One of our - and your - favourite episodes of the year is here! Get comfortable and listen to four of our fabulous guests telling us about one of their favourite rope scenes. Understand what matters to them in a scene, and what they remember - and get ideas for your own play. The podcast hosts also include a review of their own rope year, with some personal reflections on what changed in rope for them in 2023. The episode includes scenes from: Midori -Fuoco- Assistant The silence

Rope Podcast hosts Fox and Mya talk to rope podcast host Wicked Wren, in this second part of their interview with her. The conversation also includes an interesting discussion where all three hosts share some ‘hot takes’ on some more nuanced rope topics, like implied power dynamics. While none of us felt like we representing this complex topic perfectly, perhaps it can start some discussion among your rope family and friends to explore the ideas further! Listen to the episode now to hear...

Wren (she/her) is a rope switch and artist, as well as being the host of the Shibari Study podcast and The Corn Corner podcast. She joined us from Los Angeles, California, USA. Mya and Fox have a lot of love for the Shibari Study podcast and Wren’s energy and interviewing style, and enjoyed reflecting that back to her and finding out the story behind her journey with rope. Listen to the episode now to hear more about: • How she discovered rope bondage through NRE • The challenges of not...

Ep160: Together in the Dark - Creating an erotic rope bondage book: an interview with Fox The one where Fox makes a book… Fox’s latest creative project is a book of erotic rope bondage, called ‘Together in the Dark’. Here Mya interviews him about the background to this gorgeous artefact, and tries not to blush when talking about the subject matter. Mya and Fox even get to surprise each other with some of their questions and answers! Listen to the episode now to hear more about: • The...

This is a rope focus episode, chosen by our lovely Patrons! In this episode, Fox and Mya discuss a tie that Fox created, that involves a lot of bamboo, and a sense of entombment…perfect for Halloween! Listen to the episode and discover plenty of information about this innovative tie, and even enter a competition to win a copy of Fox’s new rope erotica photo book, which is in (very) limited run right in its current format. Hear the podcast hosts discuss: • What this tie actually...

Listener gggwolverine asks on behalf of a friend, what do rope bottoms do while the rope is going on, especially if the person is naturally a little self-conscious. To someone new to rope, the rope top has a more ‘obvious’ role in terms of the scene, but it can be intimidating as the bottom in the scene to know what to do. The most important thing is ‘there is no should’ - it’s very personal as to what works for one rope bottom, one rope top, and also that specific combination of rope bottom...

In this episode, Fox and Mya discuss mummification with rope - the Mummy Tie! The podcast hosts discuss what it means to mummify a (live!) person and how you can do it with rope. They offer tips and tricks from their experience. Listen to the episode to hear them discuss: • Body placement • Characteristics and aesthetics of a Mummification Tie • How it feels to be in a Mummy Tie • Safety and risk considerations of this tie • Different positions of the bottom while tying and how these...

Rope bondage can be thrilling, and part of that thrill comes from the risk. However, we all have different risk profiles, and it’s best to go into a scene really understanding what the risks might be. In this episode, fox and Mya consider some of the risks of rope bondage, and ways one could mitigate these. They also discuss: • Definitions of key terms like Risk, Risk:Reward ratio, mitigation • The two dimensions along which one can classify risk to understand it better • ...

A ‘value’ is simply something that is important to those within a context - for example, we might have individual values, couple values, organisational values, community values or, in the case of this episode, rope values! So how might we apply this concept of values in rope? How can they be useful to us and how we make decisions or chose our behaviours? The podcast hosts discuss this interesting topic, including: • How many values might be useful to focus on at a time? • What might...

Mel, known as the Accidental Rigger, is a rope switch with a lot of experience handling and maintaining large amounts of rope. A neurodiverse, queer, rope customisation professional from the Middle East who laid down roots in London, she began by treating ropes for Anatomie’s Shibari Store, modelling for classes, and as a teaching assistant for rope bottoms. In this second part of our interview with her, focusing more on the practicalities of looking after your rope and making sure it’s as...

Mel, known as the Accidental Rigger, has a great deal of hands on practice in rope - rigging, bottoming and handling and maintaining large quantities of rope. A neurodiverse, queer, rope customisation professional from the Middle East who laid down roots in London, she began by treating ropes for Anatomie’s Shibari Store, modelling for classes, and as a teaching assistant for rope bottoms. After dedicating years to learning from a variety of practitioners, she has become a teacher for both...

Both fox (as a rope top) and Mya (as a rope bottom) live with chronic pain in different ways, and exploring the topic in rope bondage is very important to them. In this episode, they address the idea that the activity of rope bondage can impact physical chronic pain, and some of the ways it might do this. They note they’re not Doctors, and pain is *always* a subjective experience, but however you manage it - with props or processing - pain is something in rope bondage you are almost certain...

