Embodied

More than half of American men between the ages of 18 and 49 have an active online sports betting account, and for the past year Atlantic staff writer McKay Coppins was one of them. But what started as a reporting assignment quickly spiraled into something else. Anita talks to him about how sports betting pulls you in, even when you think you’re immune. Plus, how the rise of sports betting culture is fundamentally changing sports and fandom. 
Meet the guest:
- McKay Coppins is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of “Sucker: My Year as a Degenerate Gambler.”
Special thanks to Rob Minnick for his contributions to this episode!
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This summer’s heat waves have been brutal. But there’s one thing helping all of us make it through the soaring temperatures: sweat. Our bodies need to sweat to survive – and yet we spend billions of dollars trying to combat it. Science journalist Sarah Everts explains why sweat is a biological superpower, and she and Anita dig into how it became so stigmatized. Then, Caryn Toriaga shares what it's like to live with hyperhidrosis, an excessive sweating condition that can take her hands and feet and from dry to dripping in 60 seconds.
Meet the guests:
- Sarah Everts is a science journalist and the author of “The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of Perspiration”
- Caryn Toriaga lives with hyperhidrosis and has blogged about her experience
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Despite a decade of restrictive behavior and a career path in mental health counseling, Alishia McCullough had never associated herself with the phrase eating disorder. She’s not alone – while eating disorders affect all races and ethnicities at similar rates, people of color are less than half as likely to receive a diagnosis than their white counterparts. She talks to Anita about how an aha moment in grad school led her to better understand how to treat eating disorders in Black women’s bodies — starting with her own.
Meet the guest:
- Alishia McCullough is the author of "Reclaiming the Black Body: Nourishing the Home Within" and a licensed mental health therapist
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Please note: This episode originally published March 20, 2025.
Updates: Alishia is creating a workshop around leaving the U.S., launching a weekly BIPOC postpartum moms support group and working on a clinical reflection card deck. You can keep track of all of these offerings on her Instagram page.

What does becoming a mother do to your brain, body and sense of self? Anita — currently in her third trimester —  puts that question to science writer Lucy Jones. Lucy spent years studying matrescence, a word for the shift that happens during pregnancy, childbirth and becoming a parent. They talk about Lucy's own path through motherhood and why we need new ways to support mothers through this transformation that never really ends. 
Meet the guest:
- Lucy Jones is the author of “Matrescence: On Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood”
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Imagine sitting down in a theater only to be distracted from the performance by armrests digging into your sides. Or arriving at the doctor’s office to find the patient gown won’t fit. For tens of  millions of Americans in larger bodies, experiences like this are part of everyday life. Anita talks to two people who argue this is a design problem, not a personal one. Artist Suzy Hooker is building a free, searchable directory that rates the accessibility of everyday spaces and designer Margarita Zulueta is reimagining how places like airplanes could be built with fat bodies in mind. 
Meet the guests:
- Suzy Hooker is an artist, fat activist, cohost of the podcast "Thunder Thighs and Bedroom Eyes" and the founder of Fat Fab Free
- Margarita Zulueta is a product designer whose thesis is about designing towards fat liberation
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