The BodPod

Jess Hagemann is an author, biographer, ghostwriter, editor, and journalist residing in Austin, Texas. We spoke about her new book, Headcheese, and the condition afflicting her many characters: amputation related desires either fetishized or as a result of body integrity identity disorder. You can buy her book here: https://www.amazon.com/Headcheese-Jess-Hagemann/dp/1946487112

In this episode of The BodPod, I speak with Michelle Allison aka The Fat Nutritionist about mortality salience, food as medicine/poison, fatness, the tendency to prescribe individualistic choices to systemic problems, and much more! Check out Michelle and her work at thefatnutritionist.com

Musician, producer, DJ, and dancer Brian Eley joins The BodPod to discuss many aspects of their bodily experience: dancing, body awareness, the intersection of mental and physical health, sex positivity and sex anxieties, the performative body, gender identity (and thus, naturally, masculinity and femininity), sexting, dick pics, eating disorders, HSV2, and how we should tend to all of our orifices. Brian, who uses they/them pronouns, holds nothing back in this frank discussion of their body. You can check out their work at https://brianisze.bandcamp.com. Enjoy!

In this conversation with Assistant Professor of English at UT Austin Julie Minich, we discuss categories of disability, how the concept of health affects bodies, especially "irresponsible" or "deviant" ones; citizenship; obesity; flaws in the health care system; health surveillance; the myth of "choosing" your health; the myth of human perfectability; and the collective responsibility of health. Julie is currently working on a book that discusses these issues and more.

In this episode, I speak at length (punnnssss!) with the man who came out on Reddit a couple of years, Double Dick Dude, or "Clark," as he now prefers. We cover many topics (my recording app didn't even capture the last 1.5 hours of our convo and it's still super long!) Read more by checking out the article I wrote about him for the Daily Dot: http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/double-dick-dude-new-book/

In this episode, I speak with teacher and musician Phil Ajjarapu. Phil has experienced a number of physical affronts to his body over the years including typhoid, a violent car-jacking, and a motorcycle accident that probably should have killed him. We touch on all of these - the car-jacking bit opens up our discussion to broader ideas about racism and I get a little riled up! We also discuss his career as a musician and teacher and the album he made after his accident (linked on website).

In Episode Twelve, I talk with stand-up comedian Kath Barbadoro. See more at thebodpodcast.com.

In Episode Eleven, I talk with cyborg aficionado Richard MacKinnon. Richard is the founder of Borgfest, a festival and expo that celebrates and supports people interested in human augmentation, enhancement, body modification, and wearable technology. In graduate school, Richard studied political theory and identity in cyberspace, which led him to his interest in all things cyborg. We talk about how his personal experience as a queer Asian American affected his conception of the term; how the cyborg label could be used to define many aspects of the marriage of the human and the technological; how the film Ex Machina fulfills certain sci-fi tropes and applies to Richard's conception of the cyborg; and how the sex industry could be affected by the evolution of technology. A provocative and insightful talk!

In this tenth episode of The BodPod, I talk with Professor Neville Hoad. Neville is an associate professor of English and affiliated faculty with the Center for Women's and Gender Studies, the Center for African and African American Studies, and the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice at the University of Texas at Austin. He authored African Intimacies: Race, Homosexuality and Globalization(Minnesota, 2007) and co-edits (with Karen Martin and Graeme Reid) Sex & Politics in South Africa (Double Storey, 2005). Areas of research include African and Victorian literature, queer theory, and the history of sexuality. We talk: growing up in apartheid South Africa, homosexuality, gender, drag, exercise, the "truth" of the body, the aging body, the "butchiness" of Texas women.

