Shows / Embodied
Embodied
Dig into the underdiscussed corners of the human experience. Each week, host Anita Rao leads intimate conversations with people unafraid to question what we think we know about identity, relationships and health.
Follow the show on Instagram at @embodiedwunc and on Bluesky at embodiedwunc.bsky.social. You can find Anita on Bluesky at asrao.bsky.social.
Episodes
- Embodied
Searching For Love And Legal Status
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…
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What It Takes To Make Art Your Life
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…
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The Life of Trans And Queer Long-Haul Truckers
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 —…
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Dyslexia And The Reading Brain
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…
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One Sperm Donor, 31 Half Siblings & A Long Search For Identity
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…
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Undertaken: The Next Generation Of Funeral Directors
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…
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When Long Covid Rewrites Your Love Story
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…
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A Journalist’s Solution to Emotional Conundrums
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…
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Abraham Verghese On Writing, Medicine & The Body
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…
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Bisexuality Beyond The Binary
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+…
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Parenting Wisdom From An Interabled Couple
When Jessica Slice was 28 years old, a bout of heat exhaustion triggered an underlying neurological disorder that led to permanent physical disabilities. In…
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Why We Need More Therapists Of Color
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…
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BONUS: A Quest for the Black Lesbian South
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…
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The Making Of Great Erotica
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…
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The Hidden Labor Of Flight Attendants
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…
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Building A Queer Life In The Country
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…
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Two Brothers, One Uncertain Future
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…
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Why We Need To Talk About Sex In Nursing Homes
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…
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What Kids' Books Teach Us About Our Bodies
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…
EmbodiedBONUS: On Psychedelics, from Other People’s Problems
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…
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Climate Anxiety And The Choice To Parent
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…
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A New Playbook For Raising Boys
When the #MeToo movement exploded in 2017, journalist Ruth Whippman — nearly nine months pregnant with her third son — experienced a profound conflict. As a…
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Balanced: Love & Bipolar Disorder
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…
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Life After A Gray Divorce
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…
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Beyond Bromance: Searching For Deeper Male Friendship
American men are in a friendship recession. Compared to a few decades ago, five times as many men have no close friends. So what’s going on? Anita talks with…
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A Doctor’s Intuition Lost And Found
Doctors are expected to make high-stakes decisions quickly and often. And while plenty of medical guidelines exist, sometimes finding the right answer relies…
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Decades Of ‘Death Cramps’ Later, A Search For Answers To Period Pain
Ever since Kate Downey got her first extremely painful period at age 14, every month feels like playing Russian roulette with her uterus. Will she get “normal”…
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Why We Need Trans Tech In 2025
When technology creators see problems … they fix them. No less is true for trans designers, who for decades have responded to emergent needs in their community…
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Why Black Women’s Disordered Eating Is Overlooked
Despite a decade of restrictive behavior and a career path in mental health counseling, Alishia McCullough had never associated herself with the phrase eating…
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Mixed: Owning Your Multiracial Story
When Anita moved away to college, she experienced a big shift in her biracial identity. Turns out that the questions that emerged for her are ones that many…
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Forgive, But Don’t Forget: Sexuality & Healing From Religious Trauma
When Celeste Gracia was 17, her religiously conservative parents sent her to conversion therapy. This was the same summer that the Supreme Court legalized…
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Sexual Liberation for Single Moms
Most parents in Anita's life tell her that it's a relentless job ... so if you're doing it all without a partner, how is it possible to also sustain a…
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‘I’ve Got The Same Thing You Do’: Ehlers-Danlos Across Generations
Soph Myers-Kelley and his mom, René Myers, have always been close. As of five years ago, they also share a diagnosis: the connective tissue disorder…
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Why Is Good Food So Sexy?
Food and sex have been deeply intertwined in our cultural imagination for millennia. Anita talks with a cultural historian who has combed through centuries of…
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One Woman's Guide To Divorcing America
In the hours and days following President Donald Trump’s re-election, online searches about leaving the U.S. surged. Historically, most folks who have…
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(Self) Helped: Inside The Industry That Wants To Change Your Life
Anita is committed to self-improvement but skeptical of self-help. She brings her qualms and questions to the experts: Kristen Meinzer, a podcaster who has…
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Tingled: Your Brain And Heart On ASMR
Anita finds a lot of ASMR videos to be deeply relaxing, but she doesn't get the well-hyped/well-documented 'brain tingles.' Why? She puts the question to a…
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Offline Lives of Online Sex Workers
How does selling sexy online affect your offline relationship with sex and your body? Anita poses that question to two creators: Paris Bush, who in four years…
EmbodiedBoomers On Psychedelics
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…
EmbodiedThe Art of Giving Good Advice
There are few things that are certain about 2025, but one of them is that at some point, you’ll be called upon for advice. Anita talks to Meghan Keane, the…
EmbodiedTraveled: The Lives Of Third Culture Kids
As a child of two immigrants, Anita has a tumultuous relationship with the question: "Where are you from?" So, too, do many third culture kids — people who…
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BONUS: Food, Friends and Cultural Roots
Anita hands over the mic to Embodied’s intern, Nina Scott. After listening to our episode about food and cultural identity from a couple of weeks ago, Nina…
EmbodiedMourned: Life After Losing A Parent
Anita has heard one resounding truth from her friends who lost a parent in early adulthood: That death was the biggest thing that has ever happened to them…
EmbodiedWhy Are We Afraid Of Baldness?
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…
EmbodiedIs Food The Key To Cultural Belonging?
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…
EmbodiedUnpartnered: Building A Full, Single Life
A growing number of American adults have the same feeling about romantic partnerships: They don’t want one. Anita meets three people who have chosen…
EmbodiedAssisted Death And Dying in America
The option to end one's own life through prescribed, lethal medication is legal in 10 states and in Washington D.C. Guest host Anisa Khalifa talks to two…
EmbodiedSigned: How ASL Became A Language Of Resistance (Revisited)
American Sign Language is the third-most used language in the U.S. ASL has its own culture and art forms, and for many Deaf folks, ASL is about much more than…
EmbodiedDesiring Disability in Fashion
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…
EmbodiedWhat Kids' Books Teach Us About Our Bodies
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…
EmbodiedIntersex Reframes On Sex & Gender
While early biology lessons often teach us about sex as a binary, our bodies tell a different story. An intersex physician tells Anita about the decades-long…
EmbodiedMasked: Coming Out As Autistic In Adulthood (Revisited)
Many autistic people assigned female at birth remain undiagnosed at 18, so what's it like to get an autism diagnosis in your adulthood? Anita meets two women…
EmbodiedBisexuality Beyond The Binary
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+…
EmbodiedPopped: Adult Acne In The 'Perfect Skin' Era (Revisited)
Dealing with pimples and blackheads in middle school is practically a right of passage. But when acne is a defining feature of your adulthood... it’s a whole…
EmbodiedReimagining The Wedding Ceremony
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? On her one-year…
EmbodiedBONUS: Kennedy Ryan's Recipe For Romance
Kennedy Ryan has released 23 romance books in the past decade, and along the way she's developed a style and approach that speaks to hundreds of thousands of…
EmbodiedRetrieved: What Egg Donors Want You To Know (Revisited)
Egg donation in the U.S. is a multibillion dollar industry with high stakes and complicated dynamics. Anita talks with two egg donors about why they donated…
EmbodiedDyslexia And The Reading Brain
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…
EmbodiedDating, Sex & Love With HIV
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…
EmbodiedSmooched: Why You'll Never Forget Your First Kiss (Revisited)
Anita's highly-anticipated (and highly-awkward) first kiss was in eighth grade … but she remembers it like it was yesterday! A scientist tells her why our…