Autistic Culture Presents...

Episode originally aired: March 11, 2025 With her Netflix hit Too Much currently #1, this episode is more relevant than ever. We're on hiatus, but bringing this powerful conversation back into the feed for anyone diving into Lena Dunham's latest work. 🎧 In this episode: We explore how Lena Dunham’s chronic illness journey and creative output reflect core themes of autism, burnout, and neurodiverg...

In this episode of Autistic Culture 101 , Dr. Angela Kingdon explores Pillar 10 of Autistic Culture: Passionate Superfanning with producer and fellow podcaster Simon Scott. Whether it’s Doctor Who , My Chemical Romance , Star Trek , or Renaissance fairs—superfanning isn’t a phase. It’s a core cultural trait of autistic identity. We break down how special interests (SPINs), emotional intensity, and...

In this episode of Autistic Culture 101 , Dr. Angela Kingdon is joined by Clare Kumar, productivity speaker and host of the Happy Space Podcast , to explore Pillar 9: Justice-Seeking in autistic culture. Clare, a late-diagnosed autistic woman and workplace inclusion advocate, shares how her values-driven mindset and sensitivity to fairness shaped her work, her diagnosis journey, and her unmasking...

In this episode of Autistic Culture 101 , Dr. Angela Kingdon explores Pillar 8: Predictably Comforting with special guest Daria Brown, author of We Chose Play: Raising an Autistic Child to Thrive and Feel Understood . Together, they unpack how predictability, routine, and familiarity are not about rigidity—they’re about emotional safety, sensory regulation, and identity coherence. This conversatio...

In this episode of Autistic Culture 101 , Dr. Angela Kingdon explores Pillar 7: Boldly Creating with special guest Nina Danon—composer, sound artist, and doctoral researcher whose work focuses on the rich intersections between autism, music, sensory experience, and creativity. This episode is about making art that’s true , not palatable. It’s for every autistic person who has ever created from a p...

In this episode of Autistic Culture 101 , Dr. Angela Kingdon explores Pillar 6: Game-Changing Innovation—the autistic drive to question assumptions, reimagine systems, and create from sensory truth and moral clarity. Autistic innovation isn’t about chasing trends or applause. It’s about paradigm shifts. From Isaac Newton’s invention of calculus to Richard Branson’s rebellious business model to Ang...

In this episode of Autistic Culture 101 , Dr. Angela Kingdon is joined by Jodi Britcha-Coyne, author, life coach, and systems-thinker, to explore Pillar 5: Pattern Matching—the cultural superpower at the heart of autistic insight, organization, and perception. Autistic pattern matching isn’t robotic—it’s deep, human, creative, and emotionally charged. From recognizing micro-patterns in conversatio...

In this episode of Autistic Culture 101 , Dr. Angela Kingdon welcomes Dr. Scott Frasard, autistic author and advocate, as they dive into Pillar 4 of Autistic Culture: World-Building—the powerful autistic drive to construct immersive systems, structures, and stories, both real and imagined. In his essay “The World We Built: A Future Where Autistic People Are Respected, Not Repaired” , Dr. Frasard e...

In this episode of Autistic Culture 101 , Dr. Angela Kingdon continues our journey through the 10 Pillars of Autistic Culture as we move onto Pillar 3 — Norm Challenging. This episode explores truth-telling, gender defiance, sensory preferences, and Emily Dickinson’s poetic rebellion that made her a quintessential norm challenger—and an early voice of neurodivergent power. 🎧 What You’ll Lear...

In this episode of Autistic Culture 101 , Dr. Angela Kingdon explores Pillar 2 of Autistic Culture: Rhythmic Communicating — a core expression of how autistic people connect with the world and each other. This isn’t “just how we talk.” It’s how we create culture. This special remastered episode dives into echolalia, scripting, infodumping, and the poetic, patterned flow that defines autistic commu...

In this episode of The Autistic Culture 101, Dr. Angela Kingdon explores Pillar 1 of Autistic Culture: Bottom-Up Processing. We begin our deep dive into the 10 Pillars of Autistic Culture with the cognitive foundation that shapes how many autistic people interpret, analyse, and interact with the world—from sensory input to social understanding. This remastered episode reintroduces the core princip...

In this episode of Autistic Culture 101, Dr. Angela Kingdon kicks off a brand-new chapter by reintroducing the 10 Pillars of Autistic Culture—the foundation for how we understand and celebrate the richness of autistic identity. This remastered episode revisits the original conversation that first defined the 10 pillars back in January 2024, now with updated insights and refined language to match h...

