Anita's been reckoning with what it means to stay connected to cultural identity as a mixed-race adult. And in pursuit of what things to prioritize, she's turning her focus to food. She talks to mixed-race foodie and writer Raj Tawney, whose hours in the kitchen with his mom and grandma have grounded his search for belonging. Then, she picks up the phone and calls the primary chef in the Rao family: her mom, Sheila.Meet the guests:- Raj Tawney is a writer, foodie and the author of “Colorful Palate: A Flavorful Journey Through a Mixed American Experience”- Sheila Rao is Anita's mom Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for EmbodiedPlease note: This episode originally aired December 5, 2024.
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Why It’s So Hard To Break Up With Fast Fashion
The consequences of fast fashion are well known: worker exploitation, environmental damage and poor quality items. And yet many of us keep buying it — either unknowingly, in willful ignorance or because it feels like there is no other option. Fashion industry insider and “Clotheshorse” podcast host Amanda Lee McCarty joins Anita to interrogate why fast fashion has such a particular hold on us and what we can do about it.Meet the guest:- Amanda Lee McCarty is the host of the “Clotheshorse” podcast and a self-employed fashion consultantRead the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for EmbodiedYou can find Amanda Lee McCarty on Substack and Instagram!
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How Fake Claims To Native Identity Cause Real Harm
Dina Gilio-Whitaker knows that it’s complicated to talk about Native American identity. She occupies a gray zone herself: she’s a legal descendant of the Colville Confederated Tribes but not an enrolled member. As she worked to make sense of her own liminal identity, she also started witnessing a troubling phenomenon: people coming forward with fraudulent claims to Nativeness. Dina — now an academic — tells Anita about the personal experiences that led her to research this phenomenon, the harms this “pretendianism” perpetuates and the conversations she’s starting about possible solutions.Meet the guest:- Dina Gilio-Whitaker is a lecturer at California State University San Marcos and the author of “Who Gets to Be Indian? Ethnic Fraud, Disenrollment, and Other Difficult Conversations About Native American Identity” Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied
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How LGBTQ Seniors Are Aging In Community
When married couple Pat McAulay and Margaret Roesch were in their 40s, they had a shared dream for old age: living in a big house with other lesbians where everyone took care of each other. That vision — and their experiences with isolation and discrimination — inspired them to build Village Hearth, the first 55+ co-housing community for LGBTQ seniors and allies in the U.S. They tell Anita what it’s been like to live there for the past five years, and then a young activist shares how she’s helping connect queer folks with other models for aging in community, from RV parks to affordable housing.Meet the guests:- Pat McAulay and Margaret Roesch, co-founders of Village Hearth in Durham, the first 55+ cohousing community for LGBTQ seniors and allies- Jane Haskell, director of impact and engagement at SAGE, a non-profit advocacy and service organization focused on LGBTQ seniorsRead the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for Embodied
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(Single) Mothered: Choosing To Parent Solo
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 teenagersRead the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platformFollow Embodied on Instagram Leave a message for EmbodiedPlease note: This episode originally aired May 10, 2024.Update: Hera McLeod published a romantic spy thriller, “The Asset Within.”
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.
USA