Violet Blue is an evangelist for porn, and she has a message for lesbians: “Lesbians should be making homemade porn, but it’s not happening yet. The technology is still really new, so I don’t think it’s sunk in yet just how much fun this can be, but just think of what your sex life will be like when you can actually find and watch (and subscribe to) a wide variety of erotic lesbian amateur movies. Amazing.”

Podcasts are downloadable audio files that are “broadcast” via the Internet to subscribers who sign up to receive the feeds. With the new video iPods, they now feature video, too. CBS News has a podcast. Jim Lehrer has a podcast. ESPN has a podcast. And Violet Blue has Open Source Sex, her podcast featuring erotic stories and basic sex-ed instruction, like how to orchestrate a successful three-way (www.tinynibbles.com/ audio.html).

During the first quarter of 2006, Apple sold eight million iPods, which is nothing compared to the 14 million it sold during the fourth quarter of 2005 (the holiday shopping season). More than a few of them are being used to listen to sexually explicit content in the form of podcasts. You can even download sexually explicit podcasts like Open Source Sex on iTunes. As it has done with videography, the Internet, and other technological leaps, sex is helping to fuel the explosion of interest in podcasts.

Technological innovation is good for sex, and I’m not just referring to longer-lasting batteries. In the ‘90s, thousands of e-mail discussion lists sprang up, many for lesbians with interests ranging from knitting to bondage. Suddenly, you could live in a town with so few lesbians you could count them on the fingers of one hand (all of which had been in those lesbians) yet have a sexual community of hundreds. Chat-room sex, discussion lists, advice boards, personal ads with photos—all of these advances have made coming out easier for a generation of dykes.

So how come there aren’t a whole slew of dirty podcasts for dykes? You’d think with the low cost of the technology and the ease of production, we’d be seeing more explicit lesbian podcasts.

Violet Blue agrees. She’s bothered by the lack of pornographic audio (and with the new iPods, video) content available for dykes with earbuds. “Podcasting is simple and practically free now, and lesbian communities have typically led the charge in frank, smart, and exciting discussions and explorations of women’s sexuality. It’s like two great tastes that should be tasting great together, but I feel like I’m still looking for the menu.”

She cites one lesbian podcast with sexual content, Lesbian Soup (http://www.girl-spot.com/lesbiansoup/). “That’s not to say there aren’t a good number of lesbian podcasters on nonsex topics”—like Rubyfruit Radio (http://www.rubyfruitradio.com/ )—”but few talk about sex. And certainly not in a porny, make-us-aroused kind of way.”

I asked Violet how lesbians would benefit from erotic podcasts made just for us. She rattled off a list: “Toy reviews, erotic book reviews, erotica readings, interviews from a lesbian perspective on sex and gender issues, a lesbian sexual politics show, lesbian sex advice with callers or answering email questions. I’d love to hear a lesbian porn review show, or listen to lesbian erotica being read while looking at an erotic slideshow of photos from a hot-to-trot lesbian erotic photographer (this is easy to put together in iLife 06, by the way).”

She was on a roll: “Or take it a step further—women who have wanted to make their own erotic movies can now do so for iPods and iTunes with little more than a digital camera that shoots video and a service like Libsyn.com. It’s like all the expense and distribution issues are gone now; here we really, finally have a chance to democratize the sharing of real lesbian sexuality on its own terms, for its own sake, and because it’s just plain hot.”

Was there anything else she wanted to say to dykes?

“Yes! Use the movie function on your digital camera. Or buy a cheap USB microphone that plugs into your computer. Sign up at Libsyn.com. Use up all of your lube. Send me the link.”

Yes, and send me the link.

Felice Newman is a somatic coach and sex educator who works with individuals and couples. She is the author of The Whole Lesbian Sex Book: A Passionate Guide for All of Us. Visit her at www.felicenewman.com.q