A narrative podcast about real-life bedroom conversations.
(1)
The latest episode of Pillow Talking is all about what gives us life in the most arid of times. In the featured stories, the pillow talkers cross deserts of emotional and sexual intimacy; of abuse; of neglect and resentment; and… an actual literal desert, not quite Lawrence of Arabia style.
Join me. Link in bio.
Remembering is an act of storytelling. And if remembering is an act of storytelling, what are the stories we tell each other about the *us*? Are they stories of love? Stories of war? Stories of the mundane?
Join me in the bedroom for a clutch of stories that are all about memory and remembrance of things past – and loved.
Listen here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1521124/12483729
Peter and Matty’s Pillow Talking stories (or really: story) hold the record for the most downloads and private messages. I think it’s because it not only captured the spirit of the COVID times, but also captured our hearts. Revisit it – or listen to it for the first time – in the latest episode of Pillow Talking, “Twenty-one”.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts or here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1521124/12329425
Happpppppy New Year! Pillow Talking is back for 2023 with a new bumper episode, featuring 8 of your and my favourite stories of bedroom conversations.
From the heartfelt 💗, to the heart wrenching 😭, to the cringey 😬, these stories will remind you of the depth and breadth that our bedroom conversations can cover.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts or here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1521124/12329425
It was 13 years ago today…
It's been pretty quiet on the Pillow Talking front while I'm on my (southern hemi) summer break, but it was great to have a candid and heartfelt chat with Andrew from about my ma, grief, and food. It's a beautiful concept for a pod and Andrew is a wonderful host. Check it out if you so desire at: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/violeta/id1625605828?i=1000596502052
Whatever and however you celebrate, it’s best wishes from Melchior (or is it Gaspar?) and me this holiday season. May peace and goodwill prevail. And if you haven’t checked out my special holiday bonus, “Epiphany”, please do (link in bio). See you all soon!
Our traditions aren't just about keeping customs alive: they're about recapturing something. Maybe a feeling. Or a hope. Or a value. And sometimes, when the stars – or maybe a single, bright star – align, what we recapture can help us find more than we intended. Listen to "Epiphany" at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1521124/11902849
That's it for Pillow Talking until February 2023! Until then, happy holidays, and as always: please look after yourselves, and each other.
If you’ve ever felt that your bedroom was a refuge from the outside world, check out “Sanctuary”, the latest episode of Pillow Talking. It’s a cracker. Listen here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1521124/11863099
Our bedroom sanctuaries are places where we can feel safe. Share our dreams with a special other and come up with new dreams for both. Embrace vulnerability and share our deepest thoughts, feelings, and secrets. These bedroom conversations remind us that the bedroom can be a place that the outside world doesn’t touch.
See you in the bedroom. Link in bio.
The Pillow Mint is my secret Pillow Talking extra. It’s a companion piece to each episode, with ideas for what to read, watch, listen to, and even eat or drink, that expands on the theme. I love putting each one together, and it goes to the awesome people who support me via buymeacoffee.com. Absolutely 100% of this money goes towards paying the pillow talkers who contribute stories. Because all writers should be paid. If you’d like to pay for a story or more, either as a one-of or a small monthly contribution, go to: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/pillowtalking
If you're having a beautiful weekend and would like beauteous prose to go with it, check out the latest episode of Pillow Talking, "Who do you think you are?" It includes this gorgeous story from the New York poet Robert Hirschfield, about love done late – and well.
Listen: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1521124/11787286
It’s one thing to ponder your identity while looking in the mirror, but another thing altogether to ponder it while looking into your partner’s eyes. Who are you with that person? Who are you to that person? Who are you after that person? 🤔
In the new episode of Pillow Talking, “Who Do You Think You Are?” four stories of real-life bedroom conversations explore how identity and relationships intertwine. 🪢
See you in the bedroom: It’s one thing to ponder your identity while looking in the mirror, but another thing altogether to ponder it while looking into your partner’s eyes. Who are you with that person? Who are you to that person? Who are you after that person? 🤔
In the new episode of Pillow Talking, “Who Do You Think You Are?” four stories of real-life bedroom conversations explore how identity and relationships intertwine. 🪢
See you in the bedroom. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1521124/11787286
Share your bedroom conversation around the theme “Water In The Desert” for a chance to have it featured in the next episode of Pillow Talking. And remember: we pay for stories.
