On today's episode we have filmmaker Ashley Gianni (she/her). I was eager to get Ashley on the show after getting to see an early screening of her comedic short film, "The Late in Life Guide to Modern Day Lesbianism." It's a spoof on the 90's corporate training tapes, this time as a how-to guide for women who come out as lesbian's at a point they deem 'later.' The film is funny but also touches on such real aspects to what it means to come out later and is SO Second Adolescence-y.

In this conversation, Ashley shares with us her own personal story that inspired the film. We chat about the interconnectedness between her receiving a neurodivergent diagnosis in adulthood and her making sense of her queerness, the feeling of being not queer enough, the power of community, and the wild, beautiful, thrilling, and empowering ride that is early queer dating. Ashley's work is so important and this conversation was just so special and fun to get to be in - thank you for joining us, Ashley!

About the guest:

Ashley Gianni is an award-winning actor, director, writer, producer, and founder of Pizza Bagel Pictures LLC, a queer, female-led production company dedicated to telling bold, socially impactful stories. Her work centers on uplifting queer and female voices, using storytelling as a tool for connection, healing, and change.

Ashley holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from Chapman University and is a proud SAG-AFTRA, WIF, WIM, and FilmmakeHERs member, and female, queer storyteller. Learn more about Ashley and Pizza Bagel Pictures at www.ashleygianni.com and www.pizzabagelpictures.com. Keep up with Ashley and her films on social by following @ashleygianni and @pizzabagelpictures .

For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com and @secondadolescencepod.

On today's episode, we have Tim Smith (he/him). Tim so powerfully models what it is to be someone who is in the active work of continuing to offer healing to the younger versions of ourselves who endured trauma and pain, and gifting them today what they needed then.

In this conversation, Tim takes us back into his story - beginning with growing up gay in an overly anti-queer and neglectful environment, and then figuring out how to survive on his own at a young age. His story is one of survival and resilience, and we hear how he managed to navigate that beginning to reach a very sweet and beautiful present day. His memoir details all of this and more.

About the guest:

Tim Smith (he/him) is the author of Fault Line: Still Standing, a raw and unflinching memoir about survival, resilience, and the long shadow childhood trauma can cast over a life. Born in Pensacola, Florida, Smith grew up in the rural South in an environment shaped by addiction, instability, and neglect—experiences that would later form the emotional backbone of his writing. Before becoming an author, Smith worked a wide range of jobs that reflected both necessity and curiosity about the world: from short-order cook to labor in a Navy shipyard, eventually building a career in the financial sector as an executive assistant. Along the way he also developed a passion for photography, earning recognition and awards for his work behind the camera.

Today, Smith lives in Los Angeles with his husband and their four rescue dogs. His life now stands in stark contrast to the chaos of his childhood—a testament to the central idea at the heart of Fault Line: that the past may shape us, but it does not have to define us. Through his writing, photography, and creative work, Smith continues to explore themes of identity, resilience, and what it means to build a life after survival. Learn more about Tim and his book at https://www.faultlinememoir.com/

For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.

Today's episode is with comedian, actor, writer Eliot Glazer (he/him). I was eager to get Eliot onto the show to get to talk about his new book, The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bay Gay (out now!). The book and today's conversation is really about what it means to be a gay person who doesn't feel like you fit the mold of who it feels you should be as a gay person, and this greater process of giving ourselves permission to exist exactly as we are. Eliot infuses so much heart, vulnerability, and depth into his comedy, and this book is exactly that and more. In this chat, we hear a lot from Eliot about his experience growing up, navigating being closeted, coming out, and the struggle of figuring out who he is as a gay man. I SO loved his book and this conversation with him, taking so much from it personally.

Get the book HERE!

About the guest:

As a screenwriter, Eliot Glazer has written for New Girl, The Boys, Billy on the Street, iCarly and Younger. As a performer, Eliot can be seen opposite Seth Rogen in the film American Pickle, HGTV’s House Hunters: Comedians on Couches, and alongside Rachel Bloom on Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin’s Netflix special Ladies Night Live. He is set to appear on the upcoming season of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest and on So U Think U Can Sports, a Lemonada Media podcast executive produced by Charles Barkley and Justin Hartley. Eliot lives in Los Angeles.

On today's episode, we have Dr. Ilan Meyer (he/him) who can be thought of as one of the Beyoncé's of research on the LGBTQ+ experience. His work - which is perhaps the most cited in LGBTQ+ psychological research - has been devoted to highlighting the unique minority stress LGBTQ+ folks endure, and the physical and psychological impacts this can have. In this chat, Dr. Meyer takes us back in time to learn what led him into this work, and then dives into a conversation all about what minority stress is for LGBTQ+ folks and its impacts. We also hear from him about his experience providing expert testimony in the landmark case that overturned California's infamous Proposition 8's ban on gay marriage. It was such an honor to sit down with Dr. Meyer, I'm so excited to invite you into the conversation.

