Embodied

Anita loves a good romantic story — especially when lovers prevail against all odds. There are a million reasons to give up on happily ever after when one or more people in a relationship are incarcerated. But for those who stay together despite prison walls, a special kind of connection is created, as we learn in the season two finale. Meet the guests: - Monae and Adriel Alvarado share their one-of-a-kind love story — from meeting inside prison while they were both incarcerated and sending love notes while in solitary confinement to building a life together on the outside. - Sutina and Steven Green reflect on building a relationship and growing a family while Steven was serving a life sentence without parole in California. - Jenesee Green, Steven & Sutina's 17-year-old daughter, talks about growing up with an incarcerated father and what she's learned from her parents' love and relationship. Read the transcript | Review the podcast Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram

Anita may not shy away when conversations get uncomfortable, but approaching difficult topics can depend on who you're talking to and which self you're bringing to the discussion. In this special episode, she exchanges notes and kinship with Anna Sale and Allison Behringer, hosts of the podcasts "Death, Sex & Money" and "Bodies" respectively. Meet the guests: - Anna Sale, host of "Death, Sex & Money," shares lessons learned from 7 years of hosting hard conversations on the microphone and personal insights detailed in her new book "Let's Talk About Hard Things." - Allison Behringer, creator and host of "Bodies," a feminist documentary podcast, shares what exploring the mysteries of our health & bodies with has taught her about creating space for hard conversations. Read the transcript | Watch the event | Review the podcast Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram

Anita has little trouble knocking out for a good night's sleep. But feeling well rested all the time? That's a little more complicated. Why do our bodies struggle to do what we know is good for us? Meet the guests: - Jade Wu, a psychologist and sleep specialist, gives us some sleep science 101 and shares her top tips on battling insomnia. - Andre Royal Sr. shares how narcolepsy affects his relationships and why he's trying to help folks better understand what narcolepsy looks like through his organization Suddenly Sleepy. - 15-year-old Jordan tells us about being diagnosed with narcolepsy in third grade, and how he's navigated friendships, school and life ever since. - Anita's parents talk about what they've learned from dreamland and making sleeping a priority. - Dayna Johnson, an epidemiologist, tells us about sleep disparities for Black folks and why we should think about sleep as a public health issue. Read the transcript | Review the podcast Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram

Anita surprised herself with judgements she made about others with only a photo to go on during her years of online dating. Such bias and misconceptions are something folks with physical disabilities contend with every day on the apps...and IRL.  Meet the guests:- Julie-Ann Scott-Pollock, a performer and communication studies scholar, talks about living with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy and what non-disabled people can learn about consent and communication from the disabilities community.- D'Arcee Charington, a disabilities advocate and English doctoral student, shares stories about online dating as a wheelchair user and talks about how ableism shows up in romantic relationships.- Ariella Barker, an attorney and communications specialist, talks about how her approach to online dating has evolved and the intersection of gender discrimination and disability discrimination.Read the transcript | Review the podcast Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram

Anita has the skin privilege of a white woman and the upbringing of an Indian-American girl. That can make belonging a challenge, something like what transracial adoptees often experience in their own families. Meet the guests: - Shruti Shah talks about growing up as a transracial adoptee in a mixed-race family in Memphis. She also brings on her parents to ask them some lingering questions. - Writer Andrew Lee and his father are both Korean adoptees. Andrew shares how his family's story fits into the bigger, geopolitical history of Korean-American adoption in the U.S. - Rebekah Hutson talks about what it's like to be the "Only Black Girl" in a lot of spaces and how she hopes the adoption industry will do a better job supporting transracial adoptees moving forward. Read the transcript | Review the podcast Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram

If Anita weren't boo'd up, she might wonder if there's someone in her life she already knows who is a good romantic match for her. But is it healthy to look to the past for a chance at future happiness? With help from the podcast Dating While Gray, we examine the pros and cons of "boomerang love." Meet the guests: - Jeannie Thompson talks about her own boomerang heartbreak that led her to leading online discussion forums on reconnecting with former loves. - Grace shares what happened when she reconnected with a childhood crush after her long marriage had gone stale. - Mary and Del, who split after the flame of desire went out in their 20-year marriage, answer the question: Can living separate lives reignite a spark? Read the transcript | More Dating While Gray Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram

Anita, like many of us, was essentially taught that a herpes diagnosis means the end of a good sex life. Now it's time for a real education about the sexually transmitted infection, which is extremely common and far less terrifying once you open the door to conversation about it. Meet the guests: - Sex and culture critic Ella Dawson talks about her experience navigating a herpes diagnosis and how opening up about it publicly has shaped her life and relationships. - Infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Leone shares the science of herpes and clears up common misconceptions about the virus. - Anita's good friend shares the range of responses she's gotten while disclosing her diagnosis and how she hopes the conversation around herpes will evolve. Read the transcript | Review the podcast Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram

Anita is over adulting and would love to lose herself in some serious play time. She's never been a gamer but is intrigued by how video games help us tap into the fun side of our brains while creating spaces designed to help us strengthen our connections with others. Meet the guests: - Hadley Causey talks about founding Spectrum, a queer exclusive server on Discord (a social network for gaming communities) that helped them create a safe space they didn't have in real life. - Tess Tanenbaum, an assistant professor in the department of informatics at University of California, Irvine, talks about the link between game design and relationships that can form within games. - Adriana de Souza e Silva, a professor in the department of communication at NC State, talks about how location-based games like Pokémon GO can connect adults and kids and help everyone integrate more play into their lives. - Nikilesh, Anita's little brother, talks about his relationship with gaming, and how it was a lifeline for him when his family moved to the South while he was in high school. Read the transcript | Review the podcast Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram

Anita appreciates how movies and TV are now more representative in portraying narratives about pregnancy termination. But those stories can't compete with talking to real people about their experience having an abortion. Meet the guests: - Gretchen Sisson, a sociologist, talks about how television and real life diverge when it comes to abortion — and how fictional portrayals influence our understanding of the procedure and the people who get it. - Ruth and Margaret share their experiences terminating wanted pregnancies for medical reasons. Both women use pseudonyms in the conversation to protect their privacy. - Anita's parents on their own abortion story. Read the transcript | Review the podcast Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram

Delve into the tangled relationship with body hair as personal stories reveal the emotional turmoil of hair removal. Explore historical perspectives on beauty standards and learn how race intersects with perceptions of body hair. Guests share their journeys, from embracing cultural identity to fostering acceptance in future generations. Unpack the societal pressures women face and the evolving landscape of self-acceptance, igniting a conversation about normalizing body hair in a world obsessed with smoothness.