PERIOD Podcast

Well, we were going to talk menstrual stigma, but then the pandemic happened. Join me and Drs. Amber Wutich and Alex Brewis as we talk about stigma - what it is, how it affects people, and its repercussions on health. Please be sure to check out more from through their new book, Lazy, Crazy, and Disgusting: Stigma and the Undoing of Global Health. They also have a fabulous blog, Diagnosis: Human, and recent posts elaborate on the things we talk about in this episode.

Return guests Drs. Jodi Flaws and Jessica Brinkworth help us understand why disposable menstrual pads as masks should NOT be a thing... but that some cloth masks may do at least a little something. One of the better options is from Suay LA. And see Dr. Brinkworth's page on cloth masks more generally.

Go With the Flow is a new graphic novel about friendship and periods, written by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann. My kid has read it about twenty times, so I thought you should hear all about it too! Enjoy a short departure from Tiger Kings and pandemics, and expect a few more of these in the coming months. Buy the book here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250143174

This week we put aside the scholarly tone this podcast usually takes in order to speak to a patient living with endometriosis. I've known Chris, and her experiences with endo, for over a decade. Chris had a hysterectomy recently to see if she could put an end to all of the pain she has had, but it wasn't the straightforward resolution she hoped for. I hope you'll join me in listening to this experience and learning more about this condition.

Dr. Christian studies how epilepsy’s effects on the brain have consequences beyond that organ, like on reproductive hormones and the menstrual cycle. We had a wide-ranging and really interesting discussion about whether and when to study the effects of the menstrual cycle on whatever thing you are interested in studying in your lab. Also, no, it's really not that hard to study female mice so more scientists should get over themselves and do so.

I talk to information security doctoral candidate Laura Shipp about her recent work to understand the privacy policies of the most popular menstruapps out there. We tell these apps our moods, our periods... even when we have sex. Is this something we want corporations sharing with advertisers?

Join me as I chat with Dr. Meredith Reiches of the University of Massachusetts-Boston about periods and athletic performance. Trainers for the US Women's National Team claim they harnessed their knowledge of menstrual cycles to maximize performance and help these athletes win the World Cup for the fourth time. Dr. Reiches is brilliant and this is probably the one and only chance I'll get to gush with someone about Megan Rapinoe on this here podcast.

I am so pleased to bring you this week’s episode with guest Dr. Julie Hennegan. Dr. Julie Hennegan is a Research Associate at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In this episode, Dr. Hennegan and I talk about the concept of menstrual hygiene management, and how what we assume menstruators need isn’t always what they actually need.

Join me as I interview the brilliant Dr. Jodi Flaws of the University of Illinois on her research on how phthalates affect the female reproductive system. Learn about what our cosmetics, toys, and food contain, how to reduce exposure to these chemicals, and the kinds of effects these chemicals have on our menstrual cycles, menopausal symptoms, and more.

The mother of menstrual cycle research is here! I spoke with Dr. Jerilynn Prior, one of my personal heroines. Dr. Prior made several important interventions in clinical research on the menstrual cycle, asking: Why are we comparing two groups of women who are so different, then blaming all those differences on physical activity? Why are we acting as though physical activity is so damaging to fertility? And, why do we do so little to translate this work to the menstruators who so desperately need it?

Join me as I nerd out with anthropologist Dr. Elizabeth Miller as we talk about iron stores, iron deficiency, and all the ways menstruators are pathologized for bleeding.

Check out the fabulous Dr. Sharra Vostral as she walks us through the contentious and fascinating history of tampons and toxic shock syndrome. She uncovers the largely ignored history of the many consumer advocates who pushed for change long before menstrual product companies were willing to.

Join Kate as she talks to Dr. Caroline Signore at the NIH. We talk about Dr. Signore's path to obstetric and gynecological research. And, we discuss PregSource, a very important program at the NIH designed to involve pregnant women in research understanding the normal experience of pregnancy. Too often we think whatever we are experiencing is normal when it isn’t, or is abnormal when everything is fine, and that’s because there is so little data on pregnant women at all.

Join Kate as she talks to Dr. Annaliese Beery, professor at Smith College. I wanted to talk to Dr. Beery because of her work on sex, gender, and estrus cycles in animal research. People often avoid studying females because they believe we are all too variable because of the effects of the menstrual cycle on physiology and behavior. Dr. Beery tells us how that isn't at all true! She also tells us about the research that shows that males are often the ones who are more variable.

I've missed you, fellow period enthusiasts! Here's a sneak peek of season 3, first full episode will be up August 12 2019!