Embodied Podcast

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.

Kaia Findlay

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.

An illustration of an altar. On the altar are four framed photos: On the top left is a photo of an older woman with gray hair dressed in a pink shirt, blue jacket and blue skirt. Standing on her right is an older man with gray hair, wearing a red shirt and tan pants. In the top right photo are three women all dressed in black shirts and long black skirts. They all have shoulder-length brown hair. The photo on the bottom left depicts an older woman with a person standing behind her. The older woman has gray hair, adorning a pink wrap covering her head and body. The person standing behind her has brown shoulder-length hair and is wearing an orange wrap. On the bottom left is a photo of a man wearing a black suit and tie with a white shirt. He has short brown hair. This photo has a string of beads on its frame. The altar also has a bejeweled skull, a red mug, several orange fruits/vegetables, orange carnations, a prayer candle, and a bowl with an offering in it.

Mourned: Life After Losing A Parent

Paige Perez

Anita has heard one resounding truth from her friends who lost a parent in early adulthood: That death was the biggest thing that has ever happened to them. She meets two people who've built specific communities around their grief on the internet and a writer who experienced losing his dad twice.

An illustration of a cracked mirror. A different version of one person's face is in each section of the cracked mirror. The upper-left face has a beard and eyes with eyeliner on the top lid. The face to the right of that features a handlebar mustache with the ends curled up, a nose stud, multiple earrings and eyes donned with eyeshadow and a cat-eye in eye liner. The face on the righthand side of the mirror features a full beard and no makeup. Only the eyes of the face on the bottom of the mirror are visible, and they are lined with eyeliner and feature eyeshadow. The word "Reconstructed" appears along one of the mirror cracks.

Reconstructed: Building New Definitions Of Masculinity

Kaia Findlay

Fifteen years ago Anita took Women's Studies 101 on a whim … and to this day, she still doesn't have an answer to the question: what is masculinity? In further pursuit of some clarity, she talks with a trans man and a non-binary person about what's possible when we take a more gender-fluid approach to manhood. The two share where their own beliefs about gender come from and how they're building a more expansive definition of masculinity in their own lives.

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 Rao

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 an office. There's a man wearing a mask sitting at a computer behind a cubicle wall looking up to a man standing with his arms on the cubicle wall. The man who is standing is smiling and talking to the man behind the desk, who also appears to be smiling under his mask. The word "Co-Worked" is in the upper-left corner.

Co-Worked: The Good, Bad & Ambivalent of the Office Bestie (Revisited)

Kaia Findlay

Anita wouldn't have made it through her 20s without her work friends. But now that she's a manager and working in a hybrid office, she's noticed that work friendships don't come as easily as they used to. A psychologist answers her burning workplace relationship questions and dives into the surprising amount of data about work besties. Plus, a Gen Z writer urges her to re-think the importance of work as a primary social hub.

Image of a person lying on a bed in a bedroom hugging a pillow with an image of a broken heart next to them. On the floor you see a box that says "Jesse" and some items strewn about including photographs.

Uncoupled: Thank U, Next (Revisited)

Anita Rao

Anita has no qualms about being an armchair therapist for friends going through a breakup. But sometimes she wonders how her advice aligns with what relationship experts say. Advice columnists Meredith Goldstein and Stacia Brown give guidance on breaking up "well," going no-contact, navigating social media and finding the right breakup anthem for the moment.

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

Anita Rao

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.

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

Kaia Findlay

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.

An illustration of a Black femme-presenting person holding her nails in front of her face and looking seductively through her fingers. Her nails are long with squared tips. They're painted gold with a red design on top of it, and they're sparkling. The word "Polished" is in the lower left hand corner.

Polished: Why We Care About Our Nails

Paige Perez

Anita's nail habit has evolved in the past decade from $10 drop-in manicures to 90 minute appointments with a nail artist. That artist joins her for a conversation about how Black women have shaped nail culture. Plus a fashion historian details nail history from Egyptian mummies to ‘90s Chanel colors, and a Vietnamese-American woman tells the story of growing up inside her parents' nail salons.

An illustration of a family portrait. One parent, on the left, is white and masculine-presenting with short, brown hair. The other parent, on the right, is Black and more femme-presenting with natural hair gathered in a ponytail. The white parent is holding and looking down at a young girl who presents as Black with kinky-looking hair in a bun on top of her head. She is looking at the camera and smiling. The Black parent is holding a little boy who has lighter brown skin and hair that looks wavier. Both parent and child are looking at the camera. The word "Mixed" is in the upper righthand corner.

Mixed: Owning Your Multiracial Story

Kaia Findlay

When Anita moved away to college, she experienced a big shift in her biracial identity. Turns out that the questions that emerged for her are ones that many mixed young adults still ponder today ...15 years later. She meets two college seniors and they talk through navigating everything from "Where do I belong?" to "How do I date?" Plus she hears wisdom from a life coach who helps mixed adults tell new stories about identity.