You’ve likely seen some version of the headline: “Gen Z Is In a Sex Recession.” But there’s a lot more to the story. Journalist Carter Sherman takes Anita into the many conversations she had with people under 30 about their sex lives for her book “The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation’s Fight Over Its Future.” She talks about how cultural and political forces like the #MeToo movement and the overturning of Roe v. Wade have shaped how Gen Z feels about sex — and why you should care no ma...
Oct 23, 2025•50 min
Mainstream adaptive fashion lines are relatively new, but creating clothes to fit and flatter a range of bodies has long been part of disability culture. Anita meets three disabled fashionistas who design with disabled bodies as a starting point, not an afterthought. Meet the guests: - Dr. Ben Barry is the Dean of Fashion at Parsons School of Design who's pushing for further inclusion in fashion – particularly when it comes to the ways clothing is designed, marketed and modeled for folks with di...
Oct 16, 2025•49 min
On Dr. Sharon Malone’s new podcast, women take back the conversation on health with straight talk, real experience and the care we all deserve. You’ll hear prominent female advocates, experts and patients sharing how they confronted gaps in our healthcare system and got second opinions that saved their lives. Alongside each guest, Dr. Sharon tackles the questions and topics we’ve been conditioned to ignore — the ones we search for at 3 a.m. but never bring up at the doctor’s office. In this epis...
Oct 13, 2025•3 min
For almost 29 years, journalist Jennifer Senior was a self-described “brilliant sleeper.” Then, one night, something changed…and Jennifer has struggled with chronic insomnia ever since. She talks to Anita about insights on insomnia from both her reporting and personal life. Then, we meet a couple who share suggestions for navigating insomnia in a romantic partnership. Meet the guests: - Jennifer Senior is a staff writer for The Atlantic and the author of " Why Can't Americans Sleep ?" - Gabriell...
Oct 09, 2025•50 min
When Kit Heyam was first trying to understand their gender identity as an adolescent, they looked to history. But they only found stories that painted a very narrow picture of what it means to be trans. Years later, when Kit started studying history professionally, a different picture emerged. They talk to Anita about the trans histories they found from around the globe and how those stories paint a more diverse and messy picture of the ways people have been pushing the boundaries of gender for ...
Oct 02, 2025•50 min
It's been half a century since the psychedelic era, but some baby boomers are returning to the drugs of their youth — not for rock and roll, but to confront aging. Writer Abbie Rosner re-experienced mushrooms in her 60s, and she tells Anita about her subsequent investigation into why other boomers are taking psychedelics to grapple with aging . Plus, a medical professional shares what it’s like to facilitate these experiences for her peers. Meet the guests: - Abbie Rosner is a writer who shares ...
Sep 25, 2025•49 min
When María Lopez was 6 years old, her grandmother gave her a piece of advice: marry someone with papers. María was undocumented, and throughout her teens and 20s, she dealt with the struggle of dating to find both love and a path to permanent legal status in the United States. María, now in her early 30s, tells Anita about this journey and the community of “undocu-cuties” she made along the way via her Instagram page, @ytienepapeles. Meet the guest: - María Lopez, f ormer Delayed Action for Chil...
Sep 18, 2025•50 min
Building a life as an artist is an uphill climb. After decades of hustling to make it work, writer Stephanie Elizondo Griest had one big question: How do you determine if art is worth all the sacrifice it requires? Stephanie tells Anita about traveling the world for answers and what she learned about what it takes to build a life as a female artist. Meet the guest: - Stephanie Elizondo Griest is a professor of creative nonfiction at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author ...
Sep 11, 2025•50 min
Long-haul trucking is not an easy job. The schedule is grueling, and the burnout rate is high. But the profession does offer a certain sense of freedom — particularly for queer drivers looking for work where they can present authentically and face less scrutiny or harassment. Anita talks with former trucker and writer Anne Balay about why LGBTQ folks are drawn to trucking. She also meets 24-year-old Ashleigh Lewis, a trans woman and third-generation truck driver who is committed to the professio...
Sep 04, 2025•50 min
At its best, reading is a portal to new worlds and new ideas. But a lot can get in the way — up to 20% of the population experiences symptoms of dyslexia, a lifelong neurological disorder that makes it difficult to read fluently. An author who learned to read when he was 18 and a dyslexia scholar help Anita understand how reading develops in the brain and what's at stake if dyslexic learners are left by the wayside. Meet the guests: - Dr. Shawn Robinson is an entrepreneur, consultant and author ...
Aug 28, 2025•50 min
Ryan Kramer was born through an anonymous sperm donor in 1990. By the time he was 2 years old, he already had some big questions about his identity — and the desire to find answers. Ryan’s search led him to become the first donor-conceived person to find his parent through DNA testing. He also co-founded the Donor Sibling Registry, an organization that’s helped connect tens of thousands of donor-conceived people with biological family. He tells Anita about meeting many of his own genetic relativ...
Aug 21, 2025•50 min
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...
Aug 14, 2025•49 min
When Philip Hoover and his wife Lauren Hill-Hoover tested positive for COVID-19 three years ago, they thought they knew what to expect. But then Philip’s symptoms persisted, morphed and intensified. They talk to Anita about how an illness that’s affected tens of millions of Americans upended their life and forced them to confront big, existential questions, like: What does caring for each other in sickness and in health *really* mean? Meet the guests: - Philip Hoover is a writer who has long COV...
Aug 07, 2025•50 min
When Yowei Shaw got laid off two years ago, there was no amount of bad TV, fried food or even therapy that could get her out of a deep emotional rut. So, she turned to the one thing that had worked in the past: reporting on her feelings. That journey led her to starting a new podcast called Proxy and inventing a new journalism beat: emotional investigative journalism. Anita talks to Yowei about why and how she reports on emotions (both hers and other people’s) and the surprising discoveries she’...
Jul 31, 2025•50 min
Abraham Verghese has two acclaimed careers. He’s an infectious disease specialist known for his focus on the human side of medicine and a bestselling author of books like “ My Own Country ” and “ The Covenant of Water .” In a recorded live event in Pittsboro, North Carolina, Anita talks to him about the shared philosophy he brings to both professions and probes him about how his own experiences inform how he writes about bodies and relationships. Meet the guest: - Dr. Abraham Verghese , acclaime...
Jul 24, 2025•50 min
Our understanding of the term bisexuality has been in a state of constant evolution. In a moment when bisexual adults make up the largest share of the LGBTQ+ population, how is bisexuality being re-imagined, reclaimed — and sometimes relinquished? Anita meets two people who have grappled with the term’s history, meaning and power for building community. Meet the guests: - J.R. Yussuf is the author of “ Dear Bi Men: A Black Man's Perspective on Power, Consent, Breaking Down Binaries, and Combatin...
Jul 17, 2025•50 min
When Jessica Slice was 28 years old, a bout of heat exhaustion triggered an underlying neurological disorder that led to permanent physical disabilities. In the 14 years since, Jessica met her now-husband David Yourdon and started a family. They talk to Anita about how their parenting experience has been one of adaptation and creativity — from learning how to separate their worth from external standards to accepting that all bodies have changing needs that require attention and care. They share ...
Jul 10, 2025•50 min
It took Anita 12 years and five therapists to find someone who could help her tackle questions of racial and cultural identity. She meets two therapists of color working to make that kind of support more accessible. Sahaj Kaur Kohli, founder of Brown Girl Therapy, talks about approaching wellness from a more collectivist lens, and Jor-El Caraballo shares how he helps clients build tools for resilience in the face of systemic oppression. Meet the guests: - Sahaj Kaur Kohli is a psychotherapist, t...
Jul 03, 2025•50 min
Anita hands over the mic to Embodied’s intern, Nina Scott. After listening to our recent episode about country queers living in rural America, Nina became interested in exploring the Black queer South. Drawing from her own personal experience as a Black lesbian born and raised in the South, Nina speaks to an artist and an academic who are dedicated to contextualizing the experience of Black Southern lesbians. Meet the guests: - Shirlette Ammons is a musician, poet and producer - Dr. Nikki Lane i...
Jun 30, 2025•27 min
Anita's been deep in romantasy land this year reading Fourth Wing & ACOTAR. And it's gotten her thinking about the skill required to make steamy sex scenes come alive on the page and out loud. She goes behind the scenes with two prolific erotica author-editors and a former producer for the audio erotica app Dipsea to figure out how the sausage — and the butt slaps — get made. Meet the guests: - Rachel Kramer Bussel has been published in more than 100 erotica anthologies, edited at least 70 o...
