Tuning in

After winning three 2024 Podcast Academy Awards this past spring, “Weight For It” returns for a second season Sept. 5.

Creator Ronald Young Jr. (B.S.’07) says he’s planning 10 to 12 episodes, an ambitious leap from 2023’s seven-episode premiere, most of which revolved around Young’s daily life as he shops for clothes, ponders his desirability and ruminates about his body.

“We’re in production now [on season two]. I’m actually writing an episode today,” the host and audio producer says in an interview in early July. “We’re [going to be] talking about plane travel. We’ll talk about Ozempic, which feels like the hot-button issue of the time. We’ll talk about grief. I’m really excited about the direction of these episodes.”

For new listeners — or those looking for a refresher before Season 2 begins — Young suggests “A Shame Spiral” (Season 1, Episode 2). Part introduction, part confession, the episode focuses on a relationship Young had with a young woman while he attended VCU. “At the time, I was straight-sized and she was fat, and because of the ways in which my friends teased me for liking her, I felt ashamed of our relationship,” Young says.

“That episode … gives an overarching view of what I thought of myself before I gained weight and what I think of myself now that I have gained weight, and how that actually [shows up] in my actions toward others, both then and now,” he says. “I think it’s a good narrative arc from my past to now — that’s an important place to start for people who know nothing about the show. Of course, Episode 1 does a little of that. But this one gives a full story.

“I hope after the episode, listeners recognize that most of us have probably done something fat-phobic in our past or even are doing it in the present. And I hope they know it doesn’t make them a bad person; what makes you a bad person is if you’re not learning and growing from the mistakes you made. I hope they gain an idea of what it means to interact with a fat person and not treat them so well and maybe examine themselves and ask how they can do better in the future.”