The Leading Sex Expert: How To Have Great Sex EVERY Time! (And Fix Bad Sex): Tracey Cox | E247

The Leading Sex Expert: How To Have Great Sex EVERY Time! (And Fix Bad Sex): Tracey Cox | E247

The Diary of a CEOMay 15, 20231h 40m

Steven Bartlett (host), Tracey Cox (guest), Narrator

Desire in long‑term relationships: otherness, routine, and keeping erotic chargeSpontaneous vs responsive desire and the male–female mismatchFemale orgasm, the clitoris, and why most women don’t climax from penetrationSexless relationships, mismatched libidos, and when to stay or leaveCommunication about sex: scripts, feedback, and handling sensitive topicsImpact of porn, choking trends, and emerging AI/robot sex on intimacyAgeing, menopause, body image, and how great sex can start at 50+

In this episode of The Diary of a CEO, featuring Steven Bartlett and Tracey Cox, The Leading Sex Expert: How To Have Great Sex EVERY Time! (And Fix Bad Sex): Tracey Cox | E247 explores sex, Desire, And Monogamy: Tracey Cox Redefines Modern Intimacy Rules Sex educator Tracey Cox explains why desire declines in long‑term relationships and how to deliberately recreate erotic charge instead of expecting sex to ‘take care of itself’. She distinguishes between spontaneous and responsive desire, showing how mismatches in arousal style, poor technique, and routine are driving a modern ‘sex recession’ and sexless relationships.

Sex, Desire, And Monogamy: Tracey Cox Redefines Modern Intimacy Rules

Sex educator Tracey Cox explains why desire declines in long‑term relationships and how to deliberately recreate erotic charge instead of expecting sex to ‘take care of itself’. She distinguishes between spontaneous and responsive desire, showing how mismatches in arousal style, poor technique, and routine are driving a modern ‘sex recession’ and sexless relationships.

Cox gives highly practical scripts and frameworks for talking about sex, handling mismatched libidos, integrating toys, and rekindling intimacy without relying on penetration or porn. She also challenges myths about orgasms, gendered libido, monogamy, and ageing, arguing that women get bored with monogamy faster and that great sex after 50 is completely possible with the right mindset and tools.

Throughout, she links sexual health to self-esteem, body image, technology (porn and AI), parenting, and broader life choices, positioning a good sex life as both a skill to be learned and a core pillar of long‑term relationship happiness and wellbeing.

Key Takeaways

Cultivate ‘otherness’ to maintain desire in long‑term relationships.

Being too fused—doing everything together and only ever seeing each other at home—kills erotic charge. ...

Get the full analysis with uListen AI

Understand spontaneous vs responsive desire to avoid misdiagnosing a ‘low libido’.

Around two‑thirds of men have spontaneous desire (want sex, seek sex, 0‑to‑100 quickly), whereas about 30% of women are primarily responsive (desire appears only once sexy things are already happening). ...

Get the full analysis with uListen AI

Stop centering sex on penetration; design encounters around female pleasure.

Only ~20% of women climax from penetrative sex alone because the clitoris is largely external and shaped like a 10cm wishbone. ...

Get the full analysis with uListen AI

Talking about sex is the single most powerful relationship intervention.

Small unspoken issues (e. ...

Get the full analysis with uListen AI

Treat sexless stretches as emergencies, not phases that will ‘fix themselves’.

If you haven’t had sex with your partner for a year, it’s statistically unlikely to simply restart without direct confrontation. ...

Get the full analysis with uListen AI

Use tools and variety—especially vibrators—to close the orgasm gap.

Porn has normalized male orgasm every time during partnered sex, but women’s orgasms lag far behind. ...

Get the full analysis with uListen AI

Reframe ageing and body image: great sex after 50 is mindset‑driven, not hormone‑doomed.

Menopause and lower testosterone change arousal and comfort, but attitude predicts post‑menopausal sex far more than biology. ...

Get the full analysis with uListen AI

Notable Quotes

If you want to have great sex, you need to have an interesting life.

Tracey Cox

If you haven’t had sex for a year with your partner, it is very unlikely you’re gonna have sex again… unless you confront it head‑on.

Tracey Cox

We have known that women don’t orgasm through penetrative sex since Kama Sutra… and yet most men still think they’re the exception.

Tracey Cox

Every sex problem can be solved if you talk about it. If you don’t, the tiniest problem can ruin your whole sex life.

Tracey Cox

Monogamy is probably not natural for our sex drive, but it is for our need for love, safety and companionship. Everything is a trade‑off.

Tracey Cox

Questions Answered in This Episode

When you tell someone in a sexless marriage to ‘confront it head‑on’, what specific language or script would you recommend they use in the very first conversation to avoid instant defensiveness?

Sex educator Tracey Cox explains why desire declines in long‑term relationships and how to deliberately recreate erotic charge instead of expecting sex to ‘take care of itself’. ...

Get the full analysis with uListen AI

You argue that women are often bored because the sex isn’t ‘interesting or erotic enough’ for them—what are three concrete, beginner‑level ways a long‑term couple can introduce more eroticism without feeling ridiculous or inauthentic?

Cox gives highly practical scripts and frameworks for talking about sex, handling mismatched libidos, integrating toys, and rekindling intimacy without relying on penetration or porn. ...

Get the full analysis with uListen AI

Given your concerns about choking, porn aggression, and AI sex dolls, where do you personally draw the ethical line between ‘healthy kink’ and practices that fundamentally undermine empathy and respect during sex?

Throughout, she links sexual health to self-esteem, body image, technology (porn and AI), parenting, and broader life choices, positioning a good sex life as both a skill to be learned and a core pillar of long‑term relationship happiness and wellbeing.

Get the full analysis with uListen AI

For a high‑achieving woman in her mid‑30s who values both career and partnership, how would you practically structure the next 12 months—time, mindset shifts, and dating strategy—to maximize her chances of meeting a compatible partner without burning out?

Get the full analysis with uListen AI

You say monogamy is probably not ‘natural’ for our sex drive but is for love and safety; if you were designing a relationship model from scratch for modern humans, what hybrid or alternative to strict monogamy would you propose, and how would you safeguard against jealousy and emotional fallout?

Get the full analysis with uListen AI

Transcript Preview

Steven Bartlett

You've written 17 books on the topic of sex. So, my first question, how do we have the best sex of our lives?

Tracey Cox

That's the question that everybody wants to know. The first thing is- (bell rings)

Steven Bartlett

Tracey Cox. The world's most celebrated sex expert. She's got the answers to the questions you've always wanted to know, and has the secret to a great sex life. (bell rings) There is a decline of sex, isn't there?

Tracey Cox

Yes. There's a sex recession. If you haven't had sex for a year with your partner, it is very unlikely you're gonna have sex again. (bell rings)

Steven Bartlett

Oh, really? Are you hopeful that we can turn that around?

Tracey Cox

Yes, absolutely. The key thing is- (record scratches)

Steven Bartlett

Women fake their orgasms.

Tracey Cox

We have known that women don't orgasm through penetrative sex since Kama Sutra, and yet most men will go, "Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I've heard about that." Women aren't having very many orgasms during partner sex. They always fake them. The way to solve the whole orgasm thing is- (bell rings)

Steven Bartlett

How do we predict if someone's going to cheat on us?

Tracey Cox

Number one, being close doesn't actually protect you against infidelity. You'll become so close to your partner, they're your best friend, you just don't see them as a sexual partner anymore. If you understand how sex works, and if you can make sex good with your partner, affairs can be so preventable in so many different ways. Women get bored way quicker than men. Men don't get bored, because they get the orgasm as a reward. You need to give women interesting, erotic sex, and then they'll be interested. Otherwise, they're not gonna be interested.

Steven Bartlett

I've noticed a trend that amongst my friendship group, a startling amount of them are in sexless relationships.

Tracey Cox

Yep.

Steven Bartlett

What are some of the most important solutions?

Tracey Cox

If you wanna have great sex, you need... (bell rings) That's what you have to do if you want a good sex life.

Steven Bartlett

I think that's phenomenal advice. I have some breaking news. And th- no, this is an emergency. I've spent the last two years writing a book, and I've written 33 laws for business, marketing, and life that I derived from all of these conversations I've had here. I traveled the world to write this book. I interviewed some of the most incredible people. I did six months of en- extensive research on scientific studies and principles to corroborate everything that I wrote into these 33 laws. And ladies and gentlemen, that book, called The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws for Business, Marketing, and Life, is now available for pre-order, and there are 5,000, only 5,000, signed copies, and it's first come first serve. The link is in the bio right now, so if you want that book, honestly it's the best book I've ever written. It's the book I always should've written. It's the book I also wish someone had written for me when I was starting out in my career. I'm really proud of it. I'm really, really proud of it. Really, really proud of it. And I can't wait for all of you to get to read it. It's out in August. I couldn't be more excited about this, as you can probably tell. I don't know what to sa- to say other than the words I've said to emphasize my excitement, 'cause I think it's important and I think it's really valuable. Um, link in the description. (instrumental music plays) Tracey, I reached out to my team and I told my team that I wanted to have a conversation with the individual in the world that was best and most educated and most engaging on the subject matter of sex, because I've noticed a bunch of things in my personal life, in the lives of my friends and those around me, um, and I feel like people aren't having the right types of conversation about sex. I feel like we're avoiding it as a society, and I feel like sex is so intrinsically linked to performance and wellbeing and business, and all the things I usually talk about, so they found you, and that's why you're here. So, my first question is who are you and what do you do? What is your mission?

Install uListen to search the full transcript and get AI-powered insights

Get Full Transcript

Get more from every podcast

AI summaries, searchable transcripts, and fact-checking. Free forever.

Add to Chrome