Sex, Science, and STDs with Ina Park, MD
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What is the main focus of this episode and who is the guest?
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You're listening to the Nocturnous Conversations. I'm Emily Silverman. Let's face it. As much as our culture delights in talking about sex, we do not relish talking about the sexually transmitted infections which sometimes follow. But STIs are not just a fact of life. They're a topic that has been shrouded in mystery and moralizing throughout the history of medicine. Is it time for some straight talk? Today I speak with Doctor Ina Park. Family Medicine Doctor, Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and the author of Strange Bedfellows, Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs. I am sitting here with the wonderful doctor Ina Park.
Ina, thanks for being here today. Oh, thanks for having me, Emily. I would love if you started us off by reading an excerpt from your amazing book, Strange Bedfellows.
Strange Bedfellows is my attempt to explore the role of STIs in our past, present, and future. It is a journey that goes from the microscopic clashing of two human microbiomes during sex to the big picture of sexual networks, appreciating the influence that just a few players have over the sexual health of the many. will meander through the twists and turns of real people's sex lives and debunk common wisdom about STIs. You'll meet my dear colleagues, a scrappy bunch of scientists and public health workers who have chosen to devote their lives to this field. Then I've thrown in the details of my own journey. The tale of a studious Korean girl who ended up spending her days between other people's legs for a living.
This book is a peek into my weird and wonderful world, and I hope you will love it here as much as I do.
Thank you for reading that. And I have to ask, how did you get to be so passionate about STIs?
I got really excited about the topic at first um at University of California, Berkeley, where I did my undergraduate work.
What excerpt from *Strange Bedfellows* sets the tone for the conversation?
And I started off А за сексуал период. I had just noticed that I had become sort of a go-to person for my friends to talk about their sex lives with and as well as the aftermath and testing and pap smears and whatever. And I think it's because I was pre-med and all of my friends were not, um, that I became the default go-to person. I joined this peer education group and I started actually doing post-test counseling around HIV as well as STIs and then also counseling folks before they were going in for their first cervical cancer test or pelvic exam. And then I was also traipsing around to dorms and frat houses and sorority houses and whatnot, um, actually doing live demonstrations with plastic penises and condoms and doing condom distribution.
Which culminated um on National Condom Day when I was a junior where I dressed up as a huge condom from head to toe with just my face showing and did a demo in front of over a hundred people at UC Berkeley with a banana and a condom and wrote about that. And that's how I got into medical school, actually, believe it or not.
I love this image of you standing in front of a crowd, head to toe, in a condom outfit. And one of the things I love about this book is how you bring a sense of joy and play to the topic of sex and STIs, which is so important because it's a topic that's so covered with shame and stigma. And I guess what I'm wondering is. Why do you think there is such shame and s stigma associated with this topic?
I feel like at least my sex education coming up through my secondary school years was more abstinence focused and when you are more abstinence focused. then if that abstinence is the ideal, then having sex is not ideal.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main focus of this episode and who is the guest?
0:00–2:37
2
What excerpt from *Strange Bedfellows* sets the tone for the conversation?
2:37–6:44
3
How did Dr. Ina Park become passionate about STIs and sexual health?
6:44–11:35
4
Why does stigma surround STIs and how did it develop historically?
11:35–16:53
5
How do sexual networks and concurrency drive the spread of STIs?
16:53–22:10
6
How is contact tracing changing with digital tools and the COVID‑19 pandemic?
22:10–29:13
7
How can parents start honest, age‑appropriate conversations about sex and STIs with their kids?
29:13–35:36
8
What are the latest statistics on STI prevalence and the key take‑aways for listeners?
35:36–42:32