Guidelines and submissions ➡️ https://pillowtalkingproject.com/tell-your-story/
Wisdom is sometimes delivered in wrappings of sadness, like in the story “The Songbird and Me”. Listen to this beautiful story and more in episode 15 of Pillow Talking, “Suddenly, strangers”. Listen Link in bio.
My hot take: a peanut butter and pickle sandwich is delicious. There are dozens of us who think so. Dozens! And to find out what this has to do with anything, listen to the latest episode of Pillow Talking, “Suddenly, Strangers”. Link in bio. … … …
Ahoyhoy! I am now on answering interesting questions and LIVE every Wednesday to share my knowledge from [redacted] decades as a professional writer and teacher of writing, and answer your questions about , , and . No agendas and nothing to buy or sign up for – just genuine paying-it-forwardness.
🥷🏽 New episode up! 🥷🏽
Imagine the person you are most intimate with, the one you have entrusted with your vulnerability and deepest self, suddenly being a stranger. Acting in a completely different or unexpected way to the person you know, or even disappearing from your life as though they’d never been. 🫥
Or maybe you don’t have to imagine…
Join me for Episode 15 and four stories about times when the other became a stranger, disappearing in the flesh or emotionally, or revealing themselves in a whole new way, sometimes leaving questions, and always changing things so they can never be the same.
Link in bio.
NEW EPISODE UP!
Join me in the bedroom for "Blue”, four stories featuring that colour – real or figurative – that's the rarest of them all, and yet ever-present.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1521124/10954880
As much as the bedroom can be a playground, or even a battleground, it can also be a sanctuary: a place of refuge, comfort, and safety. And the conversations that happen in this sanctuary can reveal not just volumes about ourselves and our relationships, but also about the world that is outside its doors.
Share your bedroom conversation around the theme “Sanctuary” for a chance to have it featured in the next episode of Pillow Talking. And remember: we pay for stories.
Guidelines and submissions ➡️ link in bio.
This line from “Toulouse”, the lyrical story from in the latest episode of Pillow Talking, is one of my favourites ever. It captures the impossibility of longing so beautifully, framed by a conversation in a hostel room in Spain.
Listen to it in “An Unguarded Moment” ➡️ link in bio.
If you loved Marc’s story, “Lamb Chops at 4am” in the latest episode of Pillow Talking, check out his new single – it’s fab. Link in bio or go to www.marcteamaker.com
Last year after getting into Pillow Talking, my friend Chris asked, “Are you ever going to write for it?” 🤔
“I do!” I replied. “What do you think the essay in each introduction is?”
“I mean a story.”
“I include stories!…” I protested. But she sighed one of those sighs and I told her I’d think about it.
I did think about it, and was ready with a story when the time came to record the first episode of the season. It’s not a pillow talk with a romantic partner, but with the first person I ever loved: my mother. And in this story I share not just her unguarded moment but how the way we’re alike make me both curse and bless the genes we share.
Check out the latest episode of Pillow Talking, “An Unguarded Moment” ➡️ link in bio.
SEASON 2 OF PILLOW TALKING IS HERE!
Phew. A looooong time coming. But it’s back, and have I got a bumper first ep for you! 💕
Join me in the bedroom for “An Unguarded Moment”, six (yes, six) stories featuring those rare moments – sometimes good, sometimes tough – of rawness and realness. Moments that happened by choice, or a complete lack of choice, or because the moment took them completely by surprise. I love them all, and hope you will too.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts or at: https://pillowtalkingproject.com
We were absolutely overwhelmed with submissions for the last three eps so if you missed out on having your story featured, never fear! The new themes are up!
ICYMI: creative/narrative nonfiction stories of bedroom conversations, 350-2,000 words. Pays $25. Themes/deadlines:
💒 Sanctuary (2 July)
🥸Who Do You Think You Are? (16 July)
💭I Remember… (30 July)
Guidelines and submissions ➡️ link in bio.
