Episodes about people who transition from one gender to another: Recent Episodes
Bello Collective
Here are a few great episodes from the past fifteen years about people who transition from one gender to another — socially, physically, and legally. Chosen by the Bello Collective’s Galen Beebe. Want to listen to more podcasts about this? Read about more at https://medium.com/bello-collective/18-episodes-about-gender-transitions-b70ac6d7b734#.x70frqdn6
Joy Ladin, Professor of English at Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University, is the first openly transgender person to be employed by an orthodox Jewish institution. In this episode, Ladin talks to Host Krista Tippett about Judaism, poetry, and what it means for her to be a woman.
He begins the story as Megan, a 28-year-old struggling to draft the letter in which he comes out to his parents as trans. Over the course of a year, he takes hormones, gets surgery, and becomes Miles, recording every step of the way.
Max transitioned in 1979, at age 20. In this episode, he talks to host Caleb Arring about transitioning, living in “stealth mode”, coming out, and advocating for trans elders. They also talk about the changing norms around coming out and the struggles that trans people face as they age. A combination of a meaningful story and advice on how to help aging folks in the trans community.
Paige Abendroth was identified male at birth, and for many years that’s how she identified. But then, in high school, Paige started flipping back and forth between male and female modes. One moment she’d feel like a woman, and then the next — man again. The timing wasn’t predictable, but the shift was complete. In this episode, hosts Lulu Miller and Alix Spiegel explore Paige’s story and the science behind her experience.
Anne Kelly Skinner is in the midst of her transition, and all is going well — except her voice. No matter how much she practices, she can’t get her voice to sound as feminine as she wants. In this episode, we hear about her struggles to change her voice, how her transition has affected her relationship with her best friend, Dan, and why he has a special attachment to the way her voice sounded before.
Marine biologist Shayle Matsuda tells the story of going on his first expedition post-transition, describing how he learned to find sea slugs while everyone around him learned to get his pronouns right. A touching, funny story told before a live audience.
A short episode about Lili Elbe, a Danish trans woman who was born in 1882. Elbe began her transition after sitting for one for her wife’s paintings when a female model wasn’t available and went on to become one of the first known people to undergo gender confirmation surgery. This essayistic episode includes passages from Elbe’s book, Man Into Woman.
Jennifer Finney Boylan reads her own story from the New York Times’s Modern Love column about her transition from Daddy to Maddy, and how her family has changed along with her. After reading, she discusses how her life has changed since her essay was published.
It took Shawn over forty years to come out as trans. He wasn’t hiding it — he just didn’t know that being trans was an option. For years, he lived as a lesbian, and even after he moved to San Francisco and trans outreach workers began approaching him, he didn’t realize that this was the missing piece that kept things feeling off. It wasn’t until he saw another black trans man that he realized what he wanted to change. In this episode, Shawn tells his story. (Content Warning: Mention of child sexual abuse.)
A year ago, Dr. Deanna Adkins opened the only center for transgender youth in North Carolina — the same state that recently passed HB2, aka the bathroom bill. Since opening the center, Dr. Adkins has seen kids from all over the south — some of whom wait for months and travel for days to have their appointment. In this episode, we hear from three teenage patients who are in the midst of their transitions.
At three years old, host Marlo Mack’s child informed her that she was not the the boy everyone had assumed she was, but a girl. After some adjusting (on Marlo’s part), M, as Marlo calls her daughter on the show, transitioned. This is the first episode of a show about their lives — from choosing elementary schools to telling friends to fighting transphobic legislation in their home state. (As an added bonus, you can watch the amazing, animated version of this episode.)
Theresa Sparks is a San Francisco police commissioner, mom, LGBTQ+ activist, and trans woman. In this episode, we hear about her transition and the work she’s done with the San Francisco Police Commission from her, her son, her colleagues, and comedian Margaret Cho.