Embodied

Religion and sexuality are often pitted against one another...so where does that leave folks who feel attuned to both? Anita interrogates that question alongside Lamya H., the author of "Hijab Butch Blues," a memoir they wrote to be "unapologetically queer and unapologetically Muslim."Meet the guest:- Lamya H., author and activist, explains how their identity as a Muslim and as a queer are intertwined and talks about the intersection of bothRead the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on X and Instagram Leave a message for Embodied

People with disabilities are disproportionately affected by climate change yet often sidelined from policy conversations. Anita marks Earth Day by meeting three disability activists working to turn the tides. They share how their lives and bodies have been impacted by global warming — and how their wisdom could shift climate conversations.Meet the guests:- Daphne Frias, youth activist, shares how some policies aimed at addressing climate change disproportionately affect people with disabilities and about how her activism philosophy has been shaped by her cancer diagnosis- Germán Parodi, Co-Executive Director of The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies, details his on-the-ground experience providing aid in the immediate aftermath of hurricanes and other climate crises- Julia Watts Belser, director of Georgetown University’s Disability and Climate Change: Public Archive Project, takes Anita into the public archive and talks about how the policy conversations about climate change could benefit from the wisdom in the disability community Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on X and Instagram Leave a message for Embodied

Sharing something special today, an episode of the Love Letters podcast. Love Letters tells stories about romance, marriage, partnership, sex, loss and the human heart, all served with a side of advice by Boston Globe columnist Meredith Goldstein. On this episode: When Nimish left Nepal for college in the United States, he expected some serious challenges, like adjusting to a new culture and studying in a new language. Finding love was not top-of-mind. But as he got older and started to date more, Nimish’s romantic life became his biggest source of anxiety. Because with each budding relationship came an all-consuming question: How do I explain this to my parents? You can listen to more Love Letters episodes here.Read the transcript

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 platformFollow Embodied on X and Instagram Leave a message for Embodied

Anita has many close friends who defy all stereotypes about only children. But when it comes to thinking about having her own kids, she still can't shake some of those ingrained ideas. She hears three perspectives on single-kid families (including that of former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins) and learns why the debunked mythology around only children still lingers today.Meet the guests:- Lauren Sandler, journalist and author of "One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child, and the Joy of Being One,” shares her personal experience and ways to reframe the negative stereotypes about being and having only children- Corinne Lyons, a middle school teacher in Detroit, talks about how her childhood being the only child of only children has shaped how she thinks about family- Billy Collins, former U.S. poet laureate, reads his poem "Only Child" and shares the joy of being an only childRead the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformBuy tickets for our live event on 4/20/24!Follow Embodied on X and Instagram Leave a message for Embodied

True or false? Victorian doctors invented the vibrator to cure women's "hysteria" by bringing them to sexual climax. The answer may surprise you...as it did Anita! She gets the truth about vibrator history from journalist Hallie Lieberman and meets Anna Lee, the engineer behind the first-ever “smart” vibrator that can help you better understand your arousal patterns.Meet the guests:- Hallie Lieberman, author of "Buzz: The Stimulating History of the Sex Toy," shares the history of the vibrator and debunks myths and misconceptions around how this sex toy evolved- Anna Lee, co-founder and head of engineering at Lioness, talks about how her company designed their smart vibrator, how they collect data and what they've learned from their users so farRead the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformBuy tickets for our live event on 4/20/24!Follow Embodied on X and Instagram Leave a message for EmbodiedDive deeper:Read more about Von’s musicSee some vibrator ads throughout historyHallie debunking the vibrator myth

A gender transition is a moment of personal flux that can also have a big impact on a romantic relationship. Anita meets two couples who continued to choose each other after one partner came out as trans: a South African couple in their 20s and an American couple who went through a transition after 22 years of marriage.Meet the guests:- Summer Tao and Lucy Aalto, partners and freelance writers in South Africa, describe the unexpected ways in which Summer’s transition brought them closer together and share advice to couples who may be at the beginning of their own queer journeys - Kate and Patty Redman, wife and wife in Missouri, reflect on changes to their sex life, social circles and religious ties when Kate came out as trans after two decades of marriageRead the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformBuy tickets for our live event on 4/20/24!Follow Embodied on X and Instagram Leave a message for Embodied

No matter how much you love your partner, your relationship will never be totally free from disagreement. And nor should it be, say researchers Dr John Gottman and Dr Julie Schwartz Gottman. We actually just need to learn to argue better. Enjoy this episode from our friends at The Happiness Lab.The Gottmans join Dr Laurie Santos to talk us through how to raise complaints with our partners and how to react when they complain about us. Further reading: Fight Right: How Successful Couples Turn Conflict into Connection by Dr John Gottman and Dr Julie Schwartz Gottman. 

American Sign Language is the third-most used language in the U.S. ASL has its own culture and art forms, and for many Deaf folks, ASL is about much more than just communication. Anita talks to Deaf author Sara Nović and Deaf ASL Slam poet Douglas Ridloff about how ASL gave them tools for self-understanding and artistic expression. Then she learns from scholars Carolyn McCaskill and Joseph Hill about Black American Sign Language (BASL), an ASL dialect that emerged because of school segregation.Meet the guests:- Sara Nović, author of "True Biz," outlines the history of ASL and how it has influenced her work as a writer- Douglas Ridloff, visual storyteller, ASL master and executive director of ASL Slam, shares how he learned ASL and became an ASL poet- Carolyn McCaskill, recently retired professor and director of the Center for Black Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University, talks about attending a segregated school for the deaf — and how integration raised her awareness of Black ASL (BASL)- Joseph Hill, associate professor in the department of ASL and Interpreting Education at Rochester Institute of Technology, talks about the impact of the research he, Carolyn and two other colleagues have conducted about BASLRead the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformCheck out the video version of this conversation: part one is here, and part two is here.Buy tickets for our live event on 4/20/24!Follow Embodied on X and Instagram Leave a message for Embodied

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 platformCheck out Craig's ASMR podcasts: “Sleep Whispers” and “Calm History”Buy tickets for our live event on 4/20/24!Follow Embodied on X and Instagram Leave a message for Embodied