The Orbit: May 30
This week on Planet Nude: Denny Blaine goes to court, AI sparks debate, and H&E enters a new era
This week on Planet Nude
Naturists spend a surprising amount of time arguing about representation for a movement supposedly centered on simply taking your clothes off. Courts argue about it. Artists argue about it. Publishers argue about it. This week, several of Planet Nude’s biggest stories all arrived at the same question from different directions: who gets to decide what the unclothed body means?
Denny Blaine is on the forefront again this week, as trial finally began in Seattle, opening what is expected to be a month-long proceeding over one of North America’s most closely watched nude beaches. Planet Nude has followed the story for years because the dispute increasingly feels larger than the beach itself. What began as a local conflict now reaches into constitutional claims, historical recordkeeping, expert testimony, queer heritage, and competing visions of public space. Like Hanlan’s Point before it, Denny Blaine is becoming a test of whether nude places are easier to defend when they are understood as cultural landmarks rather than simply places where nudity occurs.
A very different debate unfolded around Brett Marcella’s artist-led response to generative AI. The article struck a nerve with readers, drawing comments, messages, and disagreement from across the community. Beneath the immediate arguments about technology sits a deeper question about authenticity. Naturism has spent generations arguing that real bodies matter, real experiences matter, and real human presence matters. AI arrives directly on that fault line. Whether readers agree with the artists’ conclusions or not, the intensity of the response suggests this conversation is only getting started.
Questions of preservation surfaced elsewhere this week as H&E Naturist, the world’s longest-running naturist magazine, changed ownership and announced the end of its print edition. The move reflects economic realities facing niche publishing, but it also marks the close of a remarkable chapter in nudist media history. For more than a century, H&E has documented the movement’s arguments, aspirations, controversies, and contradictions. Its future now moves fully into the digital world alongside much of the media ecosystem that grew up around it.
Check out these stories and more from this week on Planet Nude. 🚀
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News of the Nude
Rather than our usual abbreviated News of the Nude selections, this week we’re pointing readers to the full May edition, which landed Friday.
This month’s issue includes Brighton’s postponed World Naked Bike Ride, Boston’s museum controversy over a nude performance piece, Pamela Redmond’s Old Woman Naked, London’s annual bike ride debate, British Naturism’s latest tabloid battle, Cap d’Agde’s recurring swinger panic, and much more.
Discord Dispatch
The Planet Nude Discord spent the week comparing nude camping plans, hot springs trips, race-day goals, and personal nudist bucket lists as members geared up for summer adventures.
Wednesday’s guided nude meditation session with Richard Dewey drew a strong turnout and plenty of positive feedback afterward. For many attendees it was a first experience with structured meditation, and the event sparked enough interest that we’re already discussing future community programs and workshops.
Upcoming in the Discord:
Date TBA — Reverse strip poker game night
Join us at discord.gg/8gt7D6ssMd — or click here to learn more.
Featured: 1 Naturist Life
The article argues that naturism can function as a powerful alternative to traditional digital detox methods, which often rely on apps or willpower and tend to fail. It suggests that naturist environments naturally reduce phone use by removing both the practicality and social expectation of being connected, encouraging greater presence, reduced stress, and improved mental clarity through direct sensory engagement with nature and others.
The Orbit is Planet Nude’s weekly digest. Published every Saturday. 🪐
Writing from the other side of the pond, I can't say I know much about the Denny Blaine issue, apart from your articles. However as soon as I read "queer heritage" I knew that is part of the problem / struggle. Whatever happens, those standing against the nude beach will always use the queer issue as an excuse as to why they don't want more nudity. They will always make it sexual. So the naturist community must separate nudity issues from sexuality. The only "heritage" to be fought for is the Nudist heritage. Don't blur the lines and don't give these bigots excuses for their prejudices.