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Anita learns from folks who identify as the A on the LGBTQIA spectrum. It's a sexual identity that's long been ignored, minimized and misunderstood. They share their differing experiences of not being sexually attracted to anyone and a reminder we could all use: love and sex are not the same.

Coordinated: The Making Of A Sex Scene

Anita now knows why sex scenes in some of her favorite recent TV shows look a whole lot more like real life: intimacy coordinators. Two of them join her to talk about their work choreographing intimacy and training everyone on set about how boundaries and structure makes things sexier and more fun.

An illustration of two people sitting face-to-face on a purple carpet from the elbows down. One person is sitting with their legs crossed inside of the other person's legs around them, and they are holding hands. The word “Guided” is at the bottom of the illustration.

Guided: Practicing Intimacy & Sex With A Surrogate

Anita first learned about surrogate partner therapy from the 2012 movie "The Sessions," and her curiosity was piqued. It's a widely misunderstood and stigmatized type of therapy work in which touch is a mechanism for healing. Two surrogate partners take her inside the day-to-day of their jobs, and a certified sex therapist shares why she hopes others in her industry will be more welcoming to the practice.

An illustration of a masculine-presenting, brown-skinned person with short brown hair, wearing a purple hoodie, sitting at a desk. He is using a laptop. On his right are a stack of books, and a vining plant. Several hallucinated figures surround him.

Seen: Living With The Schizophrenias

When Anita first picked up “The Collected Schizophrenias" by Esmé Weijun Wang, she realized how rare it was to find a first-hand account of someone navigating periods of psychosis. She brings Esmé on to talk about the relationship between mental illness and identity. Plus, she meets an artist who explores his hallucinations through drawing and a blogger documenting her experience as a mother with schizoaffective disorder.

An illustration of a Black woman with shoulder-length locs and a matching set of sparkly purple bra and short shorts strikes a pose on a steel pole that runs from the top of the frame to the bottom. She also wears purple makeup, purple nail polish and purple “pleaser” heels. The background is pastel purple with fluffy clouds. Running down the right side of the frame is a panel with a light purple background and flowers with the word “Gripped” in light purple.

Gripped: The Passion For Pole Dancing

Anita walked away from her first pole dancing class slightly bruised … but very intrigued. She talks with a veteran stripper about the history and politics of modern pole dancing and meets a pole sport athlete and studio owner who is trying to build an inclusive space for pole practitioners. Plus, a nonbinary pole dancer shares how their relationship with the pole has evolved alongside their gender identity.

An illustration of a woman standing on a yoga mat, balancing on one foot and waving her arms around as if she is off balance and about to fall. Around her are different wellness trends in boxes: a CBD drink with a thought cloud of a person mediating coming out of the can opening, several prescriptions and supplements, a symbol for a heart rate monitoring app, a mortar and pestle and fresh fruits and vegetables. The word "Commodified" is in the lower lefthand corner of the illustration.

Commodified: When 'Wellness' Makes Us Unwell (Revisited)

Anita has fallen down her fair share of wellness rabbit holes [including a certain alliterative family's beauty and shapewear brands...]. Wellness industry insider and journalist Rina Raphael shares how this $4 trillion industry misleads all of us, and 'Dope Black Social Worker' Kim Young gives us the wellness reframes we all need.

An illustration featuring four people who are participating in the BDSM lifestyle. The person on the very left has light brown skin and a brown afro and is wearing a fishnet top with long sleeves over a purple tank top. They have leather straps around the upper half of their body and are wearing a leather cuff around their neck with a leash attached. Next to them is a person with darker brown skin with a larger black afro, wearing sunglasses and a purple bra under a fishnet tank top with leather straps and chains on it. They're smiling and wearing a leather cuff necklace. On the right is a person wearing a leather mask that covers all of their face except for their eyes with pointy ears on top. They're wearing a black tank top and a leather collar around their neck with a leash attached. In the background is a masculine-presenting person wearing a black driving cap and sunglasses with some leather straps on the upper half of their body. There are palm trees in the background. The word “Dominated” is in the upper righthand corner.

Dominated: Getting Kinky With BDSM

Anita discovers just how wrong “Fifty Shades of Grey” was about BDSM. A dominatrix and community leader introduce her to kink spaces rooted in community and healing. Plus, a scholar talks about the long history behind our understanding of masochism.

Featuring: North Carolina pottery from clay to kiln

This Thanksgiving, we take a look at what's under your meal.

Popped: Adult Acne In The 'Perfect Skin' Era

Dealing with pimples and blackheads in middle school is practically a right of passage. But when acne is a defining feature of your adulthood... it’s a whole different experience. Anita meets two acne content creators and a photographer who talk about the emotional toll of severe acne, the myth of normal skin, and the responsibility of being today’s skincare influencers.

An illustration featuring two panels side-by-side. In the left panel is a little girl with brown curly hair lying on her stomach and writing on a piece of paper with a pencil. In the right panel is a man in a dark khaki uniform with a number on it and wearing a beanie. He is reading a piece of paper. The image is outlined in black, which also separates the two panels. The word "Separated" is in the lower right-hand corner.

Separated: Growing Up With An Incarcerated Father (Revisited)

Anita reconnects with the woman who changed her thinking on incarceration: her beloved college thesis adviser Ashley Lucas. Ashley reflects on her father's 20-year prison sentence and the untold stories of families navigating incarceration from the outside. Journalist Sylvia A. Harvey also shares how losing her mother to asthma and her father to a life sentence in prison before she was 6 years old led her to investigate the carceral system as a whole.

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