Embodied

There's a growing number of women challenging the expectation that you need a partner to have a child. Anita meets two single moms by choice. They talk about why they chose this parenting path and how they navigate everything from false assumptions to dating. Plus, one of their daughters – 10-year-old Estela – joins the conversation to share her take on growing up in a nontraditional family.

Meet the guests:

- Hera McLeod, mother and civil rights activist, walks us through her decision to become a single mother and how she's made some of the logistics work — like living in an intergenerational household with her parents

- Estela McLeod, Hera's oldest daughter and cohost of the "Seeking Different" podcast, shares what questions she gets from her peers and how she's thinking about the family she wants to build in the future

- C. Nicole Mason, president and CEO of Future Forward Women, talks about how she's balanced dating with being a single mom of choice and how she's reflecting on her parenting journey now that her twins are teenagers

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Please note: This episode originally aired May 10, 2024.

Update: Hera McLeod published a romantic spy thriller, “The Asset Within.”

You’ve likely seen some version of the headline: “Gen Z Is In a Sex Recession.” But there’s a lot more to the story. Journalist Carter Sherman takes Anita into the many conversations she had with people under 30 about their sex lives for her book “The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation’s Fight Over Its Future.” She talks about how cultural and political forces like the #MeToo movement and the overturning of Roe v. Wade have shaped how Gen Z feels about sex — and why you should care no matter your generational identity.

Meet the guest:

- Carter Sherman is a reproductive health and justice reporter at the Guardian US and the author of “The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation’s Fight Over Its Future” 

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The Broadside EVENT Details are here

Mainstream adaptive fashion lines are relatively new, but creating clothes to fit and flatter a range of bodies has long been part of disability culture. Anita meets three disabled fashionistas who design with disabled bodies as a starting point, not an afterthought.

Meet the guests:

- Dr. Ben Barry is the Dean of Fashion at Parsons School of Design who's pushing for further inclusion in fashion – particularly when it comes to the ways clothing is designed, marketed and modeled for folks with disabilities

-  Sky Cubacub is a Chicago-based fashion designer focused on making size-inclusive garments for queer and trans disabled folks through their company, Rebirth Garments

- Samantha Jade Durán is a designer and influencer also known by the handle “A Disabled Icon"

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Please note: This episode originally published November 7, 2024.

Update: Samantha Jade Durán launched a disability and chronic illness awareness merch brand called Thanks Icon. She plans on expanding to adaptive clothing and accessories in the future.

The Broadside EVENT Details are here

On Dr. Sharon Malone’s new podcast, women take back the conversation on health with straight talk, real experience and the care we all deserve. You’ll hear prominent female advocates, experts and patients sharing how they confronted gaps in our healthcare system and got second opinions that saved their lives. Alongside each guest, Dr. Sharon tackles the questions and topics we’ve been conditioned to ignore — the ones we search for at 3 a.m. but never bring up at the doctor’s office. 

In this episode, Dr. Sharon talks to journalist Elaine Welteroth about Elaine’s birthing journey, how she's working to make birth joyful again and how her new non-profit, birthFUND, is helping families get access to life-saving midwifery care.

Find more episodes of The Second Opinion with Dr. Sharon Malone here.

For almost 29 years, journalist Jennifer Senior was a self-described “brilliant sleeper.” Then, one night, something changed…and Jennifer has struggled with chronic insomnia ever since. She talks to Anita about insights on insomnia from both her reporting and personal life. Then, we meet a couple who share suggestions for navigating insomnia in a romantic partnership.

Meet the guests:

- Jennifer Senior is a staff writer for The Atlantic and the author of "Why Can't Americans Sleep?"

- Gabrielle Moss and Jesse Rifkin are writers living in New York City

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When Kit Heyam was first trying to understand their gender identity as an adolescent, they looked to history. But they only found stories that painted a very narrow picture of what it means to be trans. Years later, when Kit started studying history professionally, a different picture emerged. They talk to Anita about the trans histories they found from around the globe and how those stories paint a more diverse and messy picture of the ways people have been pushing the boundaries of gender for millennia.

Meet the guest:

- Kit Heyam is the author of "Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender"

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It's been half a century since the psychedelic era, but some baby boomers are returning to the drugs of their youth — not for rock and roll, but to confront aging. Writer Abbie Rosner re-experienced mushrooms in her 60s, and she tells Anita about her subsequent investigation into why other boomers are taking psychedelics to grapple with aging. Plus, a medical professional shares what it’s like to facilitate these experiences for her peers.

Meet the guests:

- Abbie Rosner is a writer who shares her own experience and the stories of other baby boomers, which she plans to publish in a book called “ELDEREVOLUTION: Psychedelics and the New Counterculture of Aging”

- Dr. Crystal Dawn is a physician who's board-certified in family medicine and provides ketamine-assisted therapy

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Please note: This episode originally aired January 9, 2025.

Update: Abbie Rosner’s book, “Psychedelics and the Counterculture of Aging,” will be available in July of 2026. Abbie also writes a newsletter on Substack about psychedelics in older life called ELDEREVOLUTION.

When María Lopez was 6 years old, her grandmother gave her a piece of advice: marry someone with papers. María was undocumented, and throughout her teens and 20s, she dealt with the struggle of dating to find both love and a path to permanent legal status in the United States. María, now in her early 30s, tells Anita about this journey and the community of “undocu-cuties” she made along the way via her Instagram page, @ytienepapeles. 

Meet the guest:

- María Lopez, former Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient and creator of the page @ytienepapeles 

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Building a life as an artist is an uphill climb. After decades of hustling to make it work, writer Stephanie Elizondo Griest had one big question: How do you determine if art is worth all the sacrifice it requires? Stephanie tells Anita about traveling the world for answers and what she learned about what it takes to build a life as a female artist.

Meet the guest:

- Stephanie Elizondo Griest is a professor of creative nonfiction at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of “Art Above Everything: One Woman’s Global Exploration of the Joys and Torments of a Creative Life”

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Long-haul trucking is not an easy job. The schedule is grueling, and the burnout rate is high. But the profession does offer a certain sense of freedom — particularly for queer drivers looking for work where they can present authentically and face less scrutiny or harassment. Anita talks with former trucker and writer Anne Balay about why LGBTQ folks are drawn to trucking. She also meets 24-year-old Ashleigh Lewis, a trans woman and third-generation truck driver who is committed to the profession despite its reputation.

Meet the guests:

- Anne Balay is the author of “Semi Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Drivers”

- Ashleigh Lewis is a third-generation truck driver who is going to be featured in the upcoming documentary "The Trans Trucker Project" from filmmaker Hansen Bursic

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Special thanks to filmmaker Hansen Bursic and his team for connecting us with Ashleigh.