Making It Awkward

A gluten-flugen-dog? Social media has introduced us to those who want the most flavor, texture, color and creativity in their food and, conversely, those who avoid even salt and might not even cook their food to kill pathogens. Tiktok has given us a window into kitchens around the country. From jello salad to quinoa salad and raw chicken to hot dogs impaled with spaghetti noodles, boiled then painted with sauce and two different kinds of cheese before going in a toasted bun (the gluten-flugen-dog), Jessica has watched with amusement. In more recent times she's seen people cut alllll the way back on both flavor and food safety and are eating their animal products raw, and this just happens to coincide with the increasing interest in Wellness and a fear of anything processed in any way. She proposes that, especially among white folks, there are maximalists and minimalists when it comes to food. She decided to talk to her dad about her theories and introduce him to the recipes of maximalists and minimalists for his thoughts. The two start by drinking some farmer's coke. Snickers salad Jon Anderson Raw milk This is a great episode to watch on Spotify and https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod How to support this podcast? Follow/subscribe, rate and review! Jessica's dad will read reviews and comments on the air! Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies You can buy awkward merch! You can contact the show at makingitawkwardpod@gmail.com

What is MSG, and what's with all of the sh*t talking? Jessica gets answers to these questions with the help of dietitian Cara Harbstreet and a few research rabbit holes. Jessica and Cara talk about how a (maybe fake?) letter to the New England Journal of Medicine kicked off decades of hysteria about "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome." The true author of that letter has been in question for years and the story takes a couple sharp turns. Science has largely debunked the negative impacts of MSG–but, sadly, that doesn't always impact public perception. Jessica also has serious questions about how Americans view flavor and she'll come back to that in later episodes. Five-Thirty-Eight on MSG and xenophobia Science History Institute New England Journal of Medicine recognizing historical injustices Know MSG campaign You can buy awkward merch! You can contact the show at makingitawkwardpod@gmail.com Follow Dietitian, Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod How to support this podcast? Follow/subscribe, rate and review! Jessica's dad will read reviews and comments on the air! Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Jessica sits down with Dr. Selina Wang to chat about seed oil hysteria. Dr. Wang teaches Jessica about the health benefits of different oils and what's supposedly so scary about seed oils. The two try to define what makes a seed oil and Dr. Wang discusses what happens when people collapse complex science into a sound bite. You can buy awkward merch! Different kinds of fats Podcast about anti-trans bias of the NYT. Candle commercial from Cheryl Hines, RFK Jr's wife RFK Jr on Fox discussing seed oils You can contact the show at makingitawkwardpod@gmail.com Follow Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod How to support this podcast? Follow/subscribe, rate and review! Jessica's dad will read reviews and comments on the air! Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Jessica sat down with two romance novel reviewers from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books to hear more about the genre and how they got into professional reviewing. They talk about reading romance novels when they were way too young and why they love a happy ending. Jessica asks about the awkward ways that sex scenes can be written and shares what she found when she stepped into the world of dino-human romance which got very spicy. They also share recommendations for folks who are new to romance reading. You can contact the show at makingitawkwardpod@gmail.com Follow Jessica on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod How to support this podcast? Follow/subscribe, rate and review! Jessica's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies Smart Bitches Trashy Books Shana Maya ⁠You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty⁠ Talia Hibbert's Brown sisters series https://www.goodreads.com/series/271642-the-brown-sisters Cowboys of California https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/series/5CR/cowboys-of-california Jackie Lau https://jackielaubooks.com/books/one-bed-for-christmas/ https://marybalogh.com/ Beautiful Wreck https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29415186-beautiful-wreck

RFK Jr could be in charge of this country's health and it will be…wild. Jessica and Alison Pill sat down to talk about it and who might lead the FDA under a Make America Healthy Again regime. The two get into the concern about fertility among MAHA supporters and what this really means: more babies on the pale end of the spectrum please! Jessica recently consulted her own book for answers about how all of this happened. She realized that the answer is simple, she just forgot. The two discuss the man-of-it-all today. Alison's upcoming romcom, Young Werther! You can become a podcast patron! You can leave an awkward rating and review of this show! You can email the show at makingitawkwardpod@gmail.com Follow Jessica on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson You can watch this episode on Spotify and at ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod⁠ Jessica's book: ⁠It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies⁠

The popular vote got us. Jessica and her dad reflect on the election and share a few things that may have contributed. Wilson takes issue with many things including non-white people voting for Trump, and what he thinks would happen if he went to a Klan meeting. He also shares why he's not concerned with RFK Jr and what he thinks this podcast will be talking about in years to come. Jessica missed the memo on folks of color voting for Trump and how they must have been promised whiteness. She shares what she will be listening for in the future and how this could relate to the podcast. You can join the podcast patreon! You can leave an awkward rating and review of this show! You can email the show at makingitawkwardpod@gmail.com Follow Jessica on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson You can watch this episode on Spotify and at ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod⁠ Buy Jessica's book: ⁠It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's

Dietitian Jessica Wilson is joined by Elizabeth Ayiku to talk about the award winning film Me Little Me, which Elizabeth wrote and directed. The film is based on her experience with disordered eating and the barriers she faced while seeking treatment. The pair get into the mechanics of indie film production including what it's like to write, direct, cast, and financing a film when the rent is past due. They chat about the realities of many people who need mental health treatment but who aren't able to press pause on their lives and access the time and funding to make it happen, and the different ways to find support in community. Check out Me Little Me beginning 11/8! Me Little Me trailer Where to watch You can become a podcast patron! You can leave an awkward rating and review of this show! You can email the show at makingitawkwardpod@gmail.com Follow Jessica on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson You can watch this episode on Spotify and at ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod⁠ Jessica's book: ⁠It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies⁠

Jessica's Curlfriends, Whitney Totter and Tigress Osborn, return to the show to talk about their hair. They share their hair journeys and chat about how hair continues to inform their identities. Hair intersections with eating disorders, mixed-race identity, health and fat liberation are spiritedly discussed! Steven on Love is Blind Hannah Frankson's hair routine Wonderful videos of women's big chops 🥹 Jessica's hairstylist Maya Past Making it Awkward episodes with Tigress and Whitney Whitney's Patreon naafa BIPOC Eating Disorder Conference You can become a podcast patron! Jessica's book:⁠ ⁠It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies⁠⁠ You can leave an awkward rating and review of this show! You can email the show at makingitawkwardpod@gmail.com Follow Jessica on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson You can watch this episode on Spotify and at ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod⁠

For the first episode about Make America Healthy Again, Jessica is joined by Mr Jeff Hutt, the spokesperson for the Super PAC. MAHA is "a powerful new political action committee dedicated to advancing the health-focused policies championed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. through the re-election of President Donald Trump." Mr. Hutt provides an overview of the PAC and its principles, and the two have a wide ranging conversation about food, sustainable farming, corporate capture, mama bears, medical freedom and the concept of "again." Jessica is curious about the connections between MAHA, Wellness culture, and her own work; something that will be further explored in part 2. Mr. Kennedy's campaign suspension speech. Podcast with RFK Jr and Calley Means Lyn Redwood Texans for Medical Freedom Become a podcast patron over on Patreon and help this be more than a special interest of Jessica's! You can rate and review this show! You can email the show at makingitawkwardpod@gmail.com to share awkward thoughts and topic pitches. Follow Jessica on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson You can watch this episode on Spotify and at ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod⁠ Jessica's book: ⁠It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies⁠

Jessica is back with fellow dietitian Sherene Chou for an episode about food conglomerates and their connection to the primary dietitian interest organization, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Jessica starts by recapping the past week's hysteria about the Siete food brand selling to Pepsico for $1.2B, and asks what that means. Jessica then discusses the investments that food conglomerates and interest groups make in Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She talks to Sherene about her experiences in the Academy, from policy to bullying and burnout, and the influence of food and agriculture conglomerates on her work there. Sherene leaves listeners with insight into how the Dietary Guidelines are created. Stay tuned for a bonus episode about FNCE from Danielle Smiley, the Plastic Surgery Dietitian. 2022 article about corporate capture of the dietetics field Academy response to the article FNCE 2013 article about corporate sponsorship Dave and Carol Stelts' 2,000lbs pumpkin You can become a Making it Awkward podcast patron! You can leave an awkward rating and review of this show! You can email the show at makingitawkwardpod@gmail.com Follow Jessica Wilson, MS RDon Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson You can watch this episode of Making it Awkward on Spotify and at ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod⁠ Jessica Wilson's book: ⁠It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies⁠