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An illustration of host Anita Rao's family from a time when Anita was 6. From left to right, her older sister Priyanka in a blue shirt with matching headband; her dad Satish, an Indian man with a mustache, aviator-style glasses, a button-down and tie; her mother Sheila, a white woman with chin-length brown hair held back with a headband, wearing a dark blue blouse and necklace; her younger brother, Nikilesh, is a baby with short brown hair in her mother's lap; and Anita, in a blue shirt and headband that matches Priyanka's and shoulder-length brown hair. Text that says "Anita" point to her on the far right. The text "Mixed (Parent Edition)" sits over the portrait against a purple border.

Mixed (Parent Edition): The Rao Family Talks Racial Identity

Anita invites her parents back to Embodied for a special bonus episode. She hears their take on our recent episode "Mixed," about growing up biracial. Then she turns the tables and puts herself in the guest seat as her parents ask her a few questions.

Hooked Up: The Myth Of Sex With No Strings Attached (Revisited)

Anita is confused about hook up culture. Is it a thing, and if so, who makes the rules? She talks to a recent college grad about her research on the sex lives of her peers, plus a therapist who shares her take on why it doesn't feel as liberating as we think it should. Then she dives into Celibacy TikTok — a space where Gen Zers are committing to being sex-free.

Friendship breakups aren't recognized in the way that romantic breakups are, but for many folks they are just as painful.

Unfriended: When Your BFF Breaks Your Heart (Revisited)

Anita got friend dumped for the first time in 6th grade, and she's still not over it. She talks to folks about the distinct pain of a platonic breakup and gets some tools for building strong friendships, setting boundaries and figuring out when it's time to let go.

An illustration of a tattooed, femme-presenting, Brown person posing. She is posing with her arms above her head with her hands in her hair. Her hair is brown and shoulder-length. Her eyes are closed, and her head is angled to the right. She is wearing red eyeshadow and lipstick and has a mole below her left eye. She has several tattoos adorning her arms and chest. The tattoos consist of several red flowers, yellow flowers, and a flying bee. She is wearing a sleeveless black top. Behind her is a pink background with several pink hibiscus flowers.

Inked: Rewriting Your Body’s Story With Art

Anita has no tattoos but plenty of admiration for the art form that gives us new ways to experience our bodies. She talks with a heavily-tattooed scholar who's interrogated how society treats tattooed women; a queer, Jewish tattoo artist reclaiming body art; and an artist who's pushing back on the misconceptions of tattooing melanated skin.

Introducing: The Broadside

Weekly news and stories from the American South — and why they matter to you.

Introducing The Broadside: weekly news and stories from the South

Have you missed hearing stories from us about North Carolina and the South? We have too!

A light-skinned Black woman with freckles and curly brown hair holds two white masks up on either side of her face. Both masks have smiles and happy expressions. She is wearing a blue V-neck T-shirt and is looking at the mask on the right with a neutral expression. The background is light purple and the words “Masked” are above her in dark blue capital lettering.

Masked: Coming Out As Autistic In Adulthood

Many autistic people assigned female at birth remain undiagnosed at 18, so what's it like to get an autism diagnosis in your adulthood? Anita meets two women whose paths to a diagnosis started on the internet. Plus a non-binary photographer shares how their late autism diagnosis has informed their marriage and sense of self.

An illustration of a South Asian woman with long brown hair and an off-the-shoulder gray-green top. She is looking off into the distance, and behind her is a mosaic patterned background. The shards of mosaic are colored white, green and red, with a red and white cross hatched background in between the shards. Text in the lower right reads: Complicated.

Complicated: Healing from Complex PTSD

What happens when trauma occurs not as a single isolated event, but millions of smaller, ongoing incidents? Guest host Anisa Khalifa talks with an artist, psychotherapist and racial trauma expert about understanding complex post-traumatic stress disorder and the path to healing.

An illustration of a young boy with short brown hair, a green shirt and gray pants who sits with his arms held around his knees. He’s smiling and looking out of the illustration. Around his head are six symbols - from left to right, the flag of Thailand, an ice cream sundae, the flag of the Philippines, a hamburger, the flag of the U.S., and a passport with plane tickets. The background is made of up rays of yellow, red and purple hues. Text at the top of the illustration reads: Traveled.

Traveled: The Lives Of Third Culture Kids

As a child of two immigrants, Anita has a tumultuous relationship with the question: "Where are you from?" So, too, do many third culture kids — people who spend a significant number of their developmental years living in places that are not their parents' homelands. She talks with two third culture kids — one 35 and one 12 — and their moms about growing up between cultures and how they’ve built identity and relationships along the way.

A person with shoulder length salt-and-pepper hair wearing a purple headset sits at a cluttered desk. Just the back of their head is visible above their desk chair, which has a purple sweatshirt draped over it. On the desk are three monitors, and various purple-hued knick knacks and notebooks. On the wall are a purple poster and purple calendar with the outlines of human characters on them. The desk and wall items are intended to be paraphernalia from the same fandom. Text in the bottom left reads:” Adored.”

Adored: How Fandoms Build Community

Guest host Anisa Khalifa first became a fan in high school. She gets an explanation from a psychologist about how being in fandoms benefits mental health, and a journalist describes what role the internet has played in shaping fan culture. Plus, Anisa invites the co-hosts of her K-drama podcast to reflect on how fandom brought them together — and what it means to be a fan.

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