Stay ConnectedDig 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.
Copyright: © 2022 WUNC Podcasts
Anita has the skin privilege of a white woman and the upbringing of an Indian-American girl. That can make belonging a challenge, something like what transracial adoptees often experience in their own families.
Meet the guests:
- Shruti Shah talks about growing up as a transracial adoptee in a mixed-race family in Memphis. She also brings on her parents to ask them some lingering questions.
- Writer Andrew Lee and his father are both Korean adoptees. Andrew shares how his family's story fits into the bigger, geopolitical history of Korean-American adoption in the U.S.
- Rebekah Hutson talks about what it's like to be the "Only Black Girl" in a lot of spaces and how she hopes the adoption industry will do a better job supporting transracial adoptees moving forward.
Read the transcript | Review the podcast
Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram
If Anita weren't boo'd up, she might wonder if there's someone in her life she already knows who is a good romantic match for her. But is it healthy to look to the past for a chance at future happiness? With help from the podcast Dating While Gray, we examine the pros and cons of "boomerang love."
Meet the guests:
- Jeannie Thompson talks about her own boomerang heartbreak that led her to leading online discussion forums on reconnecting with former loves.
- Grace shares what happened when she reconnected with a childhood crush after her long marriage had gone stale.
- Mary and Del, who split after the flame of desire went out in their 20-year marriage, answer the question: Can living separate lives reignite a spark?
Read the transcript | More Dating While Gray
Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram
Anita, like many of us, was essentially taught that a herpes diagnosis means the end of a good sex life. Now it's time for a real education about the sexually transmitted infection, which is extremely common and far less terrifying once you open the door to conversation about it.
Meet the guests:
- Sex and culture critic Ella Dawson talks about her experience navigating a herpes diagnosis and how opening up about it publicly has shaped her life and relationships.
- Infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Leone shares the science of herpes and clears up common misconceptions about the virus.
- Anita's good friend shares the range of responses she's gotten while disclosing her diagnosis and how she hopes the conversation around herpes will evolve.
Read the transcript | Review the podcast
Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram
Anita is over adulting and would love to lose herself in some serious play time. She's never been a gamer but is intrigued by how video games help us tap into the fun side of our brains while creating spaces designed to help us strengthen our connections with others.
Meet the guests:
- Hadley Causey talks about founding Spectrum, a queer exclusive server on Discord (a social network for gaming communities) that helped them create a safe space they didn't have in real life.
- Tess Tanenbaum, an assistant professor in the department of informatics at University of California, Irvine, talks about the link between game design and relationships that can form within games.
- Adriana de Souza e Silva, a professor in the department of communication at NC State, talks about how location-based games like Pokémon GO can connect adults and kids and help everyone integrate more play into their lives.
- Nikilesh, Anita's little brother, talks about his relationship with gaming, and how it was a lifeline for him when his family moved to the South while he was in high school.
Read the transcript | Review the podcast
Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram
Anita appreciates how movies and TV are now more representative in portraying narratives about pregnancy termination. But those stories can't compete with talking to real people about their experience having an abortion.
Meet the guests:
- Gretchen Sisson, a sociologist, talks about how television and real life diverge when it comes to abortion — and how fictional portrayals influence our understanding of the procedure and the people who get it.
- Ruth and Margaret share their experiences terminating wanted pregnancies for medical reasons. Both women use pseudonyms in the conversation to protect their privacy.
- Anita's parents on their own abortion story.
Read the transcript | Review the podcast
Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram
Anita combs through her own tangled relationship with body hair and asks why so many of us invest time and money on removal methods.
Meet the guests:
- Scholar Rebecca Herzig explains when and why we started caring so much about body hair and how hair removal practices have evolved over the centuries.
- Sharan Dhaliwal, founder and editor-in-chief of Burnt Roti, talks about about coming to terms with being a hairy Indian woman.
- Photographer Kristie DeGaris shares how she's raising her daughters to think about their own body hair and trying to normalize NOT removing it.
- Anita's parents on how their upbringings and aging have shaped their views on body hair.
Anita says all the time "what's personal is political." So, she's interested to see how a new presidential administration will affect the ability of transgender Americans to serve in the U.S. military, which has long suffered from barriers to equity for troops and veterans from marginalized communities.
Meet the guests:
- Lt. Col. Bree Fram, the highest-ranking, out transgender officer in the Department of Defense, shares what it meant to come out after Obama lifted the ban on trans service members and the challenges with Trump's reversal of the policy.
- Marine Sgt. Samson Gibbs talks about how he's experienced more support than transphobia as an active duty military.
Read the transcript | Review the podcast
Watch "Uneven Battlefield," a live event sponsored by WUNC's American Homefront project to meet more people working toward fair treatment and equity for all U.S. military troops and veterans.
Follow Embodied on Twitter and Instagram
Anita is all kinds of in love with her newborn niece, a relationship that has her thinking more about motherhood. Her thoughts on the matter are at least somewhat informed by listening to "The Double Shift" podcast, which challenges the status quo for moms. This episode explores the roles of gender and community in raising kids through the story of a transgender man named Ted. Plus, Anita extends an invitation for a virtual hangout.
Anita is admittedly anxious about aging and what she'll have to re-negotiate about her body and her relationships as she gets older. Wisdom wanted.
Meet the guests:
- Omisade Burney-Scott, creator and host of "The Black Girls' Guide To Surviving Menopause" talks about how aging has affected her mind, body and spirit
- Pepper Schwartz, a sociologist, sexologist and relationships expert, talks about how the cultural myths around aging shape how people approach sex and relationships
- Ellen Ashley, talks about getting divorced at 60 and her varied experiences of dating online
- Laura Stassi, host and creator of the podcast "Dating While Gray," shares her personal story that inspired the project
- Anita’s parents talk about the changes they’ve noticed in their aging bodies and how it’s affected their relationship
Read the transcript | Review the podcast | Explore the podcast discussion guide
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
