Dr. Casey Means went to Congress last week. On February 28 2026 she went before the Senate's committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions to make her case to be the next Surgeon General.

During the hearing Casey was asked about her statements on vaccines, her medical license, birth control, and her social media sponsors, but were those the questions that needed to be asked? Today public health dietitians Meghan Cichy and Selena Salfen return to the show to share their thoughts on the hearing, what Senators could have asked Casey, and a potentially controversial chat about whether she should be confirmed. They discuss Mean's media training and her focus on "shared clinical decision making."

Casey Means has been featured on her podcast in the past. We had one episode about her upbringing with brother Calley Means, and two on her health tech start up, Levels which provides constant glucose monitoring, a tracking app and lab tests for hundreds of dollars.

Statement on the planned hepatitis B birth dose vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau

Filing FTC complaint

Operation Metro Surge results in 203 million dollar impact on Minneapolis Trump celebrates 2.4 million Americans 'lifted' off SNAP benefits

Want to support the show? You can rate, review, subscribe, follow, share, comment and become a Patreon member!

Questions about the show? Guest pitches? Email [email protected]

You can buy awkward merch!

You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

Follow Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Welcome back to MIA, Jessica Wilson, dietitian and author of IABO. you can find me on IG at.

RFK told us that "We are ending the war on saturated fats" with the release of his food triangle and accompanying Dietary Guidelines. Dr. Selina Wang, Faculty Director at the UC Davis Olive Center, returns to the show to talk about the triangle which emphasizes "healthy fats" like olive oil, butter and tallow. RFK has told us over and over that saturated fats are actually healthy for us, but is that true? Consumers are confused.

Selina also shares how olive oil is made, the difference between virgin olive oil, extra virgin olive oils and what goes into refining oils. She also has helpful advice for us when choosing oils to cook with.

Like this episode? You can rate, review, subscribe, follow, share and comment!

Questions about the show? Guest pitches? Email [email protected]

You can buy awkward merch!

You can become a Patreon member!

You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

Follow Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Tigress Osborn, Executive Director of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance returns to the show to discuss Mike Tyson's Super Bowl ad for MAHA and the inverted food triangle. The fat shaming ad is part of an ongoing appeal to the manly man, providing us with boxer Mike Tyson telling us about how he wanted to kill himself when he was fat, and telling us all that "something needs to be done about processed food in this country." It's an ad for realfood.gov and was directed by Brett Ratner who directed the Amazon financed film Melania. Tony Lyons created the ad and financed it through the nonprofit MAHA Center.

Tyson has since been at press conferences with RFK Jr and Brook Rollins, the head of the USDA.

There are official government AI generated images of MAHA leaders with Tyson's face tattoo.

Tyson joined Calley Means and RFK Jr for a Fox News interview.

Donut violence video

Mashable article: We need to talk about that Mike Tyson Super Bowl ad

Like this episode? You can rate, review, subscribe, follow, share and comment!

Questions about the show? Guest pitches? Email [email protected]

You can buy awkward merch!

You can become a Patreon member!

You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

Follow Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Lindsay Lee Wallace returns to talk about why she thinks women who have sex with men are drawn to Heated Rivalry. She wrote in, Yearning and Submission in 'Heated Rivalry', "Women who yearn and submit are often main characters—but they are simultaneously seen as frivolous and typical. Their yearning and submission aren't treated as meaningful, or as specific to them and their relationships… So it can feel easier and freer to step back from the equation entirely. Watch two men yearn for one another, which maintains their masculinity."

Lindsay and Jessica talk about that article and explore additional topics including parasocial relationships, what makes Heated Rivalry simply good television, and the pop culture pundit panic in late 2023 when a UCLA survey found that Gen Z wanted less sex in media.

Intimacy coordination

Dance parties

Heated Rivalry made in Canada

Good things that happened because of Heated Rivalry

Rachel Reid receiving Parkinson's treatment

Rachel Reid

Like this episode? You can rate, review, subscribe, follow, share and comment!

Questions about the show? Guest pitches? Email [email protected]

You can buy awkward merch!

You can become a Patreon member!

You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

Follow Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Blake Flaugher, MPH returns to the show to chat about all things Heated Rivalry. He shares some topics that have been left out of the discourse, and teaches us about the importance of seeing romance in gay relationships, the role of hags in gay men's lives, and representation of bottoming. Blake and Jessica share their coming out stories, discuss if we're beyond conversations about coming out, and their thoughts on body norms in the show. The topics they discuss today will add to the story if you've watched it, it will give you a unique lens should you choose to watch it and will teach you things about queer culture if you never plan to watch.

Like this episode? You can rate, review, subscribe, follow, share and comment!

Questions about the show? Guest pitches? Email [email protected]

You can buy awkward merch!

You can become a Patreon member!

