Episode 17: My 600Lb Life, Infinifats, and Darlene Cates: Fat activism is underserving our fattest peers

I recently got an email from a listener asking for my thoughts on My 600Lb Life, a TLC show about very fat people, most of whom are pursuing weight loss surgery. I have been thinking about this show for a while, but my problem with shows like these have nothing to do with the fat people

Episode 16: TSA Pat-Downs, SheWees, and the Wonders of Pre-boarding–Air Travel for Superfats

Alison covered superfat air travel extensively in her blog post (Read it here!) but we wanted to take an episode to go over some of the most important things to keep in mind when you’re traveling by air. In this episode we talk about how to prepare for your flight, how to get through security,

Episode 15: Fats of the Resistance–You can resist even if you can’t march!

In the last couple of weeks especially, we’ve seen millions upon millions of people around the world protesting the actions of the new US president. Immediately following the election, Ann Coulter tweeted in response to protests that “without fat girls, there would be no protests.” And for once I think she’s absolutely right! But some

Episode 14: Alternative Fats–Low key fat-positive action you can take during this crazy year.

This year is already pretty intense, so it’s been hard to figure out how to talk about fat positivity lately—it just feels like there are so many other things of critical importance right now. But making fat peoples’ lives better matters and it’s a worthy cause, so we have to keep going. In today’s episode

Episode 13: The Big Fat Holiday Episode–Strategies for Surviving Fat Holiday Hell

The holidays can be a real shitshow when you’re fat. Travel is terrible, family dinners are a minefield, and sometimes you just have to find a place to hide and cry.  Or read a book on your cat, apparently? In today’s episode Alison and I are talking about strategies to get through the holidays, no

Episode 12: This Is NOT Us–NBC’s Hit Drama Doesn’t Do Fat People Any Favors

Believe me, no one was more hopeful than I was when I learned that NBC’s new show, This Is Us, featured a very fat woman in a lead role. But we’ve learned time and time again that mainstream media doesn’t treat us well, and this time is no exception. This is Us treats its fat

Episode 11: Fat Dating Series – Devyn of ChunkyLemonade

Fat dating (and sex and love) is just a subject that mainstream culture doesn’t talk about. If popular media were to be believed, fat people barely date at all because we’re too busy dieting and hating ourselves. But fat people of all sizes, cultures, abilities, and orientations do date and have sex and fall in

Episode 9: Body Positivity Vs. Fat Positivity

In the last year or two, the Body Positive movement has had some incredible momentum, and it’s even getting some mainstream media coverage. But is the actual message of body positivity actually getting through? It’s not hard to find a tweet that says “I’m all for #bodypositivity as long as you’re healthy” or “#bodypositive does

Episode 8: Fat Trans Activist Shane Brodie’s Nude Protest of the Trump INDECLINE Installation

What do you do when you wake up one morning to find that the whole country is mocking a body like yours? If you’re Shane Brodie, you tell people how hurt you are. And then you do something about it. Shane Brodie is a fat trans man who lives a quiet life as an artist

Episode 7: What’s the difference between Fat and Superfat?

The fat positive movement is bigger than ever, and it’s starting to get noticed by mainstream media. Fatshion bloggers and fat activists are building real bridges to mainstream culture, and the benefits to fat people are incredible. Unfortunately, though, in some spaces fat-positivity doesn’t reach those who are outside of regular plus sizing. We call these

Episode 6: Donald Trump’s Junk

On August 18, 2016 an activist art collective erected five nude statues of Donald Trump in five major American cities. The project was meant as a criticism of the candidate, presumably for his racist, regressive, and violent opinions, but the message that the American public received is that Donald Trump is fat and gross. There

Episode 5: Maura Penn. What’s it like to be a fat white kid in the Middle East?

When The Fat Lip started, telling real fat people’s stories was a big part of the mission. As fat people, we don’t really hear ourselves in media. We don’t see relatable stories about people like us that often, and that lack of representation can be very alienating. When Maura Penn wrote to me about her

Episode 4: It’s a Big Big World, A Response to This American Life’s Tell Me I’m Fat

Last week This American Life, possibly the most popular podcast there is, ran an episode called “Tell Me I’m Fat.” Leading up to the episode’s release I had read and listened to some teasers and learned that Lindy West and her book, Shrill, were featured, so I was really excited. I love Lindy and loved

Episode 3: My Own Mom, A Conversation About Bodies

When I started this podcast I didn’t tell my mom that I was doing it, but one of my brothers did. Then after the first episode was up, she texted to tell me that she had listened to it and that she wanted to talk about it. For a split second I was completely terrified that I