Silver Lake's sex & relationships expert.

Plus a dachshund invasion, the Dodgers' new art installation, and apartments next to Guisados.

Jul 11, 2025

Happy Friday, everyone. Tonight I’m going to the second-to-last night (ever!) at Melody. The crowds have been out in force since the closure announcement last week, and the restaurant has staffed up accordingly for this weekend. It’ll be a fun night on the patio, see you there?

As always, share the Rag with your friends and follow along on Instagram.

Share The Eastside Rag

📅 Mark your calendar…

Tonight, 7/11: Abby Walker plays her upcoming EP “The Butter” live with a full band for the first time at LAX LA. Doors at 7pm. Tickets are free with an RSVP here, or $10 at the door.
Tonight, 7/11: Glass artist Ben Tuna is hosting an open house at his Glendale studio (518 W. Garfield Avenue) from 5-8pm. Go check out his work, including this Porsche he salvaged from the fires and restored with stained glass.
Tomorrow, 7/12 and Sunday, 7/13: Entire Studios is having a sample sale from 11am-7pm at 3535 S. Broadway Street downtown. Twenty $100 vouchers will be given away at random so…try your luck?
Friday, 7/25: Substack is hosting a reading with Aparna Nancherla, Liz Plank, and the great Viv Chen, among others, at a Korean spa. The theme of the night is desire, and the reading will take place in the spa baths, so bring a suit.

Karley Sciortino knows sex (and Charli XCX).

This week, the Rag’s all about finding love (or if nothing else, lust). NYMag reported yesterday that Gen Z isn’t having enough sex — apparently, “only 56% of Gen Z adults … said they were involved in a romantic relationship at any point during their teenage years.” Here’s hoping the singles roundup (and perhaps…an in-person event?) will be a small step towards reversing this trend.

To bring our sex and relationships-themed week full circle, today’s interview is with the east side’s very own sex and relationships columnist. Karley Sciortino launched the seminal blog Slutever while living in a London squatters’ colony, writes about relationships for Vogue, and wrote the upcoming film I Want Your Sex, based loosely on her experiences as the assistant to a Manhattan dominatrix. It stars Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, and Charli XCX.

Now based in Silver Lake, Karley joins us to talk sex reporting, the movie, and how the discourse is (or isn’t) different in LA.

You started your blog while living in a squatting commune in London. Tell me a bit about that experience.

It was 2007, and I had recently dropped out of college after a single semester. I was living in an abandoned elevator factory for free with like, 15 people. I’d always wanted to be a writer — I wanted to be a playwright, or write movies. I truly didn’t think [the blog] would amount to anything. I was just like, “This is a way for me to practice writing.” And I was living in this bizarro environment, there were lots of stories — it was almost this way to keep a record of what was going on in the house. So I was interviewing people I was squatting with, writing about their sex lives, just telling stupid stories. It sort of got successful by accident.

You’ve written about all kinds of things in the sex and relationships space — from dating to sex parties and everything in between. Was there ever anything you were nervous to touch?

There definitely was. When I first started writing about sex there were things [that seemed taboo] that don’t even seem taboo now. I was really interested in sex work right from the beginning. There was a woman I was living with who was escorting, so I interviewed her about how she got off on the transactional component of that. There were some negative comments at the time … it was something some people were put off by.
And when I moved to New York in 2010, I started assisting this dominatrix. I’d been shadowing her and writing about her for Vice. This was pre-Fifty Shades of Grey, before BDSM was mainstream enough that you could, you know, buy a paddle at Victoria’s Secret. I didn’t realize one could make so much money in downtown Manhattan, just, like, peeing on random guys from New Jersey. I started interviewing people who came into her dungeon, and at the time that felt kind of transgressive.

You’ve lived in London, New York, and LA. Is the discourse around sex and sexuality different from city to city?

Oh my God, wow, I don’t think I’ve ever thought about that. That’s really interesting. I think it has so much to do with the age and community I was in. When I was in London, I was in my late teens and early twenties with a group of, you know, hyper-progressive dirtbag anarchists. They were permissive of pretty much anything. And then in New York, there’s kind of a devil-may-care, Candace Bushnell-leftover, irreverent attitude about sex and dating. It can be fun and funny and intoxicating, but not the most…human always. Then when I was in my early thirties, I moved to LA. I think dating is different here because it’s so formal. You’re getting in a car, you’re getting in an Uber, everything feels very set up and intentional.

What’s the best part of writing about sex and relationships?

First of all, it’s fun because I get funny access to weird things. Like, the kind of stuff I would never authentically do by myself, but I can be part of the community for a little while as a slightly objective outsider. I recently wrote this article for Richardson Magazine, and I went to a bunch of LA sex parties that I didn’t have to pay for. Everything from warehouse parties downtown to super high-end luxury ones that cost $5,000 to get in. It’s fun to go and be a voyeur and interview people about why they’re there.

