We had the distinct honor of having comedian and musician Marcia Belsky on the pod! We dig into her hit song 100 Tampons, the space program, cis-dude reactions, first periods, recent periods, writing musical comedy, and selling out to any period brand that is hiring.  Throw some loose tampons in your bag and join us on our rocket ship of laughs.

82 - Tampons in Space with Comedian Marcia Belsky

Soooo, the past 15 months have been rough, huh? And to pour lemon juice into our very fresh, deep 2020 paper cut, we're learning that some folks have noticed that COVID, the vaccine and tear gas (which we can't BELIEVE is still used by police on it's own people JFC RAAAAGE...ahem) have altered periods. So, we thought an 'On the Bleedia' episode was in order — we did a some bleedsearch and dug into the news to get to the bottom of all of this. We also manage to laugh through the pain and you can, too. Just slap a pad on and hit play.

83 - Are Vaccines and Tear Gas Messing With Our Periods?

Karla Welch and Sasha Markova were sick of the toll disposable period products were taking on the environment — and society's general attitude towards our cycles. So, they founded The Period Company and made affordable, size-inclusive, cute period undies while embracing and celebrating our bleed. We talk origins, menstrual journeys, and hear some of the most badass leak stories of our lives. Go find a white chair to bleed on and blisten in.

84 - Bleeding In Our Undies with The Period Company

We've got some good ol' fashioned bleedsearch for ya this week! Kate did a bit of a deep dive into emergency contraception (aka, the morning after pill, aka Plan B). She tells us how it works, the various brands out there (we see you Option 2), and adamantly reminds us IT IS NOT AN ABORTION PILL, MARJORIE. And then Kate destroyed us with a quiz that you are not ready for. Throw on an expired condom and learn with us! 

Oh, and here is a resource on emergency contraception!
https://ec.princeton.edu/questions/dose.html#dose

87 - What Is (and What ISN'T) the Morning After Pill?

WARNING: After listening to this episode, you will never think about your period the same way! The blosts were delighted to talk with the Cycle Magic Sisters (AKA Rachel LaForest and Angie Ilg), two bad ass VIBs who started Cycle Magic, a program all about harnessing the natural power of our menstrual cycles and tapping into our 'womb wisdom.'  It sounds witchy and it IS! Hunker into those hormones and tune in. (And check out their program here: cyclemagic.co)

89 - Periods Are Magic! with the Cycle Magic Sisters

If you're like the blosts, you were insanely curious about what the other room learned about puberty when they split up the classes for sex ed. We've joked about it and even wagered some guesses, but Meg Hayes did the dirty work to get some real answers. This week's episode is all about puberty for kids assigned male at birth. We find out what we have in common (spoiler: A LOT) and cover the giggle-inducing differences (spoiler: we have not matured since puberty). Hide your erection and hit that play button! (Psst: there was so much bleedsearch, we couldn't contain it in one episode! Check out our Patreon for the video clips that didn't make it in.)

92 - What the OTHER Room Learned About Puberty

We've got another episode dedicated to a reusable period product — you know we love those!! This week we're covering menstrual discs with special guest Rachael Newton, who created the reusable Nixit disc. We reminisce with Rachael about our first meeting (at a party with a boob-ball pit of course), talk about where Nixit came from, and get into her menstrual journey. We also break down what menstrual discs are, how they work, and the many benefits (ya know, like helping the earth AND mess-free period sex). So join your hosts for some chat, some laughs and a surprise song!

