Adrianne Lenker on songwriting, sadness, and paintbrush guitar

Adrianne Lenker is the lead singer of the Grammy-nominated band Big Thief and an acclaimed solo artist. Listening to her song “anything” was a turning point for Lauren. In this conversation, Adrianne and Lauren explore what it means to access one’s emotions and how music creates a safe world to pro…

Katherine May's walk with autism

Katherine May is a bestselling author who writes of coming to terms with her Asperger’s diagnosis in her memoir The Electricity of Every Living Thing. As a newly diagnosed autistic woman, Lauren asks her for some advice. 

Ladyhawke is afraid of puke

Pip Brown, the artist known as Ladyhawke, is an award-winning singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She also wrote all the original music for this podcast. Pip and Lauren talk about growing up odd, making sense of Asperger’s and crises in mental health, and that one time with all the vomit o…

Chelsea Wolfe, your everyday trans autistic BMX Olympian

Chelsea Wolfe is a BMX freestyle rider and the first trans athlete to represent Team USA at the Olympics. She talks with Lauren about getting diagnosed with autism as a transgender woman, how autism helped her become a world-class athlete, and why autistic friends are the best kind of friends.

The almost-lost art of Susan Te Kahurangi King

Nonverbal since the age of 7, Susan Te Kahurangi King is an autistic artist whose drawings have been featured in museums all around the world. Lauren speaks with Susan’s sister Petita Cole about Susan’s journey from prolific, unknown artist to reaching international acclaim.

9 - I Love You, Sweetheart

At some point in any journey of self-discovery, you just have to start living. And that’s what Lauren needs to do. But before she can get on with it, she has to make peace — with herself and with others. She needs to allow herself to be a person with jumbo-sized feelings. And she needs the help of …

8 - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯¿ Lauren comes out to family? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Coming out to family is hard. And Lauren should know — she’s already done it once. But if Lauren wants to fully inhabit her autism, she’s going to have to let all the people into her reality. So it’s time for Lauren to pull up her big girl pants and get to it. And no better time to disclose than du…

7 - Will You Be My Autistic Friend?

It’s really hard to be a newly diagnosed autistic person and not know any autistic people. So it’s time for Lauren to make some autistic friends. But it’s not as easy as you might think. Which is why Lauren has to call up some big guns — Olympic BMX rider Chelsea Wolfe, New Zealand pop star Ladyhaw…

6 - Autism Pleasantville or: A Ridiculous Journey Into A Neurodivergent Fantasia

This autism stuff is hard. So Lauren needs a break. And she gets it on a trip to Autism Pleasantville — a perfect world made just for her and all her quirks and weirdnesses. Autism Pleasantville is place full of cute dogs and restaurants that accommodate extreme food sensitivities and autism suppor…

5 - Let's Talk About Hard Things

It’s no fun being autistic all by yourself. If you feel comfortable, you have to tell folks and let them into your truth. So it’s disclosure time for Lauren. It’s time to tell her pals this wild new thing she’s learned about herself. But that’s not as easy as it sounds. Predictably, things get…kind…