Aubrey Hirsch is a writer, illustrator, and NEA Literature Fellow whose work, featured in The New York Times, TIME, and beyond, explores gender, justice, and the body. We talk about surviving gun violence and how healing is “exhaustingly repetitive,” why the language of trauma often shows up as images, and how comics can turn rage into research-backed advocacy. We also get tactical about navigating medical gaslighting, setting boundaries in exam rooms, and building functional hope when the news feels impossible. If you’ve ever felt dismissed, silenced, or reduced to a chart label, this one’s for you. You’re not “too sensitive”, you’re reading your body’s signals.

In this episode:

• Survival, reframed: how surviving gun violence reshaped Aubrey’s relationship to her body, safety, and health care.
• The language of trauma: why memory lives in images, not words—and how comics help translate what the body remembers.
• Rage as fuel: turning anger into art, advocacy, and collective action instead of suppression or shame.
• Restoring power in care: scripts to counter medical gaslighting and reclaim control in exam rooms.
• Functional hope: how to keep steering toward progress—even when everything feels impossible.

Episode Resources:

The Pain Gap

Aubrey's Instagram

Aubrey's Bluesky

Link to order Aubrey's newest book, Graphic Rage: Comics on Gender, Justice, and Life As a Woman in America

To learn more about Anushay Hossain's work, check out Anushay's website or sign up for her substack. To continue the conversation, feel free to DM @anushayhossain or email me at [email protected]