Another Bloody Podcast

Now that the "one glass of red wine is good for you" advice has been officially retired, is any amount of alcohol safe or is it essentially just poison on the rocks? We dig into the current research, from the surprising links between alcohol and cancer, heart disease, and inflammation, to why women process liquor so differently than men do, to the medical community's new drinking guidelines (spoil...

From razor ads that invented a "problem" in 1915 to the J Sisters' salon that made the Brazilian a household word, Heather and Lisa trace the strange, sometimes prickly history of female hair removal — and why, a century later, the bush is having a comeback moment. We dig into how advertising, the bikini, Playboy, and enthusiastic celebrities shaped what women do (and don't do) below the belt, wha...

This week, Heather and Lisa dive into one of gynecology's most dreaded instruments — the speculum — and the wave of new, more comfortable designs headed to doctors' offices. They cover updated cervical cancer screening guidelines, applaud the medical community's call for less-frequent Pap smears, and trace the speculum's surprisingly dark and ancient history. Plus: Find out which book they have ch...

When YouTube creator Jesse Ridgway (McJuggerNuggets) and his wife Audrey announced on X that they'd terminated a pregnancy after a Down syndrome (Trisomy 21) diagnosis, millions saw it — and the backlash was immediate. Death threats. Viral condemnation. Coverage in People. The response from abortion opponents was predictable. But the disability community also pushed back, challenging how Ridgway c...

Inspired by Jen Hatmaker’s 2025 memoir Awake, Lisa and Heather take a deep dive into the hellscape that is evangelical Christian purity culture. A generation ago, purity culture was having a moment. Some of Hollywood’s most popular young actors and teen pop stars were publicly declaring their intention to abstain from sex until marriage. The media responded with a creepy level of curiosity about t...

If you've ever been caught without a pad or tampon and felt that flash of panic, you already understand a small piece of what millions of people navigate every single day: period poverty. In this episode, Heather and Lisa sit down with period equity advocate Rakisha Kearns-White, who has spent the past seven years working to end menstrual stigma and provide accurate sexual health information in pu...

Your vagina is changing, and nobody warned you. Heather and Lisa are here to give you the 411 on this 911 situation. In this episode, we're diving into vaginal atrophy — the condition affecting roughly 50% of perimenopausal and menopausal women, where tissues dry out, shrink, and generally stage a quiet revolt. Your clitoris can retract like a turtle. Your labia can disappear. Fun times! Heather a...

Last week, President Trump gathered RFK Jr., Dr. Mehmet Oz, and a room full of pronatalists to push his fertility and maternal healthcare agenda — and hosts Heather and Lisa had a lot of feelings about it. Sure, they had a field day with Dr. Oz's declaration that one in three Americans are "underbabied" and RFK Jr.'s, er, passionate interest in teen sperm counts. (Yes, really.) But once the laughi...

This week we discuss the medically unnecessary product women were taught they couldn’t live without: the douche. About 20% of U.S. women use disposable douche products for vaginal cleansing on a weekly basis. Far more have used them at least once. Yet medical experts say these "hygiene" products are unnecessary and can even be hazardous to your health. So why, despite decades of research linking d...

In our first ever installment of Another Bloody Book Club, Heather and Lisa dig into Famesick, Lena Dunham's raw and surprisingly funny memoir about the collision of ambition, chronic illness, and public life. They explore what the book reveals about the invisible toll of endometriosis, the pressure women face to keep showing up no matter how sick they are, and the particular loneliness of experie...

In Part 2 of our Sexual Assault Awareness Month conversation, we unpack some of the terminology and ideas mentioned in our interview with advocate Sharon Walker Epps in Episode 10, starting with a roadmap of the terrifying, predatory digital world young people and parents are struggling to navigate. From there, Heather interviews Lisa about her own work as a sexual assault crisis counselor and wor...

In this episode of Another Bloody Podcast, we talk with Sharon Walker Epps, CEO of the Rowan Center, about the long-lasting impact of sexual violence, why so many survivors wait decades to disclose abuse, and what healing can look like when support comes early. Sharon shares her own path from Wall Street to advocacy, shaped in part by her daughter’s experience as a survivor, and explains how sexua...

This week, inspired by Casey Johnston's 2025 book A Physical Education, Heather and Lisa talk about the diets they've tried and despised, body image, and what fitness means for them. Is there a workable way for women over 50 to conserve bone mass, build muscle tone, and feel fit and healthy? Heather thinks she may have found the answer and Lisa is ready to give it a try. Here are links to some of...

This week, we are doing something new. Heather is having a 1:1 sit down with Lili Zarghami, founder of the online magazine Jenny, for a candid, unfiltered conversation about GLP-1 drugs, weight, and the complicated realities of living in a woman's body. From illness and aging to body shaming and the quiet mental load of trying to do everything exactly "right"—and still gaining weight—we unpack the...

Another Bloody Podcast co-hosts Lisa Pierce Flores and Heather O'Neill are both survivors of Stage 4 endometriosis. Here, in Part 2 of their deep dive into endometriosis, they interview one another about their many years of suffering from the disease, attempting to find a diagnosis, and finally, after many of false starts and a fair amount of medical gaslighting, how they each found some level of...

In this episode, we unpack the Kristin Cabot “kiss cam” scandal—and the fallout that follows when someone's worst moment becomes entertainment for everyone else. From public shaming and double standards to the mental health toll of viral outrage, we look at why women still bear the brunt of judgment, even when the story is more complicated.  Sources & Links "I Watched an Acquaintance Get Slut-...

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, so we’ve put together a multi-part series of episodes to examine this debilitating disease that affects 190 million people worldwide. As Stage 4 endometriosis survivors, your hosts Lisa and Heather know what they’re talking about — between them, they've experienced almost everything this debilitating disease has to offer. This first episode provides a rundow...

From author Elizabeth Gilbert to podcast comedy goddess Amy Poehler, the media has been flooded lately with very smart women citing the supposed fact that single women live longer than married women. But is this true? According to current scientific and census data, not exactly. But it is true that men benefit more from marriage in almost every conceivable way than women do. We break down the numb...

This is not your typical breast cancer awareness episode. Instead, it's going to tell you the story of one of our hosts lifelong, love-hate — mostly hate — relationship with her formerly enormous breasts. It's also about how her quest for a smaller chest led to an early breast cancer diagnosis. Along the way you'll learn about the latest breast cancer screening guidelines from the American Society...

From supplements to vaginal steaming, we dive into the booming world of "alternative" wellness. When it comes to the pursuit for better health, youth, and inner peace, where is the dividing line for women between genuine self-care end and total snake oil? As social media bombards us with promising cures based on shaky science and medical care becomes harder to access, alternative healthcare can lo...

Hi. We are Heather O'Neill and Lisa Breunig, hosts of Another Bloody Podcast. If you’re looking for women’s wellness content, you already have a lot of podcast options. So why listen to us? For starters, we’re journalists. Between us, we’ve spent decades reporting and writing about complex topics—including healthcare. But we’re also patients who’ve lived through the kinds of experiences that many...