21: Ashley Mathews (aka Riley Reid) - The mogul and brains behind America's Sweetheart: Difference between revisions

== Transcript ==

'''Eric Weinstein: [0:00]''' It is a very simple observation that sex is sexy, that is almost but not quite a tautology. Yet its implications seem, at least to me, to be quite profound and easily missed. Given that one could argue from first principles that sex is ultimately one of the most powerful forces shaping human society. But whenever we attempt to discuss sex directly, our autonomic nervous system becomes engaged if we're not very careful.  '''[0:24]''' As the comedian Tom Lehrer once said, "When correctly viewed, everything is lewd". If you look hard enough, you will see that nearly every sentence has a double entendre like that last one. '''[0:34]''' As a result, when we attempt to analyze and discuss sex and sexuality using our prefrontal cortex, the conversation almost reliably goes off the rails with a probability approaching one, as our lower brains become engaged, aroused, and amused. '''[0:48]''' It's almost designed not to be discussable. Yet there are two groups of people I see who do better than the rest of us in this regard. Some academics such as evolutionary theorists, physicians and sex researchers, commercial sex workers. '''[1:02]''' In this episode, I'm interviewing one of the world's most famous actresses. Yet Her name is all but unknown. She is Ashley Matthews, creator of Riley Reid, one of the top porn stars of our time. My goal in this conversation is to try to stop sex from becoming sexy just long enough so that we might learn a little bit more about how the pornography community and its civilian clientele are now interacting. '''[1:23]''' Now you may wish to say that you have never found pornography interesting, but that doesn't make a lot of sense when you consider that an individual's desire to avoid it doesn't stop it from affecting society as a whole. '''[1:33]''' Like it or not, pornography is like dark matter forming an Einstein lens with an immense gravitational field affecting everything around it. You don't have to watch it directly to feel it distorting us by monitoring our hypocrisy so that it can cater to our denied selves. '''[1:48]''' It also presents a strange mirror to our society. As if there were a Newton's law for pornography. It appears that everything we do here on Earth in civilian life is mirrored on planet porn. They have a wage gap. But one that at least naively goes in the other direction. '''[2:02]''' When I call Ashley at her office, she has to be sexy to our co workers simply to be professional, and she claims that her experience with onset harassment is near zero. Now I'm in no position to evaluate these claims, but it takes some getting used to. And just like another planet, there may be no easy way back from a one way ticket to becoming well known as a performer. '''[2:23]''' Now, I should probably describe the ground rules for the conversation you're about to hear so that you can better understand the context of the episode. '''[2:29]''' I asked Ashley to humor me and we would both try to lay off explicit language for the most part. We also agreed that we were not going to talk about sex much whether we were going to try to talk around it. I'm sure the ratings will suffer as a result, but if I'm honest, I'm not really that interested in interviewing the character of Riley Reid. '''[2:44]''' I'm sure that would have been fun. But here I get to do something far more interesting because I'm talking to the person Ashley Matthews, both created her and plays her. I told Ashley that I wanted to present her in a light in which she is seldom seen. '''[2:56]''' She is by nature playful and charming and that comes through here at times which is all hugely successful and courageous as a businesswoman who has stayed for years at the top of one of the world's most brutal occupations with her charm and her sweetness seemingly intact. '''[3:09]''' The woman is polite to a fault and humble whenever we speak. She has few if any of the attributes we usually associate with stereotypes of erotic performers or commercial sex workers. She's also embraced her own bodily vulnerabilities as assets rather than deficits. And she's induced others to talk about such things in public. '''[3:27]''' In that respect, at a bare minimum, she is a role model to us all. So the subject here is not actually as a performer, but instead her as an observer and analyst. I don't ask her about details of her sex life because I view everybody's personal sex life, including a porn stars', as none of anyone else's business and a healthy society. If that is what you're looking for, you can find it almost anyone else's interview of Ashley. '''[3:51]''' Instead, in the midst of what appears to be peak shame of a new worldwide shame kink bubble, fueled by social media, actually is one of the few free voices having lost go learn how to turn our shame and discomfort into her profitable business with recurring revenue. '''[4:06]''' As a result, we get to discuss terrifying topics like the awesome power of the state to harass and target businesses like hers working within our legal framework. This is done by trying behind the scenes to make their access to banking and commercial services far more difficult such as happened during the Obama era is quiet operation choke point. '''[4:25]''' Well, I find this appalling and disturbing. We also need to discuss other means for facing disturbing trends that are going under analyzed within the pornographic industry. Perhaps the most disturbing of these is the mainstreaming and promotion of so called incest porn on the "Tube" sites which serve up free videos to anyone with an internet connection and a willingness to get past modest access controls.  '''[4:46]''' This is a challenge given the obvious risks and concerns to anyone who believes in free speech absolutism. I hope you give Ashley a chance that this gives us all food for thought. It's a tough conversation, but with a kind and wonderful subject. Without further ado, I bring you miss Ashley Matthews. '''[5:07]''' Hello, you found the portal. I'm your host, Eric Weinstein. I'm here in studio with a special guest today, Ashley Matthews. Ashley, thanks for coming by the portal.