IT’S HAPPENING! 🎉🥳
I asked (well… pleaded, advertised, spruiked, shouted and maybe even blackmailed) and you delivered ! I have a beautiful clutch of stories I can’t wait to share with you all for Season 2 of Pillow Talking. They come from all corners of the globe, from all kinds of writing pillow talkers and pillow talking writers, each one giving glimpses into the galaxy of relationships we are all navigating as a human race. I’m very, very excited. Going into the studio soon and you’d better believe I’ll keep you posted. 🌃
Don’t get in a flap (*snort*): there’s still time to submit your story! 📫 💙
Share your bedroom conversation around the theme “Blue” for a chance to have it featured in the next episode of Pillow Talking. And remember: we pay for stories.
Guidelines and submissions ➡️ https://pillowtalkingproject.com/tell-your-story/
Another transcript, and another bit that leapt out at me, particularly since we’ve just had an election here in Australia and the mood is very much about conviction and principle. Revisit this great ep, or check it out if you’re new to Pillow Talking, while waiting for Season 2: Episode 11, “Ritual”. 🪥
Blue: the colour that’s inspired song, art, and story. Your story.
Share your story of a bedroom conversation that fits the theme “Blue” – whether it's literally, figuratively, or emotionally – for a chance to have it featured in the next episode of Pillow Talking.
Guidelines and submissions ➡️ link in bio.
Hyeah. It’s a magnifying mirror and tweezers. Sigh… if you know, you know. More about this in the new season of Pillow Talking, coming soon!
I was copy-pasting transcripts onto one of my hosting platforms and, you know, somewhere between the copying and the pasting, I couldn’t help reading. This is one of the standouts. I remember that it was an emotional read and I really had to concentrate to not let my voice crack. Why not revisit this episode while you’re waiting for Season 2? Or if you’re new to Pillow Talking, check it out! Episode 6, Red. 💄💃🏾🧣
pillowtalk
Some days don’t need much to be perfect. Melbourne turned out a gorgeous Sunday and rather than buzz around “and don’t let the day go to waste” I decided to sit in the sun, listen to some podcasts (.burton and ) and make up some pillow boxes for the companion to Pillow Talking, the zine. And… exhale. (PS remember you can grab a free copy of the Pillow Talking zine – as well as a whole bunch of other great zines from ).
Pillow Talking is the narrative podcast about real-life bedroom conversations, and we’re now open for Season 2 submissions! 📝
We’re looking – and pay for – narrative/creative nonfiction 350-2000 words.
Upcoming themes:
🛡An Unguarded Moment (submit by 21 May 2022)
🔵 Blue (submit by 4 June 2022)
🥷🏽 Suddenly, Strangers (submit by 18 June 2022)
And if you have a story that doesn’t fit a theme, submit anyway – anytime!
Guidelines and submissions ➡️ link in bio.
Here’s to the mothers here. To the mothers gone. To the ones who birth with their hearts, minds and actions regardless of whether or not they have children. To remembering that they’re human, and everything that means. Let’s remember, be grateful, and most of all respectful, every single day of the year.
Friends, Romans, pillow talkers! I am very very excited to share that Pillow Talking is now a paying market. (Translation: we pay for stories.)
It’s about time, and I hope you’re as jazzed by this as I am. Particularly since payment options, other than $$$, include a cause dear to my heart.
I’m also doing something a little different this season: I’m letting everyone know episode themes ahead of time so you can write to it if you like. (But you don’t have to. I want your story even if it doesn’t fit the theme.)
Tell everyone! And of course, send your stories of bedroom conversations. I can’t wait to close the door and dim the lights with you all in 2022.
Link to info in bio.
Well, hello there! It’s been months of radio silence – or strictly speaking, podcast/social silence – but I’ve been working away getting ready to bring you a new season of Pillow Talking. And with it, some exciting news. More soon!
Rather than celebrate, on this day I reflect and bow my head, and acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which I live, work, and record Pillow Talking, the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation, and pay my respects to Elders past, present, and emerging. I also pay my respects to Wiradjuri people, as the people of my nieces, nephew, and great-nephews and great-niece.