93 - Getting Frisky with Menstrual Disc-ies

This week we're covering the topic that you (like the blosts) may know very little about – abortion pills! And contrary to what you may have heard, abortion pills are  effective, safe, and even used among racehorse breeders to stop their horses from having foals. If it's good enough for Seabiscuit, it's good enough for us! Renowned reproductive justice advocate Susan Yanow joins us to tell us all the details of this (once again) very safe and effective method of terminating a pregnancy, and gives us a little hope in these dark AF times. 

abortionpillinfo.org
plancpills.org
aidaccess.org

99 - Abortion Pills!!!!!!!!! with Susan Yanow

We're coming at you with more bleedsearch! You got a taste of it last week with Meg Hayes' abortion history segment, and now here's the main course. Learn about when abortions first entered the annals of history, play games along with Meg T and Kate, and learn about another new patron saint of the podcast (we're collecting enough to start our own church)! Smash the play button while smashing the patriarchy, blisteners! 

Links from Meg H's research:
https://daily.jstor.org/abortion-remedies-medieval-catholic-nun/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_abortion

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/the-complex-early-history-of-abortion-in-the-united-states

https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion/abortion-central-history-reproductive-health-care-america#:~:text=Leaders%20didn't%20outlaw%20abortion,around%20four%20months%20of%20pregnancy

https://www.feminist.com/resources/ourbodies/abortion.html

101 - Abortion: Back to the Future and Back Again

One of our favorite guests, Carla Lee, is sitting in for Meg Hayes this week as we take phone calls from blisteners shouting their abortions. As you can tell from the title, we had enough calls, stories and things to talk about that we had to split it into two parts! Keep an eye out for part two later this week, and then press play to laugh, cry and NORMALIZE abortion with us. Much love, bleeders.

102 - Shouting Your Abortion with Carla Lee Pt. 1

We're back with part two! We've got more abortion stories, ways you can support people seeking abortions, and general venting about the state of the world, mixed in with laughs and love. We're so grateful for Carla joining us and sharing her story, and for everyone who called in with their stories.

103 - Shouting Your Abortion with Carla Lee Pt. 2

(Re-uploaded to fix audio glitch!) Welcome to the pod Adam Segal — abortion advocate, breaker-down of toxic masculinity, and our first cis man guest! Adam brings his own perspective to the fight for abortion rights, having had a partner go through it. Knowing how important it is for cis men to be a part of the conversation, we wanted to talk to Adam about his experience, and talk about ways other cis men can join the fight, including his mens' group New Masculinities. And don't worry, we also ask him our 3 krazy kwestions. So, go on and hit play already!

104 - Cis Men Joining the Fight

Picture it: It was January 2020. The three co-blosts were holed up in a downtown San Francisco hotel room for a one-night retreat. We had wine, gummy bears and DayQuil (Kate had a cold), and we were recording our first Everything is Fine episode.

Fast forward to 2.5 years later: It's the year of our lord-who-is-a-man 2022 and those very same co-blosts are all on a brief summer break away from the pod. So in honor of that magical wintry night, we're re-releasing this episode, full of fun quizzes, songs and staged readings. So relax those Kegels and take a trip down memory lane with us. Enjoy!

50 - Everything is Fine (Re-release)

This week we are so lucky to have Cera Merrick on the pod to tell us about being an abortion doula — including what kind of support someone can expect when they work with a doula and why that kind of support is so important for someone getting an abortion (no matter their circumstances). Cera also tells us how they ended up in this line of work, and (of course) answers our three crazy questions. Set up your stock-pile of abortion pills like a cute little armchair, settle in and press play!

Learn more about Cera here!:
ceramerrick.com

105 - Everyone Deserves an Abortion Doula with Cera Merrick

It's still summer! And your three co-blosts continue to enjoy our various summer adventures (read: hoping our tampon strings aren't poking out of our swimsuits). So we thought we'd rerun our first ever interview with a VIB from way back in 2018. Enjoy this episode with writer and comedian Allison Page, who tells us all about her struggles with endometriosis. There's laughs, poems, a song and more. So chase that Midol with some ginger tea and enjoy this episode!