In Episode Nine, I talk to Stacy Zoern. We discuss bodily insecurities, accessibility, dependence upon other people, how the institutional model fails people with disabilities, losing all modesty, and how her company, Kenguru, seeks to change the way wheelchair-bound people get around by starting production of its wheelchair-friendly, autonomy-supporting electric cars sometime this year. Here is her short bio: Stacy has Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a form of Muscular Dystrophy, and has never walked. She graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. in philosophy and psychology with highest honors and went on to attend the University of Texas School of Law. Stacy practiced patent litigation at Daffer McDaniel for six years and also had the privilege of clerking for a federal judge in Austin, The Honorable Robert Pitman. A published author, at the age of twenty years she wrote a memoir entitled “I Like to Run Too: Two Decades of Sitting.” She is also a public speaker and is well connected to the disability community. In 2010, Stacy founded Kenguru, Inc. and currently works full-time for Kenguru as President. Kenguru designs, markets, and sells a 100% electric vehicle that is purpose built for people in wheelchairs. With the KENGURU, a wheelchair user is no longer trapped on his street or dependent on others. He can now travel up to 60 miles a day at 25 mph, accessing his community independently. The KENGURU is also popular for its ease of use, allowing drivers to enter by the push of a button, and to drive while seated in their own wheelchair. The KENGURU is a game changer for the wheelchair community.

For the eighth episode of The BodPod, Amy Gentry and I conducted a mutual interview. Amy writes The Good Eye, a column on style, culture, and feminism that appears every week in the Austin Chronicle. The BodPod was featured in her January 9th column. Amy holds a PhD in English from the University of Chicago and reviews fiction for the Chicago Tribune. She writes her own fiction as well, and is currently working on a novel that she describes as a "Houston mother-daughter noir." We covered a lot of ground in Part One: parental body policing; exercise in high school and beyond; changing fashion creating new insecurities, mainly for women; dance. In Part Two, Amy discusses her experience as an advocate for Safe Place, an organization that provides safety for individuals and families affected by sexual and domestic violence. We also discussed other issues, including Amy's horror fiction inspired by her Safe Place experience, and our feelings about Texas and post-Wendy Davis filibuster. Both parts are solid!

For the eighth episode of The BodPod, Amy Gentry and I conducted a mutual interview. Amy writes The Good Eye, a column on style, culture, and feminism that appears every week in the Austin Chronicle. The BodPod was featured in her January 9th column. Amy holds a PhD in English from the University of Chicago and reviews fiction for the Chicago Tribune. She writes her own fiction as well, and is currently working on a novel that she describes as a "Houston mother-daughter noir." We covered a lot of ground in Part One: parental body policing; exercise in high school and beyond; changing fashion creating new insecurities, mainly for women; dance. In Part Two, Amy discusses her experience as an advocate for Safe Place, an organization that provides safety for individuals and families affected by sexual and domestic violence. We also discussed other issues, including Amy's horror fiction inspired by her Safe Place experience, and our feelings about Texas and post-Wendy Davis filibuster. Both parts are solid!

In this episode, I talk with my good friend Feliks about growing up with his sister and mother, fat bodies, body positivity, and masculinity. We laughed a lot - for instance, I was very tickled with the idea of teenage abdominal six-packs. Enjoy!

In this episode, I talk to journalist and sex worker, Susan Shepard. We discuss many topics, including: writing about sex, strip club audiences, the nature of performance in the sex work context, body image, boobs, and vaginas. Fun talk with lots of interesting tidbits.

For the 5th episode, I interviewed Professor of English and Women's and Gender Studies at UT Austin, Ann Cvetkovich. We talked about Ann's research, including her book, "Depression; A Public Feeling" and various other conceptions of embodiment, including bridging the gap between academia and real world experience and reconciling the idea of depression as something both private and public.

In this fourth episode, I interviewed Austin-based performance artist Katelena Hernandez. We talked about masochism, sexuality, hypnobirthing, and desirability. To learn more about Katelena's work, visit her website: http://katelenahernandez.squarespace.com/

In this episode, I talked to Dr. Snehal Shingavi, an activist and professor of literature at UT Austin. We discussed weight fluctuations, Islamophobia, Gandhi, and teaching, amongst other topics.

In this introductory episode of The BodPod, I talk to writer, editor, foodie, cyclist, and all-around cool human, Meghan McCarron. We talk about weird bodies, queerness, and cycling. In Part 2, we discuss bodies in the context of Spike Jonze's "Her." Enjoy!

In this introductory episode of The BodPod, I talk to writer, editor, foodie, cyclist, and all-around cool human, Meghan McCarron. We talk about weird bodies, queerness, and cycling. In Part 2, we discuss bodies in the context of Spike Jonze's "Her." Enjoy!

In the 2nd short and sweet episode of The BodPod, I chat with twin 7 (almost 8!) year olds, Bodhi and Mazzy. This was a lot of fun and I was very please they wanted to talk about butts and farts so much.