Embodied

Jillian Celentano felt that something was different about her gender identity when she was five years old. But this was in the 1960s. “Transgender” wasn’t a part of popular vocabulary, and trans folks who were in the public eye were often ridiculed…even arrested. So Jillian kept her identity hidden…until she was 55 years old. Jillian talks with guest host Carvell Wallace about why she finally transitioned in adulthood, and the joys and challenges of embracing a new identity. She also talks about the lessons she passes on as a trans elder to younger trans people. Meet the guest: - Jillian Celentano is a social worker, psychotherapist and the author of "Transitioning in Later Life: A Personal Guide" Read the transcript  Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

For almost 29 years, journalist Jennifer Senior was a self-described “brilliant sleeper.” Then, one night, something changed…and Jennifer has struggled with chronic insomnia ever since. She talks to Anita about insights on insomnia from both her reporting and personal life. Then, we meet a couple who share suggestions for navigating insomnia in a romantic partnership. Meet the guests: - Jennifer Senior is a staff writer for The Atlantic and the author of "Why Can't Americans Sleep?" - Gabrielle Moss and Jesse Rifkin are writers living in New York City Read the transcript  Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published October 9, 2025. Update: Gabrielle Moss has a new book, "The Midlife Plot Twist: How to Reboot Your Life Without Burning It Down (Even If You Really, Really Want To)."

Building a life as an artist is an uphill climb. After decades of hustling to make it work, writer Stephanie Elizondo Griest had one big question: How do you determine if art is worth all the sacrifice it requires? Stephanie tells Anita about traveling the world for answers and what she learned about what it takes to build a life as a female artist. Meet the guest: - Stephanie Elizondo Griest is a professor of creative nonfiction at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of “Art Above Everything: One Woman’s Global Exploration of the Joys and Torments of a Creative Life” Read the transcript Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published September 11, 2025. Update: "Art Above Everything" is now available in paperback!

How do you keep doing something that you love after your body changes ... and you can’t do it the way you used to? Yewande Komolafe was a cook for two decades before a medical crisis and multiple amputations forced her to change the way that she worked in the kitchen. She tells guest host (and Embodied producer) Kaia Findlay about her process of coming back to cooking and reconnecting to her identity as a chef. Plus, Christine Ha, “the Blind Cook,” talks about how gradual vision loss affected her abilities in the kitchen and how relearning everything from boiling water to knife skills helped her establish new methods for navigating the future. Meet the guests: - Yewande Komolafe is a recipe developer and cooking columnist at the New York Times - Christine Ha is a MasterChef winner, the owner of two restaurants and an author Read the transcript Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

What would you do if you knew your brain would stop functioning normally in just a decade? For brothers Ansel Dow (31) and Cosmo Hinsman (26), this isn't hypothetical. They carry a rare genetic mutation that makes frontotemporal dementia almost inevitable by their mid-40s. It’s the same condition that has altered the lives and personalities of their mother and five of her siblings. In conversation with Anita, the brothers reveal how this genetic legacy influences their most personal choices about love, friendship and building a meaningful life against a countdown. Meet the guests: - Ansel Dow is a community organizer and an advocate for more research into FTD - Cosmo Hinsman holds a MFA in fiction writing Read the transcript Read "The Vanishing Family" from the New York Times here Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published June 5, 2025. Updates: Ansel and Cosmo's Aunt Christy, the first in her generation to develop FTD, passed away last November at age 72. Journalist Robert Kolker wrote "The Vanishing Family" about Ansel and Cosmo's family, which is set for release on September 29th.

Nearly 1.3 million people are held inside state and federal prisons across the U.S. What happens to a person’s physical body inside that carceral system — and after they get out? Those were questions Emile Suotonye DeWeaver has found himself up against through his life. Suotonye was in and out of juvenile hall during his adolescence before spending just over two decades in prison in adulthood. The activist and writer tells guest host Carvell Wallace how his time in prison affected his relationship to everything from exercise and nutrition to physical touch and desire. And he describes what the healing process for his mind-body connection has been since his release in 2017.  Meet the guest: - Emile Suotonye DeWeaver is the author of "Ghost in the Criminal Justice Machine: Reform, White Supremacy, and an Abolitionist Future" Read the transcript Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Priya Parker has spent decades thinking about what makes groups work. And she says keeping groups together requires skills most of us never learned. She tells Anita about her personal journey to unlearn the idea that “good people don’t fight” and why a group can be just as damaged by unhealthy peace as they can by unhealthy conflict. She offers guidance for figuring out whether a fight is worth having and then how to actually have it — whether it’s in your book club, work team or extended family.  Meet the guest: - Priya Parker is the author of “The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters” and “The Art of Fighting: The Transformative Power of Conflict”  Read the transcript Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

For many of us, a formal education about sexuality begins during puberty and only really gets going during adolescence. But in reality, exploration of our bodies and relationships can begin long before that — as early as our first years of life. So how can we set kids up to feel empowered, safe and free from shame when they are older? A sexuality educator shares advice for parents and caregivers on navigating some of the common challenges that come up as kids are learning about their bodies and relationships. Plus, a writer breaks down her childhood to determine where shame and desire became intertwined. Meet the guests: - Nadine Thornhill has a doctorate from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality and is one of the hosts of the web series “Every Body Curious” - Tyler Wetherall is the author of "Amphibian" Read the transcript Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

When Jessica Slice was 28 years old, a bout of heat exhaustion triggered an underlying neurological disorder that led to permanent physical disabilities. In the 14 years since, Jessica met her now-husband David Yourdon and started a family. They talk to Anita about how their parenting experience has been one of adaptation and creativity — from learning how to separate their worth from external standards to accepting that all bodies have changing needs that require attention and care. They share the nitty gritty of their parenting life, with wisdom that’s relevant for all families. Meet the guests: - Jessica Slice, author of “Unfit Parent: A Disabled Mother Challenges an Inaccessible World" -  David Yourdon, Jessica's husband  Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published July 10, 2025.

Anita is heading out on parental leave, but the show isn't going anywhere! This fall you'll still get an episode of Embodied in your feeds every week, including some conversations hosted by writer and podcaster Carvell Wallace! Before he takes the mic, Anita sits down with him to talk about identity, love, and what he is excited to bring to the show this fall.   Meet the guest: - Carvell Wallace is a New York Times bestselling author, memoirist and podcaster who hosted the 10-part series "Finding Fred" and the co-host of Slate's "How To" podcast Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

More than half of American men between the ages of 18 and 49 have an active online sports betting account, and for the past year Atlantic staff writer McKay Coppins was one of them. But what started as a reporting assignment quickly spiraled into something else. Anita talks to him about how sports betting pulls you in, even when you think you’re immune. Plus, how the rise of sports betting culture is fundamentally changing sports and fandom.  Meet the guest: - McKay Coppins is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of “Sucker: My Year as a Degenerate Gambler.” Special thanks to Rob Minnick for his contributions to this episode! Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

This summer’s heat waves have been brutal. But there’s one thing helping all of us make it through the soaring temperatures: sweat. Our bodies need to sweat to survive – and yet we spend billions of dollars trying to combat it. Science journalist Sarah Everts explains why sweat is a biological superpower, and she and Anita dig into how it became so stigmatized. Then, Caryn Toriaga shares what it's like to live with hyperhidrosis, an excessive sweating condition that can take her hands and feet and from dry to dripping in 60 seconds. Meet the guests: - Sarah Everts is a science journalist and the author of “The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of Perspiration” - Caryn Toriaga lives with hyperhidrosis and has blogged about her experience Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Despite a decade of restrictive behavior and a career path in mental health counseling, Alishia McCullough had never associated herself with the phrase eating disorder. She’s not alone – while eating disorders affect all races and ethnicities at similar rates, people of color are less than half as likely to receive a diagnosis than their white counterparts. She talks to Anita about how an aha moment in grad school led her to better understand how to treat eating disorders in Black women’s bodies — starting with her own. Meet the guest: - Alishia McCullough is the author of "Reclaiming the Black Body: Nourishing the Home Within" and a licensed mental health therapist Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published March 20, 2025. Updates: Alishia is creating a workshop around leaving the U.S., launching a weekly BIPOC postpartum moms support group and working on a clinical reflection card deck. You can keep track of all of these offerings on her Instagram page.

What does becoming a mother do to your brain, body and sense of self? Anita — currently in her third trimester —  puts that question to science writer Lucy Jones. Lucy spent years studying matrescence, a word for the shift that happens during pregnancy, childbirth and becoming a parent. They talk about Lucy's own path through motherhood and why we need new ways to support mothers through this transformation that never really ends.  Meet the guest: - Lucy Jones is the author of “Matrescence: On Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood” Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Imagine sitting down in a theater only to be distracted from the performance by armrests digging into your sides. Or arriving at the doctor’s office to find the patient gown won’t fit. For tens of  millions of Americans in larger bodies, experiences like this are part of everyday life. Anita talks to two people who argue this is a design problem, not a personal one. Artist Suzy Hooker is building a free, searchable directory that rates the accessibility of everyday spaces and designer Margarita Zulueta is reimagining how places like airplanes could be built with fat bodies in mind.  Meet the guests: - Suzy Hooker is an artist, fat activist, cohost of the podcast "Thunder Thighs and Bedroom Eyes" and the founder of Fat Fab Free - Margarita Zulueta is a product designer whose thesis is about designing towards fat liberation Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

When Philip Hoover and his wife Lauren Hill-Hoover tested positive for COVID-19 in 2022, they thought they knew what to expect. But then Philip’s symptoms persisted, morphed and intensified. They talk to Anita about how an illness that’s affected tens of millions of Americans upended their life and forced them to confront big, existential questions, like: What does caring for each other in sickness and in health *really* mean? Meet the guests: - Philip Hoover is a writer who has long COVID - Lauren Hill-Hoover is Philip's wife Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Dig deeper: Philip's Modern Love essay Please note: This episode originally published August 7, 2025. Updates: Philip and Lauren have now moved into their own place, and Philip is starting graduate school in the fall to pursue his Master’s of Social Work. He still lives with long COVID, and there are still no FDA-approved treatments for the condition.

Somewhere between 20-50% of children are picky eaters at some point in early childhood, and many of us assume that’s just how kids naturally are. But after historian Helen Zoe Veit spent more than a decade reading memoirs, cookbooks and parenting manuals from the past 200 years, she came to a radically different conclusion: picky eating is not inevitable. It is a modern cultural phenomenon. She tells Anita how we got here — to the age of bland kids’ menus and dinner tables ruled by toddlers yelling ‘yucky!’ Plus what lessons history has for modern-day parents. Meet the guest: - Helen Zoe Veit is the author of “Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History” and an associate professor of history at Michigan State University Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

When Yowei Shaw got laid off two years ago, there was no amount of bad TV, fried food or even therapy that could get her out of a deep emotional rut. So, she turned to the one thing that had worked in the past: reporting on her feelings. That journey led her to starting a new podcast called Proxy and inventing a new journalism beat: emotional investigative journalism. Anita talks to Yowei about why and how she reports on emotions (both hers and other people’s) and the surprising discoveries she’s made along the way. Meet the guest: - Yowei Shaw is the host and creator of Proxy Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published July 31, 2025.

Money problems are rarely just about money. In fact behavioral economists have shown that many of our financial decisions are driven by emotion, not logic. Anita talks to financial educator Chantel Chapman about her belief that before you can fix your finances, you have to deal with your trauma. Plus, financial therapist LaQueshia Clemons on a trauma-informed approach to helping couples deal with money. Meet the guests: - Chantel Chapman is the founder of the Trauma of Money Institute, a certification program for professionals to learn a trauma-informed approach to money, and the author of “The Trauma of Money” - LaQueshia Clemons is a licensed clinical social worker and the founder and CEO of Freedom Life Therapy and Wellness Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

For most of the first few decades of his life, Indigenous writer and filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat didn’t see much of his father, who left the family when Julian was 6. In the handful of times they did see each other over the years, that history of abandonment made it hard to connect. But when Julian was 28, he moved across the country and moved in with his dad to make a documentary and write a book about their family’s history. Julian talks to Anita about how the decision to dig into his family’s past and Indigenous history broke open his relationship with his dad and led to healing. He also shares how his questions about Native fatherhood have become more urgent now that he has his own son. Meet the guest: - Julian Brave NoiseCat is the co-director of the Oscar-nominated documentary Sugarcane and the author of "We Survived the Night"  Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Rae Garringer grew up on a sheep farm in rural West Virginia, and once they left for college and came out as queer, they weren't sure they could ever move back. They believed the story they’d been told: to thrive as an out, LGBTQ+ person, you have to live in a city. But when Rae did move back in 2011, they realized that story was a lie. Anita talks to Rae about making queer life work in the country — from navigating dating challenges to getting along with neighbors you disagree with. They also talk about Rae’s oral history project, podcast and book “Country Queers,” which documents queer, rural life in 21 states around the country. Meet the guest: - Rae Garringer is the founder and director of Country Queers, an oral history project and podcast, and the author of "Country Queers" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published June 12, 2025.

Sadie Dingfelder spent decades not recognizing people who knew her and not knowing why. At 39, she found an explanation: she is faceblind. She talks with Anita about how that discovery sent her down a journalistic rabbit hole that led her to rewrite a lot of her past and come to a fundamentally new understanding of her brain. Plus, her husband Steve joins the conversation to talk about how Sadie’s new diagnoses — including having a severely deficient autobiographical memory — shape their life together. Meet the guests: - Sadie Dingfelder, science journalist and author of "Do I Know You? A Faceblind Reporter’s Journey into the Science of Sight, Memory and Imagination" - Steven Hay, engineer and Sadie's husband Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

For years, audio creator Helena de Groot felt almost certain that she did not want kids. Then, she got unexpectedly pregnant. That pregnancy was the first in a series of curveballs that set her on a path of questioning everything she thought she knew — not just about whether or not to have children, but about how to live with the doubt and uncertainty that comes with any big adult decision. Helena talks to Anita about this journey, captured in her new memoir podcast “Creation Myth.” Plus, Anita hears from a psychotherapist who has devoted her career to helping people find clarity in the choice about whether to become parents.  Meet the guest: - Helena de Groot, creator of the audio memoir “Creation Myth” - Merle Bombardieri, parenting decision coach, psychotherapist and author of “The Baby Decision: How to Make the Most Important Choice of Your Life”  Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied You can learn more about coaching opportunities with Merle Bombardieri here and also sign up for her newsletter here.

When Mary Cain stepped onto the track as a high schooler, it was clear that she was a once-in-a-generation kind of talent. Her rise was quick and spectacular, which made it all the more stunning that just a few years after going pro with Nike, she stepped back from competitive running. She joins Anita to talk about the physical and emotional abuse she says she experienced behind the scenes and the systemic change she is calling for in sports culture.  Meet the guest: - Mary Cain, author of “This is Not About Running: A Memoir” and the founder of the nonprofit Atalanta NYC Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied NOTE: We reached out to Nike, Alberto Salazar and Darren Treasure for comment. You can find statements from Nike and Salazar here. We did not hear back from Darren Treasure.

Stuttering occurs in every culture with a spoken language. So why do many communities treat it as a source of shame? Two speech-language pathologists and a comedian help Anita question cultural assumptions about stuttering and explore the growing movement to embrace speech diversity. Meet the guests: - Dr. Derek Daniels, licensed and certified speech-language pathologist and associate professor in the department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Wayne State University, shares his own experience of stuttering and what we know about what causes stuttering - Jia Bin, doctoral student at Michigan State University, talks about growing up in rural China with a stutter and what she's hoping to bring back to the stuttering community there - Nina G, comedian and author of "Stutterer, Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn’t Happen," explains why she decided to embrace her dream of doing stand-up and shares how her stuttering has impacted romantic and platonic relationships Dig Deeper: Follow Nina G's comedy on Instagram Jia on stuttering as a superpower Stuttering content on YouTube by Courtland Crain and Matice Ahnjamine National Stuttering Association website Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published March 31, 2023. Updates: You can learn more about Jia’s work at the Spartan Stuttering Lab here. You can learn more about National Stuttering Awareness Week here. Nina G is in the midst of the making the comedy docu-special: Comedians with Disabilities Act: Going Beyond The Punchlines.

How do you care for someone you struggle to communicate with ... and can never fully understand? That's the question anthropologist Danilyn Rutherford has been wrestling with for decades  — ever since it became clear that her daughter Millie would never speak, sign or use symbols to express herself. Danilyn talks with Anita about how mothering a multiply-disabled child challenged her beliefs about the importance of language for human connection.  Meet the guest: - Danilyn Rutherford is the author of “Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World” Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Comedian Chris Duffy believes everyone has a sense of humor. And if you think you don’t? That’s just years of adult socialization talking! He shares his roadmap for building a more humor-filled life, from learning to be present and notice the absurdities of the world to taking social risks. Plus, he and Anita workshop some comedy exercises that will not just get you laughing more — but also help you kickstart your creative juices and feel more connected to those around you.  Meet the guest: - Chris Duffy is the host of the TED podcast “How To Be a Better Human” and the author of “Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy” Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

When the #MeToo movement exploded in 2017, journalist Ruth Whippman — nearly nine months pregnant with her third son — experienced a profound conflict. As a feminist, she celebrated the movement; as a mother, she worried: "How am I gonna raise these boys to be good?" This tension launched Ruth on a quest to understand modern American boyhood and what's not working. Ruth and her husband Neil Levine tell Anita about their journey of putting Ruth’s research into practice, working to give their sons the emotional tools to thrive in a changing world — and what’s at stake if we don’t shift our approach to raising boys. Meet the guests: - Ruth Whippman is the author of "BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity" - Neil Levine is Ruth's husband Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published May 8, 2025.

Kaila Yu spent years as an Asian American pinup model, singer and actress, leaning into a hypersexualized image of Asian femininity and burying her doubts about it. But after the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings, she started reckoning with how fetishization can lead to violence — and interrogating her own role in perpetuating harmful stereotypes. She talks with Anita about her new memoir. Plus, a sociologist breaks down how history and Hollywood built the stereotypes in the first place and what we can do to break free.  Meet the guests: - Kaila Yu is a culture writer and the author of "Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism and Beauty" - Nancy Wang Yuen is a sociologist and a professor in the department of ethnic studies at Crafton Hills College and the author of “Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism”   Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Gen Z is anxious about climate change, and it’s impacting their family planning. Anita talks to researcher Jade Sasser, who's been studying young people’s attitudes about climate change and reproductive choices while unpacking her own experiences with climate anxiety. They’ll talk about how to manage climate emotions while making big life decisions, and how “the kid question” isn’t just about babies — it’s about what bringing new life into an uncertain world represents. Meet the guest: - Jade Sasser is the author of “Climate Anxiety and the Kid Question: Deciding Whether to Have Children in an Uncertain Future” and an associate professor at the University of California, Riverside   Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published May 15, 2025. Update: Jade Sasser is working on a third book, tentatively titled “Climate Change Hates Mothers.”

When you board a plane, flight attendants greet you with practiced smiles and seamless service. But there’s a lot of mental and emotional labor that passengers don’t see. Missy, a Hawaii-based flight attendant, takes Anita inside her world and shares stories from her close to five years on the job — from managing unruly passengers to dealing with medical emergencies. Travel journalist Natalie Compton also shares her reporting on the financial precarity some flight attendants face and how understanding more about their reality has changed the way she approaches air travel. Meet the guests: - Missy is a Hawaii-based flight attendant who is using only her first name since she's not authorized to speak on behalf of her airline - Natalie Compton is a travel reporter for The Washington Post Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Dig deeper: Natalie's reporting on the financial precarity of early-career flight attendants Natalie's reporting on flight attendant training Please note: This episode originally published on June 19, 2025.

When Chris Mosier became the first openly trans athlete to qualify for Team USA in 2015, he catalyzed policy change for trans people in sports. Now, more than a decade later, his legacy is beginning to unravel. Chris talks to Anita about how sports have affirmed him as a trans person and why they’ve become a battleground for trans rights. They also discuss the assumptions that underpin many of the bans on trans athletes in the U.S. and solutions that Chris says could make sports better for all athletes.  Meet the guest: - Chris Mosier is an eight-time Team USA athlete who wrote the forward to and conducted interviews for the recent book “Fair Game: Trans Athletes and the Future of Sports”  Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied You can read the new International Olympic Committee's policy on gender here.

American men are in a friendship recession. Compared to a few decades ago, five times as many men have no close friends. So what’s going on? Anita talks with Mark Pagán, creator and host of the podcast “Other Men Need Help,” about what makes close friendships among men so fraught — and what we can do about it. They talk about everything from why Mark loves secret handshakes to his ongoing journey of making himself say the hard stuff out loud. Meet the guest: - Mark Pagán is the creator and host of the podcast "Other Men Need Help" and writes the substack "Other Men" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published April 17, 2025.

When B. Chionne first heard about sugar dating in college, she was intrigued — what if in exchange for her time and attention she could earn enough money to pay her bills? She ended up dating sugar daddies on and off for about a decade. B. tells Anita about what the sugar dating life looks like and how years of exchanging companionship for financial support reshaped the way she thinks about money, power and intimacy. Plus, a researcher shares insights into the sugar daddy perspective and broader trends in sugar relationships. Meet the guests: - B. Chionne is a digital content creator and former sugar baby - Lauren Cormier is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University of New Brunswick who studies human sexuality and relationships Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Rebecca Auman is a witch. That’s not an insult — it literally says “head witch” on her LinkedIn profile. Rebecca has been able to read people and pick up on energy and vibrations for as long as she can remember. But as the daughter of a Methodist minister growing up in the South, she was encouraged to turn away from that intuition for a long time. She tells Anita about the long and winding road to reclaim her magic and how she has turned her gift into a service for others. Meet the guest: - Rebecca Auman runs her own witchy business offering tarot readings and intuition training, and she hosts the podcast “Voices in the River” Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Black horror writer Tananarive Due fell in love with the spectacle of horror when she was a little kid. But it was only after she was well into her horror writing career that she discovered that the genre can provide not just entertainment but healing. Tananarive talks to Anita about why she believes horror can help folks process real-world fears and trauma, using her most recent award-winning book “The Reformatory” as a case study.   Meet the guest: - Tananarive Due is an educator and the author of several horror novels, including "The Reformatory" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Nearly 40% of Americans say digestive troubles disrupt their daily lives. As the daughter of a gastroenterologist, that’s a statistic Anita can’t ignore. She joins forces with neurogastroenterologist Dr. Trisha Pasricha to bust poop myths, explain what's actually normal and explore the surprising science behind the gut-brain connection. Meet the guest: - Dr. Trisha Pasricha, physician, researcher, medical journalist and author of "You've Been Pooping All Wrong" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Soph Myers-Kelley and his mom, René Myers, have always been close. As of five years ago, they also share a diagnosis: the connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Soph and René were diagnosed one year apart – Soph was 25; René was 60. EDS explained symptoms they’d both been experiencing for decades, including waking up with jaw or shoulder dislocations and having chronic pain.The two talk with Anita about how their diagnoses began a new chapter of their lives, including the decision to move in together last summer. Meet the guests: - Soph Myers-Kelley is a medical librarian at East Carolina University - René Myers is Soph's mom and a retired educator Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published February 20, 2025.

Food and sex have been deeply intertwined in our cultural imagination for millennia. Anita talks with a cultural historian who has combed through centuries of sex and food chronicles to understand what makes that connection so strong. Plus, Puerto Rican chef Manolo López shares a Valentine’s recipe and his favorite sexy food. Meet the guests: - Rachel Hope Cleves is a historian, a professor at the University of Victoria and the author of “Lustful Appetites: An Intimate History of Good Food and Wicked Sex" - Manolo López is a Puerto Rican chef and storyteller Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

After more than a decade living in the U.S. without permanent legal status, Alix Dick calculated the cost of her survival: $1.9 million. That figure includes everything from wage theft and underpayment to complex PTSD and under-the-table medical visits. Alix talks about those things with Anita as she discusses her new book “The Cost of Being Undocumented,” co-written with Stanford University professor Antero Garcia. Alix traces her personal story from growing up in Sinaloa, Mexico to fleeing to the U.S. with her younger brother when she was 20. She and Antero discuss misconceptions about undocumented workers, describe the challenges of telling Alix’s story, and talk about the many costs that didn’t make the tally sheet — like lost dreams. Meet the guests: - Alix Dick, activist, writer, filmmaker and co-author of "The Cost of Being Undocumented" - Antero Garcia, associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford and co-author of "The Cost of Being Undocumented" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

J. Drew Lanham’s life has been defined by birds. He grew up in rural South Carolina learning mystical stories about birds from his grandmother, emulating bird calls and even trying to fly. This love sparked Drew’s academic and creative careers — in ornithology and writing —  that center nature and winged creatures. Anita talks to Drew about why he fell so deeply for birds and how he has sustained that love despite the challenges he's faced as a Black man and a conservationist. Meet the guest: - J. Drew Lanham is a poet, ornithologist and author of "The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Register for our five-year anniversary event

Like the majority of American men over 35, Anita's partner is balding...and they're both a little distressed about it. But why? She brings her questions to two men who've interrogated baldness from all angles: race, sexuality, science, media, culture and lived experience. They'll explore where this fear comes from and how many other men feel this way. Meet the guests: - E. Patrick Johnson is dean of the School of Communication and Annenberg University Professor at Northwestern University and the author of “Scatter the Pigeons,” an essay on baldness, masculinity and Blackness - Glen Jankowski is an assistant professor in the School of Psychology at University College Dublin whose research includes the medicalization of baldness and the history of marketing anti-baldness products Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Register for our five-year anniversary event Please note: This episode originally published December 12, 2024.

Pair figure skating is a sport of coordination, musicality and high-risk maneuvers. Being successful requires a lot of trust and teamwork. So what is it like when your partner is your sibling? Brother and sister Brad and Jocelyn Cox tell Anita about their 11 years of competing together and how their partnership continued into adulthood when they became coaches — and then caregivers. Meet the guests: -Jocelyn Cox, author of “Motion Dazzle: A Memoir of Motherhood, Loss, and Skating on Thin Ice”   - Brad Cox, figure skating coach Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Register for our five-year anniversary event

There are few things that are certain about 2026, but one of them is that at some point, you’ll be called upon for advice. Anita talks to Meghan Keane, the founder of NPR's Life Kit and author of “Party of One,” about how to give good advice. Meghan shares her personal journey to striking the balance between overthinking, venting and actually getting to the root of a problem. Plus, she sits in the hot seat to answer some big questions from our listeners. Meet the guest: - Meghan Keane is the author of "Party of One: Be Your Own Best Life Partner" and the founder and managing editor of NPR's Life Kit Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired January 2, 2025.

The marriage rate in this country has fallen nearly 60% in the last half century. So what’s motivating those of us still choosing to say I do? Anita ponders this question with the Hindu officiant who helped her build a ceremony that bridged the gap between her values and her dad's traditional desires. Plus, a comedian and queer ex-nun explains how she takes people from the place of "marriage is a dumpster fire" to a ceremony they're excited about.  Meet the guests: - Raja Gopal Bhattar is a consultant, author and officiant who Anita and her family worked with to design her wedding ceremony - Kelli Dunham, a comedian, nurse and queer ex-nun who officiates weddings and funerals — and refers to herself as "queer secular clergy" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied If you want to hear more of Satish Rao on Embodied: Mixed (Parent Edition), where Anita talks to her parents about growing up mixed race Pooped, where Satish gets to share his expertise as a gastroenterologist Please note: This episode originally aired September 26, 2024. Update: Raja Gopal Bhattar released an interactive memoir, “Queering Constellations: Mapping This Journey Called Life.”

Curtis Chin grew up inside Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine. His great-grandfather first opened the Detroit restaurant in 1940, and in the 1970s and ‘80s Chung’s was the backdrop for many of Curtis’s formative lessons about race, identity and belonging.He talks to Anita about his experience learning how to code-switch as an Asian American and gay kid in a Black and white city — and how serving and observing customers in the restaurant helped him find his own way as a writer, filmmaker and activist. Meet the guest: - Curtis Chin is the author of “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant” Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

After being raped at 18, journalist Katie Simon had a burning question: How do you navigate sex and intimacy after sexual assault? Katie tells Anita about their journey of trial and error with sex and how connecting with other survivors helped them write the guidebook they wish they’d had years ago. They explore everything from disclosure and triggers to kink and healing — both for survivors and their partners. Meet the guest - Katie Simon is the author of “Tell Me What You Like: An Honest Discussion of Sex and Intimacy After Sexual Assault" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

How does living with a condition that is so deeply stigmatized affect who and how we love? Anita meets a mixed-HIV status couple who shares how they've approached sex and intimacy in their 11+ year relationship. Plus, a woman who was born HIV positive talks about dating, disclosure and overcoming the fear of rejection. Meet the guests: - Rainer Oktovianus is a photographer and user experience designer living with HIV - Eka Nasution is a project management professional and Rainer's husband - Diana Koss is a content creator and host of the "Born Positive" YouTube channel Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired September 5, 2024.

Anita's been reckoning with what it means to stay connected to cultural identity as a mixed-race adult. And in pursuit of what things to prioritize, she's turning her focus to food. She talks to mixed-race foodie and writer Raj Tawney, whose hours in the kitchen with his mom and grandma have grounded his search for belonging. Then, she picks up the phone and calls the primary chef in the Rao family: her mom, Sheila. Meet the guests: - Raj Tawney is a writer, foodie and the author of “Colorful Palate: A Flavorful Journey Through a Mixed American Experience” - Sheila Rao is Anita's mom  Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired December 5, 2024.

The consequences of fast fashion are well known: worker exploitation, environmental damage and poor quality items. And yet many of us keep buying it — either unknowingly, in willful ignorance or because it feels like there is no other option. Fashion industry insider and “Clotheshorse” podcast host Amanda Lee McCarty joins Anita to interrogate why fast fashion has such a particular hold on us and what we can do about it. Meet the guest: - Amanda Lee McCarty is the host of the “Clotheshorse” podcast and a self-employed fashion consultant Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied You can find Amanda Lee McCarty on Substack and Instagram!

Dina Gilio-Whitaker knows that it’s complicated to talk about Native American identity. She occupies a gray zone herself: she’s a legal descendant of the Colville Confederated Tribes but not an enrolled member. As she worked to make sense of her own liminal identity, she also started witnessing a troubling phenomenon: people coming forward with fraudulent claims to Nativeness. Dina — now an academic — tells Anita about the personal experiences that led her to research this phenomenon, the harms this “pretendianism” perpetuates and the conversations she’s starting about possible solutions. Meet the guest: - Dina Gilio-Whitaker is a lecturer at California State University San Marcos and the author of “Who Gets to Be Indian? Ethnic Fraud, Disenrollment, and Other Difficult Conversations About Native American Identity”  Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

When married couple Pat McAulay and Margaret Roesch were in their 40s, they had a shared dream for old age: living in a big house with other lesbians where everyone took care of each other. That vision — and their experiences with isolation and discrimination — inspired them to build Village Hearth, the first 55+ co-housing community for LGBTQ seniors and allies in the U.S. They tell Anita what it’s been like to live there for the past five years, and then a young activist shares how she’s helping connect queer folks with other models for aging in community, from RV parks to affordable housing. Meet the guests: - Pat McAulay and Margaret Roesch, co-founders of Village Hearth in Durham, the first 55+ cohousing community for LGBTQ seniors and allies - Jane Haskell, director of impact and engagement at SAGE, a non-profit advocacy and service organization focused on LGBTQ seniors Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

There's a growing number of women challenging the expectation that you need a partner to have a child. Anita meets two single moms by choice. They talk about why they chose this parenting path and how they navigate everything from false assumptions to dating. Plus, one of their daughters – 10-year-old Estela – joins the conversation to share her take on growing up in a nontraditional family. Meet the guests: - Hera McLeod, mother and civil rights activist, walks us through her decision to become a single mother and how she's made some of the logistics work — like living in an intergenerational household with her parents - Estela McLeod, Hera's oldest daughter and cohost of the "Seeking Different" podcast, shares what questions she gets from her peers and how she's thinking about the family she wants to build in the future - C. Nicole Mason, president and CEO of Future Forward Women, talks about how she's balanced dating with being a single mom of choice and how she's reflecting on her parenting journey now that her twins are teenagers Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired May 10, 2024. Update: Hera McLeod published a romantic spy thriller, “The Asset Within.”

You’ve likely seen some version of the headline: “Gen Z Is In a Sex Recession.” But there’s a lot more to the story. Journalist Carter Sherman takes Anita into the many conversations she had with people under 30 about their sex lives for her book “The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation’s Fight Over Its Future.” She talks about how cultural and political forces like the #MeToo movement and the overturning of Roe v. Wade have shaped how Gen Z feels about sex — and why you should care no matter your generational identity. Meet the guest: - Carter Sherman is a reproductive health and justice reporter at the Guardian US and the author of “The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation’s Fight Over Its Future”  Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied The Broadside EVENT Details are here

Mainstream adaptive fashion lines are relatively new, but creating clothes to fit and flatter a range of bodies has long been part of disability culture. Anita meets three disabled fashionistas who design with disabled bodies as a starting point, not an afterthought. Meet the guests: - Dr. Ben Barry is the Dean of Fashion at Parsons School of Design who's pushing for further inclusion in fashion – particularly when it comes to the ways clothing is designed, marketed and modeled for folks with disabilities -  Sky Cubacub is a Chicago-based fashion designer focused on making size-inclusive garments for queer and trans disabled folks through their company, Rebirth Garments - Samantha Jade Durán is a designer and influencer also known by the handle “A Disabled Icon" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published November 7, 2024. Update: Samantha Jade Durán launched a disability and chronic illness awareness merch brand called Thanks Icon. She plans on expanding to adaptive clothing and accessories in the future. The Broadside EVENT Details are here

On Dr. Sharon Malone’s new podcast, women take back the conversation on health with straight talk, real experience and the care we all deserve. You’ll hear prominent female advocates, experts and patients sharing how they confronted gaps in our healthcare system and got second opinions that saved their lives. Alongside each guest, Dr. Sharon tackles the questions and topics we’ve been conditioned to ignore — the ones we search for at 3 a.m. but never bring up at the doctor’s office.  In this episode, Dr. Sharon talks to journalist Elaine Welteroth about Elaine’s birthing journey, how she's working to make birth joyful again and how her new non-profit, birthFUND, is helping families get access to life-saving midwifery care. Find more episodes of The Second Opinion with Dr. Sharon Malone here.

For almost 29 years, journalist Jennifer Senior was a self-described “brilliant sleeper.” Then, one night, something changed…and Jennifer has struggled with chronic insomnia ever since. She talks to Anita about insights on insomnia from both her reporting and personal life. Then, we meet a couple who share suggestions for navigating insomnia in a romantic partnership. Meet the guests: - Jennifer Senior is a staff writer for The Atlantic and the author of "Why Can't Americans Sleep?" - Gabrielle Moss and Jesse Rifkin are writers living in New York City Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

When Kit Heyam was first trying to understand their gender identity as an adolescent, they looked to history. But they only found stories that painted a very narrow picture of what it means to be trans. Years later, when Kit started studying history professionally, a different picture emerged. They talk to Anita about the trans histories they found from around the globe and how those stories paint a more diverse and messy picture of the ways people have been pushing the boundaries of gender for millennia. Meet the guest: - Kit Heyam is the author of "Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

It's been half a century since the psychedelic era, but some baby boomers are returning to the drugs of their youth — not for rock and roll, but to confront aging. Writer Abbie Rosner re-experienced mushrooms in her 60s, and she tells Anita about her subsequent investigation into why other boomers are taking psychedelics to grapple with aging. Plus, a medical professional shares what it’s like to facilitate these experiences for her peers. Meet the guests: - Abbie Rosner is a writer who shares her own experience and the stories of other baby boomers, which she plans to publish in a book called “ELDEREVOLUTION: Psychedelics and the New Counterculture of Aging” - Dr. Crystal Dawn is a physician who's board-certified in family medicine and provides ketamine-assisted therapy Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired January 9, 2025. Update: Abbie Rosner’s book, “Psychedelics and the Counterculture of Aging,” will be available in July of 2026. Abbie also writes a newsletter on Substack about psychedelics in older life called ELDEREVOLUTION.

When María Lopez was 6 years old, her grandmother gave her a piece of advice: marry someone with papers. María was undocumented, and throughout her teens and 20s, she dealt with the struggle of dating to find both love and a path to permanent legal status in the United States. María, now in her early 30s, tells Anita about this journey and the community of “undocu-cuties” she made along the way via her Instagram page, @ytienepapeles.  Meet the guest: - María Lopez, former Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient and creator of the page @ytienepapeles  Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Building a life as an artist is an uphill climb. After decades of hustling to make it work, writer Stephanie Elizondo Griest had one big question: How do you determine if art is worth all the sacrifice it requires? Stephanie tells Anita about traveling the world for answers and what she learned about what it takes to build a life as a female artist. Meet the guest: - Stephanie Elizondo Griest is a professor of creative nonfiction at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of “Art Above Everything: One Woman’s Global Exploration of the Joys and Torments of a Creative Life” Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Long-haul trucking is not an easy job. The schedule is grueling, and the burnout rate is high. But the profession does offer a certain sense of freedom — particularly for queer drivers looking for work where they can present authentically and face less scrutiny or harassment. Anita talks with former trucker and writer Anne Balay about why LGBTQ folks are drawn to trucking. She also meets 24-year-old Ashleigh Lewis, a trans woman and third-generation truck driver who is committed to the profession despite its reputation. Meet the guests: - Anne Balay is the author of “Semi Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Drivers” - Ashleigh Lewis is a third-generation truck driver who is going to be featured in the upcoming documentary "The Trans Trucker Project" from filmmaker Hansen Bursic Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Special thanks to filmmaker Hansen Bursic and his team for connecting us with Ashleigh.

At its best, reading is a portal to new worlds and new ideas. But a lot can get in the way — up to 20% of the population experiences symptoms of dyslexia, a lifelong neurological disorder that makes it difficult to read fluently. An author who learned to read when he was 18 and a dyslexia scholar help Anita understand how reading develops in the brain and what's at stake if dyslexic learners are left by the wayside. Meet the guests: - Dr. Shawn Robinson is an entrepreneur, consultant and author of the graphic novel series “Doctor Dyslexia Dude!” - Dr. Maryanne Wolf is the director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners and Social Justice at UCLA in the School of Education and Information Studies A special thank you to Eso Romero for contributing her insights as a teacher of dyslexic students to this episode! Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired on September 12, 2024. Update: Version 4 of “Doctor Dyslexia Dude!” is coming out this fall — updates will be shared on Instagram.

Ryan Kramer was born through an anonymous sperm donor in 1990. By the time he was 2 years old, he already had some big questions about his identity — and the desire to find answers. Ryan’s search led him to become the first donor-conceived person to find his parent through DNA testing. He also co-founded the Donor Sibling Registry, an organization that’s helped connect tens of thousands of donor-conceived people with biological family. He tells Anita about meeting many of his own genetic relatives and what this journey has taught him about the meaning of those relationships. Meet the guest: - Ryan Kramer, co-founder of the Donor Sibling Registry and the first donor-conceived person to find his parent through DNA testing Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

A significant portion of the funeral home workforce is entering retirement...but there's a crop of young people who are ready to take the helm. Anita meets two young funeral directors who felt called to this work at a young age. They take her inside their world -- from organizing end of life ceremonies to learning how to embalm for the first time. Plus, they share their hopes for a more death-positive future. Meet the guests: - Jasmine Berrios, licensed funeral director and embalmer, shares how she got into the industry, how being a funeral director impacts her dating life and how she tries to create boundaries around her work [@jasminethemortician] - Joél Simone Maldonado, grief care professional and educator known as The Grave Woman, talks about how her family influenced her career choice, how she educates her peers around culturally competent care and the importance of open conversations around death [@thegravewoman] Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Buy tickets for our August event at Motorco, all about transformation! Please note: This episode originally aired April 19, 2024. Update: Jasmine Berrios is now the secretary of the California Funeral Directors Association — the youngest officer in the organization’s 120-year history.

When Philip Hoover and his wife Lauren Hill-Hoover tested positive for COVID-19 three years ago, they thought they knew what to expect. But then Philip’s symptoms persisted, morphed and intensified. They talk to Anita about how an illness that’s affected tens of millions of Americans upended their life and forced them to confront big, existential questions, like: What does caring for each other in sickness and in health *really* mean? Meet the guests: - Philip Hoover is a writer who has long COVID - Lauren Hill-Hoover is Philip's wife Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Buy tickets for our August event at Motorco, all about transformation! Dig deeper: Philip's Modern Love essay

When Yowei Shaw got laid off two years ago, there was no amount of bad TV, fried food or even therapy that could get her out of a deep emotional rut. So, she turned to the one thing that had worked in the past: reporting on her feelings. That journey led her to starting a new podcast called Proxy and inventing a new journalism beat: emotional investigative journalism. Anita talks to Yowei about why and how she reports on emotions (both hers and other people’s) and the surprising discoveries she’s made along the way. Meet the guest: - Yowei Shaw is the host and creator of Proxy Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Buy tickets for our August event at Motorco, all about transformation!

Abraham Verghese has two acclaimed careers. He’s an infectious disease specialist known for his focus on the human side of medicine and a bestselling author of books like “My Own Country” and “The Covenant of Water.” In a recorded live event in Pittsboro, North Carolina, Anita talks to him about the shared philosophy he brings to both professions and probes him about how his own experiences inform how he writes about bodies and relationships.  Meet the guest: - Dr. Abraham Verghese, acclaimed physican and author Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Buy tickets for our August event at Motorco, all about transformation! Special thanks to McIntyre’s Books in Fearrington Village for hosting this event.

Our understanding of the term bisexuality has been in a state of constant evolution. In a moment when bisexual adults make up the largest share of the LGBTQ+ population, how is bisexuality being re-imagined, reclaimed — and sometimes relinquished? Anita meets two people who have grappled with the term’s history, meaning and power for building community. Meet the guests: - J.R. Yussuf is the author of “Dear Bi Men: A Black Man's Perspective on Power, Consent, Breaking Down Binaries, and Combating Erasure” - Jazmín Aguilar is a host and senior audio producer at the Boston Globe Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Buy tickets for our August event at Motorco, all about transformation! Please note: This episode originally aired October 10, 2024. Update: J.R. Yussuf’s book, “Dear Bi Men,” was a finalist for the Foreword INDIES award.

When Jessica Slice was 28 years old, a bout of heat exhaustion triggered an underlying neurological disorder that led to permanent physical disabilities. In the 14 years since, Jessica met her now-husband David Yourdon and started a family. They talk to Anita about how their parenting experience has been one of adaptation and creativity — from learning how to separate their worth from external standards to accepting that all bodies have changing needs that require attention and care. They share the nitty gritty of their parenting life, with wisdom that’s relevant for all families. Meet the guests: - Jessica Slice, author of “Unfit Parent: A Disabled Mother Challenges an Inaccessible World" -  David Yourdon, Jessica's husband  Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Buy tickets for our August event at Motorco, all about transformation! Dig deeper: Jessica's newsletter, Whatever What Is

It took Anita 12 years and five therapists to find someone who could help her tackle questions of racial and cultural identity. She meets two therapists of color working to make that kind of support more accessible. Sahaj Kaur Kohli, founder of Brown Girl Therapy, talks about approaching wellness from a more collectivist lens, and Jor-El Caraballo shares how he helps clients build tools for resilience in the face of systemic oppression. Meet the guests: -  Sahaj Kaur Kohli is a psychotherapist, the founder of Brown Girl Therapy and the author of “But What Will People Say?” - Jor-El Caraballo is a therapist, the co-founder of Viva Mental Health and Wellness and the author of “Self-Care for Black Men” Special thanks to Lisa R. Savage, Erinn Scott, Melody Li and Susan Chung for contributing to this week's episode. Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published July 25, 2024.

Anita hands over the mic to Embodied’s intern, Nina Scott. After listening to our recent episode about country queers living in rural America, Nina became interested in exploring the Black queer South. Drawing from her own personal experience as a Black lesbian born and raised in the South, Nina speaks to an artist and an academic who are dedicated to contextualizing the experience of Black Southern lesbians. Meet the guests: - Shirlette Ammons is a musician, poet and producer - Dr. Nikki Lane is an anthropologist, writer and assistant professor at Duke University Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Here are the academics Dr. Nikki Lane mentioned who are exploring the experiences of Black lesbians: - E. Patrick Johnson - Kemi Adeyemi - Mignon Moore

Anita's been deep in romantasy land this year reading Fourth Wing & ACOTAR. And it's gotten her thinking about the skill required to make steamy sex scenes come alive on the page and out loud. She goes behind the scenes with two prolific erotica author-editors and a former producer for the audio erotica app Dipsea to figure out how the sausage — and the butt slaps — get made. Meet the guests: - Rachel Kramer Bussel has been published in more than 100 erotica anthologies, edited at least 70 others and is the author of “How To Write Erotica” - Cecilia Tan has written science fiction and fantasy erotica for 30 years and is the founder of the publishing company Circlet Press  - Selene Ross is a former audio producer for the popular audio erotica app Dipsea and an artist and musician with an MFA in fiction from Oregon State University, where she teaches podcast storytelling and writing Special thanks to Megan Hart and Lee Suksi for contributing to this episode! Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired August 8, 2024. Update: Some of Cecilia Tan’s stories are now free to read on a brand new erotica and romance reading site called Theo.

When you board a plane, flight attendants greet you with practiced smiles and seamless service. But there’s a lot of mental and emotional labor that passengers don’t see. Missy, a Hawaii-based flight attendant, takes Anita inside her world and shares stories from her close to five years on the job — from managing unruly passengers to dealing with medical emergencies. Travel journalist Natalie Compton also shares her reporting on the financial precarity some flight attendants face and how understanding more about their reality has changed the way she approaches air travel. Meet the guests: - Missy is a Hawaii-based flight attendant who is using only her first name since she's not authorized to speak on behalf of her airline - Natalie Compton is a travel reporter for The Washington Post Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Dig deeper: Natalie's reporting on the financial precarity of early-career flight attendants Natalie's reporting on flight attendant training

Rae Garringer grew up on a sheep farm in rural West Virginia, and once they left for college and came out as queer, they weren't sure they could ever move back. They believed the story they’d been told: to thrive as an out, LGBTQ+ person, you have to live in a city. But when Rae did move back in 2011, they realized that story was a lie. Anita talks to Rae about making queer life work in the country — from navigating dating challenges to getting along with neighbors you disagree with. They also talk about Rae’s oral history project, podcast and book “Country Queers,” which documents queer, rural life in 21 states around the country. Meet the guest: - Rae Garringer is the founder and director of Country Queers, an oral history project and podcast, and the author of "Country Queers" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

What would you do if you knew your brain would stop functioning normally in just a decade? For brothers Ansel Dow (31) and Cosmo Hinsman (26), this isn't hypothetical. They carry a rare genetic mutation that makes frontotemporal dementia almost inevitable by their mid-40s. It’s the same condition that has altered the lives and personalities of their mother and five of her siblings. In conversation with Anita, the brothers reveal how this genetic legacy influences their most personal choices about love, friendship and building a meaningful life against a countdown. Meet the guests: - Ansel Dow is a community organizer and an advocate for more research into FTD - Cosmo Hinsman holds a MFA in fiction writing Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Read "The Vanishing Family" from the New York Times here Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied You can check out Climbing the Walls here.

Sex has no age limit. But having a robust intimate life well beyond age 65 comes with distinct challenges, particularly when you no longer live in the privacy of your own home. Anita talks with two people dedicated to making good sex possible for older adults, whether they are navigating dementia and living in a nursing home, or forging a new relationship with someone in their assisted living community. Sexuality educator Jane Fleishman and research psychologist Maggie Syme discuss the policy landscape affecting older adults’ sexual wellness and share stories from their day-to-day work building an intimacy revolution in elder care. Meet the guests: - Jane Fleishman is a sexuality educator who also identifies as an older adult - Maggie Syme is a research psychologist Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied You can check out Climbing the Walls here.

A new crop of children’s book authors are trying to help kids develop curiosity about their physical bodies. But how exactly do they turn fraught body politics into compelling children's stories? Anita gets answers when she meets Tyler Feder and Shelly Anand, the creators behind the books "Bodies Are Cool" and "Laxmi's Mooch." Meet the guests: - Tyler Feder, the author and illustrator behind the book “Bodies are Cool" - Shelly Anand, the author of “Laxmi’s Mooch" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired November 1, 2024. Update: “Bodies Are Cool” is now available as a board book.  You can check out Climbing the Walls here.

Sharing something special with you this week, it’s an episode of Other People’s Problems, from CBC. Normally, therapy sessions are totally confidential — but this podcast opens the doors. In this season, the host Dr. Hillary McBride explores the transformative power of psychedelics in a therapeutic setting. With her psychological expertise, Dr. Hillary leads clients through drug-assisted therapy, guiding them to new heights on their healing journeys. You’ll experience these real, unscripted sessions firsthand as they unfold, and get an unprecedented look at therapy using psychedelics and psychoactive drugs, demystifying this often misunderstood practice as a powerful tool in trauma recovery. In this episode, we hear from Donovan, who has lived in fear and anger ever since he told the truth about being abused by his mother’s boyfriend and then felt betrayed by social workers who were supposed to help. Now, after several ketamine therapy sessions, Donovan can finally look back upon his child-self with care and calm and works to become the kind of adult he needed for his own children. You can listen to more Other People’s Problems here.

Gen Z is anxious about climate change, and it’s impacting their family planning. Anita talks to researcher Jade Sasser, who's been studying young people’s attitudes about climate change and reproductive choices while unpacking her own experiences with climate anxiety. They’ll talk about how to manage climate emotions while making big life decisions, and how “the kid question” isn’t just about babies — it’s about what bringing new life into an uncertain world represents. Meet the guest: - Jade Sasser is the author of “Climate Anxiety and the Kid Question: Deciding Whether to Have Children in an Uncertain Future” and an associate professor at the University of California, Riverside   Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied You can check out Climbing the Walls here.

When the #MeToo movement exploded in 2017, journalist Ruth Whippman — nearly nine months pregnant with her third son — experienced a profound conflict. As a feminist, she celebrated the movement; as a mother, she worried: "How am I gonna raise these boys to be good?" This tension launched Ruth on a quest to understand modern American boyhood and what's not working. Ruth and her husband Neil Levine tell Anita about their journey of putting Ruth’s research into practice, working to give their sons the emotional tools to thrive in a changing world — and what’s at stake if we don’t shift our approach to raising boys. Meet the guests: - Ruth Whippman is the author of "BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity" - Neil Levine is Ruth's husband Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied You can check out Climbing the Walls here.

When you’re living with a stigmatized mental illness like bipolar disorder, opening up to romantic partners can be tough, but Anita brings on two people who’ve found their own way through love and mental health. A writer-poet talks about navigating new romantic connections, and a married couple shares how they’ve built a strong foundation for weathering mental health ups and downs over 15 years together. Meet the guests: - Michelle Yang, a writer and advocate, shares her journey to a bipolar I disorder diagnosis, how she navigated disclosure of her diagnosis early on in her relationship with her husband and her work to separate trauma from culture - Bob Zammit, Michelle's husband, gives his perspective on managing mental health in their family and how he and Michelle have thought about raising their 10-year-old son to be conscious of mental health - Hannah Blum, author of “Oh Mind, Where Have You Gone Today?”, explains how she approaches disclosure of her bipolar II diagnosis in romantic connections and what kind of mental health support she appreciates from intimate partners Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired May 24, 2024. Update: Michelle Yang is on her book tour for her memoir. You can find more information here.  You can check out Climbing the Walls here.

In Anita's lifetime, the divorce rate for Americans over 55 has doubled. People are living longer, divorce stigma has decreased and women are more financially independent. But leaving a decades-long marriage … is a big life upheaval. Anita gets personal accounts from two gray divorcees about what it was like to rebuild their identities, finances and freedom post-divorce. They discuss money management, surfing and why women initiate divorce most often in heterosexual partnerships. Meet the guests: - Laura Stassi is a writer, editor and the host of the podcast "Dating While Gray" - Dr. Stephanie Han is a literature scholar, award-winning author and educator Special thanks to Nanette Murphy and Linda Lingo for sharing their thoughts for this episode! Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired August 15, 2024. Update: Stephanie’s guide to writing your divorce story and her class on the same topic was featured on Oprah Daily.  You can check out Climbing the Walls here.

American men are in a friendship recession. Compared to a few decades ago, five times as many men have no close friends. So what’s going on? Anita talks with Mark Pagán, creator and host of the podcast “Other Men Need Help,” about what makes close friendships among men so fraught — and what we can do about it. They talk about everything from why Mark loves secret handshakes to his ongoing journey of making himself say the hard stuff out loud. Meet the guest: - Mark Pagán is the creator and host of the podcast "Other Men Need Help" and writes the substack "Other Men" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied You can check out Climbing the Walls here.

Doctors are expected to make high-stakes decisions quickly and often. And while plenty of medical guidelines exist, sometimes finding the right answer relies on intuition as much as logic. So what happens when suddenly that intuition is … gone? Retired anesthesiologist Dr. Ronald Dworkin tells Anita about the day he lost his intuition and how he got it back. She also talks to one of her favorite medical minds (her brother-in-law, Dr. Amit Gupta) about training intuition in the next generation of doctors. Meet the guests: - Dr. Ronald Dworkin is a research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, a retired anesthesiologist and the author of the essay "When I lost my intuition" - Dr. Amit Gupta is a gastroenterologist, assistant professor of medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill and Anita's brother-in-law Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied You can check out Climbing the Walls here.

Ever since Kate Downey got her first extremely painful period at age 14, every month feels like playing Russian roulette with her uterus. Will she get “normal” abdominal discomfort — or excruciating, life-disrupting “death cramps”? After decades of not knowing the cause of her pain,  Kate set out to find an answer to her very own medical mystery…and she shares with Anita how what she uncovered has implications for many other menstruating people. Meet the guest: - Kate Downey is the creator and host of CRAMPED, a podcast investigating period pain Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

When technology creators see problems … they fix them. No less is true for trans designers, who for decades have responded to emergent needs in their community with technological innovation. Trans scholar Oliver Haimson tells Anita why it's vital to understand the role of trans technology in this particular political moment. He shares stories from the hundreds of technologies he’s explored — everything from bathroom-finding apps to augmented reality — that both support trans folks’ tangible needs and help reimagine new worlds. Meet the guest: - Oliver Haimson is the author of "Trans Technologies" and an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Information Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Special thanks to Hibby Thach for her contributions to this episode!

Despite a decade of restrictive behavior and a career path in mental health counseling, Alishia McCullough had never associated herself with the phrase eating disorder. She’s not alone – while eating disorders affect all races and ethnicities at similar rates, people of color are less than half as likely to receive a diagnosis than their white counterparts. She talks to Anita about how an aha moment in grad school led her to better understand how to treat eating disorders in Black women’s bodies — starting with her own. Meet the guest: - Alishia McCullough is the author of "Reclaiming the Black Body: Nourishing the Home Within" and a licensed mental health therapist Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

When Anita moved away to college, she experienced a big shift in her biracial identity. Turns out that the questions that emerged for her are ones that many mixed young adults still ponder today ...15 years later. She meets two college seniors and they talk through navigating everything from "Where do I belong?" to "How do I date?" Plus she hears wisdom from a life coach who helps mixed adults tell new stories about identity. Meet the guests: - Adiah Siler, a senior at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, explains how moving out of her small town to go to college allowed her opportunities to explore her Blackness and has influenced her journey as a mixed race person - Claire Gallagher, a senior at the University of Michigan, shares her own experiences growing up as a mixed race person and brings up some of the anxieties she's had about her identity, especially since attending a predominantly white college - Sarah Lotus Garrett, a certified life and goal fulfillment coach, emphasizes the confidence and healing that being a part of a mixed race community can bring Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired July 14, 2023. Updates: Adiah Siler is currently working on her MFA at the University of Iowa in the Writers’ Workshop. Dig deeper: Sarah’s program for mixed adults Claire’s piece on the fetishization of mixed race identities Adiah’s piece on being a mixed teen

When Celeste Gracia was 17, her religiously conservative parents sent her to conversion therapy. This was the same summer that the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, giving queer people across the country cause for celebration. It would take years before Celeste felt that same joy and freedom, and today, the 27-year-old environment reporter at WUNC talks with Anita about how recent political events are prompting her to reflect on her decade-long path to healing. Anita also talks to therapist Jonathan Bell about how Celeste’s story fits into a broader context and why religious trauma is so challenging to heal. Meet the guests: - Celeste Gracia is an environment reporter at WUNC who has spent a decade untangling her religious trauma - Jonathan Bell is a a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in helping queer clients with religious trauma Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Most parents in Anita's life tell her that it's a relentless job ... so if you're doing it all without a partner, how is it possible to also sustain a relationship with sex and romance? Anita talks with two unpartnered moms about juggling pleasure, dating and parenthood. Meet the guests: - Tara Ilsley is a solo mom of a toddler and a public health worker - Cordelia Gaffar is a single mom of six kids, an intimacy educator and a somatic movement facilitator Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Soph Myers-Kelley and his mom, René Myers, have always been close. As of five years ago, they also share a diagnosis: the connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Soph and René were diagnosed one year apart – Soph was 25; René was 60. EDS explained symptoms they’d both been experiencing for decades, including waking up with jaw or shoulder dislocations and having chronic pain.The two talk with Anita about how their diagnoses began a new chapter of their lives, including the decision to move in together last summer. Meet the guests: - Soph Myers-Kelley is a medical librarian at East Carolina University - René Myers is Soph's mom and a retired educator Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Food and sex have been deeply intertwined in our cultural imagination for millennia. Anita talks with a cultural historian who has combed through centuries of sex and food chronicles to understand what makes that connection so strong. Plus, Puerto Rican chef Manolo López shares a Valentine’s recipe and his favorite sexy food. Meet the guests: - Rachel Hope Cleves is a historian, a professor at the University of Victoria and the author of “Lustful Appetites: An Intimate History of Good Food and Wicked Sex" - Manolo López is a Puerto Rican chef and storyteller Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

In the hours and days following President Donald Trump’s re-election, online searches about leaving the U.S. surged. Historically, most folks who have considered a move haven’t taken action, but Tina Strawn is an exception. Anita talks to her about why, as a queer Black woman, she left America in 2020 in search of freedom. Tina answers listener's questions about expat life and shares why she encourages everyone to ask themselves: what would it feel like to be free? Meet the guest: - Tina Strawn, the author of “Are We Free Yet? The Black Queer Guide to Divorcing America” Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

Anita is committed to self-improvement but skeptical of self-help. She brings her qualms and questions to the experts: Kristen Meinzer, a podcaster who has lived by the rules of more than 50 self-help books, and Beth Blum, a scholar who's traced the genre back to its roots. Plus Sondra Rose Marie, a former self-help fan, shares how the industry has failed her as a woman of color. Meet the guests: - Kristen Meinzer, pop culture commentator and podcast host, shares what she learned from following the rules of over 50 self-help books - Beth Blum, Harvard humanities professor and author, talks about the long history of the self-help industry, and how it's changed over the decades - Sondra Rose Marie, writer, talks about why she started following a self-help guru...and what events made her leave Dig Deeper: Kristen's podcasts How To Be Fine and Daily Fail Beth's book "The Self-Help Compulsion" Sondra's Medium article on self-help Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired January 5, 2024. Updates: The latest season of Kristen Meinzer’s podcast “How To Be Fine” is all about the loneliness epidemic and friendship quandaries. Sondra Rose Marie is now the editor and owner of the digital magazine for LGBTQ+ women called Tagg Magazine.

Anita finds a lot of ASMR videos to be deeply relaxing, but she doesn't get the well-hyped/well-documented 'brain tingles.' Why? She puts the question to a physiologist who's been exploring the science of ASMR for the past decade. Plus, she meets an ASMR artist who's entranced hundreds of thousands of people with her medical role play videos and a woman who turned to the world of Boyfriend ASMR to heal her broken heart. Meet the guests: - Craig Harris Richard, ASMR researcher and professor of biopharmaceutical sciences at Shenandoah University, digs into the data on what we know about ASMR, or autonomous sensory meridian response - Semide, an ASMR artist, talks about the emotional work in her content creation and the parasocial relationships she forms with viewers - Laura Nagy, filmmaker, writer and podcaster behind the 2021 Audible Original podcast “Pillow Talk,” shares how ASMR content helped her to open up to being vulnerable again  Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Check out Craig's ASMR podcasts: “Sleep Whispers” and “Calm History” Follow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published March 15, 2024. Update: Dr. Craig Richard is a co-author of a new seminal paper highlighting the research agenda for ASMR.

How does selling sexy online affect your offline relationship with sex and your body? Anita poses that question to two creators: Paris Bush, who in four years on Only Fans has become one of the site’s top earners, and Maxim Lupin, who says that online sex work is the profession that best supports his mental and physical health.  Meet the guests: - Paris Bush creates content that runs the gamut from nude and spicy to spoofy and comical - Maxim Lupin creates content that focuses on kink and sex ed Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

It's been half a century since the psychedelic era, but some baby boomers are returning to the drugs of their youth — not for rock and roll, but to confront aging. Writer Abbie Rosner re-experienced mushrooms in her 60s, and she tells Anita about her subsequent investigation into why other boomers are taking psychedelics to grapple with aging. Plus, a medical professional shares what it’s like to facilitate these experiences for her peers. Meet the guests: - Abbie Rosner is a writer who shares her own experience and the stories of other baby boomers, which she plans to publish in a book called “ELDEREVOLUTION: Psychedelics and the New Counterculture of Aging” - Dr. Crystal Dawn is a physician who's board-certified in family medicine and provides ketamine-assisted therapy Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

There are few things that are certain about 2025, but one of them is that at some point, you’ll be called upon for advice. Anita talks to Meghan Keane, the founder of NPR's Life Kit and author of “Party of One,” about how to give good advice. Meghan shares her personal journey to striking the balance between overthinking, venting and actually getting to the root of a problem. Plus, she sits in the hot seat to answer some big questions from our listeners. Meet the guest: - Meghan Keane is the author of "Party of One: Be Your Own Best Life Partner" and the founder and managing editor of NPR's Life Kit Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied