Airing Our Dirty Laundry

Episode will release on the 6th November 2026

What happens to love, sex and intimacy as we get older, and why can these subjects become harder to talk about when someone moves into a care home?

Airing Our Dirty Laundry explores ageing and sexuality through research, lived experience and art. Professor Sharron Hinchliff from the University of Sheffield researches sexual health and wellbeing in later life, including the experiences of older adults living in care homes and the staff who support them.

Sex, relationships and intimacy can remain an important part of life as we age. But older people can face stereotypes that suggest sexuality no longer matters to them. In care homes, staff may also have to navigate questions around privacy, relationships, consent, family expectations and a resident's right to make their own choices.

For Festival of the Mind, ceramic artist Angie Hardwick has worked with Sharron to turn these conversations into an installation centred around a washing line of ceramic underwear. Each piece helps tell a story about intimacy, identity, dignity and relationships in later life.

In this podcast, Sharron talks about the research behind Airing Our Dirty Laundry and how the installation came to fruition. She talks about why sexuality in older age can still feel taboo, what care home staff told researchers about supporting residents, and how art can create space for conversations that people may otherwise avoid.

The episode asks us to think differently about ageing, intimacy and sexual wellbeing, and about what it means to respect people's relationships and choices throughout their lives.