Dr. Nadine Burke Harris is changing the way governments think about and treat mental health. As the founder of the Center for Youth Wellness, she pioneered a system for evaluating Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in order to treat the physical symptoms of childhood trauma. Now, in her role as California’s first Surgeon General, she’s bringing that system to doctor’s offices across the state. Her goal is to integrate mental health evaluations into your regular physicals and check-ups— especia...
Aug 12, 2021•45 min•Season 1Ep. 19
We get way more from our ancestors than our height, nose or personality. We absorb life lessons that have been passed down from generation to generation. But what if those life lessons were first learned while trying to survive slavery? What if those skills are now more harmful than helpful and we don’t even know what we’re doing? Psychologist, social worker, researcher and teacher Dr. Joy DeGruy explains how descendants of slaves are more connected to their ancestors than they realize. But simp...
Aug 05, 2021•53 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Laverne, like many of us, struggles with self-criticism. She says it comes from a place of trying to protect herself, but in reality, it can be more debilitating than helpful. Dr. Kristin Neff is a professor and a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research. In this episode, she gives us tools to be more kind to ourselves—- which does not mean being easy on ourselves. Dr. Kristin Neff recently released a book entitled Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim...
Jul 29, 2021•45 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Warning: Please be aware this episode discusses targeted violence and may be triggering for some, particularly those in the LGBTQ+ community. If you can understand the cause of something, you can fix it, right? Don’t treat the symptoms; treat the disease. Laverne talks with award-winning forensic psychologist Dr. Karen Franklin about why transgender people, especially women, are so often targeted in violent hate crimes; the role of religion; and if offender reform is possible. What is the psycho...
Jul 22, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 16
What are your dating preferences? Do you prefer a certain ethnicity or race over another? What does it mean to have this sort of preference and where does it come from? Sociologist and social worker Sarah Adeyinka-Skold's latest research involved interviewing Black women about the unique difficulties they experience dating on and offline. In this episode, she and Laverne breakdown how the structures of white supremacy and patriarchy imprint themselves onto our dating habits. // Please rate, revi...
Jul 15, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Dr. Cornel West, renowned professor and philosopher, and one of the greatest American orators alive speaks with Laverne about what it means to be a love warrior. “Justice is what love looks like in public just like tenderness is what love feels like in private,” is a Cornel West quote that Laverne repeats so often people mistakenly attribute it to her. In this conversation they discuss the resiliency of the Black spirit, how to hold our institutions accountable, and how to be a wounded healer in...
Jul 08, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Laverne visits with one of her idols and sources of inspiration Tracey ‘Africa’ Norman to talk about her dramatic career in fashion in the 70s and 80s. Norman became a trailblazer when she was chosen as the first Black woman on a box of Clairol hair color in 1975. This was momentous for the entire Black community. It was also momentous for the transgender community, but nobody knew it then. Tracey had been assigned male at birth. She came up in the days of secrecy, but she’s open now and finally...
Jun 17, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Dr. Wendy Walsh, psychologist, author, radio and podcast host, explains just how important our first three years on earth are to the relationships we have over the rest of our lives. There’s this thing called Attachment Theory and it’s based on what happened to us as tiny little beings (thanks, Mom and Dad). As always, there’s hope. Regardless of your personal circumstances, there are definitely ways to rise above! // Dr. Wendy Walsh is the author of three books on love and is the writer and hos...
Jun 10, 2021•41 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Dating as a trans woman can be complicated, frustrating and even dangerous. Longtime friend, actress and writer Jen Richards, joins Laverne for a very candid truth-only conversation. Together they dish on what they have learned over the years, like why some men are attracted to trans women and why so many men have a hard time being honest about their attraction. Of course they go deep, and Jen shares what she thinks is the biggest kept secret about trans women, opens up about why she thought she...
Jun 03, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In this powerful episode, Laverne talks with Richard Rothstein, the author of The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. Rothstein breaks down how the government implemented housing policies in order to segregate Black people primarily in the 1930s and 50s. Though many decades ago, the effects are as present as ever in the education gap, income gap, wealth gap, and “slums.” As violations of the Constitution, it is a requirement to correct past injustices. // ...
May 27, 2021•47 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Laverne speaks with Kevin Allred, author, scholar, speaker, who came on the pop culture radar when he started teaching a university course on Beyonce back in 2010. It’s called Politicizing Beyonce, with a syllabus composed entirely of black feminist writers. It’s his mission to facilitate conversations that disrupt America’s racist and heterocentrist status quo by studying America through the eyes of female Black artists and intellectuals, like Beyonce. He draws connections through history and a...
