Santos:  Tell us about growing up and wanting to come to the United States and what inspired you and what got you here.
Dr. Z:  I was a very rebellious teenager.  My parents were anti-Communists, so I got a lot of interesting information early on.  My dad used to listen to The Voice of America, and I was fascinated by all things American.  So I made it my goal to learn English and other languages, and I made it my goal to travel to the U.S.  So when I turned sixteen, I became the first exchange student from the Ukraine to come to the United States. 
Santos:  How did that feel, leaving your family and coming over here all by yourself?  
Dr. Z:  It was very scary to leave my country and come here.  I was only sixteen and I had no money and was being totally sponsored by a college in Pensacola, Florida and a few other sponsors.  It was very scary and I probably only had $20 in my pocket, that’s it.  I didn’t know what to expect, but I was very excited and I was always a risk taker, so it worked out for me. 
Santos:  How did the United States differ from what you had known in the Soviet Union?  
Dr. Z:  The first thing that struck me about the U.S. was how much people smiled.  I’d never seen so many smiles in my life.  Because Soviet people didn’t smile a lot, it was a cultural thing, and in a way everyone was really serious, so I was amazed at how happy people seemed. And then I remember my first trip to the grocery store and I was amazed with all the opulence and the cornucopia of stuff everywhere.  Popcorn, I’d never seen that before.  Waterbeds were pretty amazing.  I’d never seen a microwave before coming to the U.S. 
Santos:  Have you been back?
Dr. Z:  I’ve been back a few times.  My latest visit was about five years ago, and we ended up selling our apartment in Kiev, Ukraine, because my mom, dad and sister are here now.  So we had no use for it anymore, and things have changed dramatically since the time of Soviet era. 
Santos:  How have things changed?
Dr. Z:  It’s really complicated from the point of view of having freedoms.  Freedom of speech, expression, it’s definitely much, much better.  People are much more free to express themselves and be who they want to be.  But in terms of poverty, it’s really tough, because in the Ukraine right now you have two percent who are really, really rich.  The majority of the population is really struggling right now. 
Santos:  You started school in Florida and you graduated from…?
Dr. Z:  I did my undergrad in Florida and I finished up in here in Pennsylvania at the West Chester University.  I graduated at eighteen.  I was kind of a bookworm for a long time. I’ve always been interested in psychology.  At seventeen, I got married to my first husband, who was an attorney, so he encouraged me to study law because he said it was more lucrative and there were more things you could do with it.  Then I came across this program that was law and clinical psychology, so it seemed to fill both my needs.  I always liked psychology, but he wanted me to study law, so that’s what I decided to do.
Santos:  So you came over, met him, and he was twice your age?
Dr. Z:  Yes, he was twice my age.  He was my immigration attorney.  He was the one I turned to, to try and extend my Visa.  He said:  “I really can’t extend your Visa, it’s a non-extendable student Visa, but I can marry you.”  So we got married here in Las Vegas.  
Santos:  Really.  Were you in love?
Dr. Z:  I liked him.  I was into him, but I wouldn’t have married at seventeen, had I not needed a Visa.  I would have dated some more.  I would definitely have waited to get married.
Santos:  Were you sexual at that point in your life before you came here?
Dr. Z:  I was very precocious sexually.  I was a precocious teenager. The eighties in Russia was equivalent to the sixties here.  Sexual revolution, freedom, it was our way of rebelling.  I’ve had boyfriends since I was fourteen years old.   
Santos:  You go to school.  You become a doctor.  You were married at that point, why did you decide to send pictures to Playboy?
Dr. Z:  Well, the way it worked out…in my second year of graduate school, I decided I no longer wanted to be married.  My ex-husband was a Playboy, Penthouse collector.  He had all these magazines around.  We went to Chicago for an International Law Convention and I met a scout from Playboy that suggested I pose for Playboy.  At first, I thought it was a pickup line or a joke, but then it kind of got in my head and I mentioned it to my ex-husband and he was kind of dubious, but said alright, he’d take a few pictures.  We sent them in and they called and said they wanted me in Playboy.  It happened really fast.  I wasn’t sure that it was what I really wanted, but it was a kind of independence and the $25,000 helped me leave my marriage and be on my own.   
