Vicious Cycle

This week, we’re dipping our toes in the true crime podcast game! Friend-of-the-pod Allison Page is back and giving us all the dirt on menstrual crimes. We dig into modern, sordid affairs, go back to the days of Lizzie Borden, and so much more. We also learn that courts will do ANYTHING to avoid talking about periods - GOOD TO KNOW. Save some menstrual blood for an alibi and tune in! Here's a tast...

We're well into season three and we STILL can't really tell you much about what our reproductive system looks like ... until now. Kate brings the bleedsearch for today's episode all about the cervix (truly an unsung hero). She tells us where and what it is, shows us what it LOOKS like, and puts up with The Meg's many metaphors for what the the cervix actually does. Tune in and meet the powerful li...

A ton of blisteners have requested this topic, and we are finally diving in! Meg T brings some bleedsearch and personal anecdotes to cover the great, the less great, and the totally-not-great sides of IUD's. We also take some calls and read stories from listeners about their own IUD experiences. Have questions? We've probably got some answers... and even more questions! Relax your cervix and join...

This week, we sit down with Jane Adame, Senior Brand Strategist at The FLEX company and designer of the Keela menstrual cup - designed specifically for bleeders with disabilities. We cover her menstrual journey, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, developing a menstrual cup with a non-bleeder, and what success really looks like. Oh, and we've got a new addition to our menstrual lingo that will give you some F...

Our first live episode! We had a blast talking with JoAnn Schinderle at PianoFight as a part of SF Sketchfest. We talked candidly (in front of A LOT of people) about having a designated period towel, bleeding in a bucket, and other aspects of her freebleeding journey (and we talked about her period comedy album Dark Jeans). Find a dark chair to bleed on and listen!

Pap smears. Dental cleanings. Any type of -oscopy. Bad days in general. Sometimes things suck ... a lot. When you're in one of those moments where everything is NOT fine, pop in your earbuds and check out this episode dedicated to helping you relax, laugh, and remember that everything will be fine again. TIMECODES: 4:11 - Meg T sings a song on the ukulele 7:48 - Lizzo Quizzo 17:04 - Top 10 Times P...

We're still on vacation so here's part two of our tampon series. And, we DID record some new thoughts at the beginning and end, so give it a listen! Do you know what’s in your tampon? Or how and why people get Toxic Shock? Have you been looking for reasons to quit tampons? LOOK NO FURTHER THAN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE. Meg H lays out all the problematic issues with our favorite cotton wads - but don’t...

We're re-releasing one of our fave episodes from Season 1, but we hope you still listen because we recorded some new stuff at the top and at the end of the episode. Enjoy! In Part 1 of our Tampon Series, the hosts of Vicious Cycle lay all their cards on the table and share their thoughts, experiences, and embarrassing truths about tampons. They also shed a little light on the history of tampons an...

In this week’s episode, Meg Hayes brings us some bleedsearch on the history of pads, some fine advertisements for sanitary napkins, and even a glimpse at mother/daughter relationships in the mid-centch. Come for the learning, stay for the song at the end - IT’S A BLOODY BANGER.

Welcome to the main event! After all our bleedsearch on athletes who bleed, we got to talk with one! Amy Rodriguez joined us on the pod to talk about her career as a professional soccer player and her experience having a child and then rejoining the US women's team and going on to win at the 2015 World Cup! We also try to get all the dirt on the players we know and love. Tune in for all the bloody...

We're back with more bleedsearch and stories about athletes with periods! We dive deep into how hormones and pregnancy affects players bodies, cover bad ass bleeders in action (like freebleeding all over the London Marathon BOOM!), and get a pro-tip from a roller derby competitor that blows both Megs' minds. Tune in and join the Bleed Team!

In this episode, Kate brings a boat-load of research about athletes who bleed. (So much we had to break it up into multiple episodes.) We cover team sports, solo competitors, olympic performances, and the outrageous reasons why menstruators have been stopped from competing. Plus, we hear from sporty blisteners! Put on some white jersey shorts and free bleed on the field with us! If you're blintere...

