And you can swear, you listen to it for the articles!
The Houston-based nonprofit Taping For The Blind specializes in broadcasting audio version of print materials for the visually-impaired. Every week, listeners can tune in to hear one of their volunteers read Sports Illustrated, The Atlantic — and Playboy.
As the Associated Press reports:
Each week, for an hour, [Suzi] Hanks snuggles close to a microphone in a tiny soundproof closet, reading — and describing in great detail — portions of the latest Playboy issue for the blind.
“I don’t have to try to read it sexy,” laughs Hanks, one of about 200 volunteers… “I just read it, and I’m a woman, and that’s pretty much sexy.”
Before you laugh, remember that Playboy is well-known for the high quality of both its fiction and its journalism. It’s one of the best-paying magazines for short stories, and its profiles of George Steinbrenner and John Lennon are among the best of their respective subjects.
But, yes, Playboy also has pictures of women without clothes in it, and Hanks describes them as well. As she explains in an interview, “There are naked women to look at, and they’re beautiful. And if someone who doesn’t have sight wants to know what a pretty woman looks like, that’s what it’s for.”
Listeners aren’t complaining. As one, Bob Bartlett of Houston, tells the AP:
“I listen to her every chance. […] It really is one of my favorite shows. Some people say it’s filth. It’s not. She helps me be current in pop culture.”