May 20, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 9
It was the fall of 2017 when the MeToo Movement exploded. It seemed every woman on social media was typing #MeToo. The reality of how many people had experienced some sort of sexual harassment, assault or other violence shocked nearly everyone. MeToo was the charge that galvanized millions of survivors and allies around the world. MeToo = You Are Not Alone. The founder of the MeToo Movement, Tarana J. Burke, talks with Laverne about how the narrative has changed from focusing on the survivors to...
May 13, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 8
The Laverne Cox Show will return from its brief hiatus in May! Just a few guests lined up are activist and MeToo creator Tarana Burke on reclaiming the movement; award-winning author, educator, and musician Kevin Allred on politicizing Beyonce; and researcher and academic Richard Rothstein on the roots of housing inequality in America. // Thank you for listening to The Laverne Cox Show! Please rate, review, subscribe and share with everyone you know. You can find Laverne on Instagram and Twitter...
Apr 03, 2021•47 sec
There are not enough words to describe Ts Madison. Bold. Brash. Outrageous. Loud. Colorful. Savvy. But first and foremost Entrepreneur. Ts is an openly transgender entertainer who learned young how to hustle and make that coin. She learned business the hard way as a sex worker, but her head for business, marketing and promotion has led her to mainstream television. She is the first openly transgender person to have her own reality TV show. You can watch “The Ts Madison Experience” on WE TV. She ...
Mar 18, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Beauty. What is it? Who has it and who doesn’t. Does it really matter? Sure, everyone would probably like to be “beautiful” if given a choice, but does it actually matter? Kimberly Foster says yes. Actually she says hell, yes. The way a person is perceived in the world affects everything from job security to healthcare, which means there are real consequences for anyone brave enough to push back and opt out of the high heels, slinky dresses and eyelash extensions. // Kimberly Foster is a writer,...
Mar 11, 2021•47 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Jennifer Burton Flier is a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice and a senior faculty member with Trauma Resource Institute (TRI). She is also certified in Brene Brown’s Daring Way and Rising Strong models. The Community Resiliency Model she teaches with TRI focuses on stabilizing the nervous system when we are under stress or triggered by traumatic events. Jennifer says learning some simple concepts about the body and brain can reduce our stress responses, creating more bal...
Mar 04, 2021•41 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Alok Vaid-Menon, also known simply as ALOK, joins Laverne for an inside perspective on what it means to live in the world as a person who does not belong on either side of the traditional gender binary - meaning strictly male or female. ALOK (they/them) is a gender non-conforming writer and performance artist. As a mixed-media artist ALOK explore themes of gender, race, trauma, belonging, and the human condition. They are the author of Femme in Public (2017) and Beyond the Gender Binary (2020). ...
Feb 25, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Writer, fat activist and podcast host Virgie Tovar teaches us about the roots of fatphobia and the many pitfalls of diet culture. She and Laverne cover everything from discrimination to health care, white supremacy and social policing. Even if you’ve never been on a diet a single day in your life, this is for you, too. Virgie Tovar is the author of You Have the Right to Remain Fat and The Self-Love Revolution: Radical Body Positivity for Girls of Color. She is a contributor for Forbes.com, where...
Feb 18, 2021•50 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Professional dating coach and media personality Damona Hoffman takes Laverne’s questions on the best way to find a mate as a person over 40. Find out the top three challenges people face in the search for a partner, what to do about them, what we need to let go of along the way, why there's no such thing as a wasted relationship, and more. The romance pool changes as we age, but the guideposts to love stay the same. // You can find Damona Hoffman on Twitter/IG/FB @DamonaHoffman, DatesandMates.co...
Feb 11, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 2
For the premier of The Laverne Cox Show, Laverne talks with one of her biggest influences, researcher, speaker, author and storyteller Dr. Brené Brown. They talk candidly and vulnerably (of course) about the state of the country and what we must do and *stop* doing to heal our current division. Spoiler alert: We are all humans. Dr. Brené Brown is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of five books including Dare to Lead , Braving the Wilderness and The Gifts of Imperfection . Learn more about y...
Feb 04, 2021•50 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Years ago, a therapist said in our very first session that there are only two things that we can truly control in our lives - our own perception and our own behavior. That's it. Nothing more than that. Each week, The Laverne Cox Show will feature intimate conversations with folks who help me to see and think differently so that maybe I can act differently. It is my hope that this becomes a place that fosters perspectives that might inspire new behavior in each of us, which in turn gets us closer...
Jan 26, 2021•2 min
