What Now? With Trevor NoahCarter Sherman: How Shame Became the New Sex Ed
Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- November 13, 2025
- Duration
- 1h 36m
- Channel
- What Now? With Trevor Noah
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Everyone’s talking about Gen Z’s sex recession - but maybe it’s not about sex at all. Trevor and Eugene chat with Carter Sherman, journalist and author of The Second Coming, to discuss how maybe Gen Z’s sexual appetites are being influenced by fear, politics, power, and the way intimacy has been hijacked by the internet. If you haven't already.... Subscribe to the channel here: http://bit.ly/SubscribeTrevorNoah Or follow the podcast on your other favorite platforms... SiriusXM - Apple Podcasts - https://bit.ly/WhatNowOnApplePodcasts Spotify - https://bit.ly/WhatNowOnSpotify 00:01:06 - When Sex Becomes a Headline 00:02:08 - Dr. Conman and the Power of a Name 00:03:46 - Would You Take Your Partner’s Last Name 00:05:03 - From Condoms to Culture: Carter’s First Story 00:06:16 - The Obsession with Virginity 00:07:02 - Crying in the Car: The Last Virgin Story 00:09:07 - How Virginity Became a Status Symbol 00:10:13 - The Shifting Morality of Sex 00:11:17 - The Age of Less Sex but More Anxiety 00:12:49 - Why We Can’t Talk Honestly About Sex 00:13:42 - Who Gets to Decide What “Good Sex” Is 00:14:38 - The Politics of Abstinence and the $2 Billion Lie 00:17:09 - How America Tries to Control Sex 00:18:32 - The White Picket Fantasy of the 1950s 00:19:09 - The Myth of the Sex Recession 00:20:39 - What We’re Really Missing About Gen Z 00:23:10 - Inside Gen Z’s Changing Relationship to Intimacy 00:25:18 - The Gender Divide in Talking About Desire 00:26:57 - How Culture Programs Men About Sex 00:28:48 - Teaching Men Sex Without Feelings 00:29:39 - The Business of Selling Desire 00:30:25 - How Marketing Rewired Masculinity 00:31:29 - Porn, Power, and the Illusion of Sex 00:33:17 - Learning About Sex from Porn 00:34:03 - What Porn Never Shows You 00:35:32 - The Deep Story of Porn and Shame 00:37:09 - When Violence Becomes Normal in Sex 00:38:06 - How Porn Became the Only Teacher 00:40:18 - The Algorithm and Sexual Insecurity 00:42:25 - The Blind Leading the Blind 00:44:04 - We Need Sex Mental Health, Not Just Sex Ed 00:45:36 - The Fear That Shapes Our Desire 00:47:06 - When Consent Becomes a Political Weapon 00:49:39 - Fear, Control, and the Parenting Paradox 00:50:25 - The Pandemic of Bad News and Bad Nudes 00:51:04 - The Fuckability Trap 00:52:56 - Smart and Hot: The New Double Standard 00:54:12 - When You’re the Editor of Your Own Body 00:55:37 - How Filters Break Self-Image 00:56:36 - Too Filtered to Show Up in Real Life 00:57:14 - The Lost Art of Real-Life Rejection 00:59:43 - Why the Adventure of Dating Disappeared 01:01:12 - Sexting, Nudes, and the New Normal 01:03:00 - The Politics of Sharing and Shame 01:04:54 - Why “Revenge Porn” Isn’t the Right Term 01:06:56 - The Gray Areas of Consent 01:07:52 - Title IX and the Politics of Rape on Campus 01:10:18 - How Bureaucracy Fails Survivors 01:11:35 - The Legal Paradoxes of Sex and Alcohol 01:13:43 - What Colleges Should Really Be Teaching 01:14:56 - What the Me Too Era Missed 01:16:38 - The Limits of Law and the Need for Culture 01:18:31 - What We Can Learn from the Margins 01:20:35 - Healing Through Ownership and Risk 01:21:33 - What Justice Looks Like Without Jail 01:23:07 - Why Restorative Justice Matters 01:24:08 - Fear on Every Side of the Bedroom 01:26:03 - The Generation Raised by Fear 01:28:32 - Sex, Politics, and Punishment 01:30:11 - The Cost of Making Pleasure a Crime 01:33:09 - Finding Hope in the Messiness 01:34:46 - Sex Is Both a Want and a Need 01:35:26 - The Beauty of Talking About It Anyway
SPEAKERS
Carter Sherman
guestReproductive health and justice reporter at The Guardian and author of "The Second Coming."
Trevor Noah
hostComedian and host of "What Now? With Trevor Noah."
Eugene
hostCo-host on "What Now? With Trevor Noah."
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of What Now? With Trevor Noah, featuring Carter Sherman and Trevor Noah, Carter Sherman: How Shame Became the New Sex Ed explores shame, politics, porn, and platforms reshaping Gen Z’s sex lives The episode reframes the so-called “Gen Z sex recession” as less about declining sex and more about rising fear, isolation, and reduced practice with vulnerability, rejection, and real-life connection.
RELATED EPISODES
