Sex and relationships are intimate — and sometimes intimidating to talk about. In this weekly podcast from North Carolina Public Radio WUNC, host Anita Rao guid...
(Self) Helped: Inside The Industry That Wants To Change Your Life
Anita is committed to self-improvement but skeptical of self-help. She brings her qualms and questions to the experts: Kristen Meinzer, a podcaster who has lived by the rules of more than 50 self-help books, and Beth Blum, a scholar who's traced the genre back to its roots. Plus Sondra Rose Marie, a former self-help fan, shares how the industry has failed her as a woman of color.Meet the guests:- Kristen Meinzer, pop culture commentator and podcast host, shares what she learned from following the rules of over 50 self-help books- Beth Blum, Harvard humanities professor and author, talks about the long history of the self-help industry, and how it's changed over the decades- Sondra Rose Marie, writer, talks about why she started following a self-help guru...and what events made her leaveDig Deeper:Kristen's podcasts How To Be Fine and Daily FailBeth's book "The Self-Help Compulsion"Sondra's Medium article on self-helpRead the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram Leave a message for EmbodiedPlease note: This episode originally aired January 5, 2024.Updates: The latest season of Kristen Meinzer’s podcast “How To Be Fine” is all about the loneliness epidemic and friendship quandaries.Sondra Rose Marie is now the editor and owner of the digital magazine for LGBTQ+ women called Tagg Magazine.
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35:03
Tingled: Your Brain And Heart On ASMR
Anita finds a lot of ASMR videos to be deeply relaxing, but she doesn't get the well-hyped/well-documented 'brain tingles.' Why? She puts the question to a physiologist who's been exploring the science of ASMR for the past decade. Plus, she meets an ASMR artist who's entranced hundreds of thousands of people with her medical role play videos and a woman who turned to the world of Boyfriend ASMR to heal her broken heart.Meet the guests:- Craig Harris Richard, ASMR researcher and professor of biopharmaceutical sciences at Shenandoah University, digs into the data on what we know about ASMR, or autonomous sensory meridian response- Semide, an ASMR artist, talks about the emotional work in her content creation and the parasocial relationships she forms with viewers- Laura Nagy, filmmaker, writer and podcaster behind the 2021 Audible Original podcast “Pillow Talk,” shares how ASMR content helped her to open up to being vulnerable again Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformCheck out Craig's ASMR podcasts: “Sleep Whispers” and “Calm History”Follow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram Leave a message for EmbodiedPlease note: This episode originally published March 15, 2024.Update: Dr. Craig Richard is a co-author of a new seminal paper highlighting the research agenda for ASMR.
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36:25
Offline Lives of Online Sex Workers
How does selling sexy online affect your offline relationship with sex and your body? Anita poses that question to two creators: Paris Bush, who in four years on Only Fans has become one of the site’s top earners, and Maxim Lupin, who says that online sex work is the profession that best supports his mental and physical health. Meet the guests:- Paris Bush creates content that runs the gamut from nude and spicy to spoofy and comical- Maxim Lupin creates content that focuses on kink and sex edRead the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram Leave a message for Embodied
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48:44
Boomers On Psychedelics
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 therapyRead the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram Leave a message for Embodied
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49:21
The Art of Giving Good Advice
There are few things that are certain about 2025, but one of them is that at some point, you’ll be called upon for advice. Anita talks to Meghan Keane, the founder of NPR's Life Kit and author of “Party of One,” about how to give good advice. Meghan shares her personal journey to striking the balance between overthinking, venting and actually getting to the root of a problem. Plus, she sits in the hot seat to answer some big questions from our listeners.Meet the guest:- Meghan Keane is the author of "Party of One: Be Your Own Best Life Partner" and the founder and managing editor of NPR's Life KitRead the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on TikTok and Instagram Leave a message for Embodied
Sex and relationships are intimate — and sometimes intimidating to talk about. In this weekly podcast from North Carolina Public Radio WUNC, host Anita Rao guides us on an exploration of our brains and our bodies that touches down in taboo territory.Follow the show on Instagram and Twitter @embodiedwunc. You can find Anita on Twitter @anisrao.
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