TransNormal Podcast

In this heartfelt and eye-opening episode of Trans Normal, Jo Ellis and co-host Dr. Laura Targownik talk with a rural family doctor who’s spent nearly a decade providing full-spectrum medical care — including gender-affirming treatment — to patients in small-town America. What makes this conversation especially powerful is her dual perspective: she’s not only a physician who’s helped trans patient...

Dr. Kinnon Ross McKinnon, Assistant Professor of Social Work at York University, is one of the world's foremost academic voices on the science of detransition. This year, his research team published the results of the largest study of self-declared detransitioners, with nearly 1000 people who had embarked on a gender transition, and then thought otherwise. In this conversation, Dr. McKinnon sits d...

In this special episode, Dr. Laura Targownik (co-host of the TransNormal Podcast) sits down with adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Tyler Black, chronic disease epidemiologist Dr. Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, and newspaper columnist Mr. Adam Zivo to discuss the science and politics of pediatric gender affirming care, with specific attention to the controversy surrounding the recently published McMaster Univer...

Dr. Gordon Guyatt is one of the original architects of Evidence Based Medicine, the framework that clinicians use to determine how we know whether a medical treatment actually works for a disease. But in the last month, he has become more widely known as the researcher who decided to go all-in on supporting gender affirming care for adolescents and young adults, despite being a lead author on a st...

In this episode, hosts Jo & Laura sit down with sports journalist and athlete Karleigh Webb to tackle one of the most heated debates of our time: trans inclusion in women’s sports. From hormone rules and puberty advantages to team culture and fairness, the discussion goes deep into what it really means to compete, belong, and create space for everyone. Karleigh shares her firsthand experience...

In this episode, we dive into two powerful stories shaping today’s trans discourse. First, a raw look at new U.S. military policies forcing out transgender service members, canceling promised early retirements, and adding discharge codes that could harm future careers. Then, we break down groundbreaking research from Dr. Keenan McKinnon on why people detransition, revealing a far more complex pict...

We originally recorded this episode with a guest, but then had an audio issue. We attempted to re-record, but the guest was a no-show... so here's a quick up date from us regarding Jo's Kill Tony appearance and Laura's heartfelt concern for the situation surrounding Dr. Beth Upton.

This week: an in-depth interview with Dr. Tyler Black, a Canadian child psychiatrist and suicidologist. Dr. Black offers a compassionate and evidence-informed perspective on gender-affirming care, particularly for youth. He explains that while gender-affirming care is often framed as controversial, it is grounded in clinical best practices that prioritize reducing a child’s distress—not rushing to...

In this episode, the hosts tackle the intersection of transgender rights, legal precedent, and conservative identity through two in-depth interviews—one with an attorney, Dilan Esper @dilanesper who has 25 years of experience in law and another with Rachael Mae, aka "The Trans Conservative" @Rachael_ICU a transgender conservative woman. The result is a nuanced and provocative exploration...

In this episode we discuss the recent announcement by Hendrix, aka @legaltweetz "The Pissed Off Lawyer" X account, who announced they were detransitioning the same day they were to be a guest on our podcast. As we expected, the announcement made Hendrix unavailable to us and we hope to reschedule. We also discuss the recent Simone Biles and Riley Gains exchange and Jo's "Operati...

This episode we talk all about The US Department of Health and Human Services Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices. This review was issued following the Executive Order, “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation" The review is located here: https://opa.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2025-05/gender-dysphoria-report.pdf

This episode we discuss the recent SCOTUS decision on allowing the trans military purge to continue while it's being decided in lower courts. We also discuss the optics issue with trans people and how the public doesn't know everyday trans people, but instead only have extreme examples which shapes public opinion. Most people don't know a trans person and everyday trans people are losi...

We catch up after a 3 week break and deep dive with one of the hosts of TransNormal, Jo Ellis, that trans black hawk pilot rumored to have caused the DC crash on January 29th 2025. We discuss everything from homeschooling, parenting, growing up, coming out as trans, the military, the crash rumor and lawsuit, and all things Jo.

Capitol Police arrested Rheintgen on March 19 and charged her with trespassing, a second-degree misdemeanor under Florida law. She was jailed for 25 hours. She faces up to 60 days in a men's prison. Marcy is the first arrest and likely a test case for the Florida bathroom law HB 1521 that was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023. Marcy was kind enough to be our first guest of our podcast w...