In this episode, we talk to Amanda about her new book, That's Mental (out now - go get it already), getting her period at an English boarding school and blaming PMS meltdowns on mental illness (we've all been there). We also learn that Meg T would do anything for approval in middle school (surprised?). Slap a pad in your swimming costume and hit that play button!

A lot can happen in a few months, and your hosts can prove it. We share Where We Bled, exciting NEW ways to bleed, and we do a love spell... with menstrual blood. Hold onto your cups and spin them widdershins — season three is hitting the ground bloody!

Mark your cycle-tracking calendars: Vicious Cycle is back with season 3 on November 13th! Are you following us on Instagram? You should be - we're full of surprises over there: @viciouscyclepodcast. See you on 11/13! Music: Beach Party by David Szetsay (c) copyright 2016. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/David_Szesztay

It's our last episode of season two, and we're sending you off into the menoPAUSE with song! We brought back the cast of Vicious Cycle the Musical to lay down some tracks, play some live performances, and share some never-before-heard B Sides. If you didn't get a chance to see the show in person, you can feel like you were there. Timecodes for each song are below, so you can enjoy this pod like an...

We managed to sit down with Luna in between her trips around the country doing stand-up to talk about her menstrual journey - and what a journey it has been. She tells us about growing up in Louisiana (and the unusual myth about periods there), her experience with PCOS, and introduces us to the term "down to clown." Make sure to clench those kegels during this ep, you might lose your tampon from l...

The hosts of "Sssh Periods" and grand prize winners of NPR's student podcast competition sat down (remotely) with your hosts to remind us what it was like to be in middle school. All the awkward memories flooded back in (like hiding your big ol' pad in your Lisa Frank trapper keeper on the way to the bathroom), but they also gave us a lot of hope. Go yell "period" from a rooftop and break down som...

Your blosts did their research and found that there are multiple ways you can use your own menstrual blood, and they range from sciency, to witchy, to... a little gross. Come for the pro-tips on how to utilize the flow you've been letting go – and stay for the surprise song. Pop in a cup and catch this episode!

You may have noticed our Instagram account is filled with sometimes beautiful, but more often than not hilarious, art inspired by periods (and if you don't follow us on IG, like, what are you waiting for?). Two of our favorite artists – Annie Wong and Crystal Ro – sat down with us to talk about their process, their periods, and we even get an exclusive excerpt from a teenage diary. Splash some men...

We're back with Dr. Kate White, and we jump right in talking about menopause, how stress affects your period, strange things pulled out of vaginas, and what the deal is when your period comes out in one long sheet (yeah, that's a real thing and Dr. Kate even sent us a pic...). Most importantly, we discuss how to find the right gyno for you, and it's so simple and SO IMPORTANT. Burn all the speculu...

Two Megs. Two Kates. One pod. This week we bring you part one of our interview with the kind, patient, and wonderful Dr. Katharine White (Dr. Kate to us). And blisteners, you are going to learn so much and occasionally have your mind blown. In this episode, we cover early periods, unpleasant doctor visits, ecto-prego, and WHY IT'S BROWN. So throw your feet in some stirrups, scoot your butt down, a...

Maybe you didn't know that eating disorders can affect menstruation... or maybe you know it all too well. This week, we learn about amenorrhea (the abnormal absence of a period) with health writer, podcaster, and bad ass human Michelle Konstantinovsky. She tells us about her experience with losing her period, disordered eating, and how to be an expert of your own damn body. Grab a snack (no judgme...

World getting you down? Then this episode will pick you back up. We interview trailblazer Nadya Okamoto about her organization PERIOD and her recently published book Period Power - she's a leader in the menstrual movement and gave your hosts hope for the future. And we listen to blistener phone calls (one of which sparks a heated "would you rather" debate). Pop in some tamps and some buds and tune...

We're wrapping up our hysterical interview with comedian Carla Lee in this week's episode, and we've got plenty of ground to cover. We talk about changing tampons while your children watch (and some interact!), we hear from more moms who called in, and we try to keep our sh*t together as Carla tells us her favorite lactation story. So, sidle up with a sippy cup and press play.