Autistic Culture | Where Autism Meets Identity!

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, hosts Dr. Angela Kingdon and Matt Lowry, LPP dive into the afterlife with NBC’s hit show The Good Place—unpacking its autistic-coded characters, neurodivergent themes, and the profoundly autistic joy of moral philosophy.🎧 What You’ll Learn:Chidi Anagonye as one of TV’s most autistic-coded characters—his special interests, concrete thinking, anxiety, and devotion to personal morality.Eleanor Shellstrop as potentially autistic, with her direct communication style, perspective-taking challenges, and trauma-filled backstory (common among late-diagnosed autistic women).Jason Mendoza through an ADHD/autistic lens—his monotropic focus and passionate interests.Janet’s journey as an AI echoing autistic unmasking: developing preferences, boundaries, and autonomy beyond “the programming.”Tahani Al-Jamil’s story as an allegory for masking exhaustion—with real-life parallels to actor Jameela Jamil’s co-occurring conditions.Michael the architect’s autistic tendencies—fascination with humans, concrete examples, and system-level thinking.Why the show’s obsession with philosophy feels so deeply autistic.Around 53:24, Angela spontaneously demonstrates elements of autistic culture in real time (listen for it!).Resources:How to Be Perfect by Michael SchurHow to be perfect with "The Good Place" creator Michael SchurChidi Anagonye, the Autistic Nerd Character Done RightHow The Good Place taught moral philosophy to its characters — and its creators5 Moral Philosophy Concepts Featured on The Good PlaceCharacter analysis It’s literally all of themChidi Autistic traits analysisChidi - I love this lineI relate to Janet so muchThe Good Place - The Trolley Problem (Episode Highlight)Book Club #05: How to be PerfectRelated Episodes: Sesame Street is AutisticThe Trouble with Temple Grandin.🌟 Connect With Us📱 Follow us on Instagram🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, hosts Dr. Angela Kingdon and Matt Lowry, LPP explore the powerful memoirs of two acclaimed autistic comedians: Hannah Gadsby (10 Steps to Nanette) from Tasmania and Fern Brady (Strong Female Character) from Scotland.🎧 What You’ll Learn:Parallels in Gadsby’s and Brady’s lives, including struggles with misdiagnosis, gender-based violence, homophobia, and ableism.How both found comedy as a survival mechanism and a path to success at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.The comedians’ raw honesty about employment struggles, homelessness, and disordered eating—often hidden parts of the autistic experience.Comedy as both a masking strategy and a tool for truth-telling.Differences between autistic meltdowns vs. shutdowns, explained through their lived stories.Why their memoirs are must-reads for anyone seeking neurodiversity-affirming representation.How Gadsby and Brady reclaim their narratives through radical self-acceptance and creative expression.Hannah Notes:Book: 10 Steps to NanetteArticle: Hannah Gadsby's song of the selfArticle: Hannah Gadsby Gets the Last Laugh in 10 Steps to Nanette Fern Notes:Book: Strong Female CharacterWikipedia: Fern BradyRelated Episodes:Poetry is Autistic (Emily Dickinson episode)Greta is Autistic (Greta Thunberg episode)Bad Autism Diagnosis🌟 Connect With Us📱 Follow us on Instagram🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, hosts Dr. Angela Kingdon and Matt Lowry, LPP draw connections between the behaviors and traits exhibited by cats and the common experiences of autistic individuals.🎧 What You’ll LearnComparing feline quirks—like sensory preferences, strong routines, and communication styles—with autistic traits.Why cats’ particular needs for predictability and clear communication mirror autistic desires for understandable, safe environments.An exploration of famous autistic-coded cat characters in media: Garfield, Hello Kitty, the Cat in the Hat, and Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes.Using examples of cat behavior to critique ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy, arguing for acceptance and accommodation rather than forced conformity.Celebrating cats as powerful symbols of neurodiversity—embracing feline tendencies as an emblem of the autistic experience.Resources:Kathy Hoopmann’s websiteVideo: How I Taught My Cat to Talk | Beginner TutorialVideo: Cat Kicks Boyfriend out of the HouseVideo: Where Dad? Billi SpeaksRelated Episodes:Peanuts is AutisticAnimation is Autistic🌟 Connect With Us📱 Follow us on Instagram🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, hosts Matt Lowry, LPP and Dr. Angela Kingdon take a fresh look at tennis legend John McEnroe, reframing his legacy through a neurodiversity-affirming lens.