Missing Piece Podcast – Janet Mock

Janet's sick and Aaron takes care of her in episode 23 of The Missing Piece Podcast. Get Episode 23 on iTunes Janet's physical breakdown enables Aaron to pick up the slack and help her through a vulnerable time in her life - something Janet is reluctant to allow anyone to do. It opens up an opportunity to talk about what it means to truly trust someone and to really let someone provide for you. Listen now as Janet and Aaron discuss vulnerability and letting someone truly take care of you. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes

Janet and Aaron discuss their rules of transparency and self-evaluation in the 22nd episode of The Missing Piece Podcast. Get Episode 22 on iTunes After such a heartbreaking previous episode, Aaron and Janet wonder when revealing too much becomes too much. They also discuss their established boundaries of transparency, what it means to self-assess and Janet's enlivened process of writing her forthcoming memoir. Listen now as Janet and Aaron continue to naval-gaze their way through another saccharine-sweet podcast. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes

Janet's never been more vulnerable than she is in episode 21 of The Missing Piece Podcast. Get Episode 21 on iTunes After feeling insecure and vulnerable about his web series, Aaron turns the tables on Janet, calling her out on her progress (or lack thereof) as a writer. Feeling attacked, Janet unexpectedly breaks down, opening the floodgates to deeper issues within herself and their relationship. Listen now as Janet and Aaron have their most revealing conversation yet. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes

Why do we celebrate the new year? This is what Aaron and Janet discuss in the 20th episode of The Missing Piece Podcast. Get Episode 20 on iTunes "2010 was our great coming together, and 2011 was my great coming out," Janet explains, as Aaron talks about their commitment to live visibly together: "We are the nucleus of something else," he adds of sharing their love with the world, which will soon be documented for everyone to see in their own web series. Listen now as Janet and Aaron reflect on 2011 and what's to come from their life together in 2012. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes

How does Aaron handle being with a trans woman living visibly? This is what Aaron and Janet discuss in the 19th episode of The Missing Piece Podcast. Get Episode 19 on iTunes With Janet's new xojane column garnering attention, Aaron finds himself thrust at the center of her romantic narratives, and deals with comments from her readers and people from his past, who are curious about their relationship. Listen now as Aaron opens up about dating a public woman with a past and how he handles this newfound interest in their (extra)ordinary partnership. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes

How do you go from one person to two and then inherit an entire extended family? This is what Janet and Aaron grapple with as their first traveling holiday together approaches in the 18th episode of The Missing Piece Podcast. Get Episode 18 on iTunes Making plans to travel together to Aaron's family farm in North Dakota prompts an in-depth, heated discussion about meeting your partner's needs while also reconciling your own needs, traditions (or lack thereof) and familial ties (or lack thereof). Listen now as the hosts relay how they've traveled across this touchy topic together. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes

"This is a loaded topic," Janet Mock says of talking about "real sex with the same person over and over and over and over" in the 17th episode of The Missing Piece Podcast with Aaron Tredwell. Get Episode 17 on iTunes "Why does it feel bad to say how often you have sex as couple? You feel as if your relationship isn't normal if you say the real frequency?" Janet adds in the crux of their sex talk. "I've noticed over the past two and a half years, having sex on a regular basis takes a little more effort. It takes more work," Aaron chimes in of igniting passion in their relationship. But, as he poses: Do you believe if the sex goes, does the relationship go? Listen now as the hosts relay how sex, passion and connection plays out in their relationship. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes

"There are three of us in this relationship, so it's a bit crowded now," Janet says of Aaron's new obsession which is the subject of the 16th episode of The Missing Piece Podcast. Get Episode 16 on iTunes Aaron bought his first bike, which has taken him away from Janet, who gripes about having to share her boyfriend with his shiny new toy. This new element in their relationship brings up a serious discussion: How does one support your partner’s new passion when it takes them away from you? Listen now as the hosts relay how they balance their love for one another and their separate passions. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes

A mutual friend's engagement sparks an argument about marriage, money and the future of their own relationship in the 15th episode of The Missing Piece Podcast. Get Episode 15 on iTunes Janet Mock helped her best friend's future husband design her engagement ring. Since then, according to Aaron Tredwell, a nagging insecurity has crept into their relationship: When will Janet and Aaron get married? Janet knows that Aaron wants to marry her, and Aaron knows that Janet is the only woman he wants to have a family with - but things come to a head at a friend's barbecue, revealing an unspoken insecurity of Aaron's that ignites a debate on male-female dynamics in a relationship. Listen now as the hosts relay their side of the argument at the BBQ and hear how things came to a head. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes

The hosts have taken a big step in their relationship, making a trip to the Midwest to introduce Janet to Aaron's family in the 14th episode of The Missing Piece Podcast. Get Episode 14 on iTunes Aaron, raised in the farmlands of North Dakota, introduces his family to Janet. Though she frets over making a lasting first impression, like any nervous, caring girlfriend would, she isn't aware of who knows her T - and who doesn't. This creates its own level of anxiety for the recently "out" writer, who is learning to navigate a world in which a simple Google search can reveal her trans identity. Meanwhile, Aaron relays his own set of feeling in regards to introducing Janet to his family, while also dealing with an emerging topic in their relationship: marriage. The hosts also discuss the new romantic comedy, Crazy, Stupid, Love, starring Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell, and a passerby's round ass, which ignites a bout of jealous in the couple. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes

The hosts recall their busiest week yet! From their first photo shoot together to two separate speaking engagements, Janet Mock and Aaron Tredwell are confronted with issues of balance in their career and relationship in the 13th episode of The Missing Piece Podcast. Get it on iTunes In the last week alone, Janet has spoken at the Hetrick-Martin Institute as part of the Woman in Me seminar, created by trans-health nurse Ayana Elliott, and at GLSEN's Student Ambassadors Media Summit. Janet's interactions with young LGBT people enabled her to finally come face to face with her real purpose, tapping into her bigger-picture intent of helping diversify the portrait of the trans community in age and color. Beyond her work, Janet also comes face to face with issues of connectivity in her relationship with Aaron, which he confronts her about head-on in this revealing episode. How does one woman learn to balance purpose, career and love? Listen in to find out. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes

The hosts welcome their first in-studio guest: Janet's brother Chad, who discusses what it was like to see his sister transition through their teen years together in the 12th episode of The Missing Piece Podcast. Get Episode 12 on iTunes If there was anyone who had a front-row seat to Janet's transition, it would be Chad, who is exactly 12 months and 13 days younger than his co-host sister. Chad, who is in New York visiting Janet and Aaron and making plans for his June 2012 wedding, offers his honest and loving perspective on growing up with a transgender sibling. Beyond reflecting on how Janet's transition affected him, Chad discusses his own love story - not only with his fiance Jane (a middle school teacher from Albany), but with his sister whom he has bravely loved and defended his entire life. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes

Janet and Aaron discuss the aftermath of Janet revealing her story to the world and the opportunities that have arisen from her public revelation in the 11th episode of The Missing Piece Podcast. Get Episode 11 on iTunes Though Aaron is a bit cranky and tired during their late-night recording, he is still full of love, sharing comments from followers of Janet's Facebook page, specifically one from Aisha in Trinidad and Tobago, who said her story "can only add sparkle to my daughters' lives." The overflow of light, love and blessings is "surreal," says Janet, who also had her first national interview with NPR's Tell Me More program, which she discusses in detail in the episode, before ultimately turning the table on Aaron, asking him his reaction to all the attention and how he chose love, in spite and because of Janet's past, from the get-go. "Don't deny your heart. I think that's the biggest message that I can give," Aaron says, on why he's content with living a public life with Janet. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes

Janet breaks her silence for the first time since revealing she was born a girl in a boy's body in the 10th episode of The Missing Piece Podcast. Download episode 10 on iTunes This special episode is an intimate conversation between Janet and Aaron where they detail her "coming out" and telling her story in Marie Claire, from being approached by a friend of a friend looking to shed light on one journey that could help kids to making the actual decision to be interviewed and the "launch mode" the couple adopted in order to be ready for the reaction of the article, including re-launching Janet's website and creating her It Gets Better video. "If you can't be truthful about where you're coming from, you just diminish yourself and your power," Janet says of telling her story with the intent to inspire and to share. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes

Janet and Aaron take a trip out to Brooklyn, where they're leisurely hunting for a new apartment, in the 9th episode of The Missing Piece Podcast. Get Episode 9 on iTunes Though Janet previously said, "I'd rather move to L.A. than to Brooklyn," she finds herself eating her words after visiting Fort Greene, which shifts her entire perspective on designing a life in New York. The hosts also share some of Janet's favorite things of the week (including DeKalb Avenue, YouTube vlogger iTr3vor and a quote from Ralph Ellison) as well as Aaron's "Week in Review" (Nick Cage Arrested, NBC Calls Kate & William Boring, Mark Zuckerberg Sued - AGAIN) and the steady progress he's making on the second act of his screenplay. Subscribe to the Missing Piece Podcast on iTunes