You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

Follow Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Welcome back to MIA, Jessica Wilson, dietitian and author of IABO. you can find me on IG at.

F*** ICE. This bonus episode shares the stories of immigration and ICE occupation from Making it Awkward guests. Hear stories of immigrants in LA, what it's like to be on the ground in Minneapolis right now, and a story from a mom in Charlotte deliverying groceries to neighbors too afraid to leave their homes.

HCMC protest https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/breaking-the-news/hcmc-doctors-staff-protest-ice-impact-hospital-patients/89-3696c23f-6afb-44ea-8e02-7286543dabdd

Smitten Kitten https://smittenkittenonline.com/

Like this episode? You can rate, review, subscribe, follow, share and comment!

Questions about the show? Guest pitches? Email [email protected]

You can buy awkward merch!

You can become a Patreon member!

You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

Follow Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Jessica Wilson, MS. RD. made a social media ad for Dr. Robert Lustig's Monch Monch; a fiber supplement that's supposed to act like a sponge in our digestive tract. Now listeners get to hear the ins and outs of the partnership and about the supplement from top to bottom. Our favorite podcast editor Jen Jacobs returns to this side of the show to hear about the whole commercial making process, behind the scenes conversations, science claims, typos and product reviews. The two have a great time!

This episode includes product reviews from former guests on the show, from buyers on reddit and amazon, and Selena's kiddo in her commercial acting debut.

Listeners should stay tuned after the interview for more reviews and the full commercial!

Howie Mandel is a partner of Monch Monch

Lustig's paper for the World Economic Forum

Lustig's article in Frontiers

Lustig's part 1 episode: "No Food is Better Than Bad Food"

Lustig's part 2 episode

Biolumen

Like this episode? You can rate, review, subscribe, follow, share and comment!

Questions about the show? Guest pitches? Email [email protected]

You can buy awkward merch!

You can become a Patreon member for as little as $3/month!!

You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

Follow Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Welcome back to MIA, Jessica Wilson, dietitian and author of IABO. you can find me on IG at.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans are out RFK Jr decided to give us an inverted food triangle and tell us it's a new and improved food pyramid. Dietitian and public health badass Meghan Cichy, MPH RDN returns to the show to discuss the new dietary guidelines and the focus on "real food". She walks Jessica through all of the public health language and limitations and also asks who all of this is for.

• The two compare recommendations in old guidelines to the current ones, including protein serving sizes.

• The two chat about how RFK wanted to end corporate and industry influence and how there is still a tangled web of industry influence and private interest.

• They get into how the guidelines discussed ultra-processed foods after promising us a definition.

The dietary guidelines speak directly to the MAHA movement; those who can pay for "real food," have the resources and time to cook dinner every night, and shop at farmers markets. MAHA does not care about the health of the public.

RFK tells us he is ending the war on protein and saturated fat. The guidelines also include a section on testosterone. He's given us a manly man's meat-focused inverted food triangle for the manosphere, dudefluencers and pod bros.

One of Meghan's concerns was how alcohol was addressed in the DGA.

Like this episode? You can rate, review, subscribe, follow, share and comment!

Questions about the show? Guest pitches? Email [email protected]

You can buy awkward merch!

You can become a Patreon member!

You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

Follow Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Have you been thinking clean thoughts and manifesting for 2026? Lindsay Lee Wallace returns to the show to talk about the idea of thought hygiene, OCD, magical thinking and manifesting.

Lindsay shares the highlights of the conversation she had with a manifestation coach and she brings her thoughts about wellness as a line item in your budget.

Lindsay and Jessica start the episode with a discussion about Dr. Robert Lustig and his company's first product, Monch Monch, a supposed fiber sponge that soaks up sugar.

A quick note that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is out and that will be next week's episode!

Like this episode? You can rate, review, subscribe, follow, share and comment!

Questions about the show? Guest pitches? Email [email protected]

You can buy awkward merch!

You can become a Patreon member!

You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

Follow Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Re-release! Chrissy King joins Jessica Wilson, MS RD for a conversation about being childfree by choice. Chrissy talks about how she made her decision and how Jessica didn't ever think it was a choice she needed to make. Chrissy got to share her thoughts on many things including the marketing of parenthood, the idea of it taking a village to raise a child and aging like the Golden Girls.

The two talk about how they've been asked about their decision not to have kids 347 times but it's not the norm to randomly ask parents why they decided to have kids.

They both talk about how much their moms poured into their upbringing and how that impacted how they viewed them and their decision not to have kids. They also talk about what it's like to live in a society in which parenthood, particularly motherhood, is the norm.

After wrapping this conversation Chrissy and I discussed the potential for backlash from this conversation and that parents might take our choices personally. Either way we'd love to hear your feedback!

Motherhood Should Come with a Warning Label

Childfree Reddit

Chrissy King

Chrissy's book