Santos:  So he wasn’t the love of your life or anything like that?
Dr. Z:  No, he was a nice guy, but he was a lot older and he had problems.  He had substance abuse issues.  He’d drink heavily and he was a heavy gambler, so we had issues.  I think if he’d stopped drinking and gotten his act together it would have been better.  He actually got disbarred while I was married to him for all kinds of ethical issues. 
Santos:  What do you think about substance abuse problems?  Have you ever had any issues yourself and do you tolerate that in friends and family?
Dr. Z:  When it comes to myself, I’m a health freak.  I never drink, I don’t eat red meat, I take tons of vitamins each day and am obsessed with fitness, health, and longevity is one of my hobbies.  Personally, it’s not my thing.  I think substance abuse is a tough issue.  It affects many, many arenas.  People try to separate it, but I always say that it’s a relationship, and it becomes stronger than any other relationship in your life.  I personally try to stay away from people who have substance abuse issues because of what I had to go through with my ex-husband.   
Santos:  Do you think that stems from your growing up in Russia?  There’s a lot of drinking in Russia.
Dr. Z:  Absolutely.  Two famous uncles on my Mom’s side—they’re actually famous Ukrainian poets—one of them died.  His poetry was in our text books, but they both had heavy substance abuse issues.  One actually died of cirrhosis of the liver.  So I think having seen that made me very cautious about substance abuse issues in general.  So I try to stay away from all that, and I like natural highs.  Natural highs are the best.    
Santos:  So when you shot for Playboy the first time you were a novice model at that point, certainly a novice nude model.  What was that experience like?  How did it change your life when the pictorial came out, and how was it working with the Playboy people?
Dr. Z:  Playboy was an amazing experience, an out of body experience.  It was very strange to stand there naked, and all those people critiquing you;  a very bizarre experience, almost like a dissociated kind of experience.  But it was also very empowering and it changed my life in amazing ways.  I never thought of it… I thought I’d pose for Playboy and nobody would really pay attention and I’ll go on with my schooling and become an attorney, a psychologist.  But it critically derailed my whole life, not in a bad way, but it changed the course of my life.  All of a sudden I became a big celebrity.  I had Entertainment Tonight chasing me around Villanova Law School.  There were all these debates whether I was professional or non-professional.  I was on all the talk shows and on the cover of Philadelphia Magazine.  It really did change my life in so many ways.  That’s when I first considered dabbling in entertainment and modeling.  It’s really amazing. 
Santos:  What drives you more in your life?
Dr. Z:  I’m really primarily an intellectual.  I love writing and I love writing my column for Penthouse.  I’ve written a few books and I’m working on the next one.  So I’m primarily an intellectual, but I’m learning to enjoy the entertainment aspect.  I learned to like modeling and I love being on screen and on TV.  It’s a nice hobby.  I consider the entertainment part a nice hobby.
Santos:  Is it sexual for you?  Does it turn you on that way and get you to a sexual place?
Dr. Z:  Sometimes I do get turned on, I have to admit.  It took me a long time.  I was very uncomfortable and stiff in the beginning.  When I was posing with focus on my body and close picture taking, I was thinking:  ‘Oh, how does this look or that look?’  But now I just go with the flow and just enjoy feeling and moving.  Sometimes I do get turned on and it’s a nice continuity with being a love, sex, dating expert.  It sort of ties in now.
Santos:  Then you went on and were actually one of the few girls who posed for both Playboy and Penthouse.  The magazines have a completely different feel.  What made you decide to pose for Penthouse and what brought you there?
