Unfixed Podcast

Kimberly Warner

Unfixed: The Podcast What if the very thing that unmoored you became the thread that held you together? Unfixed is a podcast about living—and learning to love—the question. In each season, we explore the unpredictable terrain of adversity, creativity, and transformation through intimate, unguarded conversations with people who are reshaping their lives in the wake of what they didn't choose. Season One pairs individuals living with chronic illness or disability with artists, clinicians, and thinkers who bring their own experience of challenge to the table. These duets are invitations to listen with curiosity and compassion, revealing how presence—not perfection—makes a life powerful. Season Two ventures into the literary world of Substack, where Kimberly Warner speaks with writers whose fiction, memoir, and essays illuminate the "unfixed" condition in its many forms—grief, gender, aging, family rupture, economic uncertainty, and environmental collapse. Together, they unearth the wisdom hidden inside complexity and remind us that the mess is often the message. Season Three introduces Unfixed: Uncut—shorter, spontaneous conversations recorded live. In just 30 minutes, guests respond to one central inquiry: What's something in your life that's come undone—and how might it be exactly what you needed? Whether chronic illness or heartbreak, identity or ecological grief, each episode is a practice in staying open, in finding meaning without resolution. Because sometimes, the very thing we fear is the thing that saves us. unfixed.substack.com

  1. LIVE! Unfixed: Uncut with Monica Ticknor

    12H AGO

    LIVE! Unfixed: Uncut with Monica Ticknor

    A tiny Wi-Fi glitch tried to take us out at the start… but we left it unfixed (obviously) and rolled right into one of the sweetest, funniest conversations. This episode of Unfixed: Uncut is with Monica Ticknor , the founder of Charter Book Club Adventures—aka the woman who casually slid into my DMs with an idea that was basically: “Want to do a virtual book club… and then end it on a freaking sailboat?” And yes, I immediately said: are you kidding me, YES! We talk about Monica’s roots as a junior high teacher and coach, the kind who made books feel like doorways and classrooms feel like circles you actually want to sit in. She shares the story that lit her up as a kid (The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle), the teachers who shaped her, and the way she now designs book clubs as immersive, personal voyages—not “read chapters 1–4 and report back,” but slow down, reflect, and let the book meet your real life. Monica walks us through her R.E.A.D. framework—Reflect, Explore, Adventure, Discover—including captain’s logs, “catching the wind” action steps, and a final-week love letter to yourself (which… yes, made me a little shivery). But why should that surprise me? Monica is an honest-to-god angel. Also: it’s my birthday in this episode, so there’s an orange Crush cake to honor my beloved Tang—who, for the record, is thriving in his new home. If you’ve ever wanted reading to feel more like belonging… welcome aboard. Get full access to Unfixed at unfixed.substack.com/subscribe

    48 min
  2. You Might Also Like: The Oprah Podcast

    12H AGO · BONUS

    You Might Also Like: The Oprah Podcast

    Introducing Tayari Jones: “Kin” | Oprah’s Book Club from The Oprah Podcast. Follow the show: The Oprah Podcast We are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Oprah’s Book Club and Oprah’s first pick of 2026 which is her 121st Book Club selection. The novel KIN by international bestselling author Tayari Jones explores the life-long friendship of two motherless daughters in the segregated South. The story explores how their decisions lead them to live vastly different lives causing them to grow apart. From page one to the stunning conclusion Tayari’s emotionally rich and witty novel inspires a soul-searching, introspective conversation about chosen family. Oprah and Tayari Jones talk with an audience of readers in New York City. BUY THE BOOK! https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/635411/kin-by-tayari-jones/ 00:00:00 - Celebrating 30 years of Oprah Book Club 00:03:20 - Oprah introduces ‘Kin’ by Tayari Jones 00:04:13 - Welcome Tayari Jones 00:06:42 - Thando on ‘Kin’ 00:08:30 - Letters as storytelling 00:10:30 - The professor that inspired Tayari 00:12:35 - Tayari on the 8 years between books 00:17:38 - The plot of ‘Kin’ 00:20:40 - Being a girl without a mom 00:22:00 - Belonging and sacrifice 00:23:57 - Tayari’s understanding of her mother 00:28:30 - What can save friendship? 00:30:15 - Honor your friendships 00:37:20 - The feeling of completing a novel 00:42:20 - Tayari on ‘Kin’ 00:43:48 - How Tayari sees the world SUPPORT THE SHOW https://www.tayarijones.com/books/an-american-marriage/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.

  3. LIVE! Unfixed: Uncut with Elizabeth Jameson

    FEB 4

    LIVE! Unfixed: Uncut with Elizabeth Jameson

    In this joyful, intimate conversation, Kimberly Warner reunites with artist and writer Elizabeth Jameson—whose work many listeners may remember from the original Unfixed docu-series and their later collaboration, MS Confidential. Together, they explore what it means to live inside an “imperfect body” without reducing that life to tragedy or inspiration. Elizabeth shares how she once refused to look at her MRIs—“horrifying” proof of a progressive disease—until she made a radical pivot: transforming those clinical images into art, reclaiming her medical data and finding unexpected beauty in brain folds that resemble calligraphy. As MS progressed and she became quadriplegic, she adapted again, turning toward writing, speaking, and the ongoing practice of “making friends” with her body. The conversation moves through reinvention, intimacy, and agency: how to articulate what you need when your body changes; how caregiving reshapes relationships; how swearing can be its own kind of medicine; and how aging, in a strange way, can become a homecoming—“I love getting older because I’m now normal.” What emerges is not a neat lesson, but a lived philosophy: let it suck when it sucks, stay curious, keep redefining intimacy, and notice the people around you who make your life possible. A gathering full of grit, tenderness, laughter—and the kind of gratitude that feels like oxygen. Thank you Nan Tepper, Francesca Bossert, Maura, Jay, Kathleen Kiddo, Monica Ticknor and many others for tuning into my live video with Elizabeth! More about Elizabeth: Elizabeth is a vibrant illustration of grace and grit, real chutzpah, turning lump of coal into diamonds and MRI’s into works of art. In other words, she is an artist and writer exploring what it means to live in an imperfect body as part of the shared human experience. Elizabeth Jameson’s journey with multiple sclerosis has spanned over three decades, but before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she worked as a public interest lawyer, representing incarcerated children and later advocating for kids with chronic illnesses and disabilities to receive the medical care they needed. As her own disease progressed, she began transforming her MRIs into art — reclaiming her medical data and turning those clinical images into invitations for deeper, more human conversations about illness and disability. Her work now lives in permanent collections across the U.S. and internationally, including the National Institutes of Health, major universities, and medical schools. Due to the progression of MS, she is now quadriplegic and can no longer create visual art without assistance. She writes and speaks widely about living with illness and disability. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The British Medical Journal, WIRED, and MIT’s Leonardo Journal. Her piece “Losing Touch, Finding Intimacy” was also included in the New York Times anthology About Us. She gives talks around the country — including a TEDx talk called “Learning to Celebrate and Embrace Our Imperfect Bodies” — and her new book, An Intimate Journey, comes out later this spring that chronicles the various art methods the artist has used to understand her relationship with a disease that continues to advance: textile paintings, solar plate etchings, embroideries, and digital renderings created from the clinical data that she initially refused to face. Jameson has often referred to her MRIs as containing a secret language she yearns to comprehend. You can view her expansive, extensive art and writing collections here. Get full access to Unfixed at unfixed.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 1m
4.9
out of 5
53 Ratings

About

Unfixed: The Podcast What if the very thing that unmoored you became the thread that held you together? Unfixed is a podcast about living—and learning to love—the question. In each season, we explore the unpredictable terrain of adversity, creativity, and transformation through intimate, unguarded conversations with people who are reshaping their lives in the wake of what they didn't choose. Season One pairs individuals living with chronic illness or disability with artists, clinicians, and thinkers who bring their own experience of challenge to the table. These duets are invitations to listen with curiosity and compassion, revealing how presence—not perfection—makes a life powerful. Season Two ventures into the literary world of Substack, where Kimberly Warner speaks with writers whose fiction, memoir, and essays illuminate the "unfixed" condition in its many forms—grief, gender, aging, family rupture, economic uncertainty, and environmental collapse. Together, they unearth the wisdom hidden inside complexity and remind us that the mess is often the message. Season Three introduces Unfixed: Uncut—shorter, spontaneous conversations recorded live. In just 30 minutes, guests respond to one central inquiry: What's something in your life that's come undone—and how might it be exactly what you needed? Whether chronic illness or heartbreak, identity or ecological grief, each episode is a practice in staying open, in finding meaning without resolution. Because sometimes, the very thing we fear is the thing that saves us. unfixed.substack.com

You Might Also Like