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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.

An illustration featuring a woman sitting on a couch or bed looking down at an open laptop with tears streaming down her face. In the background is a dresser with a photo of a man surrounded by two lit candles. In the upper righthand corner of the illustration is that same man smiling with a text exchange showing. One message says "I miss you." Then there are two messages from the other conversation partner that read "I'm still here!" and then "Just in a different dimension." The word "Immortalized" is in the upper lefthand corner of the illustration.

[Simulated Part Three] Immortalized: Building An AI Afterlife

When a loved one dies, a big part of the grieving process involves letting go of the role they once played in your day-to-day life. But with new developments in AI technology … the dead can live on in new and interesting ways. Anita meets a tech journalist who built bots of her parents to see how AI could preserve their memories for the long term. She also talks with a philosophy professor about the ways that ancient Chinese philosophy can address AI's emerging ethical issues and how grief tech fits into a long history of traditions around death and mourning.

An illustration of a Black person’s hand holding up a diva cup that is a third full with dark red liquid. We see the hand from the wrist up. The background is filled with blobby shapes that range from brown-red to dark red to light pink in color. Some of the blobs have white outlines. The word “Menstruated” is written in red text across the top left corner.

Menstruated: What Our Period Blood Tells Us

In the 34 years that guest host Omisade Burney-Scott was a menstruating person, she always felt that blood held more significance than just the biological. She meets an OB/GYN who shares little-known facts about period blood, and talks with two menstrual health advocates about how art and community have connected them to their cycles. Plus, an attorney discusses what she's paying attention to this year in terms of period policy.

An illustration featuring a feminine person wearing a purple bra, purple underwear and a purple kerchief in their dark brown hair. Their backside is to the camera, and their head is turned to look behind them. There are dotted lines along their buttcheeks. A white man in a white lab coat is kneeling down in front of their body, holding an uncapped marker. The background of the illustration features dotted lines as horizontal stripes. The word "Lifted" is in the upper right hand corner of the illustration.

Lifted: Wanting (And Getting) A Bigger Butt

The Brazilian butt lift (or BBL) is the fastest-growing cosmetic surgery in recent memory ... but why? Anita learns about the ins and outs of the procedure from a plastic surgeon and a BBL recipient. Then a scholar puts our obsession with big butts in historical context — tracing the conversation from Sir Mix-a-Lot to Kim Kardashian.

An illustration featuring purple and white morning glories and their vines along the top and bottom of the square. There are three hands in the middle of the image with different skin tones: a light shade on the left, a medium shade of beige in the middle and brown skin on the right. All three are right hands and all feature purple and white nail polish in the nails. The hand on the left is signing the letter for "A," the hand in the middle is signing the letter "S" and the hand on the right is signing the letter "L." The background behind the three hands is a light purple and white pattern. The word "Signed" is above the three hands.

Signed: How ASL Became A Language Of Resistance

American Sign Language is the third-most used language in the U.S. ASL has its own culture and art forms, and for many Deaf folks, ASL is about much more than just communication. Anita talks to Deaf author Sara Nović and Deaf ASL Slam poet Douglas Ridloff about how ASL gave them tools for self-understanding and artistic expression. Then she learns from scholars Carolyn McCaskill and Joseph Hill about Black American Sign Language (BASL), an ASL dialect that emerged because of school segregation.

The toxic spill that left a legacy of change

A decade ago, toxic coal ash poured into the Dan River. That was just the beginning of the story.

An illustration featuring the word "Stimulated" in the center surrounded by different kinds and colors of vibrators. There is an orange dot pattern around the edges of the illustration.

Stimulated: How Vibrators Became America's Favorite Sex Toy (Revisited)

True or false? Victorian doctors invented the vibrator to cure women's "hysteria" by bringing them to sexual climax. The answer may surprise you ... as it did Anita! She gets the truth about vibrator history from journalist Hallie Lieberman and meets Anna Lee, the engineer behind the first-ever “smart” vibrator that can help you better understand your arousal patterns.

An illustration of two Black parents of either side if a young kid with cornrows. The father is on the left and the mother is on the right, and both parents are holding one hand of the child and swinging them. The child has their feet off the ground and their knees bent. The three of them are standing on a grassy field and are all wearing coats. The word "Singled" is on the left side of the illustration.

Singled: Inside The Only-Child Family (Revisited)

Anita has many close friends who defy all stereotypes about only children. But when it comes to thinking about having her own kids, she still can't shake some of those ingrained ideas. She hears three perspectives on single-kid families (including that of former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins) and learns why the debunked mythology around only children still lingers today.

Our trash lives next to this community

A rural community has endured living next to North Carolina's largest landfill for generations. But its residents are determined to keep fighting for a clean home.

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