Consider Before Consuming

Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussions of human trafficking and exploitation. Listener discretion is advised.

Preston Goff is the Vice President of Global Communications at The Exodus Road, a global nonprofit organization working to prevent human trafficking, support survivors, and bring traffickers to justice.
Preston has spent years working alongside investigators, survivor advocates, and law enforcement around the world. In this conversation, we discuss the connection between pornography consumption and demand for commercial sexual exploitation, how social media is changing the landscape of trafficking, and why prevention is just as important as intervention.
What is human trafficking, and does it always involve kidnapping? Is there a connection between pornography and sex trafficking? How are traffickers using social media to recruit victims? Can platforms like OnlyFans contribute to exploitation? Preston helps unpack these questions while exploring why retrafficking happens, how to talk with young people about exploitation without creating shame, and what each of us can do to become part of the solution.

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 by signing up at http://ftnd.org/joinrelay.

Episode Resources:
The Exodus Road
Stop The Demand
Podcast: Consider Before Consuming Ep. 137: Louie Greek
Conversation Blueprint: Let's Talk About Porn

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Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussions of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, physical violence, coercion, and abuse. Listener discretion is advised.

A recent trafficking investigation involving an OnlyFans content operation has sparked headlines across the country. Authorities allege that teenage girls were recruited with promises of money and independence, only to face coercion, violence, and exploitation behind the scenes.
In this bonus episode, Elisabeth and Scott break down the details of the case, discuss why it challenges common assumptions about platforms like OnlyFans, and explore the broader connection between pornography, exploitation, and demand.
What is the Bellevue OnlyFans mansion case? Is OnlyFans linked to human trafficking? How do content creators get recruited into the adult industry? And can viewers know whether pornographic content was created consensually?
Through the lens of this case, they discuss why exploitation can be difficult to identify, how social media and online platforms can normalize the industry, and what it means to address not only the abuse itself, but the demand that makes it profitable.

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This episode contains discussions of sexual violence and child sexual abuse. Listener discretion is advised.
Clare McGlynn is a professor of law at Durham University and an expert on violence against women and girls.
Clare has spent years researching the ways pornography, technology, and online platforms shape culture, influence sexual norms, and contribute to harmful attitudes and behaviors. In this conversation, we discuss how algorithms influence what people see on porn platforms, why certain themes and behaviors have become increasingly common in mainstream pornography, and what that means for how people understand sex, consent, and relationships.
Why has choking become so common among young people? Does pornography influence attitudes toward consent? What is "sleep porn," and why is it allowed on mainstream platforms? How are AI chatbots and deepfakes creating entirely new forms of abuse? Clare helps unpack these questions while exploring the broader cultural impact of pornography and emerging technologies.
We also discuss the growing popularity of "barely legal" content, the normalization of rough sex, and why technologies like AI and virtual reality may be amplifying harms that already exist online.

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Brian Schillingburg is a former school principal and recovery coach who spent 25 years working with students before his own struggle with pornography escalated into behavior that ultimately led to his arrest.
Drawing from decades in schools, Brian shares what he's seen as pornography and sexualized content have become increasingly accessible to young people. He discusses the realities of early exposure, how pornography can shape expectations around relationships and sexuality, and why many parents underestimate what young people are navigating online today.
Brian also shares his personal story, including his first exposure to pornography as a child, how it became a coping mechanism for stress and pain, and how years of use eventually escalated into buying sex. He opens up about the arrest that changed his life, the impact it had on his family and career, and what accountability, recovery, and rebuilding have looked like since.

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 by signing up at http://ftnd.org/joinrelay.

Episode Resources:
Article: What 25 Years in Schools Taught Me About Early Porn Exposure
Article: When Porn Use Shatters Trust: A Therapist Explains Betrayal Trauma
Podcast: Consider Before Consuming Ep. 162: Chris Bennett
The 9th Inning Project
Demand Disruption

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

What happens when the person you trust most is secretly violating that trust for years?
In this episode of Consider Before Consuming, Zoe Watts shares her story of discovering that her husband had been drugging and sexually assaulting her while she slept. Zoe opens up about the confusion and disbelief she experienced, why it took time to fully understand what had happened, and the emotional and physical toll the trauma left behind.
Zoe also discusses how abuse within marriage is often minimized or misunderstood, the harmful cultural messages that blur the lines around consent, and the disturbing online communities built around sharing and consuming nonconsensual “sleep content.”
After her story became part of a major CNN investigation into online sexual exploitation, Zoe founded End Eye Check, an advocacy movement focused on raising awareness around drug-facilitated sexual abuse and supporting survivors.
In this episode, we discuss how sexual abuse can hide within long-term relationships, why some survivors struggle to recognize abuse right away, how online communities normalize exploitative content, and what healing can look like after trauma.

Episode Resources:
Victim Resources
End Eye Check: Join The Campaign
CNN Article: Exposing a global ‘rape academy’
Article: She Was Asleep While It Happened: Gisèle Pelicot and the Disturbing Rise of “Sleep Porn”
Podcast: Consider Before Consuming Ep. 163: Amanda Stanhope

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