Bodies

The overturning of Roe v. Wade has severely restricted how doctors can access training in abortion care and it’s already having a devastating ripple effect on patients seeking all kinds of reproductive care. Two medical residents in abortion-restricted states fight for training and for the future health of their patients. Plus, the centuries-long battle over who gets access to abortion training in the first place.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

A vending machine ritual, a life-changing massage, a spiffy velvet outfit and a belly full of caterpillars. Bodies returns with four stories of touch.

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.

For decades, a toxic gooey substance oozed from a schoolyard in Cudahy, California. It took years of community activism to get the school cleaned up in 2000. Fighting for safe land is a common struggle for many parts of L.A. County, where schools are built on or near industrialized land. So who is responsible for ensuring that schools are free from toxins? And with a controversial plan to build a new school in Cudahy, how is it all playing out today?

Lill lives in Appalachian West Virginia — it’s coal country, and it’s also the overdose capital of the United States. An increasingly dangerous drug supply and a lack of safe supplies like clean syringes leave people who use drugs vulnerable to disease and death. Lill is trying to fill that gap, providing safe supplies and care all over West Virginia — even as the government tries to stop them.

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.

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?

Angelina was a journalist living in Brooklyn when she was diagnosed with ALS. She now lives with her parents. How do you stay true to yourself when you rely on others to keep you alive?

Stacie escaped her abusive partner. But eight years later, her inner world was still in disarray. Why wasn’t she better? And why did it take her so long to leave?

ShiShi was in labor for 12 days. She gave birth, only to find herself at home in isolation during a pandemic. She’s also a doula, so her job is to support people through pregnancy and postpartum. What’s her advice for parents? How is she coping herself?

Johnson & Johnson knew its baby powder contained asbestos but kept selling it and specifically marketed the product to Black women. Krystal is one of thousands of women who claimed J&J’s baby powder caused their ovarian cancer. How did normal body odors become racialized? Who determines if our products are safe?

Why did it take doctors years to figure out that a medical device was the cause of Melynda’s debilitating pain? How did this dangerous vaginal mesh get implanted in millions of women?

Orgasms are supposed to feel good. But for Angie, they’re painful and spontaneous. Anything can trigger the horny feelings: Bumpy bus rides, loud music, even a hug from her mom.

In a lot of ways, menopause is like puberty. Your hormones are changing and setting off a whole host of bodily changes. It’s something that happens to half the population, but still, it’s full of mysteries. In this episode we hear from Lisa Renee Hartman and another woman who you’ve heard from once before.

New parents have one job: keep the baby alive. But what happens when the baby won’t eat? Vivian Chen is a trained family doctor, but when she can’t figure out what’s wrong with her own newborn, she must reckon with the shortcomings of her medical training.

Jeromey is sixteen when the hair appears on her cheeks. She thinks she’s transforming into a monster. Stuck in a world where beauty begets womanhood, Jeromey creates her own sexuality and power.

For Reese, the hum of daily life isn't a hum at all. It's exhausting, disorienting and always out of her grasp. What people assume about her work as a stripper is just one of the false assumptions that she must overcome. It isn’t until she starts talking to women in an online forum that she begins to find answers

KalaLea has terrible, awful periods. But don’t a lot of women? Well, yes and no. After more than a decade of suffering, KalaLea discovers that the cause of the pain is common for Black women like herself, but far from normal.

For Bodies host Allison Behringer, sex suddenly becomes painful. This is her journey to find out why.