In our last episode we enjoyed the first part of our lovely interview with JP the Pope (find the first part of the conversation at Ep:150). With 20+ years in professional rope bondage adult videos, he has a wealth of interesting experiences to talk about, plus his shoots are some of the most interesting and creative rope bondage positions for sex the podcast team has seen. In this episode discover: • When he’s gotten it wrong, accidents and injuries he’s been involved with in rope...

The Pope has been practicing bondage professionally since 2004. He is a bondage rigger, but also a director and performer. The Pope recently has been added to the AVN Hall of Fame, which is the first bondage director/performer ever recognized in that capacity.  Hopefully this paves the way for future bondage/fetish performers and directors to be more accepted and recognized by mainstream media.  fox’s rope has been heavily influenced by JP’s work over the years, and the podcast team have...

What is a ritual, and why might it be something we include in our rope? fox and Mya discuss the topic and how it might add magic and sparkle to our rope practice, including some examples of what it might look like. They also discuss: • A definition of what a ritual is, and how we might apply that to our rope • Pros and cons of ritual • The importance of education and accessibility in creating your rituals • Common elements of ritual in rope • Different levers to create...

The Silence is a California based photographer who specializes in boudoir and kink photography, including shibari and kinbaku. When he started, everyone was photographing their rope work with flip phones - and the he thought to himself, why not learn to take better pictures. Five years of practice later, he has discovered a deep love of photography, enjoying experimenting with lighting and posing to create striking images. In developing his art and passion he’s shot with people around the...

There’s no such thing as perfect, there’s always things we can improve, no matter who we are, and what level, type and role in rope we are at. Feedback can help us with that - but it’s a delicate topic that we need to approach with kindness and a gentle touch. The podcast hosts firmly believe in feedback (outside and inside the world of rope!) for us to be better not just in terms of rope, but also as rope partners, people, and just as a life skill in general. In this episode, Mya brings...

Assistant is a large language model trained by OpenAI, and fox and Mya were interested to see how they could help provide information and insights on rope bondage, and how accurate it might be. The results surprised them both… In this episode hear Assistant’s thoughts on: • What rope bondage is, and if shibari and rope bondage are the same thing • How AI can be useful to those interested in rope bondage • The risks of rope bondage, and what people like about it • How we can improve our...

There are a SURPRISING number of labels people use in rope, some of which have leaked over from other aspects of BDSM, and some of which are unique to rope bondage. In this episode, fox and Mya explore - and sometimes disagree on! - what these can mean, sharing some of the different meanings that can be associated with these labels. This discussion provides a starting point for you to have with the people you do rope with about their labels, and is definitely NOT the definitive guide - we...

Listen for breaking news! Rope Podcast organizing a rope photo contest!

fox and Mya don’t tie TKs, and rarely tie a box tie because of their risk profile - but they understand a lot of listeners do. So when they saw educator fuoco had put out a book about box ties, they were excited to get her perspective. fuoco also shares more about her Zine ‘Cut the Leash’, the audience for that and the notion of kinky community - as well as their issue on ‘Witchiness and rope’. Might you be a contributor? Get in touch with fuoco on her website below. In the meantime, listen...

fuoco began her rope journey as a bottom in Phoenix ten years ago and shortly thereafter moved to London, where much of her early rope learning happened. Upon moving back to the US, she began presenting at cons and intensives around the country sharing her love of rope. As an educator, she's decidedly non-dogmatic in her approach to teaching. Her classes aim to help bottoms to better understand their bodies in movement, and to offer riggers the knowledge to adapt their tying to the unique...

In this episode fox shares some of his experience and knowledge around how rope tops and bottoms might optimize their physical strength for rope. The podcast hosts remind you they’re not medical doctors or trainers and you should get some professional input before starting. Aimed at novices (though those who are more experienced are welcome to listen and share their advice in the comments on Fetlife and Instagram) list now to hear them discuss these areas: • The kinds of movement you...

‘Auntie’ Midori has a lot of scenes behind her (and in front of her!) and her depth of experience in play means she has huge resources to draw on for ideas. Her interest in rope developed alongside her experience in other kinks, and in this episode, fox and Mya explore some of her more unusual ideas on ‘how to play’. This is a great episode to help enhance your scenes, beginner or advanced, whatever your level. Listen to the discussion to hear about: • Intent in rope bondage, what it...

Midori literally ‘wrote the book’ on rope bondage, with the first English instruction manual on Shibari: ‘Seductive Art of Japanese Rope Bondage’. With her first hand perspectives on both American and Japanese rope culture, fox and Mya were able to discuss with her a depth of understanding of Japanese Rope culture that may be at odds with some of the myths out there. Listen to the discussion to hear about: • Midori’s slow burn entry into rope, and where she learned both the skills of...