Lena Dunham is Autistic (Episode 113)

Autistic Culture | Where autism meets identity!

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Lena Dunham is Autistic (Episode 113)

In this episode, Matt and Angela dive into the neurodivergent themes in Lena Dunham’s work, exploring her characters, personal experiences, and the intersection of autism in creative spaces.

Sami Harris

Mar 11, 2025

Transcript

An episode that dives deep into the neurodivergent narrative!

In Episode 113 of The Autistic Culture Podcast, Matt and Angela explore the deeply autistic-coded world of Lena Dunham, from her EDS diagnosis to her groundbreaking (and often misunderstood) work on Girls.

Here’s what’s in store for today’s episode:

Why Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and POTS often co-occur with autism—and how Lena Dunham’s chronic illness journey mirrors autistic burnout.
How Girls functions as an autistic TV show, created by a mind that doesn’t follow neurotypical storytelling norms—and why that resonates with so many of us.
Lena’s character in Girls exhibits traits like rejection-sensitive dysphoria, clothing sensitivities, difficulty with transitions, and social cue misfires—classic markers of autism.
We explore Dunham’s memoir, Not That Kind of Girl, and how neurotypical audiences misunderstood it, highlighting the risks autistic creatives face when being raw and unfiltered.
The canonical autism of Girls character Shoshanna, and how autistic-coded characters naturally cluster in neurodivergent-created spaces.
How Lena Dunham’s autistic traits were pathologized, her career sidelined, and howa lack of control in creative environments can lead to health crises for neurodivergent people.
We also discuss her marriage to Jack Antonoff, and his neurodivergent-coded songwriting for bands like Fun. and Bleachers, as well as his ties to Taylor Swift, who’s also widely considered neurodivergent-coded.

“When I tell people I’m autistic, they say, ‘I don’t see it.’ Then I say, ‘well, I’m a Taurus’, and they say, ‘that makes sense.’” - Matt Lowry LPP

“A minute ago, we were talking about how exciting it is that she went to college, made a movie, went to South by Southwest, and got a film greenlit by HBO. Does this sound like an autistic thing that happens? Works 24 hours a day, wins every award, is a media darling, and then is fucking hated by everyone?” - Dr Angela Kingdon

“This is a common thing among autistic people, because when you’re young and vital and stuff, you put a lot of energy out there and then, for some reason, we expect that we’re going to be able to maintain that level of energy throughout our lives. We cannot.” - Matt Lowry LPP

“We experience far more stress than neurotypical people, because we live in a world that constantly bombards us with sensory information, with data. We have to mask all the time. We have more stuff that stresses us out than neurotypicals do. So, we are more likely to have all of these things, but again, we don’t know if it’s a 1:1 ratio that, just plain being autistic, means it’s more common.” - Matt Lowry LPP

Did you enjoy this episode? We delved into how autism intersects with various aspects of life, from Lena Dunham's neurodivergent-coded characters to the struggles of navigating rejection-sensitive dysphoria and burnout. Tune in as we explore the nuances of being neurodivergent in creative spaces and the connections between autistic individuals, like Lena Dunham and Taylor Swift. Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and use #AutisticCultureCatch to share your experiences!

Show notes:

Why Taylor Swift Seems to Be Autistic, and What it Means for Autism: