Embodied Podcast Discussion Guide

Like it or not, we’re all getting older. This episode looks at how folks in their 50s and beyond are navigating their changing bodies, relationships and sex lives. Can talking more openly about menopause, divorce and the human need for desire at any age allow us all to experience more joy in the aging process?

Navigating the healthcare system isn’t easy for anyone, but this episode examines the particular challenges trans and gender nonconforming people face accessing quality and affirming care. What can those both inside and outside the healthcare system do to improve health outcomes for trans and gender nonconforming patients?

Hashtag Mom life. This episode questions how much our society pays attention to and supports those doing the work of mothering. How do concepts like “work-life balance” and the nuclear family limit us from building a more joy-filled and equitable society?

This episode goes inside the body, Magic School Bus-style. It investigates how the trillions of microorganisms that live inside our gut influence our physical and mental health and why staying silent about pooping, farting and gut stuff prevents us from having a healthier brain-gut connection.

This episode looks at what happens to our minds and bodies when we experience burnout. It examines why solutions like “focus on self care” don’t go far enough, and how thinking about burnout as a social justice issue is a more helpful framework for understanding its impact and finding solutions.

This episode examines our personal relationships to pornography and erotica and how they’re shaped by dominant cultural narratives about pleasure. It also journeys inside the adult film industry with a filmmaker and actor to interrogate what it means to create ethical erotic content.

This episode looks at one thing that’s missing from many sex-ed conversations: pleasure. It explores some of the biggest misconceptions about desire and arousal and examines how we can take back control of our own pleasure through unlearning some of the [patriarchal and heteronormative] narratives we’ve been fed for centuries.