Episode 464: What Sex Shops Teach Us About Sex (And Why It Matters)
January 6, 2026 by Justin Lehmiller
Sex shops are more than just retail spaces. In fact, they’re often where people actually learn about sex. When formal sex ed fails, sex shops step in to answer questions about bodies, pleasure, and desire. In this episode, we’re exploring how sex shops became unexpected sex educators, and what we can learn from that.
My guest is Dr. Carol Queen, the staff sexologist, Company Historian, and Curator of the Antique Vibrator Museum at Good Vibrations. A noted cultural sexologist whose work has been widely published, she’s written and edited several books, including The Sex & Pleasure Book: Good Vibrations Guide to Great Sex for Everyone.
Some of the specific topics we explore in this episode include:
- How did sex shops become one of the main places people actually learn about sex?
- How did Good Vibrations completely change what a sex shop could be?
- What questions are people really bringing into sex shops when they walk through the door?
- How do you train retail staff to be responsible sex educators — not just good salespeople?
You can click here to learn more about Dr. Carol Queen.
Got a sex question? Send me a podcast voicemail to have it answered on a future episode at speakpipe.com/sexandpsychology.
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Credits: Precision Podcasting (Podcast editing) and Shutterstock/Florian (Music). Image created with Canva; photos used with permission of guest.
Dr. Justin Lehmiller
Founder & Owner of Sex and PsychologyDr. Justin Lehmiller is a social psychologist and Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute. He runs the Sex and Psychology blog and podcast and is author of the popular book Tell Me What You Want. Dr. Lehmiller is an award-winning educator, and a prolific researcher who has published more than 50 academic works.
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