Kaia Findlay

Durham

Producer at WUNC-FM (Chapel Hill, NC)

Producer for @embodiedWUNC, mostly tweeting over there. Bringing health/sex/relationship topics to the radio!

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Articles

The Hidden Labor Of Flight Attendants

1 week ago | wunc.org | Kaia Findlay |Anita Rao |Amanda Magnus

When you board a plane, flight attendants greet you with practiced smiles and seamless service. But there’s a lot of mental and emotional labor that passengers don’t see. Missy*, a Hawaii-based flight attendant, takes host Anita Rao inside her world and shares stories from nearly five years on the job — from managing unruly passengers to dealing with medical emergencies.
Building A Queer Life In The Country

2 weeks ago | wunc.org | Kaia Findlay |Anita Rao |Amanda Magnus

Rae Garringer grew up on a sheep farm in rural West Virginia, and once they left for college and came out as queer, they weren't sure they could ever move back. They believed the story they’d been told: to thrive as an out, LGBTQ+ person, you have to live in a city. But when Rae did move back to rural West Virginia in 2011, they realized that story was a lie.
Two Brothers, One Uncertain Future

3 weeks ago | wunc.org | Audrey Smith |Anita Rao |Kaia Findlay |Amanda Magnus

What would you do if you knew your brain would stop functioning normally in just a decade? For brothers Ansel Dow, 31, and Cosmo Hinsman, 26, this isn't hypothetical. They carry a rare genetic mutation that makes almost inevitable by their mid-40s. It’s the same condition that has altered the lives and personalities of their mother and five of her siblings.
Why We Need To Talk About Sex In Nursing Homes

4 weeks ago | wunc.org | Kaia Findlay |Anita Rao |Amanda Magnus

Sex has no age limit. But having a robust intimate life well beyond age 65 comes with distinct challenges, particularly when you no longer live in the privacy of your own home. Host Anita Rao talks with two people dedicated to making good sex possible for older adults, whether they are navigating dementia and living in a nursing home or forging a new relationship with someone in their assisted living community.
Climate Anxiety And The Choice To Parent

1 month ago | wunc.org | Kaia Findlay |Anita Rao |Amanda Magnus

Gen Z is anxious about climate change, and it’s impacting their family planning — but not always in the ways we might expect. Jade Sasser, a researcher and associate professor at the University of California, Riverside, started studying the links between climate anxiety, race and reproductive decision-making in earnest in 2020, with a few distinct questions in mind: How much is climate change affecting how young people think about kids?
A New Playbook For Raising Boys

1 month ago | wunc.org | Kaia Findlay |Anita Rao |Amanda Magnus

When the #MeToo movement exploded in 2017, writer Ruth Whippman — who was nearly nine months pregnant with her third son — experienced a profound conflict. As a feminist, she celebrated the movement; as a mother, she worried: How am I gonna raise these boys to be good if it seems like male misconduct and bad behavior is the norm? This tension launched Ruth on a quest to understand modern American boyhood and what's not working.
Balanced: Love & Bipolar Disorder

1 month ago | wunc.org | Kaia Findlay |Anita Rao

A mental health diagnosis can affect many aspects of romance, intimacy and partnership. For those living with bipolar disorder, a mental health disorder characterized by extreme mood shifts between emotional highs and lows, navigating mental health and romance involves communication, care and breaking down stigma — both internal and external.
A Doctor’s Intuition Lost And Found

2 months ago | wunc.org | Kaia Findlay

Doctors are expected to make high-stakes decisions quickly and often. And while plenty of medical guidelines exist, sometimes finding the right answer relies on intuition as much as logic. So what happens when suddenly that intuition is gone? Dr. Ronald Dworkin, a retired anesthesiologist, found out the answer to that question about halfway through his 28-year career.
Decades Of ‘Death Cramps’ Later, A Search For Answers To Period Pain

2 months ago | wunc.org | Kaia Findlay |Anita Rao |Amanda Magnus

Ever since Kate Downey got her first extremely painful period at age 14, every month feels like playing Russian roulette with her uterus. Will she get “normal” abdominal discomfort — or excruciating, life-disrupting “death cramps”? “ You don't know if you're gonna spend six hours in the bathroom throwing up every ten minutes and passing out, or if you're gonna be able to go about your normal life,” Kate said.
Why We Need Trans Tech In 2025

Mar 28, 2025 | wunc.org | Kaia Findlay

Since his first day in office, President Trump has rolled out executive orders limiting transgender Americans' access to healthcare, passports, sports and the military. One trans scholar says it’s vital, in this moment, to talk about technology. “ I don't have any illusions that technology is going to solve these problems,” said Oliver Haimson, assistant professor at University of Michigan School of Information.