'X' explores pleasure and pain in a dystopic world

How do freedom and rights intersect with sex, pleasure and the self? It's a question the U.S. is facing in the wake of the Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — and a central theme in writer Davey Davis's new novel. In X, Davis relocates the conflict over these ideas from courts and abortion clinics to queer clubs and BDSM dungeons in a more dystopic version of our present.<br/><br/>In this episode, guest host Anna Sale talks to Davis about why sadism is romantic, how bureaucracy can become a tool of oppression and why bad behavior doesn't make us less human.<br/><br/><em>You can follow us on Twitter </em><a href="https://twitter.com/NPRItsBeenAMin"><em>@NPRItsBeenAMin</em></a><em> and email us at </em><a href="mailto:ibam@npr.org"><em>ibam@npr.org</em></a><em>.</em>