6 - Endometriosis Suuuuuuucks (Re-release)

It seems like only yesterday we were joking on the podcast about tubal litigators (lol - sometimes our words not good!), and now here we are, devoting a whole episode to the various forms of sterilization a uterus-haver can consider! Kate brings us surprise bleedsearch and we are truly SURPRISED by what we learn in this episode. We talk procedures, bad doctors, outdated societal norms AND we've got a song! Grab your Fallopian tubes like little horse reigns and giddy-up to that play button! (I'm really stretching with these body metaphors, folks.)

106 - Standing Ovation for Tubal Ligation

Did you know that one form of a uterine anomaly is having no uterus at all? It's crazy but it's true! This is known as MRKH syndrome (named after the four doctors who discovered it) and we had the privilege to talk to Riddhi Patel about their experience with this rare disorder. They tell us all about their diagnosis, symptoms they've experienced, and the struggle finding a doctor in a small California town. We also relish in the fact that your three Millennial blosts got to chat with a very cool Gen Z-er about bodies and sex. So, give your pad wings a middle part and start listening.

107 - DIY Pussy with Riddhi Patel

Alternative title to this episode: The Church of Jesus Christ ANOTHER UTI?! We were lucky enough to talk with Sasha Piton a few months back about Mormon undergarments and how they are NOT conducive for vaginal health and menstruation — which she made clear to the LDS church leaders (and even got some press - hello NYT!). We talk periods, divine femininity, and that old chestnut we know so well: religion + bodily shame. Sasha has since left the church, but our convo is still so relevant for the Mormon faith and other religions that continue to silence femme voices. So go on — take off those undies, find a cool breeze and tune in.

108 - Bleeding While Mormon with Sasha Piton

We know our blisteners love a good story (don't all podcast lovers?) so we KNOW you'll love Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall. Maggie joined us for our Bleeding Rainbow episode about her graphic novel Squad — a story centered around four teen girls who have a unique, yet very effective way of fighting the patriarchy — and have a strong relationship to the moon... (they're werewolves, get it?). Maggie talks periods, the power of feminine anger, hashtag author life, and oh so much more. Haven't read Squad yet? Take a listen and then get to your library or local indie bookstore to grab a copy! And then read while you're collecting your blood for future blood magik. Enjoy!

109 - Bleeding Rainbow: Squad with Maggie Tokuda-Hall

We had such a blast when we covered periods on television, so we knew we HAD to get into how abortions have been portrayed on screen. We cover a century of TV shows and films, and talk about some of our favorites, some of the funniest, and one of the creepiest movies we've ever seen. In part one, we run the gamut, from a 1916 silent film, a show from 2012 set in the 50's, and a 90's classic. Enjoy this ep, and catch part two (and our final episode of the season) later this week! <3

110 - Ten Important Abortions in TV & Film History Pt. 1

It's our last episode of the season and part two of our deep dive into 10 sometimes scary, often funny, and always meaningful abortions on screen. This episode is fully set in the 2010's, and we get into some of our favorite shows: CW darlings Jane the Virgin and Crazy-Ex Girlfriend, Shonda's soapy magnum opus Scandal, animated delight BoJack Horseman and thoughtful, funny Netflix original Dear White People. We also have our final Why I Cried of the season (featuring a blistener's submitted musical accompaniment!) and a surprise song because why not!? Thank you for joining us for season 6, dear blisteners. We loved making it for you. Enjoy this episode and PLEASE VOTE IN NOVEMBER FOR CANDIDATES WHO SUPPORT BODILY AUTONOMY FOR BLEEDERS AND TRANS PEOPLE! Much love, the VC gals. <3

111 - Ten Important Abortions in TV & Film History Pt. 2

For their very first episode, Meg H., Kate & Meg T. discuss their very first periods. They dive into advice they got from their moms, what the Bible says about menstruation, and discover a theme that NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT!

1 - Let's Talk First Periods!

Your hosts sit down with a real-life bleeder who suffers from Endometriosis - and she gets REAL. Allison Page has dealt with Endometriosis since she was a teenager - in fact, she describes it as “tiny trolls with hatchets live in my dusty uterus.” She tells Vicious Cycle about how she deals with excruciating cramps, the numerous doctors who didn’t believe her, and navigating romantic relationships with the world’s worst period. Fill those menstrual cups with your fave liquor and press play.

