Liara Rioux: The Work of Intimacy

In this wide-ranging and intimate conversation, I’m joined by writer and former sex worker Liara Roux to explore her provocative and deeply human book The Whore of New York, alongside her online essay Pussy Capital.My partner and wife, Amy Galpin, joins us for this episode, helping shape a conversation that moves fluidly between psychology, sexuality, capitalism, religion, neurodivergence, intimacy, and power. Together, we talk with Liara about her experience in sex work as a site of boundary-making, one-to-one connection, and self-knowledge; the lasting imprint of conservative Christianity on desire and commitment; and what her work reveals about shame, fantasy, and the stories we tell ourselves about sex and worth.We also explore neurodivergence and one-on-one intimacy, the emotional labor men often bring into paid sexual encounters, and the surprising overlap between sex work and psychotherapy. In the latter part of the conversation, we turn to technology and AI, drawing on Liara’s reflections in Pussy Capital to consider what gets lost when intimacy becomes frictionless—and why being seen, unjudged, and fully human still matters.This episode is thoughtful, vulnerable, funny, and unflinchingly honest. It’s a conversation about desire and dignity, suffering and agency, and what it means to choose a life that doesn’t fit neatly into moral or cultural scripts.