Why Medical Mysteries Plague Women
The Waves: Gender, Relationships, Feminism
Slate Podcasts
4.2 • 903 Ratings
🗓️ 18 May 2023
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this week’s episode of The Waves, we’re unpacking medical mysteries. Science writer and Slate contributor Eleanor Cummins is joined by Allison Behringer. Allison is the host and creator of the KCRW podcast, Bodies. Now in its fourth season, every episode of Bodies digs into a person’s medical mystery. Eleanor and Allison talk about Allison’s own ‘body story,’ why female bodies contain so many mysteries, and what we can do to solve them.
In Slate Plus, using social media to connect people with illnesses.
If you liked this episode, check out Who’s Getting Rich Off Menopause?
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Tori Dominguez with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.
Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com.
Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now at slate.com/thewavesplus.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey Wave listeners, |
| 0:05.0 | listeners, I want to tell you about an exciting event we're doing. |
| 0:08.0 | Do you love succession, want a deep dive into the show's feminist heroes and villains |
| 0:13.5 | and hear smart women investigate the fashion, power, |
| 0:16.5 | and relationship dynamics of one of HBO's biggest shows. |
| 0:20.8 | Join the waves for a very special Women of Succession virtual event exclusively for Slate Plus |
| 0:26.8 | members. |
| 0:27.8 | It's on Tuesday, May 23rd at 5 PM Eastern, and you can sign up now at slate.com slash Waves event and if you aren't a |
| 0:36.2 | slate plus member sign up now and get your first three months for only five dollars |
| 0:41.2 | at slate.com slash the waves plus. That's slate.com slash the waves, Slate's podcast about Gender, Feminism, and Mystery Illness. |
| 1:07.0 | Every episode you get a new pair of feminists to talk about the thing we can't get off our minds. |
| 1:12.0 | And today you've got me, Eleanor Cummins, a freelance |
| 1:15.4 | science writer, and regular slate contributor. Later in the show, I'm going to be joined by |
| 1:20.0 | the incredible Allison Barringer, host of the award-winning podcast, Bodies, now in its fourth season. |
| 1:27.0 | I always come back to stories about embodiment. |
| 1:30.0 | Why are people getting Botox in their 20s? |
| 1:33.0 | Do 60 second exercises actually work? |
| 1:35.9 | And what is a $38 yoga class really buying us? |
| 1:39.5 | These are the kinds of things I've been writing about for years. |
| 1:42.4 | I'm constantly struck by the gap |
| 1:43.9 | between the reality of our bodies and our secret hopes for what they can do or should be. |
| 1:49.9 | When I first heard an episode of the podcast bodies, it was a revelation. |
... |
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