Dr. Z:  I first posed for Playboy and worked with them for many years.  I worked with them from 1993 to 1998.  In 1999, I did their catalog and was their catalog model.  Then there was their videos and Playboy Latin America, their Nudist Choice and Readers Choice and Lingerie Editions.  So I worked a long time with them.  But then, when the internet came about, all my fans were thinking to start my own site.  I started my own site and it was about the same time that Playboy sued Terri Wells for her site.  They didn’t want Playmates to use the word “Playmate”.  We got in all this conflict with Playboy and they said:  “Well, we’ll sensor all the content of your site or you’re on your own.”  At that point I was making more money off my Web site than I was with Playboy.  So it really took off;  my Web site PlanetVictoria.  It was one of the first ones and my fans were saying to pose for Penthouse now.  So it was on a whim and I decided:  ‘Why not!’  So I shot with Carl Wachter and became the June 2002 Pet of the Month and then 2004 Pet of the Year.  I was really shocked because Hef and Guccione had very different tastes in women.  I was one of the few things they ever agreed on.  So not only becoming Pet of the Month and then Pet of the Year, having been in Playboy was an issue for Penthouse, but they got over it, which was also amazing.  Then I developed a really great relationship with Penthouse.  I’m writing for them.  I write for Penthouse Forum and I write a column on law and psychology, for Penthouse magazine, itself;  kind of on law and sexuality issues.  I replaced Xavier Hollander.     
Santos:  You publish every month with them.  That’s quite a bit of work.  How much time do you spend every month writing for your columns?
Dr. Z:  I do a lot of research, which I don’t even consider it work sometimes, because I enjoy it so much.  I go through the latest magazines and read the love, dating and sexuality and then I go through all the letters that come in from the readers.
Santos:  How many letters do you think come in from the readers monthly?
Dr. Z:  Well, now it’s less and less written letters and more E-mails—about 200 E-mails a month on various questions and now maybe five, ten letters.  People are becoming more and more electronic.  When I first started to write I would get actual mail, and I kind of miss that.  There’s something very interesting and personal about that.  The questions are very repetitive.  “How do I get bigger?  How do I last longer?”  But then there are a few interesting ones and I pick a few and answer them.  I try to answer all the E-mails, but then a few I’ll actually write out for the column.  I write the book reviews, and video reviews.  I’ll pick a topic like outdoor sex or ways to pickup women in the club scene, and I’ll write something up for that as well.         
Santos:  Do you write strictly clinical or from experience?
Dr. Z:  It’s a combination obviously.  Everything I write has a strong ‘clinerical’.  I mean, it has to be based in research, but I also bring on a lot of my own personal experience because I have dated a lot.  I have an illustrious past, so I mention that whenever I can;  both clinical and personal perspective.   
Santos:  This brings us to your new book that has just come out.  We’re having a party at Hawaiian Tropic Zone on Saturday the 26th.  You’re basically giving guys tips on how to pickup chicks.  Give me a tip.
Dr. Z:  One of the most important tips that I tell guys is that you’ve got to smile.  I always say that guys that don’t smile, don’t score—so smile all the time.  Make it a genuine smile.  Most people, when they get nervous, make a smile where the lips stretch.  To make a genuine smile, the whole face lifts, the eyes crinkle, and it’s a completely different experience.  Guys have to think really happy thoughts, something really positive.  Our emotions affect our countenance, our expressions.  So you’ll project that really happy guy smile, if you think happy thoughts.
Santos:  So most women want really happy guys?
Dr. Z:  Yes, exactly.  It’s a first connection, the smile.  The eye contact, you sort of look at a woman then you look away and then you look back—that kind of a game.  The gate and posture is very important.  It’s one of the first things a woman notices about a man.  The confident swagger is very important.  In some movies with James Bond, he has a certain swagger—body posture, shoulders back, lots of gesturing.  That’s why women like Mediterranean men, you know—Greeks, Italians.  They gesture a lot and it’s sexy.  Don’t be afraid to take up a lot of space and time.  What I mean by that is the confidence, the dominance, comes with standing with your legs far apart.  Don’t be afraid to take up a lot of room.  When you order a drink, take your time, do it slowly, because when the guys rush, they tend to talk too fast and when they get nervous, they tend to sort of crouch together.  So be relaxed.  That’s very important.  When you first start talking to a woman, she only registers about forty percent of what you’re saying.  A lot of it is your posture, your body language, your eye contact.  All of that, she’s taking in.  It’s nonverbal, so it’s very important.          
Santos:  Do you think it goes both ways?
Dr. Z:  Absolutely.  For women, guys notice the sway of the hips, like the famous Marilyn Monroe sway.  It’s something guys rate very highly.  It’s very seductive.  Smile is very important, also eye contact.  With women, if you’re looking at a woman, and this is actual research, if she’s looking at you and she looks away, you can start counting.  If she looks back within 45 seconds, she’s usually interested. 
