EPISODES
Season One
Episode 1: Charlie Blotner
Meet Charlie Blotner, a senior at Arizona State University who identifies as trans-masculine and non-binary. Charlie and I met at the Social Work Hospice and Palliative Care Network Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona after we connected via Twitter. On a sunny patio at the Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch, we talk about gender, identity, body image, and healthcare. You can follow Charlie on Twitter at @CBlotner_
Episode 2: Dr. Mitchell Tepper
Meet Dr. Mitchell Tepper, a Sexuality Counselor whose focus is educating people about sexuality and disability. Mitch is a person with a spinal cord injury who has a master’s degree in public health from Yale University, a PhD in Human Sexuality Education from the University of Pennsylvania, a 30-year marriage, and a 20-year old son. He's also an AASECT-Certified Sexuality Educator, Educator Supervisor, and Sexuality Counselor. Mitch and I talk about sex, disability, and what healthcare professionals can do to be more supportive of patients with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities when it comes to sex. You can follow Mitch on Twitter at @DoctorT
Episode 3: Dr. Rachel Levine
Meet Dr. Rachel Levine, Physician General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine. Rachel and I talk about her experiences as a physician who is transgender, about privilege, and about the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's commitment to transgender youth. You can follow Rachel on Twitter at @PhysGenLevine
Episode 4: "Cassandra," featuring Dr. Peggy Chinn
Meet Dr. Peggy Chinn, Professor Emerita of Nursing at the University of Connecticut. Peggy and I talk about her experiences in the 1970's as a feminist lesbian nurse educator and how perceptions of lesbian nurses have changed since then. Peggy also describes the 1982 birth of "Cassandra: The Radical Feminist Nurses Network." You can follow Peggy on Twitter at @PeggyChinn
Episode 5: "Kink, Not Forks," featuring Laura Antoniou and Karen Taylor
Meet Laura Antoniou and Karen Taylor, together for 19 years. Laura is a novelist, pornographer, and self-described "pervert." Karen is a social service professional and kink aficionado. Laura, Karen, and I talk about sadomasochism, consent, and what healthcare professionals need to know in order to meet the needs of patients who practice BDSM. Also in this episode: the literary dumpster fire that is "Fifty Shades of Grey" and why you shouldn't get your sex advice from Cosmo. (If you're a healthcare professional and you're freaked out a little by the previous 4 sentences, you definitely need to listen to this episode. Seriously). You can follow Laura on Twitter at @LAntoniou.
Episode 6: "Niagara Falls," featuring Amy Berman
Meet Amy Berman, a nurse living with Stage IV breast cancer. Amy describes the moment she went from being a nurse to being someone with a terminal illness, and she talks about living – really living – for the six and a half years since her diagnosis thanks to the care she’s receiving from palliative care professionals. You can follow Amy on Twitter at @NotesOnNursing.
Episode 7: "The Weight of the World," featuring Nina Rodgers
Meet Nina Rodgers, a graduate student at Columbia University's Teachers College, where she is pursuing a Master of Arts in Communication Education. Nina and I talk about her experiences as a Black woman interacting with healthcare professionals, particularly around the issue of weight. We explore the complicated history that healthcare has with Black people in America and the ways that medicine’s past discriminatory, deceptive, and exploitive practices have shaped the way healthcare is viewed today. We also talk about hospice, hair care and exercise, and the strength of Black women. You can follow Nina on Twitter at @NinaMRodgers
Episode 8: "Safe Passport," featuring Majeda El-Banna
Meet Dr. Majeda El-Banna, an Assistant Professor in the George Washington University School of Nursing. In this episode (taped on March 27th, Muslim Women's Day), Majeda and I talk about Islam, her experiences as a Muslim nurse educator who wears hijab, and her experiences attending graduate school in the midwest while raising two young children. You can follow Majeda on Twitter at @Majeda_Elbanna
Episode 9: "Wait, Lesbians Use Toys?" featuring Kelli Dunham
Meet Kelli Dunham, self-described "ex-nun genderqueer nurse author nerd comic." Kelli and I talk about what it's like to be the caregiver and advocate for two partners who died (both at the age of 38), what it's like to be a nurse viewing the healthcare system through the eyes of a patient, and what it's like to be a nun in a habit going to the gynecologist. You can follow Kelli on Twitter at @KelliDunham
Episode 10: "My Disability is Part of My Journey," featuring Lindsey Nebeker
Meet Lindsey Nebeker, a pianist/composer, disability rights advocate, and person on the autism spectrum. In this episode, Lindsey talks about what it’s like to seek and receive health care as a person on the spectrum. She describes when and why she discloses (or decides not to disclose) her autism diagnosis to health care professionals, as well as what healthcare professionals can do to make the clinical environment more welcoming for people on the autism spectrum. Lindsey and I also discuss her experiences as a queer-identified cisgender woman married to a cisgender man, how painful it can be to be labeled incorrectly as heterosexual, and how her father coming out as gay when she was 18 years old brought the two of them even closer together. You can follow Lindsey on Twitter at @LindseyNebeker
Episode 11: "What It Feels Like to Be Me," featuring Brandon Wolf
Meet Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the Pulse shooting in Orlando and Vice President of The Dru Project, “an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization on a mission to spread love across the nation and promote gay straight alliances.” In this episode (recorded on May 22nd before the Manchester bombing), Brandon talks about identifying as “intersectional,” Black, White, gay, and male and the ways in which these identities have influenced his thoughts and feelings about healthcare. Brandon describes the “awkward first date” feeling of seeing a new healthcare professional and talks about the impact feeling judged during the encounter can have on one’s willingness to continue seeing that healthcare professional. We talk about Brandon’s experience with mental healthcare professionals after the Pulse shooting as well as about what the world of healthcare might have been like if his friend Drew Leinonen, a master’s-prepared psychologist, hadn’t been killed at Pulse. Brandon shares how his view of the world has changed as a result of the Pulse shooting, and he talks about how his relationship with his father has changed over the years. Finally, Brandon shares his thoughts about what healthcare professionals need to know about gun violence and the impact it has on survivors. You can follow Brandon on Twitter at @bjoewolf