Naoki Higashida brought the tea with his most recent book in translation Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8 about his experience as a non-verbal autistic young adult, and an extremely successful writer and speaker. Julia and Victoria share some of their favorite insights from his work on everything from ableism in education to the importance of allowing disabled people to express their full humanity in a world that prefers to pretend they do not exist.

It’s time for deep talks about vulnerability and bravery as Julia, Victoria, and their friend Marlowe dig into Brené Brown’s 2016 publication Braving the Wilderness.

What can we learn about embodiment from an octopus? And what does that have to do with neurodiversity and empathy? Julia and Victoria discuss all this and more with their friend Cayla, whose special interest is octopuses, as they dig deeper into The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery.

“I just love her so much... I would gladly be in a one-sided friendship with Michelle Obama. I would submit myself to that kind of heartbreak.” - Simone Stevens, guest for this episode, in which Julia and Victoria discuss Becoming by Michelle Obama