Embodied

WUNC
  • 0.0 (0)
  • SEXUALITY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Sex and relationships are intimate — and sometimes intimidating to talk about. In WUNC’s award-winning podcast, host Anita Rao guides us on an exploration of our brains and bodies that touches down in taboo territory. Follow the show on Instagram at @embodiedwunc and on Bluesky at embodiedwunc.bsky.social. You can find Anita on Bluesky at asrao.bsky.social.

  1. 2 HR AGO

    Stuttered: Diversifying The Way We Speak

    Stuttering occurs in every culture with a spoken language. So why do many communities treat it as a source of shame? Two speech-language pathologists and a comedian help Anita question cultural assumptions about stuttering and explore the growing movement to embrace speech diversity. Meet the guests: - Dr. Derek Daniels, licensed and certified speech-language pathologist and associate professor in the department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Wayne State University, shares his own experience of stuttering and what we know about what causes stuttering - Jia Bin, doctoral student at Michigan State University, talks about growing up in rural China with a stutter and what she's hoping to bring back to the stuttering community there - Nina G, comedian and author of "Stutterer, Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn’t Happen," explains why she decided to embrace her dream of doing stand-up and shares how her stuttering has impacted romantic and platonic relationships Dig Deeper: Follow Nina G's comedy on Instagram Jia on stuttering as a superpower Stuttering content on YouTube by Courtland Crain and Matice Ahnjamine National Stuttering Association website 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 March 31, 2023. Updates: You can learn more about Jia’s work at the Spartan Stuttering Lab here. You can learn more about National Stuttering Awareness Week here. Nina G is in the midst of the making the comedy docu-special: Comedians with Disabilities Act: Going Beyond The Punchlines.

    50 min

  2. 7 MAY

    How A Mother Learned To Connect Without Language

    How do you care for someone you struggle to communicate with ... and can never fully understand? That's the question anthropologist Danilyn Rutherford has been wrestling with for decades  — ever since it became clear that her daughter Millie would never speak, sign or use symbols to express herself. Danilyn talks with Anita about how mothering a multiply-disabled child challenged her beliefs about the importance of language for human connection.  Meet the guest: - Danilyn Rutherford is the author of “Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World” Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

    50 min

  3. 30 APR

    The Case For Taking Humor Seriously

    Comedian Chris Duffy believes everyone has a sense of humor. And if you think you don’t? That’s just years of adult socialization talking! He shares his roadmap for building a more humor-filled life, from learning to be present and notice the absurdities of the world to taking social risks. Plus, he and Anita workshop some comedy exercises that will not just get you laughing more — but also help you kickstart your creative juices and feel more connected to those around you.  Meet the guest: - Chris Duffy is the host of the TED podcast “How To Be a Better Human” and the author of “Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy” Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied

    50 min

  4. 23 APR

    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 feminist, she celebrated the movement; as a mother, she worried: "How am I gonna raise these boys to be good?" This tension launched Ruth on a quest to understand modern American boyhood and what's not working. Ruth and her husband Neil Levine tell Anita about their journey of putting Ruth’s research into practice, working to give their sons the emotional tools to thrive in a changing world — and what’s at stake if we don’t shift our approach to raising boys. Meet the guests: - Ruth Whippman is the author of "BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity" - Neil Levine is Ruth's husband 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 May 8, 2025.

    50 min

  5. 9 APR

    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 attitudes about climate change and reproductive choices while unpacking her own experiences with climate anxiety. They’ll talk about how to manage climate emotions while making big life decisions, and how “the kid question” isn’t just about babies — it’s about what bringing new life into an uncertain world represents. Meet the guest: - Jade Sasser is the author of “Climate Anxiety and the Kid Question: Deciding Whether to Have Children in an Uncertain Future” and an associate professor at the University of California, Riverside   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 May 15, 2025. Update: Jade Sasser is working on a third book, tentatively titled “Climate Change Hates Mothers.”

    50 min

  6. 2 APR

    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 don’t see. Missy, a Hawaii-based flight attendant, takes Anita inside her world and shares stories from her close to five years on the job — from managing unruly passengers to dealing with medical emergencies. Travel journalist Natalie Compton also shares her reporting on the financial precarity some flight attendants face and how understanding more about their reality has changed the way she approaches air travel. Meet the guests: - Missy is a Hawaii-based flight attendant who is using only her first name since she's not authorized to speak on behalf of her airline - Natalie Compton is a travel reporter for The Washington Post Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied Dig deeper: Natalie's reporting on the financial precarity of early-career flight attendants Natalie's reporting on flight attendant training Please note: This episode originally published on June 19, 2025.

    50 min

  7. 26 MAR

    The Future of Trans Athletes in Sports

    When Chris Mosier became the first openly trans athlete to qualify for Team USA in 2015, he catalyzed policy change for trans people in sports. Now, more than a decade later, his legacy is beginning to unravel. Chris talks to Anita about how sports have affirmed him as a trans person and why they’ve become a battleground for trans rights. They also discuss the assumptions that underpin many of the bans on trans athletes in the U.S. and solutions that Chris says could make sports better for all athletes.  Meet the guest: - Chris Mosier is an eight-time Team USA athlete who wrote the forward to and conducted interviews for the recent book “Fair Game: Trans Athletes and the Future of Sports”  Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform Follow Embodied on Instagram  Leave a message for Embodied You can read the new International Olympic Committee's policy on gender here.

    50 min

  8. 19 MAR

    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 Mark Pagán, creator and host of the podcast “Other Men Need Help,” about what makes close friendships among men so fraught — and what we can do about it. They talk about everything from why Mark loves secret handshakes to his ongoing journey of making himself say the hard stuff out loud. Meet the guest: - Mark Pagán is the creator and host of the podcast "Other Men Need Help" and writes the substack "Other Men" 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 April 17, 2025.

    50 min
See All (276)

About

Sex and relationships are intimate — and sometimes intimidating to talk about. In WUNC’s award-winning podcast, host Anita Rao guides us on an exploration of our brains and bodies that touches down in taboo territory. Follow the show on Instagram at @embodiedwunc and on Bluesky at embodiedwunc.bsky.social. You can find Anita on Bluesky at asrao.bsky.social.

Information

  • Channel
    WUNC
  • Creator
    WUNC
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    276
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2022 WUNC Podcasts
  • Show Website
    Embodied

More From WUNC

You Might Also Like