Checking in on Natalie Dylan'svirginity auction

Back in September, a woman going by the name of "Natalie Dylan" (right) announced to Howard Stern that she was auctioning off her virginity to the highest bidder. The deed was to be done at the Bunny Ranch, which sounds about right since we are talking about prostitution here. Two months and 10,000 emails later, bidding is up to $3.8 million* and her story has been all over the media, from CNN to Tyra Banks.

Now Canada's CBC Radio, a rare intelligent voice in this discussion, weighs in with an interview with "Natalie" and a smart conversation with two feminists, author/editor/playright Susan Cole and columnist/sex worker Sasha.

The media frenzy is fascinating, mostly because none of this is new: Woman have always sold their bodies for money, virginity has always fetched a high premium, and young women have long believed that their strongest and sometimes only source of power is their sexuality.

What is somewhat new is that the money is being raised to pay for higher education, begging the question "Why is college so expensive??"

For the full CBC broadcast, click here. There's no time code, so click in about 1/3 of the way through the bar to start with the "Natalie Dylan" interview.

* The US is a good market for this sort of thing. Rosie Reed auctioned off her virginity in the UK (her straight one, that is. She was a sexually experienced lesbian) and only made about $15K