Jun 26, 2025•50 min
When you board a plane, flight attendants greet you with practiced smiles and seamless service. But there’s a lot of mental and emotional labor that passengers don’t see. Missy, a Hawaii-based flight attendant, takes Anita inside her world and shares stories from her close to five years on the job — from managing unruly passengers to dealing with medical emergencies. Travel journalist Natalie Compton also shares her reporting on the financial precarity some flight attendants face and how underst...
Jun 19, 2025•50 min
Rae Garringer grew up on a sheep farm in rural West Virginia, and once they left for college and came out as queer, they weren't sure they could ever move back. They believed the story they’d been told: to thrive as an out, LGBTQ+ person, you have to live in a city. But when Rae did move back in 2011, they realized that story was a lie. Anita talks to Rae about making queer life work in the country — from navigating dating challenges to getting along with neighbors you disagree with. They also t...
Jun 12, 2025•50 min
What would you do if you knew your brain would stop functioning normally in just a decade? For brothers Ansel Dow (31) and Cosmo Hinsman (26), this isn't hypothetical. They carry a rare genetic mutation that makes frontotemporal dementia almost inevitable by their mid-40s. It’s the same condition that has altered the lives and personalities of their mother and five of her siblings. In conversation with Anita, the brothers reveal how this genetic legacy influences their most personal choices abou...
Jun 05, 2025•50 min
Sex has no age limit. But having a robust intimate life well beyond age 65 comes with distinct challenges, particularly when you no longer live in the privacy of your own home. Anita talks with two people dedicated to making good sex possible for older adults, whether they are navigating dementia and living in a nursing home, or forging a new relationship with someone in their assisted living community. Sexuality educator Jane Fleishman and research psychologist Maggie Syme discuss the policy la...
May 29, 2025•50 min
A new crop of children’s book authors are trying to help kids develop curiosity about their physical bodies. But how exactly do they turn fraught body politics into compelling children's stories? Anita gets answers when she meets Tyler Feder and Shelly Anand, the creators behind the books "Bodies Are Cool" and "Laxmi's Mooch." Meet the guests: - Tyler Feder , the author and illustrator behind the book “ Bodies are Cool " - Shelly Anand , the author of “ Laxmi’s Mooch " Read the transcript | Revi...
May 22, 2025•50 min
Sharing something special with you this week, it’s an episode of Other People’s Problems, from CBC. Normally, therapy sessions are totally confidential — but this podcast opens the doors. In this season, the host Dr. Hillary McBride explores the transformative power of psychedelics in a therapeutic setting. With her psychological expertise, Dr. Hillary leads clients through drug-assisted therapy, guiding them to new heights on their healing journeys. You’ll experience these real, unscripted sess...
May 19, 2025•42 min
Gen Z is anxious about climate change, and it’s impacting their family planning. Anita talks to researcher Jade Sasser, who's been studying young people’s attitudes about climate change and reproductive choices while unpacking her own experiences with climate anxiety. They’ll talk about how to manage climate emotions while making big life decisions, and how “the kid question” isn’t just about babies — it’s about what bringing new life into an uncertain world represents. Meet the guest: - Jade Sa...
May 15, 2025•50 min
When the #MeToo movement exploded in 2017, journalist Ruth Whippman — nearly nine months pregnant with her third son — experienced a profound conflict. As a feminist, she celebrated the movement; as a mother, she worried: "How am I gonna raise these boys to be good?" This tension launched Ruth on a quest to understand modern American boyhood and what's not working. Ruth and her husband Neil Levine tell Anita about their journey of putting Ruth’s research into practice, working to give their sons...
May 08, 2025•50 min
When you’re living with a stigmatized mental illness like bipolar disorder, opening up to romantic partners can be tough, but Anita brings on two people who’ve found their own way through love and mental health. A writer-poet talks about navigating new romantic connections, and a married couple shares how they’ve built a strong foundation for weathering mental health ups and downs over 15 years together. Meet the guests: - Michelle Yang , a writer and advocate, shares her journey to a bipolar I ...
May 01, 2025•49 min
In Anita's lifetime, the divorce rate for Americans over 55 has doubled. People are living longer, divorce stigma has decreased and women are more financially independent. But leaving a decades-long marriage … is a big life upheaval. Anita gets personal accounts from two gray divorcees about what it was like to rebuild their identities, finances and freedom post-divorce. They discuss money management, surfing and why women initiate divorce most often in heterosexual partnerships. Meet the guests...
Apr 24, 2025•50 min
