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An illustration of a Black man sitting on an airplane from the seat in front of him. He is looking out the window with a tear running down his face. He is wearing a red shirt, has a beard and is wearing an earring in the ear that is visible in the illustration. The word “Sobbed” is in the lower right hand corner.

Anita usually feels better after a good, long cry. But why is that? She explores that question with a poet who spent years diving deeply into the science and culture of crying. And a forerunner of the "crying selfie" trend shares how he pushes back on toxic masculinity by embracing tears.

Structural racism and poor health outcomes; Asheville's Fashion Therapist; how to dispose of your Christmas tree

Dr. Dinushika Mohottige and Dr. Ebony Boulware talk with co-host Leoneda Inge about research that's being called "groundbreaking" — using localized data from Durham to highlight the deep connection between where people live and rates of diabetes, hypertension and chronic kidney disease.

An illustration featuring a masculine-appearing person with their head in their hands. They're wearing a gray hoodie and have red squiggly lines branching out and up from their upper body. To the left is a thought bubble with a heart with a question mark in it. To the right is a thought bubble with two praying hands in it. In the bottom righthand corner of the illustration is a thought bubble with a bottle of poison tipped over, a match and a house on fire. In the bottom lefthand corner of the illustration is the word "Obsessed."

Obsessed: Breaking The OCD Cycle (Revisited)

Anita is no stranger to anxiety, but her spirals are mostly short lived. In this episode she meets folks who often get caught in loops of extreme worry and compulsions with little relief. A married couple shares how OCD put them in survival mode and a woman whose OCD symptoms began in kindergarten talks about learning how to open up about her experience in friendships and dating.

An illustration of a large globular cell made up of an amalgamation of smaller globes that is a very light green color with a purple circle in its center and an outline of purple globes. There are smaller, light green circles around the outline of the larger globe and even smaller light green circles floating around the border.. The background of the illustration transitions from very light purple at the top to a darker purple at the bottom. The word "Retrieved" is in a rectangle over the top of the large globular cell.

Retrieved: What Egg Donors Want You To Know

Egg donation in the U.S. is a multibillion dollar industry with high stakes and complicated dynamics. Anita talks with two egg donors about why they donated and what they wish they'd known earlier. Plus, a medical anthropologist shines a light on the messy world of donor compensation and why some eggs are valued higher than others.

An illustration featuring a person with shoulder-length brown hair listening to headphones with their eyes closed. There are artistic swirls and images of a makeup brush, a person with a long Q-tip and an electric razor floating around the headphones. The person looks relaxed and content. The word "Tingled" is in the upper left hand corner of the illustration.

Tingled: Your Brain And Heart On ASMR

Anita finds a lot of ASMR videos to be deeply relaxing, but she doesn't get the well-hyped/well-documented 'brain tingles.' Why? She puts the question to a physiologist who's been exploring the science of ASMR for the past decade. Plus, she meets an ASMR artist who's entranced hundreds of thousands of people with her medical role play videos and a woman who turned to the world of Boyfriend ASMR to heal her broken heart.

An illustration featuring two femme-presenting individuals. The person on the left is holding an open book in their hand with their head turned towards the person on the right. They are kissing the person on the right's forehead warmly. The person on the right has their hand in the lap of the person on the left and they are smiling with their eyes and lips closed as they receive the kiss. The person on the left has shoulder-length dark hair, light skin and is wearing a T-shirt with the trans flag on it. The person on the right has chin-length dark and curly hair with mocha-colored skin. They are wearing pink lipstick. The background of the illustration features the outlines of various flower shapes. The word "Transitioned" is in the upper right hand corner of the illustration.

Transitioned: When One Partner Comes Out As Trans

A gender transition is a moment of personal flux that can also have a big impact on a romantic relationship. Anita meets two couples who continued to choose each other after one partner came out as trans: a South African couple in their 20s and an American couple who went through a transition after 22 years of marriage.

Why cola became king

The South is the birthplace of all the big cola brands. But why?

Featuring: Embodied - How fandoms build community

We hear a lot about toxic fandoms — but this episode of the award-winning podcast Embodied focuses on the brighter side.

An illustration of a human woman and a personified AI chatbot. The woman is on the right, she is a White woman with long brown hair fashioned into a ponytail. She is wearing a long sleeve blue button-down shirt, blue jeans, and blue shoes. She has a couch and a lamp behind her. There is also a speech bubble behind her that reads: “Good morning.” She is holding hands with, and looking up at, the personified chatbot. The chatbot is on the left. He is depicted as a White man with short brown hair. He is wearing a red shirt, blue jeans, and red shoes. He is holding hands with the woman on the right and looking down at her. His hands are obscured with a glitching effect. Behind him is an empty, blue space. He also has speech bubbles behind him that reads: “Good morning love :heart emoji:” and “*Takes your hand and pulls you in*”. The title “Auto-mated” is typed in black font across the upper right.

[Simulated Part One] Auto-mated: When A Bot Becomes Your Boo

When human romance isn't working out, can an AI chatbot successfully take its place? Anita hears varied perspectives on that question. She meets a journalist who got dumped by her AI crush and talks with a woman whose AI companion turned her life around. Plus, psychologist Melissa McCool, the clinical product consultant for AI tech company Luka, takes Anita behind the scenes of making AI companions.

An illustration of two people in bed. The person on the left has light skin, more feminine features, no hair and bits of metal and wires showing, suggesting a robot. That person is sitting up in bed reading a book with rockets and space ships on the cover. The person on the right has skin that is a little darker, short dark hair and more masculine features. That person is lying down on their side turned toward the robot with their arm over the robot. The word "Fantasized" is in the upper righthand corner of the illustration.

[Simulated Part Two] Fantasized: The Arrival Of The Sex Robots

Science fiction and real-life tech experts have promised a future filled with sex robots. But how many of those predictions will actually come true? Anita talks to an artificial intelligence scholar who's traced sex robots from Greek mythology to the prototypes on the market today. Plus, a writer shines a light on the dark world of a futuristic brothel … explored from the perspective of an AI Sex Bot herself.

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