automatically mean monogamy?

Opening up a long-term relationship isn’t just about adding more people — it’s a reason to start asking bigger questions. What are we missing? What am I actually longing for? What feels exciting… or terrifying?

In this episode of Love & the Layman, a listener question about opening a 20-year marriage turns into a much broader conversation about relationship structures, expectations, and the stories we’ve inherited about what commitment is “supposed” to look like.

Why does considering an open relationship bring up fear, guilt, curiosity, or excitement — sometimes all at once? And does questioning the default relationship status automatically mean something’s wrong?

With grounded insight, honest reactions, and zero agenda, Samantha and Jared linger in the nuance of non-monogamy. Rather than treating openness as a goal or a solution, it invites listeners to slow down and examine the longing underneath the question — and to consider relationships as something that can be designed with intention, honesty, and flexibility.

Convinced that discussing an end to monogamy will mean the end of your marriage? Relax — curiosity isn’t betrayal.

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Same relationship, different libidos. What happens when sex becomes lazy, inconsistent, or non-existent altogether?

In this episode of Love & the Layman, certified sex coach Samantha Raddock and her husband Jared take aim at mismatched desire and the slow creep of “meatball sex” in long-term relationships — predictable, routine, and served the exact same way every time.

Why does desire change over time? Why do routines that once felt comforting start to feel suffocating? And how does resentment sneak in when sex begins to feel one-sided, obligatory, or painfully predictable?

With grounded insight, honest reactions, and zero blame, this conversation reframes libido differences not as a failure — but as an invitation to communicate, redefine intimacy, and move away from scorekeeping toward curiosity.

Still think mismatched desire means you’re suddenly incompatible? Relax — you’re probably just overdue for a recalibration.

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What actually counts as sex? If your definition starts and ends with penetration, your dictionary is definitely outdated.

In Episode 2 of Love & the Layman, certified sex coach Samantha Raddock and her husband Jared tackle a philosophical quandary that’s been left too open to interpretation: how do we decide what “real sex” is in the first place?

From mutual masturbation to oral sex to cervical orgasms — and everything in between — this conversation challenges the narrow scripts many of us were taught to follow. Is penetration really the gold standard, or is sex something broader, more flexible, and far more pleasure-forward?

With expert clarity, honest curiosity, and plenty of “wait, really?” moments, this episode makes space for a more inclusive definition of sex — one that leaves room for connection in every body, at every age, and in every kind of intimate experience.

Still think sex has one rulebook? Relax — we’re rewriting it.

Press play. We’ve got you.