Strange Bedfellows

This program is read by the author.

With curiosity and wit, Strange Bedfellows rips back the bedsheets to expose what really happens when STDs enter the sack.

Sexually transmitted diseases have been hidden players in our lives for the whole of human history, with roles in everything from World War II to the growth of the Internet to The Bachelor. But despite their prominence, STDs have been shrouded in mystery and taboo for centuries, which begs the question: why do we know so little about them?

Enter Ina Park, MD, who has been pushing boundaries to empower and inform others about sexual health for decades. With Strange Bedfellows, she ventures far beyond the bedroom to examine the hidden role and influence of these widely misunderstood infections and share their untold stories.

Covering everything from AIDS to Zika, Park explores STDs on the cellular, individual, and population-level. She blends science and storytelling with historical tales, real life sexual escapades, and interviews with leading scientists—weaving in a healthy dose of hilarity along the way.

The truth is, most of us are sexually active, yet we’re often unaware of the universe of microscopic bedfellows inside our pants. Park aims to change this by bringing knowledge to the masses in an accessible, no-nonsense, humorous way—helping listeners understand the broad impact STDs have on our lives, while at the same time erasing the unfair stigmas attached to them.

A departure from the cone of awkward silence and shame that so often surrounds sexual health, Strange Bedfellows is the straight-shooting audiobook about the consequences of sex that all curious listeners have been looking for.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

"Ina Park is a seasoned expert with a finely calibrated sense of the absurd. In other words, she is exactly who you want writing a book about STDs. The science is here, but so too are the stories and people behind it. Park has a mission—to break down the stigma and clear the way for open conversation and wider funding. She's a hero and a hoot!"—Mary Roach, author of the New York Times bestsellers Bonk and Stiff

“Strange Bedfellows—a book about how infections and viruses spread—is incredibly relevant to our time. But it is so much more than that: it’s about desire, it’s about history, it’s about humanity itself. Ina Park reveals the mystery and fascination inherent in STDs and, improbably, she does it while being laugh-out-loud funny.” — Peggy Orenstein, author of the New York Times Bestsellers Boys and Sex and Girls and Sex