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 leaveDig Deeper:Kristen's podcasts How To Be Fine and Daily FailBeth's book "The Self-Help Compulsion"Sondra's Medium article on self-helpRead the transcript | Review the podcastLeave a message for Embodied

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 relationshipsDig Deeper:Follow Nina G's comedy on InstagramJia on stuttering as a superpowerStuttering content on YouTube by Courtland Crain and Matice AhnjamineNational Stuttering Association websiteRead the transcript | Review the podcastLeave a message for Embodied

Anita reconnects with the woman who changed her thinking on incarceration: her beloved college thesis adviser Ashley Lucas. Ashley reflects on her father's 20-year prison sentence and the untold stories of families navigating incarceration from the outside. Journalist Sylvia A. Harvey also shares how losing her mother to asthma and her father to a life sentence in prison before she was 6 years old led her to investigate the carceral system as a whole.Meet the guests:- Ashley Lucas, professor of theatre and drama at the University of Michigan, talks about how her experience growing up with an incarcerated father informs her research and led to her play "Doin' Time: Through the Visiting Glass"- Sylvia A. Harvey, a journalist and author, examines the intersection of the carceral, education and child welfare systems and investigates some of the larger forces shaping the experiences of families with an incarcerated loved oneRead the transcript | Review the podcastFollow Embodied on X and Instagram Leave us a message for an upcoming episode here!Dive deeper:My Dad Went to Prison When I Was 5. Now I Write About Families Like Mine by Sylvia A. HarveyResources from SAHAn article Ashley wrote about Russell Maroon Shoatz, who served 49 years in Pennsylvania prisons and was the father of seven childrenAn interview Ashley did with Maroon’s son, Russell III, “Tell a Tale of Two Fathers”A virtual panel featuring Ashley called “What Prison Does to Children”

Dealing with pimples and blackheads in middle school is practically a right of passage. But when acne is a defining feature of your adulthood... it’s a whole different experience. Anita meets two acne content creators and a photographer who talk about the emotional toll of severe acne, the myth of normal skin, and the responsibility of being today’s skincare influencers.Meet the Guests:- Patsy Chem, an acne-positive skinfluencer, shares the experience of getting severe acne in her 20s and how that shaped her social life- Peter DeVito, photographer behind the "Acne Normalization" project, talks about creating a safe space in portrait photography for models with acne and the ripple effect of those photos- Cassandra Bankson, a medical esthetician, model and skinfluencer, discusses how she handles the responsibility of challenging beauty standards while also reviewing skincare products and practicesDig Deeper:Cassandra's viral video and YouTube channelNYT on adult acneJessica DeFino in Teen Vogue on the myth of "normal skin" and in Vanity Fair on dermatology’s biggest rule that was meant to be brokenPatsy Chem on accepting her acneRead the transcript | Review the podcastLeave a message for Embodied

More Americans are living into their 90s and 100s than ever before, and it blows Anita's mind that so few people are talking about it! She meets a 94-year-old man who opens up about the changes in his romantic, platonic, and familial relationships, and his two kids join to share their perspectives. Plus, a woman in her 70s introduces Anita to an innovative model for combating social isolation in your senior years.Meet the Guests:- Charles Owens, a 94-year-old man living in North Carolina, talks about friendships, love, assisted living and saying goodbye to your waffle iron in old age- Eddie Owens and Rosa Rouse, Charles' adult children, talk about how their relationship with their father has shifted in the later decades of his life and how they supported him through the changes- Madeline Franklin, executive director of STL Village in St. Louis, talks about the "village" model that helps adults age in placeDig Deeper:Learn more about the broader Village Movement HERERead the transcript | Review the podcastLeave a message for Embodied

Anita walked away from her first pole dancing class slightly bruised … but very intrigued. She talks with a veteran stripper about the history and politics of modern pole dancing and meets a pole sport athlete and studio owner who is trying to build an inclusive space for pole practitioners. Plus, a nonbinary pole dancer shares how their relationship with the pole has evolved alongside their gender identity.Meet the Guests: NatsHoney, a veteran stripper, pole artist, entrepreneur and mother talks about pole's roots in sex work and the ways pole fitness studios can appreciate rather than appropriate the work of strippers Paige Gabert, a pole dancer and the co-owner of Midwest Movement Collective in Grand Rapids, Michigan, discusses why she wanted to start who own studio and how pole has influenced other aspects of her life like motherhood Celeste Ziehl, a dancer and senior at Smith College, talks about coming out as nonbinary after starting pole dancing, and how they changed their relationship with pole to find gender euphoria in the movement Dig Deeper:Paige Gabert’s studio, Midwest Movement Collective Advocacy organization Strippers United, where Nats is on the leadership boardAnita’s pole lesson studio, Aradia Fitness TriangleRead the transcript | Review the podcastLeave a message for Embodied

Anita has fallen down her fair share of wellness rabbit holes [including a certain alliterative family's beauty and shapewear brands...]. Wellness industry insider and journalist Rina Raphael shares how this $4 trillion industry misleads all of us, and 'Dope Black Social Worker' Kim Young gives us the wellness reframes we all need.Meet the guests:- Rina Raphael, author of "The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop and the False Promise of Self-Care,” shares how insidious wellness industry marketing can be- Kim Young, licensed clinical social worker known as the Dope Black Social Worker, explains how we can take charge of our own wellness ... without buying anythingRead the transcript | Review the podcastFollow Embodied on X and Instagram Leave us a message for an upcoming episode here!

What happens when trauma occurs not as a single isolated event, but millions of smaller, ongoing incidents? Guest host Anisa Khalifa talks with an artist, psychotherapist and racial trauma expert about understanding complex post-traumatic stress disorder and the path to healing.Meet the Guests:- Fariha Róisín, a multidisciplinary artist and writer, talks about her journey to healing from complex trauma and why her newest book is titled "Survival Takes a Wild Imagination"- Dr. Karen Winkler, a nurse-psychotherapist with a doctorate in clinical psychology and long-time advocate for people living with chronic illness, discusses the link between complex PTSD and chronic illness and the need for trauma-informed medical care. Dr. Winkler is also a public health advocate in New York City- Dr. Monnica Williams, professor of psychology at the University of Ottawa and the Canada Research Chair in mental health disparities shares how racism can lead to complex trauma, and her strategies for treating racial traumaDig Deeper:Fariha’s recent book of poetryOut of the Storm forum and website for discussions and support on having C-PTSDRacial Trauma & PTSD resourcesChronic Illness resourcesRead the transcript | Review the podcastLeave a message for Embodied

As a child of two immigrants, Anita has a tumultuous relationship with the question: "Where are you from?" So, too, do many third culture kids — people who spend a significant number of their developmental years living in places that are not their parents' homelands. She talks with two third culture kids — one 35 and one 12 — and their moms about growing up between cultures and how they’ve built identity and relationships along the way.Meet the Guests:- Rayla Heide, a senior narrative designer at Blizzard Entertainment, talks about establishing cultural identity as a third culture kid and the grief and joy involved in moving around in childhood- Madeleine Maceda Heide, an international school leader and modern elder as well as Rayla's mother, shares the advantages of being a third culture kid and the ways she helped their family feel at home wherever they lived- Phuong Tran, and international journalist and communications consultant for overseas non-profit organizations, talks about her and her son's recent move from Thailand to North Carolina, and what they gained and lost in making that transition- Kaden Tran, a middle school student, talks about why moving to the US didn't meet up with his expectations and how its impacted his friendshipsRead the transcript | Review the podcastLeave a message for Embodied

Guest host Anisa Khalifa first became a fan in high school. She gets an explanation from a psychologist about how being in fandoms benefits mental health, and a journalist describes what role the internet has played in shaping fan culture. Plus, Anisa invites the co-hosts of her K-drama podcast to reflect on how fandom brought them together — and what it means to be a fan.Meet the guests:- Lynn Zubernis, a psychologist and professor at West Chester University, talks about what poises some people to become superfans more than others, and how being in a fandom can be mentally beneficial- Candice Lim, co-host of ICYMI, Slate's podcast about internet culture, talks about how different internet platforms shape fan communities, and the increasing ways that fandom and regular life are overlapping- Paroma Chakravarty and Saya, Anisa's co-hosts on the podcast Dramas over Flowers, share how the K-drama fandom bonded them together, and what responsibilities fans hold in their communitiesDig Deeper:Lynn's research and writing on fan psychologyThe ICYMI episode on this summer's hacking of AO3Read the transcript | Review the podcast