In this bonus episode of Consider Before Consuming, Elisabeth and Scott bring you into a conversation they’ve found themselves having often behind the scenes.

As Fight the New Drug’s social media manager and presenter, Elisabeth is constantly immersed in current events, research, and the realities young people are facing online. Scott, who works more behind the scenes, intentionally keeps some distance, but hears about these stories secondhand. This episode is an opportunity to bridge that gap and bring listeners into that same conversation.

Using a real case involving AI-generated explicit images at a small U.S. school—where 347 images were created of 59 minors—they break down what happened, what it reveals about the world young people are navigating today, and what parents and communities need to understand right now.

Episode Resources:

• FTND Live Presentations
• Conversation Blueprint: Let's Talk About Porn
• Documentary: Brain, Heart, World

In this episode of Consider Before Consuming, we’re joined by Dr. Nicholas Lawless, a clinical psychologist and couples therapist, to explore how pornography can impact connection in relationships.

Does porn affect relationships? Can porn change how you see your partner? Is watching porn considered cheating? Why does porn sometimes feel like a betrayal?

Dr. Lawless shares what he’s seen in both research and real-life couples—how shifts in attention and expectations can lead to disconnection over time, and what it looks like to rebuild connection.

If you’re wondering whether porn is affecting your relationship, or how to reconnect if something feels off, this episode offers a clear, practical perspective.

This episode is sponsored by Relay, a secure peer-support app that connects you with a small group of people who understand what you’re going through and help you stay accountable on your journey to quit porn. CBC listeners can try Relay free for 7 days when they sign up at http://ftnd.org/joinrelay

Episode Resources:

• Articles: How Porn Can Impact Relationships
• Documentary: Brain, Heart, World
• Dr. Lawless' Practice: DRT Psychology

In this bonus episode of Consider Before Consuming, Natale and Elisabeth take you behind the scenes of managing Fight the New Drug’s social media and the kinds of comments that come with it.

From someone sharing, “I started viewing porn at 11 and didn’t even distinguish between adult and child porn,” to debates like “nobody is forcing you… you’re choosing to be that person,” this episode highlights the wide range of reactions these conversations bring up.

Together, they unpack what these responses reveal about how porn is understood today, and why the way we respond matters. From early exposure and normalization to addiction and recovery, this conversation explores how empathy and education—not shame—can lead to more meaningful change.

• Core Articles: Get The Facts
• YouTube: CBC Playlist
• Podcast: Consider Before Consuming Ep. 160: Hunter Clark

Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual abuse and trauma. Listener discretion is advised.

Amanda Stanhope was recently featured in reporting by CNN on drug-facilitated sexual abuse, where she shared her personal story—part of a broader conversation gaining attention after survivors like Gisèle Pelicot helped bring this issue into the spotlight.

What began as an intense relationship quickly shifted. Amanda started experiencing memory loss, confusion, and physical symptoms she couldn’t explain, at one point believing she might be developing Alzheimer’s. Over time, she came to realize she had been being sexually assaulted while unconscious.

In this conversation, Amanda shares how the relationship unfolded, what made the abuse so difficult to recognize in real time, and the challenges she faced in seeking help and reporting what happened. She also speaks to how trauma can show up in the body, and why greater awareness of this kind of abuse is critical.

Episode Resources:

• Victim Resources
• CNN Article: Exposing a global ‘rape academy’
• Article: She Was Asleep While It Happened: Gisèle Pelicot and the Disturbing Rise of “Sleep Porn”

Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussions of sexual addiction, infidelity, and suicide attempts. Listener discretion is advised.

Chris Bennett is a life coach who helps individuals and couples work through sexual addiction, shame, and compulsive behaviors. But long before he was helping others, he was living a double life—hiding years of pornography use and engaging in multiple affairs during his marriage.

In this episode, Chris shares how his relationship with pornography began at a young age and escalated over time, eventually leading to real-life behaviors that deeply impacted his wife and family. Even after being caught and entering recovery, he struggled to fully commit to change, continuing patterns he knew were harmful.

We talk about the role shame played in keeping him stuck, why partial honesty wasn’t enough to create real change, and what finally shifted when he chose to fully disclose everything. Chris also opens up about how unresolved pain and early experiences influenced his behavior, and how learning to process emotions and meet his needs differently became a turning point in his recovery.