About the guest:

Ilan H. Meyer, Ph.D., is the Williams Distinguished Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute and Professor Emeritus of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University. In several highly cited papers, Ilan has developed a model of minority stress. The model has guided his and other investigators’ population research on LGBT health disparities by identifying the processes by which social stressors impact health and describing the harm to LGBT people from prejudice and stigma. Ilan is the Principal Investigator of the Generations Study, a U.S. national probability study of stress, identity, health, and health care utilization across three cohorts of sexual minorities, and TransPop, the first national probability sample of transgender individuals in the U.S. Ilan received a Ph.D. in Sociomedical Sciences from Columbia University.

Generations study: https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/projects/generations/

For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod (IG).

On today's episode, we have Daniel O'Shaughnessy (he/him). Daniel is a London-based, nutritionist, Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner, mindset coach, and author. The topic of today's conversion is body dysmorphia is, why queer people, particularly gay men, are susceptible to it, and how we can heal from it. Ultimately, this conversation is about healing shame the world put onto us, and I so appreciate Daniel both for his work and sharing his own story of suffering and then what has supported his own healing (shoutout: psychedelic therapies!). This is an important topic and a layered conversation, and I'm excited to get to invite you into it.

About the guest:

Daniel O'Shaughnessy (he/him) is a nutritionist, Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner, breathwork facilitator, and mindset coach whose work sits at the intersection of physiology, psychology, trauma, identity, and lived experience.

He is the author of The Queer Guide to Nutrition and Lifestyle, publishing in August 2026, and Letting Go of Perfect: A Gay Man’s Guide to Healing from Body Dysmorphia. His books explore LGBTQ+ health, body image, shame, self-worth, and the deeper patterns that shape our relationships with food, body, and wellbeing.

With a Master’s degree in Trauma and Transpersonal Experiences, Daniel brings together evidence-informed nutrition, functional medicine, breathwork, and transpersonal practice to create spaces for safety, reflection, and meaningful personal change. His work is shaped by both professional training and lived experience, including neurodivergence and trauma, giving him a grounded understanding of how healing often requires more than information alone.

You can learn more about Daniel at danieloshaughnessy.com/

Instagram + Tik Tok @thenakednutritionist.

For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod (IG).

We all know what homophobia is but what exactly makes people homophobic? Yes, culture, religion, and media have historically perpetuated homophobic messages but not every person who receives those messages becomes homophobic, and definitely not every one of those people engage in homophobic violence or actions. So what exactly makes people homophobic? That’s the question counseling psychologist and psychodynamic psychotherapist Dr. Julian-Pascal Saadi (he/him) has spent so much time exploring in his research and he’s here with us today to talk about it. Specifically, we’ll be exploring why men in particular are often perpetrators of homophobic violence, what’s happening here, and why as queer people it could be helpful for us to have this understanding. This was such a fascinating conversation for me to be in, I so appreciate Julian and his work, and for also sharing with us his own personal story which was also just so powerful.

About the guest:

Dr Julian-Pascal Saadi (he/him) is a Counselling Psychologist and Psychodynamic Psychotherapist working with the LGBTQIA+ community in Australia and the United Kingdom. He has an interest in the ways psychoanalysis can help us make sense of cultural issues and politics. His work focuses on the developmental origins of homophobia and internalised homophobia, and what this means for Queer people as they embark on their healing journeys. You can find him on Instagram at @drjulianpascalsaadi, or visit his website at www.juliansaadi.com.

For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.

We are back after quite a pause! Our last episode was in June 2025, and host Adam James Cohen shares about the reason for the pause plus brief discussion about why we're returning now amidst everything going on in our world.

The bulk of today's episode is Adam guiding listeners who are interested in space to check-in on their queer healing journey. Adam created a FREE PDF reflection guide: "THIS QUEER YEAR: A New Year Reflection Guide for LGBTQ+ Adults Healing From Anti-Queerness" which you can download here. Today's episode is an audio companion to this guide, inviting listeners to reflect on the 6 key areas supportive of helping LGBTQ+ adults heal from the impacts of having grown up queer in an anti-queer world.

More episodes are coming soon. If you are interested in being a future guest on the show, guest submissions are currently open. Visit https://www.secondadolescencepod.com/beaguest to submit your interest!

For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescence (IG)

On this week's episode we have Bella Crum (they/she). Bella is a queer and neurodivergent somatic practitioner specializing in supporting queer and neurodivergent folks. In this conversation, Bella lets us into their own journey of understanding her queerness and neurodivergence, what healing and support has been for them in this process, and what somatic work actually is and how it can help us unmask, heal, and actually feel like our most true and free selves. I SO loved learning from and connecting with Bella, and am sure you will too!

About the guest:

Bella Crum is a queer and neurodivergent somatic practitioner who helps people become friends with their past, present, and future selves and the bodies that carry them—without shame, pressure, or pretending to be someone they’re not. She blends nervous system science, identity exploration, and a handful of swear words to support folks in unmasking, healing, and actually feeling like themselves. Basically, if you’ve ever thought “Am I queer enough?” or “Why does being a person feel so hard?”—they’re your people.

Links: For free resources, coaching and to sign up for the Somatic Yes course, you can visit www.rainbowwillows.org

To find Bella on social media, search @SomethinAboutBella on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube or click directly to the links on RainbowWillows.org

For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com and @secondadolescencepod.