Menstruation, the least invoked of the Greek muses (though for many she shows up monthly anyway) is the inspiration for The Crimson Wave, a weekly podcast hosted by Canadian comedians, besties and habitual bleeders, Natalie Norman and Jess Beaulieu.
The ladies interview guests — lots of comedians I’ve never heard of before, including a handful of men — keeping the conversation on the topic of Aunt Flo: cramps, extra-long pads, birth control, viscosity, acne, and first-times. Natalie and Jess are the chummiest of podcast hosts; most of their guests are game for the unusual rapport, but even the few interviewees who begin bashfully end up describing Halloween period sex.
Instead of listening to strangers on the subway sneezing, you could be listening to strangers talk about shedding uterine walls. Against all odds, people’s theories and anecdotes about punctuation can lead to compelling discussions (tangential topics breached include: friendship, feminism, mental health, reproductive rights, sexuality, and mental health). And pretty soon Nat and Jess won’t seem like strangers, anyway.
The women who created The Crimson Wave, are pushing hard against the mindset that the red scare is not worth talking about. Their goal is to destigmatize via dialogue re: the communist body in all its mucosal glory. Not all women menstruate, but it is a biological process that is deeply associated with the bodies of women and, in most conversations, a process that is regarded as grotesque and shameful. Not so in the conversations on The Crimson Wave.
These are the essential questions that have been missing from music journal profiles and Barbara Walters interviews:
How was your last period?
Do you get horny during PMS?
Where have you leaked?
Have you ever had sex on your period?
Would you receive oral sex on your period?
Do you use a period tracker?
Do you masturbate on your period?
Are you on the pill?
The Crimson Wave is available in the iTunes store, and new episodes are released every Tuesday. Find Natalie and Jess on Facebook and Twitter and at their live stand-up show in Toronto that’s “feminist friendly, LGBTQ positive, and has no rape jokes.”
