Damek.

(presented without explanation …other than that polyamory’s great if for nothing else than giving us frubble and new relationship energy!)

Good Starting Points:

• Franklin’s polyamory FAQ — quite possibly the place to send anyone who wants to learn about the topic
• June 2007 Salon article on the Florida Poly Retreat — a nice, nonsensationalist article on poly that gives a great view of real poly people

Going Further In Depth:

• Polyamorous Percolations — “Expanding the notion of family into the realm formerly occupied by community.” Good place to visit once you’ve figured out what poly is — especially, for example, the Ready or Not? section.
• Polyamory Weekly podcast & blog (iTunes link) — “Responsible non-monogamy from a kink-friendly, pansexual point of view” — both a great blog and a great podcast. The blog is mostly show notes for each podcast, with links for any relevant material, but also has some good stand-alone posts like this one about an ad for Big Love, this thoughtful post about meeting metamours (your partner’s other lovers) and the dilemmas involved (something treated on the podcast a bit, too) … and, why not, this old & short but fun one about loving “being the freaks!”

  The podcast itself is a stimulating grab bag of poly-related discussion & more, including questions, answers and comments from listeners, by email and phone, which make it an interesting dialog rather than a quickly boring monologue. I’m enjoying all of them, but particularly good shows include:

  • #85: Historical Monogamy — a look at its real past and origins
  • #84: Long-Distance Relationships — the host and her then-boyfriend’s other girlfriend discuss new relationship energy, long distance love, the slippery slope argument and other things.
  • #93: Michelle Belanger Talks Tolerance — interview with great insights into intolerance, not poly-specific, with good advice about “coming out” about anything non-traditional

  Also good are the Sept. 15 Special Edition: Poly Guys, a candid & casual discussion between two poly guys, and #96: Poly Roundtable, a discussion with “a lot of folks around the table — monogamists, long-time polyamorists, young poly newbies, cancer survivors and Asperger’s sufferers — a little bit of everyone.” And in general any of the shows about jealousy are good, though as I say that I’m only up to show #96 and there are 112 now.

• The Polyamorous Misanthrope — sort of an advice blog, covering some of the same topics/discussion space as the Polyamory Weekly podcast
• Polyamory in the Media — a great self-explanatory blog, covering treatment of polyamory by tv, books, dating websites, etc.
• Control Tower — Mistress Matisse’s column in The Stranger, “Seattle’s only newspaper” — a more general sex column, but she sometimes talks about polyamory, like in this good one about FGOs, “fucking growth opportunities,” “To be translated as ‘this really, really sucks, but I’m trying to get something positive out of it.’”

Just For Fun:

• Probably unintentinally poly-friendly “one family, many hearts” pendant — very nice!