Bodies

From This is Uncomfortable, we bring you the story of Ashleigh Griffin. She hoped the fertility industry could put her on the road to financial stability. But the decision to donate her eggs had some unexpected costs.

Jess was overjoyed when she got pregnant. But after giving birth, her reality spiraled out of control. She didn’t know it, but she had postpartum psychosis, a mental health condition that occurs after about 1 in every 500 births.

Read the full transcript here.

Puberty is starting younger and younger, especially estrogen-dominant puberty. We talk to three kids and one teen about extra early puberty and the funny, scary, embarrassing and joyful experiences that come with it. Transcript at kcrw.com/bodies. 

From the Embodied podcast, we bring you “Decided: Child-Free not Childless.” Embodied host Anita Rao has interrogated many aspects of parenthood. But how about the decision to become a parent at all? She talks with three women about making their child-free decisions and meets a psychotherapist who's devoted her career to helping people find clarity in that choice.

Angelina Fanous has been living with ALS for nearly a decade. She is almost fully paralyzed and losing her ability to speak. As she prepares for death, she’s thinking about the story she’ll leave behind. Transcript at kcrw.com/bodies.

No matter how hard producer Hannah Harris Green tried, there were certain areas of life where she found herself to be deficient. Until she realized that a diagnosis could help relieve her shame instead of adding to it. Transcript at kcrw.com/bodies. 

A vending machine ritual, a life-changing massage, a spiffy velvet outfit and a belly full of caterpillars. Four stories of touch. Transcript at kcrw.com/bodies. 

Sneak peek: Bodies, new season 4 is full of medical mysteries and self-discovery. New episodes coming April 19.

Growing up and going through puberty, the only thing many of us learned about the menstrual cycle was the period part. But there’s so much more to it. How charting the cycle’s fertile signs can be the basis for an effective method of contraception. And, how it saved a woman’s pregnancy. 

This week, the FDA will make a decision on whether or not to approve the first ever treatment for achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism. But not everyone is celebrating. This controversial treatment is forcing parents of children with achondroplasia to grapple with an age-old question: What’s best for my child?

When River was first told that something was wrong with their body, they didn’t think it was that big a deal. But the medical system and their parents disagreed. Outside pressure to make River “normal” would cause them tremendous pain and turmoil — until they discovered there’s more than one right way to be a human. 

An elementary school in L.A. County was built on a contaminated site and made its community sick — How that community came together to demand change, and a controversial plan to build a new school.

On today’s indie spotlight, we share “Infinities,” by Boen Wang. It’s about mental illness, toxic workplace environments, Egyptian Rat Screw, and the nature of infinity. Find more of Boen’s work at Boen.cool.

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Kelly was in her 20s in the 1980s and she was determined enjoy sex without shame...until she got an STI she’d never heard of. And so she married the first person who accepted her. When stigma is all around, it can take decades to  break free and find pleasure.

Trailer: Season 3

KCRW’s Bodies podcast is a documentary show about medical mysteries. Each episode follows one person’s story to uncover the forces that shape their health. Host Allison Behringer guides us through two stories in this one hour special.

From the brand new podcast Appearances, by Sharon Mashihi, we bring you “Episode 04: Last Ditch Effort.” Appearances is an audio mind trip about an Iranian American woman, the family she carries around in her head, and the family that she wants to have. Listen and subscribe.

Nico is obsessed with counting calories. But this compulsion to monitor food doesn’t line up with how they see themself. Why does Nico want parts of their body to disappear? Why isn’t eating disorder treatment working?