This episode explores questions many people are asking: Does porn addiction escalate over time? Does Porn Addiction Lead to Cheating? And what does it actually take to change?

This episode is sponsored by Relay, a secure peer-support app that connects you with a small group of people who understand what you’re going through and help you stay accountable on your journey to quit porn. CBC listeners can try Relay free for 7 days when they sign up at http://ftnd.org/joinrelay

This episode includes discussion of sexual violence, coercion, and experiences of assault among young people. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode of Consider Before Consuming, we sit down with Chanel Contos, founder of Teach Us Consent, to talk about how one Instagram post led to thousands of young people sharing their experiences, and ultimately helped drive mandated consent education across Australia. Chanel shares what it was like reading through testimony after testimony of peer-on-peer sexual violence, and how those stories revealed patterns around coercion, misunderstanding, and the way many young people are navigating sex without a clear understanding of consent.

We also explore what’s shaping young people’s expectations around sex and relationships today. How are teens actually learning about intimacy? What role does pornography play in shaping ideas about consent, boundaries, and what’s considered “normal”? And why are rates of youth-perpetrated sexual harm rising in some areas, even as other forms of abuse decline? Chanel breaks down how early, age-appropriate consent education can help address these gaps, and what it looks like to teach consent in a way that builds empathy, communication, and respect from a young age.

Episode Resources:

• Article: What is Inspiring Teens to Try Strangulation During Sex?
• Article: Oral Before Kissing: Porn Culture Has Changed Teens’ First Sexual Encounters
• Chanel's Instagram: @Chanelc
• Teach Us Consent:
• Fix Our Feeds
• Newsletter
• Instagram

Hunter Clark was first exposed to pornography as a child. What started as curiosity eventually became a habit he struggled for years to overcome. Like many people, he tried everything he could think of to quit—willpower, accountability partners, blockers, even extreme personal challenges—but nothing seemed to work. In this episode of Consider Before Consuming, Hunter shares how shame kept him stuck in that cycle for years and how things began to change when he stopped focusing only on quitting porn and started looking at the deeper reasons behind the behavior.

In this conversation, we explore questions many people are already asking: Why is porn so hard to quit? Does shame make porn habits worse? Can pornography affect relationships? And why do so many partners blame themselves when they discover a loved one’s porn habit?

Hunter opens up about the moment he realized his struggle was connected to deeper emotional wounds, the impact pornography had on his relationship with his wife, and how honesty and open conversations helped break the isolation that shame can create. We also discuss the idea that porn habits are often a symptom of something deeper—whether that’s unresolved trauma, stress, loneliness, or other emotional struggles—and why simply trying to “have more discipline” often isn’t enough.

This episode is sponsored by Relay, a secure peer-support app that connects you with a small group of people who understand what you’re going through and help you stay accountable on your journey to quit porn. CBC listeners can try Relay free for 7 days when they sign up at http://ftnd.org/joinrelay

Episode Resources:

• Article: Why Fighting Porn Must Include Fighting Shame
• Podcast: Consider Before Consuming Ep. 152: Chris Chandler
• Hunter's Podcast: Quit Porn with Hunter Clark
• Hunter's Instagram: _hunter.clark

Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussions of sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse in an educational and prevention-focused context. Listener discretion is advised.

Dr. Alexandra Bailey is a forensic psychologist, Head of Psychology at the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, and a leading expert in the prevention of child sexual abuse.

In this episode of Consider Before Consuming, she shares how harmful online behaviors can develop, and how pornography can play a role in that process for some individuals. As content has become more accessible, anonymous, and extreme, we explore how patterns of use can shift over time, including desensitization, novelty-seeking, and reinforcement.

We also talk about how the internet and emerging technologies like AI are changing the landscape, and how factors like shame, isolation, and mental health can keep people stuck in harmful cycles.

Most importantly, this conversation focuses on prevention—what it looks like, why it matters, and how resources like Stop It Now are helping people seek support before harm happens.

Along the way, we get into questions people are already asking: Does porn escalate? Why do I need more extreme porn? Is AI porn harmful? What should parents know about porn, sexting, and online safety?

Episode Resources:

• Article: Can Porn Use Escalate to Illegal Content? What Research and Real Stories Show
• Conversation Blueprint: Let's Talk About Porn
• The Lucy Faithfull Foundation: Stop It Now
• Research Paper: What's Porn Got To Do With It