6 - Endometriosis Suuuuuuucks

You know… THAT smell? The one we think everyone can smell but we also never talk about? Well, your hosts TALK ABOUT IT - and everything else that falls under “down-there-odor.” You can even hear them blushing through the microphones. So, spread your legs, take a whiff, and join Vicious Cycle’s boldest episode yet!

12 - Why Do Periods Smell Like That?

This week Meg T opens up about her recent ectopic pregnancy. Spoiler alert: she wouldn't recommend one. She takes you on the entire journey - from finding out, to treatment, and the inevitable miscarriage. Is this episode a little sad? Yes it is. But are there also lots of laughs and an enormous amount of love sent directly into your ear holes? BIG TIME. Find an overnight pad to hug for support and play on.

28 - My Ectopic Pregnancy

Blisteners! We had such a blast making this episode, we had to split it up (we blame all the laughter). In part one, we chat with Carla Lee: hilarious writer, actor and creator of Nice Tan comedy - oh, and mom to Julia. We ask Carla, and moms calling in, some questions about pregnancy, child birth, and periods all along the way. There's a first-period-post-pregnancy story that has got us SHOOK. Come bleed out with us!

33 - The Bloody Wonders of Motherhood Pt. 1

We're wrapping up our hysterical interview with comedian Carla Lee in this week's episode, and we've got plenty of ground to cover. We talk about changing tampons while your children watch (and some interact!), we hear from more moms who called in, and we try to keep our sh*t together as Carla tells us her favorite lactation story. So, sidle up with a sippy cup and press play.

34 - The Bloody Wonders of Motherhood Pt. 2

The hosts of "Sssh Periods" and grand prize winners of NPR's student podcast competition sat down (remotely) with your hosts to remind us what it was like to be in middle school. All the awkward memories flooded back in (like hiding your big ol' pad in your Lisa Frank trapper keeper on the way to the bathroom), but they also gave us a lot of hope. Go yell "period" from a rooftop and break down some taboos with us and these incredible bleeders.

41 - Sssh Periods: Talking With Tweens About Bleeding

That is right. The podcast about periods finally read the period book to end all period books: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. And we had the pleasure to discuss it with the preeminent experts in the field, Alison and Jody from The Blume Saloon podcast. We get into the brilliance of Judy Blume, which character each host identifies as, and we dive into a fave topic: masturbation. And that's just PART ONE! Catch part two over on The Blume Saloon feed!

61 - Are You There God? It's Vicious Cycle (with The Blume Saloon)

We decided to give ourselves a little treat this week and share our favorite periods on TV (and one movie) with each other and you! Take a break from the news and laugh with Amy Schumer, the cast of Blackish, Monica & Phoebe and so many more hilarious bleeders. Oh, and friend of the pod Lauren Bacall helps us with our countdown, so put on your red carpet best (after staining your carpet red) and tune in!

*Friends: https://youtu.be/C7ZMDO9wZTo
*Key and Peele: https://youtu.be/ihRHIGpyspA
*SNL: https://youtu.be/aBlR7qVQ0X8
*Community: https://youtu.be/IGMe_NrcAfI
*Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: https://youtu.be/Uab2BlDpPxQ

62 - The Top 15 Periods in TV and Film

Periods! Let's get into it. Comedians and real-life friends Kate Elston, Meghann Hayes, and Meg Trowbridge are talking (and singing) about periods. And they think you should be, too. Whether you have a period, had a period, will have a period, or love someone with a period, this podcast is for you. Featuring segments like Why I Cried This Week and Read My Labias, as well as interviews with fellow period-havers, this podcast is for all those people who are sick of having to whisper “do you have a tampon?”

www.viciouscyclepodcast.com

Vicious Cycle Podcast

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