Smut used to be the kind of genre you’d find hidden away in the back corner of bookstores.

But not anymore. Now, smut series are being featured on the New York Times Best Sellers list, and a quick search of #spicybook or #smut on TikTok will find hundreds of thousands of videos.

But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its issues.

In this episode of The Briefing, Bension Siebert speaks with Esmé Louise James, author of “Kinky History”, to find out about the history of smut, discuss problematic characters, and get her personal smutty recommendations.

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