Diana Kolsky and Murf Meyer are real-life lovers with very sexy voices. They’re also the hysterical hosts of a very funny and intimate podcast. Ménage à Trois Radio offers a frank discussion of your “hearts and parts,” and it’s not quite like anything else you’ll find in podcasts today.
Unlike clinical sexperts like Dr. Drew or shock jocks like Howard Stern, Kolsky and Meyer are here neither to fix your love life, nor to shock or provoke you. They simply want to talk candidly, warmly, and humorously about sex—and have fun while doing it. “We’re more like two Adam Carollas and no Dr. Drew,” Meyer told the Daily Dot.
(Fear not, Meyer’s description is silly and self-deprecating: The actual podcast is nowhere near as grating as listening to Adam Carolla’s ramblings.)
Ménage à Trois Radio opens to an invitingly campy slow-jam soundtrack. The sultry voices of Kolsky and Meyer then introduce the show and serve their guest a cocktail of his or her choice. What follows is a unique blend of raunchy, tender, and laugh-’til-you-cry hilarious.
Episode 41, for example, which features Inside Amy Schumer’s Bridget Everett, made me laugh uncontrollably with its uproarious yet empathetic discussion of a man who suffers a rare condition leading him to have over 100 orgasms a day. Meyer muses at the start of the discussion that it doesn’t seem like an unpleasant condition, but as they go on to play audio clips of the man explaining what an ordeal it was to live with it through his father’s funeral, the duo and their guest vacillated between laughter and concerned groans.
What makes Ménage à Trois Radio so listenable is not its fascinating sex stories, though it offers many. What really sets the podcast apart is how Kolsky and Meyer infuse their conversation with interest, care, and a remarkably laid-back vibe. They’re like your coolest babysitter or older cousin morphed into two very likable humans. They know things, they’ve seen things, but they still give you the feeling that they’re out there exploring the strange terrain of sex as if it’s all something fresh and new.
Kolsky and Meyer, who both do voiceover work, met while performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York. Soon after meeting they knew they wanted to collaborate creatively. “We both felt like chatting about sex. We’re both very open people, and we’re very open with each other,” said Meyer. “It’s kind of the great equalizer in a way,” added Kolsky. They went on to create a podcast with a variety of guests, from burlesque performers to comedians to musicians. “It helps us to get a more diverse comedic and sexual viewpoint” explained Kolsky. “[Sex is] something everyone can relate to.”
The podcast is delightfully unpretentious and never stuffy. It’s more like a fun grab bag of sex questions and friendly conversation. Segments range from the fascinating factoids to thoughtful advice. “Ripped From the Headlines” is a discussion of current events that are both sensual and scientific, while “Listener Love” fields listener-submitted questions about sex and love. In the playful “Six Sextions” segment, Kolsky and Meyer drill their guest of the hour with a series of rapid-fire sex questions like “Would you rather have one life-partner or 1,000 sexual partners?”
“We’re not trying to preach about anything,” said Meyer. “I don’t think we set out to be like, ‘We’ll teach you about sex,’” added Kolsky. “We’re just saying what we think, and I think people like that.”
Fans of the goofier aspects of the show will enjoy Romance Wranglers, a series of dating personal ad spoofs recently released on Ménage à Trois’s YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWaZAUL2B8o
If you’re in New York, you can also catch Kolsky and Meyer performing their show live at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater on April 11.
Photo via Cate Hellman Photography