Embodied

Anita surprised herself with judgements she made about others with only a photo to go on during her years of online dating. Such bias and misconceptions are something folks with physical disabilities contend with every day on the apps...and IRL.
 
 Meet the guests:

- Julie-Ann Scott-Pollock, a performer and communication studies scholar, talks about living with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy and what non-disabled people can learn about consent and communication from the disabilities community.

- D'Arcee Charington, a disabilities advocate and English doctoral student, shares stories about online dating as a wheelchair user and talks about how ableism shows up in romantic relationships.

- Ariella Barker, an attorney and communications specialist, talks about how her approach to online dating has evolved and the intersection of gender discrimination and disability discrimination.

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Anita has the skin privilege of a white woman and the upbringing of an Indian-American girl. That can make belonging a challenge, something like what transracial adoptees often experience in their own families.

Meet the guests:

- Shruti Shah talks about growing up as a transracial adoptee in a mixed-race family in Memphis. She also brings on her parents to ask them some lingering questions.

- Writer Andrew Lee and his father are both Korean adoptees. Andrew shares how his family's story fits into the bigger, geopolitical history of Korean-American adoption in the U.S.

- Rebekah Hutson talks about what it's like to be the "Only Black Girl" in a lot of spaces and how she hopes the adoption industry will do a better job supporting transracial adoptees moving forward.

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If Anita weren't boo'd up, she might wonder if there's someone in her life she already knows who is a good romantic match for her. But is it healthy to look to the past for a chance at future happiness? With help from the podcast Dating While Gray, we examine the pros and cons of "boomerang love."

- Jeannie Thompson talks about her own boomerang heartbreak that led her to leading online discussion forums on reconnecting with former loves.

- Grace shares what happened when she reconnected with a childhood crush after her long marriage had gone stale.

- Mary and Del, who split after the flame of desire went out in their 20-year marriage, answer the question: Can living separate lives reignite a spark?

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Anita, like many of us, was essentially taught that a herpes diagnosis means the end of a good sex life. Now it's time for a real education about the sexually transmitted infection, which is extremely common and far less terrifying once you open the door to conversation about it.

Meet the guests:

- Sex and culture critic Ella Dawson talks about her experience navigating a herpes diagnosis and how opening up about it publicly has shaped her life and relationships.

- Infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Leone shares the science of herpes and clears up common misconceptions about the virus.

- Anita's good friend shares the range of responses she's gotten while disclosing her diagnosis and how she hopes the conversation around herpes will evolve.

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Anita is over adulting and would love to lose herself in some serious play time. She's never been a gamer but is intrigued by how video games help us tap into the fun side of our brains while creating spaces designed to help us strengthen our connections with others.

Meet the guests:

- Hadley Causey talks about founding Spectrum, a queer exclusive server on Discord (a social network for gaming communities) that helped them create a safe space they didn't have in real life.

- Tess Tanenbaum, an assistant professor in the department of informatics at University of California, Irvine, talks about the link between game design and relationships that can form within games.

- Adriana de Souza e Silva, a professor in the department of communication at NC State, talks about how location-based games like Pokémon GO can connect adults and kids and help everyone integrate more play into their lives.

- Nikilesh, Anita's little brother, talks about his relationship with gaming, and how it was a lifeline for him when his family moved to the South while he was in high school.

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