I acknowledge that this land, the land of the oldest living culture on Earth, always was and always will be Aboriginal land.
I acknowledge that too many of the privileges I enjoy are as the direct result of our Indigenous peoples’ suffering.
I acknowledge my part, in the past, of celebrating what is for them a day of mourning.
I am sorry. And I’m sorry that we can’t do better as a nation and change the date to another more inclusive and less divisive and hurtful one. Because there’s some thinly-veiled racist reason at the root of it. Or because we’re ignorant. Or because we just care more about a day off in the middle of summer than we do about the feelings of an entire people.
“Knock knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“The babe.”
“What babe?”
“The babe with the power. The power of voodoo.”
“Who do?”
“You do.”
“Ah, screw it. Come in.”
Absolutely loving these amazing Labyrinth door knocker earrings that my daughter got me from . (Also: check out my unintentional tan!)
Triple feature to celebrate the magnificent Sidney Poitier, although disappointed I couldn’t find the first movie I ever saw him in when I was little and made me fall in love instantly: A Patch of Blue. What’s your favourite?
Woke up really hungry this morning and very much looking forward to a breakfast of leftover pizza. And when I didn’t find it on the bench or the oven Shane revealed that for the first time in my 40-year history of eating leftover pizza for breakfast, last night he put it away IN THE FRIDGE. The conversation went a little something like this.
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Pillow Talking posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
I talk a lot about creativity in this episode, taking lessons from Paul McCartney and Keith Richards, but the ultimate lesson is that our relationships are creations too. And they can have their fallow times. Check out “Water in The Desert”. Link in bio. #pillowtalk #pillowtalking #story #stories #storytelling #storytellingpodcast #nonfiction #flashnonfiction #narrative #creativity #podcast #podcasting #relationships #relationshippodcast #modernlove #spokenword #PaulMcCartney #KeithRichards
If you’ve ever felt that your bedroom was a refuge from the outside world, check out “Sanctuary”, the latest episode of Pillow Talking. It’s a cracker. Listen here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1521124/11863099 #bedroomsanctuary #pillowtalk #pillowtalking #story #stories #storytelling #storytellingpodcast #nonfiction #flashnonfiction #narrative #creative #podcast #podcasting #relationshippodcast #modernlove #spokenword #dreams #vulnerability #fun #sleep
Well, hello there! It’s been months of radio silence – or strictly speaking, podcast/social silence – but I’ve been working away getting ready to bring you a new season of Pillow Talking. And with it, some exciting news. More soon! #pillowtalk #pillowtalking #story #storytelling #nonfiction #podcast #podcasting #relationships
Not much recording happening at the moment, and the reason is I can’t find a path. That’s not a metaphor: I LITERALLY can’t find a path to the Cone of Silence II. The boxes. Oh, the boxes. (Oh, and ah: wired headband/turban from @sewsealdeliver is my new fave thing to wear to keep my huge curly bonce in check.)
“Marriage. There. I said it.” When is a proposal💍 not a proposal? What are you supposed to do when you don’t know? 🤔 And what if it happens in bed at 2.00am? 👀 Listen to the story of the most charming non-proposal, “Of Rings and Hankies” in episode 12, A Bag of Mixed Lollies. Check it out at: https://pillowtalking.buzzsprout.com/1521124/8585022-12-a-bag-of-mixed-lollies #proposal #engagement #engagementring #letsgetmarried #pillowtalk #pillowtalking #story #storytelling #nonfiction #narrative #creative #podcast #podcasting #relationships
Everyone has their bedroom ritual, and sometimes it can be a ritual that others might find unusual or uninviting, like a bedside prayer 🙏🏽 . But in Vespers, one of the stories in Episode 11, we find that what’s unusual or uninviting can also underpin a relationship, and ultimately help save it. 🆘 Link in bio. #ritual #habit #prayer #praying #pillowtalk #pillowtalking #story #storytelling #nonfiction #podcast #podcasting #relationships
Ohhh poor Don! Link to this and other brilliant readings from Letters Live in my shownotes for Ep 10: https://pillowtalkingproject.com/2021/04/episode-10-far-away-so-close/
