Introducing, UNRULY
A new podcast from award-winning body hair and care brand, Flamingo. Hosted by author, curator, and critic Kimberly Drew. Each week on Unruly, we unpack the quiet ways women’s bodies are commodified, defined, and regulated by social media, the medical profession, the beauty industry, and more. Then we name them, out loud — because information is power, and your body is your business. New episodes drop on Wednesdays.
Introducing, UNRULY
A new podcast from the award-winning body hair and care brand Flamingo, hosted by author, curator, and critic Kimberly Drew. Each week on Unruly, we unpack the quiet ways women’s bodies are commodified, defined, and regulated by social media, the medical profession, the beauty industry, and more. Then we name them, out loud — because information is power, and your body is your business. New episodes drop on Wednesdays.
Welcome to Unruly (Trailer)
Welcome to Unruly. This season, host Kimberly Drew and a slew of smart guests tackle the quiet ways women’s bodies are regulated every day. From social media to the medical profession to entrenched societal assumptions about womanhood, we want to educate and support each other. Because information is power, and your body is your business.
Episode 1 | Social Media: The Body's Big Brother
In this week’s episode, host Kimberly Drew talks with Body Image coach Tiffany Ima (@tiffanyima) about how we learn to love ourselves in a world that still heralds thinness as greatness. We clear up the distinction between body neutrality and body positivity, call out diet culture trends, and unpack the sneaky ways social media keeps us dissatisfied with our physical appearance.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT >>
Episode 2 | The Beauty Industry: Diet Culture’s Fraternal Twin
How do we decide which beauty products we use, and are those choices really our own? This week, writer and beauty culture critic Jessica DeFino, author of the Substack The Unpublishable, sheds light on the alarming power of the beauty industrial complex. She and Unruly host Kimberly Drew unpack terms like “anti-aging” and how we are sold products under the guise of empowerment. In this episode, we learn how to divest from the idea of external beauty as inherent self worth.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT >>
Episode 3 | Body Language
Vaginal atrophy, geriatric pregnancy, incompetent cervix- why can medical terminology around women’s bodies be so shaming?! In this week’s episode, “Vagina Obscura” author Rachel E. Gross talks with host Kimberly Drew about the long shadow of the patriarchy over the medical profession. She walks us through how it’s shaped the way we talk about our bodies, how we understand vital body parts like the clitoris and the ways in which language impacts the treatment we receive as patients.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT >>
Episode 4 | To Freeze or Not to Freeze: High-Tech Fertility
Being a person with a uterus comes with a lot of baggage. Most notably, the questions of when, how, and if you’re going to have kids. This week, we hear from anthropologist and “The Mating Gap” author Marcia Inhorn about the way society makes these decisions even harder for women today. We learn about the history and science behind egg-freezing, as well as the real reason women are electing to delay pregnancy.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT >>
Episode 5 | Menopause and the Media
How is it that menopause, something that can affect half the population, also manages to be among the most understudied and least understood bodily phenomena? This week, journalist Susan Dominus talks with host Kimberly Drew about how a landmark study on hormone therapy for menopausal women was misunderstood in the media creating panic and long-term repercussions on the way women’s symptoms were treated.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT >>
Episode 6 | Don't Hem Us In
Female athletes have fought uphill battles for equity and respect for about as long as sports have existed. Their bodies and uniforms are under intense scrutiny from the public, the press and athletic institutions. In this episode, we talk to Olympic Shot-Putter Raven Saunders, who pushes back on archaic athletic dress code standards – she famously wears a Hulk mask when she competes. We get into her Olympic experience, what it means to push wardrobe boundaries, and how coming to peace with herself and her body is a huge part of how she expresses herself through clothes and through sports.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT >>
Episode 7 | Suffering in Silence
Women are often taught to silence themselves and that can have damaging effects. On our last episode of the season, psychologist, writer and speaker Maytal Eyal joins host Kimberly Drew to discuss her Time Magazine article: “Self Silencing is Making Women Sick.” We get into Maytal’s research, what’s at stake when we don’t express ourselves fully, and how we can work together to fight against these toxic cultural norms.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT >>
Hosted by Kimberly Drew
Kimberly Drew is a curator, cultural critic, and author with over a decade of experience in the art world. She has written for publications including Vogue, Vanity Fair, and, most recently, New York Magazine. Drew has also published two books, Black Futures, co-edited with J Wortham, and This is What I Know About Art, a young adult book about art and activism. Drew works on independent curatorial projects and recently joined the staff at Pace Gallery, where she works as a Director on the Curatorial team.
Hosted by Kimberly Drew
Kimberly Drew is a curator, cultural critic, and author with over a decade of experience in the art world. She has written for publications including Vogue, Vanity Fair, and, most recently, New York Magazine. Drew has also published two books, Black Futures, co-edited with J Wortham, and This is What I Know About Art, a young adult book about art and activism. Drew works on independent curatorial projects and recently joined the staff at Pace Gallery, where she works as a Director on the Curatorial team.
Meet Our Guests
Meet Our Guests
Tiffany Ima Akpan is a body confidence coach, content creator, and speaker. She teaches women how to heal from body shame and live their lives unapologetically using her signature framework, The Body Peace Plan™. After recovering from a decade-long eating disorder, she started sharing her journey on Instagram to inspire others to stop letting society’s standards dictate their lives. She believes the best way to begin your healing journey is to take action and create joyful experiences. Grab her free Body Confidence Bucket list here.
