Sara Benincasa
“I was raised Catholic, but my dad worked in the birth control industry, and that was verboten at church,” says author, comedian, and actress Sara Benincasa. “There were a lot of mixed messages!” The confusion that Benincasa felt as a child is what led her to come out as bisexual slowly in her mid-to-late-20s. Growing up in a “somewhat isolated and culturally homogenous area” in New Jersey, she loved being able to run around and explore — but Benincasa loves where she’s going just as much. She’s the host of the mental health podcast “Well, This Isn’t Normal” and speaks at universities and corporations about mental health awareness. Benincasa is also the author of five books — her latest being “Real Artists Have Day Jobs” — and spends a lot of time meeting people and listening to their stories. It’s those experiences that make Benincasa’s constant traveling and meetings worth it, and she admits that she shares her own story “as the entry fee in order to hopefully earn access to others’.” “Online or in real life, I get to go out into the wider world and listen to people,” says Benincasa. “What an honor and a pleasure to get to do this work.” —IL
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