CYBERSPACE—After 100 episodes, "Peepshow Podcast," hosted by Jessie Sage and Dr. PJ Patella-Rey, is coming to an end. In the final episode, the pair reflected on the ups and downs of hosting the show since 2017. They also announced the launch of a new project, "Sex Industry Book Club," a podcast discussing books about the sex industry.
“I feel like this podcast changed my life,” said Sage. “All of the things that happened along the way really shaped and radicalized me and have been tremendously life-changing. I am not the same person I was when I started and I'm grateful for that journey. Thank you to all who have followed us on this journey, who supported our podcast, and who's given us all of the love that you've given us.”
“I think it was really profound and transformative for me, as well,” said Patella-Rey. “And even if I don't have a clear sense of exactly where I'm going, I do have a clear sense of where I'm coming from and how deeply that's shaped my relationship with everything. I know whatever I'm going to be doing moving forward is still going to be deeply connected to this work and to what we have been doing together through 'Peepshow.'”
"Peepshow Podcast" has been downloaded more than 90k times. The show has been a source of news and conversation for major events like the passage of FOSTA/SESTA, the EARN IT Act and more. It has also featured a star-studded guest list ranging from porn stars like Lena Paul, Arabelle Raphael, Siri Dahl and Stoya to activists and organizers like Phoenix Calida and Mistress Blunt, to journalists Sam Cole, Melissa Gira Grant and Ej Dickson, to academics Heather Berg, David Ley, Jules Gil-Peterson and Lynn Comella, to First Amendment Rights lawyer Lawrence Walters and writers Lorelei Lee and Tracy Clark-Flory.
“I am very proud of the episode that we did on how COVID impacted our community, and also the episode on banking discrimination and payment processing issues,” said Sage. “I believe that both episodes humanize news stories and remind those outside of the industry that sex workers are real people whose lives are impacted by policies and world events. We also traveled to a lot of events, conventions and protests and captured field recordings for the show, and we are proud of being able to archive sex work history in this way.”
Before wrapping up the show, Sage and Patella-Rey were able to devote an entire episode to sex workers talking about Star Trek, of which the latter is a major fan.
The last episode, "Farewell Peepshow: Final Episode #100," can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Podcast, YouTube, TuneIn, Stitcher, and directly through the "Peepshow" website, where past interviews, essays and shows are still accessible but no new content will be posted.
Information on the new project, "Sex Industry Book Club," can be found on Twitter and Instagram.
Find Jessie Sage on Twitter or at jessiesage.com, and find PJ Patella-Rey on Twitter and Instagram.