Has reporting on sex influenced your own sex life?

I was just talking about this the other day…there’s an aspect of like, if this wasn’t my job, would I have had a lot of the experiences I’ve had? Probably not. But I think there’s part of me that chose this job to have an excuse to do some of this shit. It’s like, did I go to a sex party as a journalist, or because I wanted to be there? And what’s the difference, really?

What topic are you dying to tackle next?

I’m writing something now about open relationships. What I’ve found interesting is that whenever you bring up non-monogamy, it’s such a hot button topic. Everybody has an opinion — a really strong opinion. Whichever side you’re on, you have to defend the wall a bit.

You wrote I Want Your Sex, which recently wrapped production. What can you say about it?

I’m so excited that it got made, and Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman are both so incredible. It’s about this famous artist who forms a sort of questionable sexual relationship with her intern. It’s a complicated power dynamic between them, and it’s based on something that happened to me in my twenties, but gender-reversed. It’s actually the first screenplay I ever wrote — I wrote the first draft of this movie when I was 27. It took a long time to get made, you know how it goes.

The sexiest spot on the east side is…

Lolo Wine Bar. It’s sort of like a garden, and you lose track of the fact that you’re in Thai Town. When you’re on a date, you don’t want the place to feel too romantic or fancy, because then it becomes a weird high pressure situation. But Lolo is chic, it’s relaxed, and there’s great lighting.

The coolest east sider is…

Miranda July. All Fours changed my life. I’ve never read a book twice in the span of one month in my life. She’s so cool and smart. Like, she’s a fucking maniac.

Your top three east side spots are…

Colombo’s, it’s this old-school Italian red sauce place. The vibe is impeccable — my friends call it the poor man’s Musso [& Frank]. The waiters have been working there since seemingly the dawn of time, and they have alcohol, but you can also bring your own. Also Blair’s in Silver Lake. The food is amazing and the vibe is so great. It’s a low key local spot, but you also get the best celebrity sightings. I saw Meryl Streep there with her girlfriends — just like, six old friends having dinner in the neighborhood — and I saw Kevin Bacon there with his family. And I’m obsessed with Kitchen Mouse.

🍽️ And now for some table scraps…

Justin Bieber launched his second apparel line, Skylrk. Everyone’s talking about his new album, but he also dropped a collection of colorful hats, sunglasses, and tank tops yesterday. The prices are reasonable, and you can clearly see Justin’s style reflected in the brand’s goods. I would, however, like a word with whoever decided to drop the second vowel.
The Dodgers redesigned the tunnel to their team clubhouse — and included a mosaic by a 96-year-old artist. Janet Bennett never got public credit for the mosaic tile murals she completed at LAX in 1961. But the Dodgers got in touch and installed a mosaic inspired by her originals. The team now passes by her work before each game.
A new law requires California bars to stock lids for drinks. You’ll only get one if you ask, though.
168 new apartments are going in next to Guisados in Echo Park. If approved, the project will include 128 low-income units, 33 moderate-income units, and a manager’s apartment.
The dachshunds are coming to the east side. No link, just an observation. When I lived in New York, every other girl in the West Village had a dachshund or two. I’ve been seeing a lot of them at Canyon recently. I don’t know what it means yet, but I know it means something.
Broadway Cuisine has reopened in Chinatown. This restaurant has, bar none, the best facade in the city.
Luma AI opened an LA studio. Backed by the likes of Nvidia and Andreessen Horowitz, the Palo Alto-based startup’s Dream Lab LA will serve as an incubator for AI entertainment initiatives. Luma’s founder, Amit Jain, who previously worked on Apple’s Vision Pro offering, said that while most entertainment companies collectively panic about AI, he’s looking to “build what everyone else is still guessing at.”
- Speaking of Nvidia, it just became the first public company to hit a $4 trillion market cap. If you invested $10k in Nvidia 10 years ago, it’d be worth about $2.1mm today.
Cabra is closing atop the Hoxton downtown. There’s apparently a new concept coming in, but this space has turned over a lot.
Larry David is returning to HBO. For a sketch series produced by Barack Obama.
Elsewhere in the WBD universe, there’s drama behind the scenes at HGTV. Several shows have been canceled recently, and their stars are….not being shy about their distaste for the network and its execs.
Full Circle Thrift has reopened in Altadena for the first time since the fires.
If you and a few friends have budget for a rental, this place is interesting.
And if you have BUDGET, I’d suggest this manse in Los Feliz. The front facade isn’t totally working for me, but the living room is amazing. If you have this kind of budget, you should also be pledging a lot of money to the Rag. Just saying.