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, Dr. Angela Kingdon is joined by Jude Mills—autistic theologian, interfaith minister, and host of Fkd Up by Faith —for a deep exploration into how cults and extremist religious movements intersect with autistic culture. This isn’t just a trauma story. It’s a culture story. Together, we unpack how autistic traits like emotional honesty, deep focus, an...

💔 CW: This episode includes discussions of death, suicide, and self-harm. In this episode of Autistic Advocacy , Dr. Angela Kingdon is joined by neuroaffirming therapist Mady Snyder to explore the complexity of autistic grief. From the loss of people to the loss of routines, expectations, or identity, autistic grief shows up differently—and that difference deserves compassion, not correction. Thi...

In this powerful and sombre episode of Autistic Advocacy , Angela is joined by Black autistic advocates Faith Clarke and Darren Calhoun to confront the tragic police killing of 17-year-old autistic Puerto Rican teen Victor Perez—and the systemic failures that made it possible. Centering voices from the Black neurodivergent community, this conversation demands a reimagining of autistic justice beyo...

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, Dr. Angela Kingdon and Matt Lowry LPP explore the sharp contrast between two wildly different shows— The Big Bang Theory and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia —and how each one portrays (or distorts) autistic representation. While one show offers a neurotypical caricature of autistic traits, the other—perhaps unintentionally—captures autistic logic,...

In this episode of Autistic Advocacy , Dr. Angela Kingdon and Matt Lowry LPP are joined by Jess Lewis — a trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming functional medicine advocate — to explore the deeply intertwined connections between Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), autism, and POTS. This conversation blends science, systems thinking, and lived autistic experience to unpack how chronic stress,...

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast , Dr. Angela Kingdon and Matt Lowry LPP are joined by show producer Simon Scott — stepping in front of the mic to share his lifelong autistic special interest: My Chemical Romance (MCR). Together, they unpack how the band’s origin story, lyrics, and aesthetic reflect core autistic cultural traits like justice sensitivity, emotional intensity, and cre...

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, Dr. Angela Kingdon and Matt Lowry LPP celebrate the legendary alt-rock band They Might Be Giants —a group whose quirky, clever, and community-driven music has been unintentionally (or very intentionally) autistic-coded since the early 1980s. From masking anthems to special-interest deep dives, TMBG has built a decades-long career on lyrical loops, i...

In this episode of Autistic Advocacy , Matt Lowry LPP and Dr. Angela Kingdon explore how executive functioning shifts over time—and why conventional advice fails autistic people. From the increasing demands of adulthood to the compounding impact of co-occurring conditions, this conversation offers validation, practical strategies, and lived experience for navigating the realities of autistic life....

In this episode of Autistic Advocacy , Matt Lowry LPP and Dr. Angela Kingdon celebrate one of the most joyful and identity-defining aspects of autistic life—special interests (SPINS). From Frankenstein to Bob Geldof, Crowded House to the early internet, this episode dives into how SPINS offer comfort, connection, and career possibilities—and why they’re an essential part of autistic culture, not a...

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, Matt and Angela are joined by Shakespeare scholar Dr. Sonya Freeman Loftis to explore how Shakespeare’s plays connect with autistic experiences—from emotional intensity to characters whose traits feel deeply neurodivergent. 🎧 What You’ll Learn: Autistic-coded heroes – How characters like Hamlet, Coriolanus, Othello, and King Lear embody autistic th...

In this episode of Autistic Advocacy , Matt and Angela welcome special guest Meghan Ashley, LPC-S—an autistic licensed professional counsellor, speaker, and author of Blueprint to Behaviour—for a conversation about neurodivergent parenting, autistic self-understanding, and creating advocacy that starts at home. 🎧 What You’ll Learn Why autism advocacy begins at home – Creating affirming environmen...

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, Matt and Angela are joined by stand-up comedian and podcast host Abigoliah Schamaun to explore why expat life might just be peak autistic behaviour. From cultural clashes to the comedy stage, Abigoliah’s journey offers insight, laughs, and plenty of neurodivergent real talk. 🎧 What You’ll Learn 1️⃣ Expat Life as a Neurodivergent Adventure Why Ange...

In this episode of Autistic Advocacy , Matt and Angela unpack internalized ableism—how it shows up, where it comes from, and how to actively dismantle it as autistic individuals. 🎧 What You’ll Learn Masking, burnout & skill regression – How the drive to "prove you're capable" often causes harm rather than growth. The social model of disability – Why saying “I’m not disabled” may reflect deep-...