Embodied

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...

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 y...

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...

Kaila Yu spent years as an Asian American pinup model, singer and actress, leaning into a hypersexualized image of Asian femininity and burying her doubts about it. But after the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings, she started reckoning with how fetishization can lead to violence — and interrogating her own role in perpetuating harmful stereotypes. She talks with Anita about her new memoir. Plus, a sociol...

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 babi...

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 Comp...

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...

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...

When B. Chionne first heard about sugar dating in college, she was intrigued — what if in exchange for her time and attention she could earn enough money to pay her bills? She ended up dating sugar daddies on and off for about a decade. B. tells Anita about what the sugar dating life looks like and how years of exchanging companionship for financial support reshaped the way she thinks about money,...

Rebecca Auman is a witch. That’s not an insult — it literally says “head witch” on her LinkedIn profile. Rebecca has been able to read people and pick up on energy and vibrations for as long as she can remember. But as the daughter of a Methodist minister growing up in the South, she was encouraged to turn away from that intuition for a long time. She tells Anita about the long and winding road to...

Black horror writer Tananarive Due fell in love with the spectacle of horror when she was a little kid. But it was only after she was well into her horror writing career that she discovered that the genre can provide not just entertainment but healing. Tananarive talks to Anita about why she believes horror can help folks process real-world fears and trauma, using her most recent award-winning boo...

Nearly 40% of Americans say digestive troubles disrupt their daily lives. As the daughter of a gastroenterologist, that’s a statistic Anita can’t ignore. She joins forces with neurogastroenterologist Dr. Trisha Pasricha to bust poop myths, explain what's actually normal and explore the surprising science behind the gut-brain connection. Meet the guest: - Dr. Trisha Pasricha , physician, researcher...

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 Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Soph and René were diagnosed one year apart – Soph was 25; René was 60. EDS explained symptoms they’d both been experiencing for decades, including waking up with jaw or shoulder dislocations and having chronic pain. The two ta...

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 sex and food chronicles to understand what makes that connection so strong. Plus, Puerto Rican chef Manolo López shares a Valentine’s recipe and his favorite sexy food. Meet the guests: - Rachel Hope Cleves is a historian, a professor at th...

After more than a decade living in the U.S. without permanent legal status, Alix Dick calculated the cost of her survival: $1.9 million. That figure includes everything from wage theft and underpayment to complex PTSD and under-the-table medical visits. Alix talks about those things with Anita as she discusses her new book “The Cost of Being Undocumented,” co-written with Stanford University profe...

J. Drew Lanham’s life has been defined by birds. He grew up in rural South Carolina learning mystical stories about birds from his grandmother, emulating bird calls and even trying to fly. This love sparked Drew’s academic and creative careers — in ornithology and writing —  that center nature and winged creatures. Anita talks to Drew about why he fell so deeply for birds and how he has sustained...

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 men who've interrogated baldness from all angles: race, sexuality, science, media, culture and lived experience. They'll explore where this fear comes from and how many other men feel this way. Meet the guests: - E. Patrick Johnson is dean...

Pair figure skating is a sport of coordination, musicality and high-risk maneuvers. Being successful requires a lot of trust and teamwork. So what is it like when your partner is your sibling? Brother and sister Brad and Jocelyn Cox tell Anita about their 11 years of competing together and how their partnership continued into adulthood when they became coaches — and then caregivers. Meet the guest...

There are few things that are certain about 2026, but one of them is that at some point, you’ll be called upon for advice. Anita talks to Meghan Keane, the founder of NPR's Life Kit and author of “Party of One,” about how to give good advice. Meghan shares her personal journey to striking the balance between overthinking, venting and actually getting to the root of a problem. Plus, she sits in the...

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? Anita ponders this question with the Hindu officiant who helped her build a ceremony that bridged the gap between her values and her dad's traditional desires. Plus, a comedian and queer ex-nun explains how she takes people from the place of "marriage is a...

Curtis Chin grew up inside Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine. His great-grandfather first opened the Detroit restaurant in 1940, and in the 1970s and ‘80s Chung’s was the backdrop for many of Curtis’s formative lessons about race, identity and belonging. He talks to Anita about his experience learning how to code-switch as an Asian American and gay kid in a Black and white city — and how serving and obser...

After being raped at 18, journalist Katie Simon had a burning question: How do you navigate sex and intimacy after sexual assault? Katie tells Anita about their journey of trial and error with sex and how connecting with other survivors helped them write the guidebook they wish they’d had years ago. They explore everything from disclosure and triggers to kink and healing — both for survivors and t...

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 approached sex and intimacy in their 11+ year relationship. Plus, a woman who was born HIV positive talks about dating, disclosure and overcoming the fear of rejection. Meet the guests: - Rainer Oktovianus is a photographer and user experience desi...

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 turning her focus to food. She talks to mixed-race foodie and writer Raj Tawney, whose hours in the kitchen with his mom and grandma have grounded his search for belonging. Then, she picks up the phone and calls the primary chef in the Rao famil...

The consequences of fast fashion are well known: worker exploitation, environmental damage and poor quality items. And yet many of us keep buying it — either unknowingly, in willful ignorance or because it feels like there is no other option. Fashion industry insider and “Clotheshorse” podcast host Amanda Lee McCarty joins Anita to interrogate why fast fashion has such a particular hold on us and...