🎧 What You’ll Learn:How McEnroe’s pattern recognition and visualization skills helped him anticipate the ball’s movements and turn tennis into a “math equation.”Why his emotional on-court reactions—often labelled as “brat-like”—were actually natural expressions of expectation sensitivity and scripting.Insight from McEnroe’s wife, Patty, who has said she believes he is autistic based on his routines, sensory needs, math skills, and strong SPINs (special interests) in art and guitar.Why his meltdowns should be seen not as flaws, but as valid autistic responses to an unfair and conformity-driven system.How McEnroe has embraced his autistic traits in later life, channelling them into charitable work, art, and voiceover projects.A call to celebrate McEnroe’s story as a reminder of the cultural pride and community connection autistic individuals can find in their shared strengths.Resources:McEnroe’s memoir: But SeriouslyeBook: You Cannot Be Serious : McEnroe, John, Kaplan, JamesAutistic people have big emotions—YouTube video: The Meltdown of all MeltdownsArticle: John McEnroe: Star not he possibility of being Autistic, ‘I’m somewhere around there’ NPR episode: John McEnroe grapples with his legacy as tennis' bad boyMcEnroe’s voice work websiteArticle: A Point in Time: McEnroe and the puff of chalkRelated Episodes:Chess is Autistic Animation is Autistic🌟 Connect With Us📱 Follow us on Instagram🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Explore the contradictions between traditional productivity models and the realities of autistic individuals. Discover why the self-help book 'Atomic Habits' misses the mark for neurodivergent minds. The hosts share personal experiences, emphasizing the unique challenges of forming habits and the importance of breaks and self-compassion. Delve into societal pressures and how they harm autistic mental health. Uncover strategies tailored for neurodiversity that celebrate individual productivity styles and promote genuine well-being.

Hosts Matt Lowry and Angela Lauria discuss the life and work of Alfred Kinsey, a groundbreaking researcher who studied human sexuality in the 1940s-1950s. Kinsey's love for data collection and his advocacy for sexual openness challenged societal norms. His findings on sexuality existing on a spectrum foreshadowed modern understanding of gender and sexual diversity.

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, hosts Dr. Angela Kingdon and Matt Lowry, LPP dive into the life and legacy of Andy Warhol, one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, exploring his story through the lens of Autistic culture.🎧 What You’ll Learn:The Autistic traits visible in Warhol’s life—monotropic focus, echolalia in interviews, sensory differences with food, dyslexia, and obsessive collecting.How Warhol embraced repetition and visual thinking in his iconic works (Campbell’s soup cans, celebrity portraits) in ways that resonate deeply with autistic patterns of creativity and comfort.The role of costume parties as safe, structured spaces for Warhol and his guests to connect authentically while bypassing small talk.Warhol’s careful balance of masking and authenticity, including his downplayed public queerness and art-world outsider identity.How his “safe foods”—the limited, comforting diet he stuck to after being shot—paralleled the way autistic people rely on safe foods for regulation.The joy and validation of collecting trinkets and objects, which Warhol leaned into as a creative and personal practice.Why society labeled him “eccentric” instead of recognizing his communication and creative methods as Autistic strengths.The enduring power of his art to reflect neurodivergent ways of seeing the world—down to the detail of wearing the same brand of underwear every single day.Resources:Was autism the secret of Warhol's art?'Andy Warhol' (NY Times)Will We Ever Really Know Who Andy Warhol Was? A New Docuseries Digs Into His Private LifeAndy Warhol Eating a HamburgerAndy Warhol & Edie Sedgwick INTERVIEW 1965Related episodes:Questlove is AutisticPoetry is AutisticEminem is Autistic🌟 Connect With Us📱 Follow us on Instagram🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, hosts Dr. Angela Kingdon and Matt Lowry, LPP dive into the timeless world of chess—a game woven deeply into Autistic culture. Through the story of legendary chess player Bobby Fischer and the Netflix hit The Queen’s Gambit, the hosts explore why this game resonates so strongly with the Autistic community.🎧 What You’ll Learn:Why chess belongs alongside trains and Star Trek as quintessential parts of Autistic culture.The way chess rewards deep focus, pattern recognition, and monotropic thinking—all classic Autistic strengths.Bobby Fischer’s story: a chess prodigy whose intense focus, logical worldview, and social differences mirror many Autistic traits.The Queen’s Gambit’s Beth Harmon: a fictional but autistic-coded character whose love for chess feels powerfully familiar to Autistic audiences.How chess creates opportunities for authentic socialization without the burden of small talk—connection through shared strategy instead.Why Autistic excellence in chess highlights cultural virtues of fairness, morality, and respect for an opponent’s skills.Angela’s reflections on proving value through accomplishment and Matt’s celebration of the info-dump joy that comes from finding Autistic community.Resources:The Queen’s Gambit and the Beautifully Messy Future of Autism on TVTen reasons your autistic child needs to learn chessAsperger’s and Intimacy Through Chess | Organization for Autism ResearchDid Bobby Fischer have Aspergers Syndrome? - Chess Forums - Chess.comDevon Price’s bookRelated Episodes:Pokemon is AutisticDungeons & Dragons is AutisticParks and Rec is Autistic🌟 Connect With Us📱 Follow us on Instagram🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, hosts Dr. Angela Kingdon and Matt Lowry, LPP dive into the fascinating world of musician, producer, historian, and DJ Questlove (Amir Khalib Thompson)—who briefly revealed his childhood autism diagnosis in his 2013 memoir.🎧 What You’ll Learn:Questlove’s childhood special interests in Soul Train and Black music history, plus his soothing *stim of watching records spin.His encyclopaedic music knowledge and extraordinary ability to instantly identify the beats per minute of songs.The story of his massive record collection and historic Black music memorabilia, which will one day live at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.Questlove’s identity as a “walking Blacksonian” historian, preserving and honoring Black music’s rightful place in history.How his Autistic traits—attention to detail, pattern recognition, monotropism, and passionate data-collecting—interconnect to fuel his creativity and advocacy.Why Questlove’s story shows what happens when autism is embraced, not pathologized—a celebration of Autistic life in rhythm, culture, and justice.Resources:Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to QuestloveQuestlove's Roots: A 'Meta' Memoir Of A Lifetime In MusicThe Passion of QuestloveWikipedia: QuestloveQuestlove Reflects on A Tribe Called Quest’s Iconic ‘People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm,’ 25 Years LaterRelated Episodes:Eminem is Autistic🌟 Connect With Us📱 Follow us on Instagram🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Autistic Culture, hosts Dr. Angela Lauria and Matt Lowry, LPP, explore the life and legacy of Temple Grandin—the first widely recognized autistic celebrity. While Grandin indelibly changed how America thinks about autism, her prominence also raises deep and complex issues within Autistic culture.🎧 What You’ll Learn:Temple’s childhood diagnosis of “brain damage” in the 1950s and how her privileged upbringing gave her unique opportunities to succeed.Her rise to prominence as an animal science PhD, prolific author, and sought-after speaker at autism conferences—making her the most famously Autistic person alive.The double-edged impact of her messaging: advocating for masking to fit in, promoting “high functioning vs. low functioning” distinctions, and aligning with capitalist and ableist values.Why many in the Autistic community see her views as harmful, particularly her support for ABA and eugenics-based ideas.The positive contributions she made, such as raising awareness of sensory differences and influencing deinstitutionalization.The larger conversation of privilege, representation, and how colonialist narratives shape cultural icons.Resources:The Oliver Sacks PieceTemple Grandin’s booksTemple Grandin Ted talkTemple Grandin BioPicMore on Types of ThinkingEvolution of the DSM perspective on AutismRelated episodes:Bad Autism DiagnosisSesame Street is Autistic🌟 Connect With Us📱 Follow us on Instagram🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.