Embodied

After more than a decade living in the U.S. without permanent legal status, Alix Dick calculated the cost of her survival: $1.9 million. That figure includes everything from wage theft and underpayment to complex PTSD and under-the-table medical visits. Alix talks about those things with Anita as she discusses her new book “The Cost of Being Undocumented,” co-written with Stanford University professor Antero Garcia. Alix traces her personal story from growing up in Sinaloa, Mexico to fleeing to the U.S. with her younger brother when she was 20. She and Antero discuss misconceptions about undocumented workers, describe the challenges of telling Alix’s story, and talk about the many costs that didn’t make the tally sheet — like lost dreams. Meet the guests: - Alix Dick, activist, writer, filmmaker and co-author of "The Cost of Being Undocumented" - Antero Garcia, associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford and co-author of "The Cost of Being Undocumented" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied

J. Drew Lanham’s life has been defined by birds. He grew up in rural South Carolina learning mystical stories about birds from his grandmother, emulating bird calls and even trying to fly. This love sparked Drew’s academic and creative careers — in ornithology and writing — that center nature and winged creatures. Anita talks to Drew about why he fell so deeply for birds and how he has sustained that love despite the challenges he's faced as a Black man and a conservationist. Meet the guest: - J. Drew Lanham is a poet, ornithologist and author of "The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied Register for our five-year anniversary event

Like the majority of American men over 35, Anita's partner is balding...and they're both a little distressed about it. But why? She brings her questions to two men who've interrogated baldness from all angles: race, sexuality, science, media, culture and lived experience. They'll explore where this fear comes from and how many other men feel this way. Meet the guests: - E. Patrick Johnson is dean of the School of Communication and Annenberg University Professor at Northwestern University and the author of “Scatter the Pigeons,” an essay on baldness, masculinity and Blackness - Glen Jankowski is an assistant professor in the School of Psychology at University College Dublin whose research includes the medicalization of baldness and the history of marketing anti-baldness products Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied Register for our five-year anniversary event Please note: This episode originally published December 12, 2024.

Pair figure skating is a sport of coordination, musicality and high-risk maneuvers. Being successful requires a lot of trust and teamwork. So what is it like when your partner is your sibling? Brother and sister Brad and Jocelyn Cox tell Anita about their 11 years of competing together and how their partnership continued into adulthood when they became coaches — and then caregivers. Meet the guests: - Jocelyn Cox, author of “Motion Dazzle: A Memoir of Motherhood, Loss, and Skating on Thin Ice” - Brad Cox, figure skating coach Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied Register for our five-year anniversary event

There are few things that are certain about 2026, but one of them is that at some point, you’ll be called upon for advice. Anita talks to Meghan Keane, the founder of NPR's Life Kit and author of “Party of One,” about how to give good advice. Meghan shares her personal journey to striking the balance between overthinking, venting and actually getting to the root of a problem. Plus, she sits in the hot seat to answer some big questions from our listeners. Meet the guest: - Meghan Keane is the author of "Party of One: Be Your Own Best Life Partner" and the founder and managing editor of NPR's Life Kit Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired January 2, 2025.

The marriage rate in this country has fallen nearly 60% in the last half century. So what’s motivating those of us still choosing to say I do? Anita ponders this question with the Hindu officiant who helped her build a ceremony that bridged the gap between her values and her dad's traditional desires. Plus, a comedian and queer ex-nun explains how she takes people from the place of "marriage is a dumpster fire" to a ceremony they're excited about. Meet the guests: - Raja Gopal Bhattar is a consultant, author and officiant who Anita and her family worked with to design her wedding ceremony - Kelli Dunham, a comedian, nurse and queer ex-nun who officiates weddings and funerals — and refers to herself as "queer secular clergy" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied If you want to hear more of Satish Rao on Embodied: Mixed (Parent Edition), where Anita talks to her parents about growing up mixed race Pooped, where Satish gets to share his expertise as a gastroenterologist Please note: This episode originally aired September 26, 2024. Update: Raja Gopal Bhattar released an interactive memoir, “Queering Constellations: Mapping This Journey Called Life.”

Curtis Chin grew up inside Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine. His great-grandfather first opened the Detroit restaurant in 1940, and in the 1970s and ‘80s Chung’s was the backdrop for many of Curtis’s formative lessons about race, identity and belonging.He talks to Anita about his experience learning how to code-switch as an Asian American and gay kid in a Black and white city — and how serving and observing customers in the restaurant helped him find his own way as a writer, filmmaker and activist. Meet the guest: - Curtis Chin is the author of “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant” Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied

After being raped at 18, journalist Katie Simon had a burning question: How do you navigate sex and intimacy after sexual assault? Katie tells Anita about their journey of trial and error with sex and how connecting with other survivors helped them write the guidebook they wish they’d had years ago. They explore everything from disclosure and triggers to kink and healing — both for survivors and their partners. Meet the guest - Katie Simon is the author of “Tell Me What You Like: An Honest Discussion of Sex and Intimacy After Sexual Assault" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied

How does living with a condition that is so deeply stigmatized affect who and how we love? Anita meets a mixed-HIV status couple who shares how they've approached sex and intimacy in their 11+ year relationship. Plus, a woman who was born HIV positive talks about dating, disclosure and overcoming the fear of rejection. Meet the guests: - Rainer Oktovianus is a photographer and user experience designer living with HIV - Eka Nasution is a project management professional and Rainer's husband - Diana Koss is a content creator and host of the "Born Positive" YouTube channel Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired September 5, 2024.

Anita's been reckoning with what it means to stay connected to cultural identity as a mixed-race adult. And in pursuit of what things to prioritize, she's turning her focus to food. She talks to mixed-race foodie and writer Raj Tawney, whose hours in the kitchen with his mom and grandma have grounded his search for belonging. Then, she picks up the phone and calls the primary chef in the Rao family: her mom, Sheila. Meet the guests: - Raj Tawney is a writer, foodie and the author of “Colorful Palate: A Flavorful Journey Through a Mixed American Experience” - Sheila Rao is Anita's mom Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired December 5, 2024.

The consequences of fast fashion are well known: worker exploitation, environmental damage and poor quality items. And yet many of us keep buying it — either unknowingly, in willful ignorance or because it feels like there is no other option. Fashion industry insider and “Clotheshorse” podcast host Amanda Lee McCarty joins Anita to interrogate why fast fashion has such a particular hold on us and what we can do about it. Meet the guest: - Amanda Lee McCarty is the host of the “Clotheshorse” podcast and a self-employed fashion consultant Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied You can find Amanda Lee McCarty on Substack and Instagram!

Dina Gilio-Whitaker knows that it’s complicated to talk about Native American identity. She occupies a gray zone herself: she’s a legal descendant of the Colville Confederated Tribes but not an enrolled member. As she worked to make sense of her own liminal identity, she also started witnessing a troubling phenomenon: people coming forward with fraudulent claims to Nativeness. Dina — now an academic — tells Anita about the personal experiences that led her to research this phenomenon, the harms this “pretendianism” perpetuates and the conversations she’s starting about possible solutions. Meet the guest: - Dina Gilio-Whitaker is a lecturer at California State University San Marcos and the author of “Who Gets to Be Indian? Ethnic Fraud, Disenrollment, and Other Difficult Conversations About Native American Identity” Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied

When married couple Pat McAulay and Margaret Roesch were in their 40s, they had a shared dream for old age: living in a big house with other lesbians where everyone took care of each other. That vision — and their experiences with isolation and discrimination — inspired them to build Village Hearth, the first 55+ co-housing community for LGBTQ seniors and allies in the U.S. They tell Anita what it’s been like to live there for the past five years, and then a young activist shares how she’s helping connect queer folks with other models for aging in community, from RV parks to affordable housing. Meet the guests: - Pat McAulay and Margaret Roesch, co-founders of Village Hearth in Durham, the first 55+ cohousing community for LGBTQ seniors and allies - Jane Haskell, director of impact and engagement at SAGE, a non-profit advocacy and service organization focused on LGBTQ seniors Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied

There's a growing number of women challenging the expectation that you need a partner to have a child. Anita meets two single moms by choice. They talk about why they chose this parenting path and how they navigate everything from false assumptions to dating. Plus, one of their daughters – 10-year-old Estela – joins the conversation to share her take on growing up in a nontraditional family. Meet the guests: - Hera McLeod, mother and civil rights activist, walks us through her decision to become a single mother and how she's made some of the logistics work — like living in an intergenerational household with her parents - Estela McLeod, Hera's oldest daughter and cohost of the "Seeking Different" podcast, shares what questions she gets from her peers and how she's thinking about the family she wants to build in the future - C. Nicole Mason, president and CEO of Future Forward Women, talks about how she's balanced dating with being a single mom of choice and how she's reflecting on her parenting journey now that her twins are teenagers Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired May 10, 2024. Update: Hera McLeod published a romantic spy thriller, “The Asset Within.”

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 matter your generational identity. Meet the guest: - Carter Sherman is a reproductive health and justice reporter at the Guardian US and the author of “The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation’s Fight Over Its Future” Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied

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 disabilities - Sky Cubacub is a Chicago-based fashion designer focused on making size-inclusive garments for queer and trans disabled folks through their company, Rebirth Garments - Samantha Jade Durán is a designer and influencer also known by the handle “A Disabled Icon" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally published November 7, 2024. Update: Samantha Jade Durán launched a disability and chronic illness awareness merch brand called Thanks Icon. She plans on expanding to adaptive clothing and accessories in the future.

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 episode, Dr. Sharon talks to journalist Elaine Welteroth about Elaine’s birthing journey, how she's working to make birth joyful again and how her new non-profit, birthFUND, is helping families get access to life-saving midwifery care. Find more episodes of The Second Opinion with Dr. Sharon Malone here.

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?" - Gabrielle Moss and Jesse Rifkin are writers living in New York City Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied

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 millennia. Meet the guest: - Kit Heyam is the author of "Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender" Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied

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 her own experience and the stories of other baby boomers, which she plans to publish in a book called “ELDEREVOLUTION: Psychedelics and the New Counterculture of Aging” - Dr. Crystal Dawn is a physician who's board-certified in family medicine and provides ketamine-assisted therapy Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied Please note: This episode originally aired January 9, 2025. Update: Abbie Rosner’s book, “Psychedelics and the Counterculture of Aging,” will be available in July of 2026. Abbie also writes a newsletter on Substack about psychedelics in older life called ELDEREVOLUTION.