Manny Martins-Karman (she/her) was stuck in Covid lockdown thinking she would have lots of time for her abstract art. But that didn’t happen. Instead, she felt disconnected. So, she posted a fashion video like what she’d seen her fave influencers do. A few videos later, Manny went viral. She shares how playing with clothes has led to her being told that she’s changing people’s lives.

Aaron Flores (he/him) talks to men about their body stories. As a fat man, he spent years weight cycling and then advising others on weight loss as a dietitian. He shares his own experiences with diet culture and masculinity and how he found his way to intuitive eating, which completely changed his professional dietitian practice. Aaron and Sophia discuss how diet culture shows up differently for men, and Aaron describes how dieting can be explained by Star Wars.

Annie Nardolilli (she/her) and Louisa Hall (she/her) are the singers/songwriters behind the musical comedy group, Griefcat. In this hilarious conversation, they share how they became ‘musical soulmates,’ what sparked their maximalist on-stage aesthetic, and why being fat is their superpower. Also, they sing to us.

Mermaid Chè Monique (she/her), one of the stars of the Netflix documentary “MerPeople,” shares how each time she puts her tail on, she’s defying stereotypes of what it is to be fat and Black. She’s the founder of the Society of Fat Mermaids and developing an online school for folks interested in learning about mermaiding. She practices living from a place of joy and gives tips for how we can also.

Kristy Elesko (she/her) is back to talk about three common injuries: plantar fasciitis, knee pain, and tension headaches. In this very practical conversation, she shares exercises that can help heal these injuries, obstacles that may be encountered because of body size, and some practical ways to self-advocate.

Kristy Elesko (she/her) wants you to have a great massage. A massage that feels safe, empowered, and like your body’s needs are being met with certainty and accommodation as needed. So, she’s sharing her brilliant tips for how to find a massage therapist who works with all bodies, key questions to ask the clinic receptionist, and how to advocate for your body’s needs.

Adrianne Briere (she/her) believes that talking openly about death shouldn’t be taboo. She candidly shares how the remains of fat people are handled, including medical donations and funeral arrangements, and addresses the myths and misinformation about what happens after we die.

Jeanie Finlay (she/her) directed the film Your Fat Friend that features six years of Aubrey Gordon’s life- from anonymous essayist to going public to creating the Maintenance Phase podcast to the publishing of her first book. Jeanie shares how this film makes the persona political, what it was like to be on her own fat liberation journey while working with Aubrey, and how she intentionally wanted to show Aubrey’s body.

Roz “The Diva” Mays (she/her) started pole dancing because she wasn’t a runner, and 16 years later she’s a fitness entrepreneur who helps beginners feel ok about being “hot garbage” as they’re learning how to pole. Roz also shares why she doesn’t like the word fat, what happened when she DM’d some of her worst trolls, and how she’s reached racial nirvana.

adrienne maree brown (she/her) invites us into a powerful exploration of what it is to live in a body right now. Our challenges with being satisfied, our relationship to change and adaptation, and how kitchen table mediation may be a way forward with loved ones in times of conflict.

Jill Angie (she/her) is here to take a stand for you: You. Can. Run. Jill shares how mindset-shifting running can be, and she dispels the most common worries about being over 40 and running: my doctor said my knees can’t handle it, I don’t want to be seen by other people, I can’t breathe when I run. And then Jill and Sophia get philosophical about what even is joy.

Author of the book “Fat Church: Claiming a Gospel of Fat Liberation,” Anastasia Kidd (she/her) is starting a movement inviting Christians to examine their own biases against fatness and embrace a more abundant gospel rooted in anti-oppression. She shares how hundreds of years ago, the church began implementing practices of control and power to have ownership over our bodies and how that has had lasting harm. Anastasia invites us all to become unrepentant fatties in this conversation.

Hannah Fuhlendorf (she/her) is a therapist and coach who helps her clients live uninhibited lives in a world that wants to inhibit them. Hannah takes us through several of the steps towards living from possibility: grieving old beliefs, reconnecting to embodiment, finding acceptance, and privileging pleasure & joy. Oh, and sex clubs.

Fat flexibility coach, Vera Schofield (she/they), grew up with an unhealthy obsession with fitness for weight loss. After starting their fat liberation journey, a pole dancing class became the entry point into unlearning those diet-culture informed views of movement. Vera is here sharing how to bring flexibility into our day and why it matters. Also, they share their fave body stretches for those of us who sit a lot throughout the day.

Erica Sosa (she/her) helps fat folks work through the moments in our lives when fatness, desirability, and visibility intersect. Specifically, she works as a bridal consultant and as an erotic movement coach, and in many ways, what her clients feel in both settings is the same– like there’s something wrong with their bodies that must be forced to change. Erica shares how she invites people to shift from how they look to how they feel. And she gives us 3 tips we can use to connect to our bodies as they are.

Inspired by a question from a Fat Joy listener, Jeanette Thompson-Wessen (she/her) shares how to be an intuitive eater whist on a fixed income. And then she expands the conversation into whether intuitive eating is actually accessible and whether that’s even the right question to be asking ourselves. She also shares useful tools to help us navigate our full health in ways that are useful, flexible, and compassionate.

Leah V (she/her) is bold and audacious. And, she’s here to spill the tea on the fashion industry, show us how to reclaim words that have harmed us, and encourage us to dream bigger than we thought we could. Her life has had many ups and downs, and she uses those experiences to keep becoming more of herself, no matter what the critics say.

Jenna Doak (she/her) co-founded Body Positive Fitness after working in toxic fitness culture since age 14. She intentionally created a body liberation space that returns the power back to her class participants and changes the way we think about and move our bodies. Sophia went to several virtual classes and felt more at home in her body than she has in years…except she kept her video off. Jenna helps Sophia figure out why.

Combatting weight stigma and empowering plus-size and fat folks on their parenthood journey is what Christina Hughes (she/her) does as a doula. By providing fat-positive advocacy, education, tools, and supports for the birthing journey, Christina helps clients navigate an anti-fat medical system.

Kelsey O. Daniels (she/they) does not consent to hating herself and defies the systems that demand she does. Through trust and surrender, Kelsey’s life had led them on a journey through both dreamwork and grief work. She shares how we can vision and imagine new ways of walking through this life. And, they read their own poem at the end of the episode.