Have you ever been on the phone for hours, ⌛️ talking when you know you should be asleep? It can be both thrilling 🎇 and exhausting 🥱. In this episode, listen to the story from Two of @ebbsandflows.pod , about how the phone was the thread in her marriage, stretched taut over the long distance. And how her physical exhaustion eventually gave way to another type altogether. Link in bio. #LDR #longdistance #phone #pillowtalk #pillowtalking #story #storytelling #nonfiction #podcast #podcasting #relationships
You with your ill-advised relationships or ill-advised things you do in your relationships, and me with mine: whether people are right or not is beside the point, isn’t it? Because unless there are innocents involved it is, after all, ourselves we are playing. Onto that green felt go our hearts, our hopes and dreams, and sometimes our lives. More in the new episode of Pillow Talking, “That... is ill advised”: https://pillowtalking.buzzsprout.com/1521124/8334132-9-that-is-ill-advised #illadvised #pillowtalk #pillowtalking #story #storytelling #nonfiction #podcast #podcasting #relationships
Ill advised relationships, or ill advised things we do in our relationships – we’ve all got them. What happens when the ill-advised makes its way to the bedroom? Find out in Episode 9 of Pillow Talking, “That... is ill advised”. (And thanks for waiting, everyone!) Check it out at: https://pillowtalking.buzzsprout.com/1521124/8334132-9-that-is-ill-advised
Sometimes, the stories sent in to me offer a window into other lives, and sometimes it’s a mirror. In this final story from Walker Raigh of @scratchandsniff_podcast Trent continues to try to infiltrate Walker’s life, even after she’s married to someone else. I really felt this one. Check it out if you haven’t yet. Link in bio.
Ever felt like noping the hell out of a bedroom? And what do you think: is this situation nopeworthy, or worth another chance? Listen more at: https://bit.ly/2OFvuPf
Sure: a third person ⚠️can be a real – invited or uninvited – person, but it can also be the spectre 👻 of someone who is absent yet somehow there, making their presence felt in some way. Sometimes it can even be someone who isn’t human. 🐩 You can hear all about it and more in the latest episode of Pillow Talking, The Third Person. You can check it out at: https://bit.ly/2OFvuPf See you in the bedroom. ❌⭕️ #pillowtalk #pillowtalking #story #storytelling #nonfiction #podcast #podcasting #relationships
Trying something new with these here fancy soundbites. What do you think, friends - yea or nay?
It’s common to hear when a relationship fails: “It was just the wrong time”. ⌛️ But is there such a thing as the wrong time, or is it just an excuse? 🤔 And does the wrong time always bring heartache 💔, or can it also bring gifts 💝? Find out in the latest episode of Pillow Talking “It’s the wrong time, and the wrong place”. See you in the bedroom. ❌⭕️ #pillowtalk #pillowtalking #story #storytelling #nonfiction #podcast #podcasting #relationships
Heading into The Cone of Silence 2 to record the Episode 7 of Pillow Talking but before I do, have you checked out Episode 6 yet? The stories feature - literally or figuratively - the colour RED 🟥 and what it might mean, from passion 💋 to fury 😡. Click your heels and say “There’s no place like the bedroom” to listen. 🛌 Or just click the link on the bio. See you there. ❌⭕️ #pillowtalk #pillowtalking #story #storytelling #nonfiction #podcast #podcasting #relationships
My podcast hosting platform is currently experiencing its second DDOS attack in 48 hours. If you haven’t been able to access Pillow Talking or other podcasts in the last couple of days, please stand by - the good folks at @buzzsprout are on the case.
More pix because I’m just that rapt. Thank you, baby!
Have you ever been the subject of a rumour that didn’t just go around to a few people, but an entire community? For those of us who have been through it, it’s a helluva thing, with the potential to wreck reputations, relationships, and careers. 🤫 That’s what happened to Steve83, when the person he went to bed with was not the person he ended up with. 😒🤷🏽 🛌 You can hear all about it and more in the latest episode of Pillow Talking, Not The Person I Thought I Knew. It’s a beautiful, relaxing way to see in the weekend. See you in the bedroom. ❌⭕️
Want your business to be the top-listed Media Company?