Santos:  Is your book all tips for men?
Dr. Z:  It’s all tips for men.  It’s a book for men.
Santos:  Are you going to write one for women?
Dr. Z:  Some stuff crosses over, like when I talk about how you get someone to like you, and how to get someone to fall in love with you.  How you create postural mirroring, that’s universal.  That’s for men and women.  But I focus more on building the confidence to actually approach a person.  That’s something that guys need, because guys do most of the approaching still.  I might write one for the women as well.  Men are more anxious about that.  Women, if they’re sexy and just smile, men will come up to them.  But the pressure is on the guy to come up and meet a woman.  I have a whole chapter on how to build that confidence and how you reach the rejection immunity state, where you don’t care if you get rejected or not. 
Santos:  How do you think the electronic age is affecting dating and interaction between people?
Dr. Z:  I think there is a great component to it where you can meet people online.  It saves a lot of time.  You can get to know their values, particularly for long-term relationships, before you meet them and have the chemistry, because the chemistry messes with your perception of a person.  If you are into somebody physically, you might ignore all those negative personality characteristics.  The Internet makes it easier to find somebody who fits your views before actually testing out the chemistry.  It also makes people less social because people are spending more time online on chat rooms and less time talking to people.  That makes it difficult for men, because part of picking up women is actually practicing to start a conversation with normal human beings.  I tell guys if you want to get really good at picking up women, start talking to random strangers;  to anybody.  The lady at the cleaners, at the bus stop;  anywhere, anytime—just start talking to people.  Strike up a conversation about anything and get good at that, because the electronic age makes us less social.  We spend more and more time texting and online, and less time actually conversing.  
Santos:  It seems like the younger generation, teenagers and people in their young twenties, are really only communicating through text messages.  It’s interesting what that’s going to do to the social structure in our country. 
Dr. Z:  Exactly.  The more the teenagers use the electronic ways of communicating, the less they’re going to be adept at reading social cues, and actually having a face-to-face conversation, because it’s much easier to express things in the electronic form. 
Santos:  It also seems like people express things that they wouldn’t necessarily express in person, like getting more sexual and saying things they wouldn’t say in person. 
Dr. Z:  I think a lot of people get stuck in the electronic mode.  It’s become so safe having the virtual relationship, that it’s hard for them to actually go out and meet a flesh and blood person and risk being vulnerable and talking person-to-person.
Santos:  Do you like going out and socializing and being around people?
Dr. Z:  Yeah, I love it.  I was a very shy kid, and then over time, doing a lot of media appearances, and when I first came to this country, a lot of public speaking as the first Soviet student, opened me up.  Now I love socializing.  I love talking.  I love public speaking—it’s great!
Santos:  What do you do to enjoy yourself in your private life?
Dr. Z:  I like reading a lot.  I read both fiction and non-fiction.  I love psychological thrillers.  I love movies, particularly thought-provoking psychological films like Roman Polanski.  I like some sports.  Tropical vacations are always nice. 
Santos:  You seem to me like quite a perfectionist.  As you’ve aged and because you’re in a glamour industry, do you struggle to look young and compete with twenty year-old girls?
Dr. Z:  It’s interesting that you say that because I’m actually filming a pilot for Bravo.  It’s going to be called:  “Chasing Youth, Chasing Beauty.”  It’s about a place in Montclair, New Jersey, called Skin and Body Clinic and the person who started it is the number one anti-aging doctor in the country.  He actually was the founder of the American Anti-Aging Society.  All these models come there.  It’s the place where we all convene to stay young and beautiful.  Absolutely there’s a ton of pressure to stay young, to stay beautiful, to not age, to look great and it’s hard.  It gets harder and harder with age.  You wonder where’s the limit, what’s natural, and where do you draw the line?  He’s starting stem cell transplants.  We’re going to go so far, we’re going to get new skin cells.  It’s interesting.  It’s an interesting struggle.        
Santos:  Where do you think you draw the line personally, and what do you feel comfortable with?
Dr. Z:  I like things to look natural, but in the same point, I’d like to stay young.  I’d like to stay at least ten years younger than my age.  I think beyond that it starts looking a little fake.  But I think the most important part is also staying healthy.  It’s also feeling great and having a lot of energy, and that’s the important part.  So this program called Sure Cell, is an anti-aging program where the doctor actually takes a DNA test and measures your level of oxidation, methylation, and customizes a vitamin program for that.
Santos:  What’s your favorite thing about yourself physically?
Dr. Z:  When it comes to my physicality, I probably like my legs the most.  I have really long legs and you don’t have to do much about them.  They’re always nice, as opposed to the butt, you have to work on it, doing squats.  The boobs, they want to sag.  Legs stay put the way they are and I’m a leg fan favorite.  I’ve been doing Leg Show for many years and I just did their 25th Anniversary Edition.  I’m on the cover of that. 
Santos:  Congratulations!
Dr. Z:  Yeah, I’m older than Leg Show.
Santos:  Tell me about having children and how that affected you and about your family.
Dr. Z:  Having children really changes your life in the most amazing way, in a way that most people don’t really understand until they have them.  There are people that have kids and those that don’t and they don’t really speak the same language.  I became pregnant after my Pet of the Month issue and I had my daughter and then I won Pet of the Year.  It was especially hard for me because only a few months after having my daughter I had to go shoot for the Penthouse Pet of the Year layout.  So I had to get in shape in six weeks and it was a lot of pressure.  Then of course you don’t realize how much time and how much attention and how much it is like your heart walking around out there on a string.  You’re just never the same.  Anytime you travel you just don’t feel free anymore.  You feel like you’ve missed this important part of your life.  It’s difficult, but I think it makes you grow.  Being a parent makes you grow as a person.    
Santos:  Did you want children for a long time?
Dr. Z:  You know, I never really wanted kids.  I was very career-oriented and had all that schooling.  It was one of those things that I thought one day.  My first daughter wasn’t planned.  We didn’t really plan her, it just sort of happened.  It happened during my months of running for Pet of the Year and it was traumatic, but it worked out and was well worth it.     
Santos:  You have another daughter, as well.
Dr. Z:  Yes, I have two little girls;  beautiful girls.  They’re a lot of fun and I love doing all the things and it keeps you young.  You feel young at heart.  I run there with them.  I’m one of those hands-on type of moms.  I don’t just sit at the playground, I climb and I get on the monkey bars and go all over the place.  I go through those tubes at Chuck E. Cheese. 
Santos:  Tell me about your radio show on Sirius?
Dr. Z:  It’s the Howard one hundred channel.  I do a program called The Sex Connection and my co-host and I take questions from callers all evening long.  So they basically call in with questions on love, sex, dating.  Although most questions end up being about sex because there’s not a whole lot of uncensored advice channels and we talk clinically, but we also talk explicitly about sex.
Santos:  Give me two common questions and two really crazy, bizarre questions.
Dr. Z:  The most common questions we get, and whether we get these from readers from Penthouse or on my radio show, the guys usually ask:  “Am I big enough?” or “How do I get bigger?”…the whole penis size concerns.  That’s a huge one, and I’m always trying to calm them down and dissipate some of the information that’s out there.  The other common one is:  “How do I last longer?”  That one I’ve tackled many, many times and it’s in my book.  Both of those questions are addressed in separate chapters in my book.
Santos:  Can you answer both of those questions for us?
Dr. Z:  Sure.  In terms of size, and of course I have a long chapter on this, it’s more complicated than just a quick answer, but I always say that for 95 percent of women, size doesn’t really matter.  What I mean by that is that 95 percent of women are average and more than happy with an average penis.  However, just like there are guys that like really, really large breasts, there are a few women out there that like really large penises.  There are also five to ten percent of women who really dislike large penises.  However, the majority of women are happy with the average size.  So, when I say size doesn’t matter, it really doesn’t—particularly because with women, if a penis is attached to a sensitive and caring lover, then it really, really doesn’t matter.  There are so many different ways of satisfying a woman, even if you are very, very small.  If your penis is under two inches when erect, that’s considered to be a micro-phallus.  Even with that, there are positions and other things you can do to satisfy a woman, so it’s not nearly as important as men think.  What’s more important however is not the size, but the fit between people.  Just like guys vary in the size, shape and overall proportions, so do women.  Their vaginas also vary in the curvature and some people will simply fit better than others;  it will feel better.  Some lovers will have a better fit and it does matter.  Some people will complain.  A woman will complain:  “I don’t feel comfortable.  I love my current boyfriend, but with my ex, it just felt better.  It hit the spots better.”  And that’s just the reality.  Some people will feel better than others.  So that’s a question we discuss a lot.  Guys will call in and say it curves to the right, it curves to the left, so we’ll discuss that.  The other one is the how to last longer issue, and it is important to women.  Statistics show that the average American male orgasms in under four minutes and for most women it takes from ten to fifteen minutes to be able to have a vaginal orgasm, not a clitoral one.  There is a gap between men and women and there are ways of bridging the gap by introducing manual or oral stimulation or that you learn to last longer.  One way to last longer involves ‘kegeling’ for men.  The same pelvic muscles that you use to start and stop the flow of urine, you use that to contract, and over time guys can develop these muscles so when they feel the point of no return they can stop themselves from orgasming and go on.  That’s also implicated in multiple orgasms for men.  That’s one way that guys learn.  There is another technique which is a stop-start technique and you learn by doing slow masturbation, where you peak and then bring your stimulation down.  You learn your arousal pattern and then you can do the same during intercourse.  There are various ways, but they require a little bit more discipline and then there’s quick methods, like using sensitizing cream.  A penis ring works for some guys, although I don’t think they work too well in the long-term.  Pelvic exercises and stop-start exercises work the best.             
Santos:  In the last two weeks, what were your most bizarre questions?
Dr. Z:  A lot of unusual fetish questions.  As long as I live, I’m surprised.  There’s never an end.  I thought I knew them all.  I thought I knew all the fetishes from years of working with Penthouse and studying sexuality.  There’s the pie-in-the-face fetish, the chloroforming fetish, the bug-stomping fetish, the balloon-popping fetish, the tickling fetish.  You go through them, but there’s always one that comes up and surprises you.  Suddenly, we got a caller who said he collects women’s toenail clippings.  That’s what turns him on—not just a foot fetish, but toenail clippings, and he asks women to grow them out, and playing with them turns him on.  Just when you thought you knew it all, there’s something unusual.  That was a difficult question.  The other one that was difficult wasn’t fetish related, but about a relationship.  It was about a guy who couldn’t make up his mind.  He was in love with this woman, but he also had a male lover for all these years that he would occasionally hook up with.  He identified himself as primarily heterosexual with some homosexual thoughts and he wanted to start a family and it was just a very difficult thing for him to make up his mind about what he really wants.  Basically he wanted to have his cake and eat it too.  I told him he can’t.  So there’s some tough decisions in life. 
Santos:  Women seem to nowadays—the phenomenon that it’s acceptable for girls to be making out in public.
Dr. Z:  Yeah, the female bisexuality is a lot more accepted and acceptable in our society, I think for a variety of reasons, because men seeking out sexuality is more centered in just affection and attention and women are naturally more affectionate with each other than men.  Also, because there are more women that tend to be bisexual, whereas in males sexuality is more of a dichotomy, more of a black and white, gay or straight, so it’s hard.  It’s difficult for a woman to accept that their husband or boyfriend has a male lover, whereas men view two women together as a turn-on.  Women don’t really see gay sex to be a turn-on.
Santos:  You’ve accomplished a lot in your life.  Is there anything left that you want to do in the next twenty years?
Dr. Z:  There’s still so much more to do.  I’m basically branding myself as Dr. Z. to be the new Dr. Ruth of the sexy generation.  There’s many more books to write.  I’d like to have my own TV show and I would educate people from an intelligent perspective on sexuality.  I’d still like to travel the world.  There are places to see like I mentioned before.  There’s still the African safari and those things.  I guess I’d like to take myself further when it comes to exploration of my own fears, like skydiving.  There’s a lot more to do professionally and personally.    
Santos:  Thank you very much.
Dr. Z:  Thank you.   SLV