Jessica DeFino is a beauty culture critic whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Vogue, Allure, and more. A former editor for the Kardashian-Jenner Apps, she now writes the popular newsletter The Unpublishable and has been called "the woman the beauty industry fears the most" by the Sunday Herald.
Rachel E. Gross is a science journalist who writes on gender and bias in medicine for the New York Times and elsewhere. She is the author of "Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage," a New York Times Editors' Pick and selection for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Nonfiction. Previously, she was a 2018-19 Knight Science Journalism Fellow and the digital science editor of Smithsonian magazine.
Marcia C. Inhorn, PhD, MPH, is the William K. Lanman Jr. Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at Yale University, where she serves as Chair of the Council on Middle East Studies. A medical anthropologist specializing in Middle Eastern gender, religion, and reproductive health issues, Inhorn has conducted research on the social impact of infertility and assisted reproductive technologies in Egypt, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, and Arab America over the past 35 years. She is the author of six books on the subject, including her latest, America’s Arab Refugees: Vulnerability and Health on the Margins. Inhorn has recently published her seventh book called Motherhood on Ice: The Mating Gap and Why Women Freeze Their Eggs, based on her National
Science Foundation funded study of the subject.
Susan Dominus has worked for the The New York Times since 2007, first as a Metro columnist and then as staff writer with The New York Times Magazine. In 2018, she was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize, for public service for reporting on workplace sexual harassment issues. She is the recipient of the Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page Award, and the Mychal Judge “Heart of New York” award from the National Press Club. A graduate of Yale University, she has studied as a fellow at the National Institutes of Health and Yale Law School. Her article, The Covid Drug Wars That Pitted Doctor vs. Doctor, was included in the 2021 edition of the Best American Science and Nature Writing.
Raven “The Hulk” Sauders is a highly accomplished Olympic Shot Putter who represented the U.S. at both the Rio Olympic Games and the Tokyo Olympic Games, earning a silver medal at the latter. She attended the University of Mississippi and was a four-time NCAA champion during her time there. Additionally, Saunders was named a top Black women influencer in 2021, and was asked to be a Keynote speaker at the Kennedy Forum. She has been featured in Forbes, The Washington Post, Marie Claire, and more.
Dr. Maytal Eyal is a psychologist, writer, and speaker. She is the co-founder of Gather, a women's health company that combines rigorous data, leading experts, and supportive community to help women care for their minds and bodies. Her writing has been featured in Time and Wired and her speaking through TED.
Tiffany Ima Akpan is a body confidence coach, content creator, and speaker. She teaches women how to heal from body shame and live their lives unapologetically using her signature framework, The Body Peace Plan™. After recovering from a decade-long eating disorder, she started sharing her journey on Instagram to inspire others to stop letting society’s standards dictate their lives. She believes the best way to begin your healing journey is to take action and create joyful experiences. Grab her free Body Confidence Bucket list here.
Jessica DeFino is a beauty culture critic whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Vogue, Allure, and more. A former editor for the Kardashian-Jenner Apps, she now writes the popular newsletter The Unpublishable and has been called "the woman the beauty industry fears the most" by the Sunday Herald.
Rachel E. Gross is a science journalist who writes on gender and bias in medicine for the New York Times and elsewhere. She is the author of "Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage," a New York Times Editors' Pick and selection for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Nonfiction. Previously, she was a 2018-19 Knight Science Journalism Fellow and the digital science editor of Smithsonian magazine.
Marcia C. Inhorn, PhD, MPH, is the William K. Lanman Jr. Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at Yale University, where she serves as Chair of the Council on Middle East Studies. A medical anthropologist specializing in Middle Eastern gender, religion, and reproductive health issues, Inhorn has conducted research on the social impact of infertility and assisted reproductive technologies in Egypt, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, and Arab America over the past 35 years. She is the author of six books on the subject, including her latest, America’s Arab Refugees: Vulnerability and Health on the Margins. Inhorn has recently published her seventh book called Motherhood on Ice: The Mating Gap and Why Women Freeze Their Eggs, based on her National Science Foundation funded study of the subject.
Susan Dominus has worked for the The New York Times since 2007, first as a Metro columnist and then as staff writer with The New York Times Magazine. In 2018, she was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize, for public service for reporting on workplace sexual harassment issues. She is the recipient of the Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page Award, and the Mychal Judge “Heart of New York” award from the National Press Club. A graduate of Yale University, she has studied as a fellow at the National Institutes of Health and Yale Law School. Her article, The Covid Drug Wars That Pitted Doctor vs. Doctor, was included in the 2021 edition of the Best American Science and Nature Writing.
Raven “The Hulk” Sauders is a highly accomplished Olympic Shot Putter who represented the U.S. at both the Rio Olympic Games and the Tokyo Olympic Games, earning a silver medal at the latter. She attended the University of Mississippi and was a four-time NCAA champion during her time there. Additionally, Saunders was named a top Black women influencer in 2021, and was asked to be a Keynote speaker at the Kennedy Forum. She has been featured in Forbes, The Washington Post, Marie Claire, and more.
Dr. Maytal Eyal is a psychologist, writer, and speaker. She is the co-founder of Gather, a women's health company that combines rigorous data, leading experts, and supportive community to help women care for their minds and bodies. Her writing has been featured in Time and Wired and her speaking through TED.
