This American Life: Episode 589: Tell Me I'm Fat

“At this point in life, I’m very far down the road of body liberation/fat liberation, but when this podcast episode came out I was former fat kid chronic dieter and just starting to put some pieces together about my experience of having a body and about what it means to be fat in the world. Lindy West’s segment about “coming out as fat” sort of broke my brain and then the Elna Baker segment broke my heart. It my first introduction to both Lindy West and Roxane Gay (very smart people who have taught me a lot in the intervening years). It may have also been my first introduction to the idea that being fat was like not just an awful and to be avoided thing. I haven’t heard this episode in a long time and imagine it has some flaws, but it’s likely the podcast ep that has had the biggest impact on me.”