Masters and Johnson

Today we are a society steeped in Sex. It’s part of almost every aspect of our politics, our culture, and our economy. It’s about selling cars, and also the dispensing of medical care.

But just 60 years ago, it was a subject that was all but taboo. We not only didn’t speak its name in polite company, but we knew very little about it and how it worked, both physiologically and psychologically.

Then William Masters came along and with his partner Virginia Johnson, changed all that. They not only medicalized the discussion and understanding of sex, but unleashed the power of female sexuality in ways that would forever change society.

Few have studied and understood their work better than Thomas Maier. His book Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love has just been
re released and a Showtime original series, based on the book, premiers later this month.


My conversation with Thomas Maier: