Embodied
Sex and relationships are intimate — and sometimes intimidating to talk about. In WUNC’s award-winning podcast, host Anita Rao guides us on an exploration of our brains and bodies that touches down in taboo territory. Follow the show on Instagram at @embodiedwunc and on Bluesky at embodiedwunc.bsky.social. You can find Anita on Bluesky at asrao.bsky.social.
Episodes
A Journalist’s Solution to Emotional Conundrums
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
Money Trauma … And How To Deal With It
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 d
Native Fatherhood & Healing With Julian Brave NoiseCat
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
Building A Queer Life In The Country
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 t
Faceblindness & A Journey To Rediscover Your Brain Midlife
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 ho
Making The Kid Decision ... And Learning To Live With It
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 decisio
Why The Former ‘Fastest Girl In America’ Wants To Change Sports
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 scene
Stuttered: Diversifying The Way We Speak
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 profe
How A Mother Learned To Connect Without Language
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 beli
The Case For Taking Humor Seriously
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 al
A New Playbook For Raising Boys
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 Ne
Reckoning With The Asian Fetish
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,
Climate Anxiety And The Choice To Parent
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 a
The Hidden Labor Of Flight Attendants
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 Nat
The Future of Trans Athletes in Sports
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 ma
Beyond Bromance: Searching For Deeper Male Friendship
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
Inside The World of Sugar Babies, Sugar Daddies & Sugar Dating
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 abo
‘You Don’t Become a Witch, You Remember That You Are One’
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 windin
The Healing Power Of Horror
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-wi
A Practical Guide To Poop
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, rese
‘I’ve Got The Same Thing You Do’: Ehlers-Danlos Across Generations
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.Th
Why Is Good Food So Sexy?
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 professo
Tallying The Costs Of Being Undocumented
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 Univers
Lessons Learned From Loving Birds
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 s
Why Are We Afraid Of Baldness?
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 i
How Competitive Figure Skating Shaped a Sibling Relationship
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 t
The Art of Giving Good Advice
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 si
Reimagining The Wedding Ceremony
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 "marri
Coming Of Age As A Chinese Restaurant Kid
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 a
Sex And Intimacy After Sexual Assault
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 surviv
Dating, Sex & Love With HIV
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 experien
Is Food The Key To Cultural Belonging?
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
Why It’s So Hard To Break Up With Fast Fashion
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 o
How Fake Claims To Native Identity Cause Real Harm
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
How LGBTQ Seniors Are Aging In Community
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 Anit
(Single) Mothered: Choosing To Parent Solo
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 fami
The Sex Lives Of Gen Z (And Why They Matter)
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 move
Desiring Disability in Fashion
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 fa
BONUS: A Preview of The Second Opinion with Dr. Sharon
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 con
Navigating Chronic Insomnia In A Sleep-Obsessed Culture
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:- Jen
A Mission To Tell Trans History Differently
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 stor
Boomers On Psychedelics
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
Searching For Love And Legal Status
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 t
What It Takes To Make Art Your Life
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 Grie
The Life of Trans And Queer Long-Haul Truckers
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
Dyslexia And The Reading Brain
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 learn
One Sperm Donor, 31 Half Siblings & A Long Search For Identity
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 o
Undertaken: The Next Generation Of Funeral Directors
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 d
When Long Covid Rewrites Your Love Story
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
A Journalist’s Solution to Emotional Conundrums
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
Abraham Verghese On Writing, Medicine & The Body
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 experienc
Bisexuality Beyond The Binary
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
Parenting Wisdom From An Interabled Couple
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 ext
Why We Need More Therapists Of Color
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 f
BONUS: A Quest for the Black Lesbian South
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 Bla
The Making Of Great Erotica
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
The Hidden Labor Of Flight Attendants
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 Nat
Building A Queer Life In The Country
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 t
Two Brothers, One Uncertain Future
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 con
Why We Need To Talk About Sex In Nursing Homes
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 li
What Kids' Books Teach Us About Our Bodies
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 behin
BONUS: On Psychedelics, from Other People’s Problems
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
Climate Anxiety And The Choice To Parent
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 a
A New Playbook For Raising Boys
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 Ne
Balanced: Love & Bipolar Disorder
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
Life After A Gray Divorce
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 mone
Beyond Bromance: Searching For Deeper Male Friendship
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
A Doctor’s Intuition Lost And Found
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 f
Decades Of ‘Death Cramps’ Later, A Search For Answers To Period Pain
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 unco
Why We Need Trans Tech In 2025
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 explore
Why Black Women’s Disordered Eating Is Overlooked
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
Mixed: Owning Your Multiracial Story
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 a
Forgive, But Don’t Forget: Sexuality & Healing From Religious Trauma
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 recen
Sexual Liberation for Single Moms
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
‘I’ve Got The Same Thing You Do’: Ehlers-Danlos Across Generations
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.Th
Why Is Good Food So Sexy?
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 professo
One Woman's Guide To Divorcing America
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
(Self) Helped: Inside The Industry That Wants To Change Your Life
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
Tingled: Your Brain And Heart On ASMR
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 Boyfrien
Offline Lives of Online Sex Workers
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 ga
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