The Loudest Girl in the World

Pushkin
The Loudest Girl in the World

Unlock Ad-free Listening & Exclusive Binges

US$6.99/mo or US$39.99/yr after trial

For years, Lauren Ober wasn’t all that jazzed about herself. She was always getting in trouble, she had weird sensory issues and her anxiety felt off the charts. Plus, socially she kind of sucked. Life for Lauren just seemed harder than it should have been at 42. And then, in the middle of a global pandemic, she found out why — she was autistic. The Loudest Girl in the World is a new podcast that tells the story of Lauren’s journey to understand what the hell it means to be on the autism spectrum and how to live life as a newly diagnosed autistic person. It's about finding yourself broken in a place you never expected to be and emerging from that place a mostly glued back together person.

  1. EPISODE 1

    1 - Talking: A Love Story

    Lauren loves to talk. She’ll talk to anyone — baristas, postal carriers, neighborhood dog walkers. But her talking is more than just idle chit chat — it’s a kind of compulsion that’s gotten her in a lot of trouble over her life. Lauren’s never been able to turn it off and has never been able to figure out why… until recently, thanks to a diagnosis that changed everything. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    30 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    2 - Goodbye, Routine; Hello, Meltdown!

    The pandemic upended nearly everyone’s lives. It caused people to reevaluate their jobs, their relationships, their lives. For Lauren, the pandemic meant a collapse of her daily routine. When the day-to-day fell apart, so did Lauren. After a while, she needed to understand why. Her creeping suspicion that there was something going on in her brain got louder and louder. So she did something about it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    33 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    3 - Little Robots and Casual Rockers

    If you want to get evaluated for autism, you have to take some tests. But the earliest autism evaluations suggested that autistic kids were like little robots who wore the same clothes every day and looked through people like they were ghosts. So when Lauren decided to get evaluated, she was stepping into a problematic history. Still, she needed to do it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    31 min

  4. EPISODE 4

    4 - Hannah Gadsby Is My Bestie

    So Lauren finally got her autism diagnosis. But what the hell did that even mean? Where is the neurodiversity roadmap for someone diagnosed in their 40s? Turns out, there isn’t one. So Lauren has to make it up on her own. It’s time to do a deep dive into the world of autism. Which in itself is very autistic. Let’s get our research on! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    37 min

  5. EPISODE 5

    5 - Let's Talk About Hard Things

    It’s no fun being autistic all by yourself. If you feel comfortable, you have to tell folks and let them into your truth. So it’s disclosure time for Lauren. It’s time to tell her pals this wild new thing she’s learned about herself. But that’s not as easy as it sounds. Predictably, things get…kinda awkward. So Lauren calls in an expert — her pal Anna Sale, host of the podcast Death, Sex & Money — for advice. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    43 min

  6. EPISODE 6

    6 - Autism Pleasantville or: A Ridiculous Journey Into A Neurodivergent Fantasia

    This autism stuff is hard. So Lauren needs a break. And she gets it on a trip to Autism Pleasantville — a perfect world made just for her and all her quirks and weirdnesses. Autism Pleasantville is place full of cute dogs and restaurants that accommodate extreme food sensitivities and autism support humans who help Lauren navigate sticky social situations. Is Autism Pleasantville real? No. But it is nice to pretend. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    25 min

  7. EPISODE 7

    7 - Will You Be My Autistic Friend?

    It’s really hard to be a newly diagnosed autistic person and not know any autistic people. So it’s time for Lauren to make some autistic friends. But it’s not as easy as you might think. Which is why Lauren has to call up some big guns — Olympic BMX rider Chelsea Wolfe, New Zealand pop star Ladyhawke and best-selling author Katherine May — and force her friendship upon them. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    38 min

  8. EPISODE 8

    8 - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯¿ Lauren comes out to family? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    Coming out to family is hard. And Lauren should know — she’s already done it once. But if Lauren wants to fully inhabit her autism, she’s going to have to let all the people into her reality. So it’s time for Lauren to pull up her big girl pants and get to it. And no better time to disclose than during an already stressful family holiday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    38 min
See All Season 1 (14)

Shows with Subscription Benefits

  • McCartney: A Life in Lyrics offers listeners the opportunity to sit in on conversations between Paul McCartney and poet Paul Muldoon dissecting the people, experiences, and art that inspired McCartney’s songwriting. These conversations were held during the past several years as the two collaborated on the award winning book, “The Lyrics: 1965 to Present.” Over two seasons and 24 episodes of “McCartney: A Life in Lyrics”,you’ll hear a combination master class, memoir, and improvised journey with one of the most beloved figures in popular music. Each episode focuses on one song from McCartney’s iconic catalog – spanning early Beatles through his solo work. Season 2 premieres on February 7th. “McCartney: A Life in Lyrics” is a co-production between iHeart Media, MPL and Pushkin Industries. Cover Portrait © 1967 Paul McCartney / Photographer: Linda McCartney

