KCRW

Bodies is a Podcast About Women’s Health

~ jen

Bodies is a podcast from KCRW. It is hosted by Allison Behringer, who also hosted The Intern podcast. Bodies is a documentary series that begins as a medical mystery.

Bodies is hosted, and produced by, Allison Behringer. She is an independent storyteller and podcast producer based in Brooklyn, New York. Bodies is her latest podcast. The About section of that podcast’s website includes the following description:

A few years ago, something happened to my body. All of a sudden, sex became painful. I tried ignoring it, I tried researching it online. My gynecologist said “Lots of women have pain with sex,” and I felt dismissed.

For a long time, I kept this story to myself. But once I started talking about it, I found that this was not an uncommon experience. Many people – especially women – shared health mysteries that set them on long and winding journeys to get an answer.

Each episode of this intimate, highly-produced documentary program follows one person’s journey to solve a mystery about their body.

Bodies explores the forces of history, society and identity that shape women’s health and affect the way the medical community treats people. The Bodies website says: “For so long, women’s health has been under-researched and overlooked. So often, our stories have gone untold and our questions have gone unanswered. Bodies is part of a movement to change that.”

At the time I am writing this blog post, Bodies has released a Trailer and the first episode of the podcast. That episode is called “Sex Hurts”.

There is a Bodies Facebook Group that listeners can join if they want to be part of the conversation. It is a place to ask questions about your body and to share an experience that others should know about. Topics can include painful sex, endometriosis, chronic migraines, mental health, and more.

Visionary Audio Producer Joe Frank has Passed Away

~ jen ~ 1 Comment

Joe Frank, a longtime voice at KCRW, passed away on January 15, 2018. The cause was complications after surgery for colon cancer. He was 79 years old. Joe Frank’s story-telling “radio noir” style influenced many podcasters to create story driven work.

KCRW wrote a detailed piece about Joe Frank that you may want to read. It included:

A Peabody Award and Emmy Award winner, Frank earned a reputation as a visionary audio producer who pushed the medium beyond traditional boundaries. He also inspired younger radio broadcasters, including Ira Glass, Jad Abumrad, Jonathan Goldstein, and many others, to experiment with storytelling formats.

The official Joe Frank website has a section on his work. He began his career in 1976 at WBAI in New York City. In his Saturday night show “In the Dark” he experimented with live freeform radio featuring his monologues and actor improvisations.

In 1978, he was hired to co-anchor Weekend All Things Considered on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered”. Not long after that, Joe Frank returned to producing radio shows for NPR Playhouse. Joe Frank produced over two hundred radio programs for KCRW, Santa Monica, and NPR.

Joe Frank recently performed live before full houses in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. He also returned to broadcasting, and was producing new shows for KCRW’s radio series “Unfictional”.