Andy Bandyopadhyay, PhD

I help us have better conversations about our most intimate relationships, one story at a time. We can only work with what we’re willing to acknowledge in plain daylight, with a hefty dose of evidence, empathy, and humor.

Gender and sexuality

Everyone deserves to live with joy: to feel fully alive, surrounded by people who love them for who they are. I write, speak, and tell stories to transform the shame we carry around our bodies.

Finance and technology

Everyone deserves a roof over their head, food on the table, and a saner relationship with technology. I build software to measure financial health, and I write, speak, and tell stories to transform the shame we carry around money.

Credentials

Georgia Tech PhD in science and technology policy. Rice BA in the anthropology of science and technology. Fintech leadership roles at Attune, the Financial Health Network, Even, and Varo. SFSI-certified sex educator. Bawdy Storyteller. San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus singer, storyteller, and interviewer.

All opinions and stories are my own.

Writing

What is tucking? (WebMD)

Thank you for your interest in Canada (Foglifter 7.2 — print only)

For trans kids, bathroom choice matters (WebMD)

Can I still take testosterone if I have polycystic ovarian syndrome? Amy Weimer of UCLA’s Gender Health Program explains how PCOS works when you’re trans (Xtra Magazine)

Erotic model (and musical theatre guy) David Pevsner reveals how he got to where he is now: Author, actor and sex worker David Pevsner talks about his new memoir, “Damn Shame” (Xtra Magazine)

How a story about spanking helped me find myself (Xtra Magazine)

Navigating love and life with compassion and grace: A conversation with S. Bear Bergman on his new illustrated advice book, “Special Topics in Being a Human” (Xtra Magazine)

Ask an expert: How to make schools safer for LGBTQ2S+ youth (Xtra Magazine)

A trans man modelled nude for 150 photographers, and fell in love with his body (Xtra Magazine)

Ask an expert: How to get started with dominance and submission: Rope bondage expert Midori on playful, lighthearted, compassionate kink (Xtra Magazine)

Ask an expert: Everything you want to know about making porn, but were too afraid to ask (Xtra Magazine)

Ask an expert: How to navigate addiction during the pandemic (Xtra Magazine)

Ask an expert: How to be a better hookup: An interview with Allison Moon, author of Getting It (Xtra Magazine)

Ask an expert: Decoding vaginismus (Xtra Magazine)

Ask an expert: New to fisting? Here’s our handy guide (Xtra Magazine)

A former dyke narrates his experiences on Grindr (Xtra Magazine)

How to go to your first sex party (Xtra Magazine)

7 steps to open up your relationship (Xtra Magazine)

Ask an expert: Everything you need to know about binding and packing safely (Xtra Magazine)

I’m a trans man with a straight cis husband. We’re ready to start a family (Xtra Magazine)

Ask an expert: Is it safe to tuck? (Xtra Magazine)

Imagining a Better Future for Trans Kids: An Interview with Lexie Bean, Author of The Ship We Built (Honeysuckle Magazine)

New School Alum Erin Khar Shares Her Struggle with Heroin in Memoir “Strung Out” (The New School Free Press)

From UI to UX: Building Ethnographic Praxis in a Usability Engineering Culture with Becky Buck (Proceedings of the Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference)

Firm strategies in scientific labor markets (PhD dissertation at Georgia Tech)

Speaking

Invited Speaker, Berry College MBA program, Strategic Use of Information Technology: “User Research and Data Science for Founders,” March 2022

Invited Speaker, University of California at Berkeley Haas School of Business, Founder Workshop: “User Research Skills for Founders,” February 2022

Invited Speaker for Pride Month at Xero, “Queer Intersections in Finance and Technology,” June 2021

Invited Speaker, Berry College MBA program, Strategic Use of Information Technology: “User Research and Data Science for Founders,” March 2021

Invited Speaker, University of California at Berkeley Haas School of Business, Founder Workshop: “User Research Skills for Founders,” February 2021

Invited Speaker for The Big Idea series at the Financial Health Network’s annual All Staff meeting, January 2020

Panelist, Springboard Rise 2019, “Career Growth in a Fast-Growing Data Science Org,” September 2019

Panelist, Sacramento State Wellness Education Sex Week 2020, “Every Body Can Do It (Or Not)”

Panelist, Sacramento State Wellness Education Sex Week 2019, “Every Body Can Do It (Or Not)”

Invited Speaker, Do More Photographers, “I Told My Straight Husband I Was a Man,” 2019

Panelist and Moderator, Camp Do More 2019, “Sexuality and LGBTQ+ 101 for Boudoir Photographers”

Invited Speaker, with Becky Buck, at the Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference in São Paulo, Brazil: “From UI to UX: Building Ethnographic Praxis in a Usability Engineering Culture,” 2015

Bawdy Storytelling performances about sex and gender, for adult ears only

Season 6, Episode 199: Winning the Trans Olympics: The birth of a long-distance fuckship (recorded live on Zoom on August 29, 2020)

Live show, May 2, 2020: Collection: The making of a man in six dicks

Season 5, Episode 84: Plot Twist: How I told my straight husband I was a man (recorded live at the Verdi Club in San Francisco on July 18, 2019)

Interviews about money

Money Diaries by Varo

Episode 1: Here’s the flour, here’s the sugar

Episode 2: I think of money like a fair weather friend

Episode 3: Success forced me to make a decision

Episode 4: Money is a tool I use

Episode 5: The answer to our prayers

Episode 6: Hustle, hustle, hustle

Press

Forget the Fancy Proposal. Let’s Just Get Married. (New York Times)

Open marriage, transitioning and play parties: one couple’s story of their thriving poly love life (Equally Wed)

Gay-owned bank taps into digital financial future (Bay Area Reporter)

Work with me

Let’s tell stories together.

hello (at) andybandyopadhyay.com

Credits

Photo by Shannon Dougherty

Readings

I’d love to read to you. Sign up for audio of essay readings and story performances.