    • 0.0 (0)
    • ARTS

  • From Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam, and Justin Richmond. The musicians you love talk about their life, inspiration, and craft. Then play. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

    • 0.0 (0)
    • MUSIC

  • You can follow the show at @DrMayaShankar on Instagram. Apple Podcasts’ Best Show of the Year 2021 Editor's Note: Maya Shankar blends compassionate storytelling with the science of human behavior to help us understand who we are and who we become in the face of a big change. Maya is no stranger to change. “My whole childhood revolved around the violin, but that changed in a moment when I injured my hand playing a single note,” says Shankar, who was studying under Itzhak Perlman at the Juilliard School at the time. “I was forced to try and figure out who I was, and who I could be, without the violin." Maya soon discovered a new path in the field of cognitive science, where she earned her PhD as a Rhodes Scholar studying how and why we change. Her insights into human behavior ultimately led her to create A Slight Change of Plans—Apple Podcasts’ Best Show of the Year in 2021. You’ll hear intimate conversations with people like Tiffany Haddish, Kacey Musgraves, and Riz Ahmed, as well as real-life inspirations, like John Elder Robison, who undergoes experimental brain stimulation to deepen his emotional intelligence, Daryl Davis, a Black jazz musician who inspires hundreds of KKK members to leave the Klan, and Shankar herself, who had her own “slight change of plans” earlier this year. The show also explores the science of change with experts like Adam Grant and Angela Duckworth. "What I love most about this show is that the content is evergreen," says Shankar. "You can listen to episodes in any order and at any time."

    • 0.0 (0)
    • SOCIETY & CULTURE

  • Revisionist History is Malcolm Gladwell's journey through the overlooked and the misunderstood. Every episode re-examines something from the past—an event, a person, an idea, even a song—and asks whether we got it right the first time. From Pushkin Industries. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance. To get early access to ad-free episodes and extra content, subscribe to Pushkin+ in Apple Podcasts are pushkin.fm/pus. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

    • 0.0 (0)
    • SOCIETY & CULTURE

  • You might think you know what it takes to lead a happier life… more money, a better job, or Instagram-worthy vacations. You’re dead wrong. Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos has studied the science of happiness and found that many of us do the exact opposite of what will truly make our lives better. Based on the psychology course she teaches at Yale -- the most popular class in the university’s 300-year history -- Laurie will take you through the latest scientific research and share some surprising and inspiring stories that will change the way you think about happiness.

    • 0.0 (0)
    • SOCIETY & CULTURE

  • Writer and founder of the Well-Read Black Girl book club Glory Edim is a book lover who brings readers and writers together to celebrate the written word.  Expanding on the community she built in 2015, Well-Read Black Girl is the literary kickback you never knew you needed. Each week, Glory sits in deep, honest and close conversation with authors like Tarana Burke, Min Jin Lee, Anita Hill, Gabrielle Union, Elizabeth Acevedo and more. You’ll also meet WRBG Book Club members, literacy advocates, and Black booksellers to hear what they’re reading and what it means to be well-read.  Join Glory through this current cultural moment – where art, justice and literature collide – and pay homage to the literary legacies of the women who paved the way. You’ll laugh, cry, connect and build space for kinship in a shared love of literature. Tune in, turn the page, and join the celebration.

    • 0.0 (0)
    • BOOKS

Unlock Ad-free Listening & Exclusive Binges

US$6.99/mo or US$39.99/yr after trial

View Subscription FAQs

Hosts & Guests

About

For years, Lauren Ober wasn’t all that jazzed about herself. She was always getting in trouble, she had weird sensory issues and her anxiety felt off the charts. Plus, socially she kind of sucked. Life for Lauren just seemed harder than it should have been at 42. And then, in the middle of a global pandemic, she found out why — she was autistic. The Loudest Girl in the World is a new podcast that tells the story of Lauren’s journey to understand what the hell it means to be on the autism spectrum and how to live life as a newly diagnosed autistic person. It's about finding yourself broken in a place you never expected to be and emerging from that place a mostly glued back together person.

Information

  • Channel
    Pushkin
  • Creator
    Pushkin Industries
  • Episodes
    15
  • Seasons
    1
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    2025 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia
  • Show Website
    The Loudest Girl in the World
  • Provider
    Pushkin Industries Inc.

More From Pushkin

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada