Affairs in the Digital Age

Explicit content warning

03/28/23 • 23 min

9 Listeners

Twenty years ago you'd need to meet someone in person to cheat. Now, technology has enabled women to carefully curate and select available men on any number of digital dating or social media websites, and hide their indiscretions through a number of different tools. Affairs can be conducted in real life or entirely virtually.

In this episode, technology and relationship expert, Dr. Jaclyn Cravens Pickens, explains all the different ways women use technology to step out on their husbands – and why technology makes the boundaries of what it means to have an affair blurrier than ever before. We also talk to "Olivia" who had an affair with a former work colleague that took place entirely over her phone, often with her husband sitting right beside her.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Previous Episode

Opening Up

More and more women are seeing multiple partners outside of their marriage without lying to their spouses. While an open marriage may not be an affair in the traditional sense, it is another way for women to explore what they want and need from a partner without the lying and subterfuge.

This week's guest "Alice" craved new bodies, new excitement, new experiences, and like many of the women we've talked to in previous episodes, she decided to step out on her husband to find what she wanted. But after Alice had her first sexual encounter outside of her marriage, she chose to tell her husband the truth – and ask him if she could do it again. Now, Alice and her husband are in an open marriage. So, can open marriages be the answer for some women who are considering having an affair? Jo is also joined by Dr. Ashley Thompson and Dr. Lori Gottlieb to weigh in on the positive impact that communication can have on a relationship.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Next Episode

Once a Cheater, Always a Cheater?

In the final episode of “She Wants More” we look at the darker side of an affair. While many of the women we talked with found empowerment and fulfillment through infidelity, today’s guest, “Sarah” has a different kind of story. "Sarah" fell in love with her kid's pediatrician when she was married to another man. She had an affair, left her husband and got married. But then, her story took an unexpected twist, leaving her devastated and vindictive. Her story serves as a reminder of the real stakes of choosing infidelity and the lies we often tell ourselves in the moment in order to justify our actions. Susan Shapiro Barash shares her final thoughts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She Wants More - Affairs in the Digital Age

Transcript

Speaker 100:00:03.200

I felt as if here I was hiding, I was doing something that was wrong. I was scared to be caught. I was actually having this quote unquote famous nap on the Sunday, and I think my husband had come into the room. Here I am, you know, sexting, pretending that I'm having a nap, and I'm thinking you're really like working as right now, as if why are you interrupting? Right?

Speaker 100:00:33.158

That is Olivia. She's de