Mind y(our) mental health 🧘♂️
Sounds Like Impact: A newsletter for audio and action - Vol. 28
Welcome to Sounds Like Impact!
👋🏾 If you are new here and haven’t had a chance to introduce yourself, please do! Where are you coming from and what kind of podcasts do you like / social issues do you care about?
Today I am doing a curation about mental health. There is a lot competing for our attention in this very digital world we live in. Daily we are bombarded with news of war, natural disaster, deepening inequality and more. So how are different people coping, and what are some ways we can take care of ourselves? That’s what this curation will explore.
Content warning: Quite a few episodes do reference self-harm or substance abuse, so please take care if you choose to listen. Resources will be provided.
ICYMI: Last week we had a guest curation from Jenna Spinelle about ‘Building Civic Power’ and I interviewed Dr. Montinique “Money” McEachern from Rebound Revolution.
Community: Blake Pfeil, creator of abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast, who I interviewed for this newsletter, recently did a curation with our friends from EarBuds Podcast Collective. Check it out!
Making Contact put together some resources on what is happening in Gaza. And Alexandra Cohl, one of our recent guest curators and writer of Podcasting by the Moon, always includes a section on things to banish. The latest? The negative ways we are talking about and treating one another online (and offline) as a result of the conflict. Read here.
Editorial Planning: Good news! Guest curations and upcoming interviews have been scheduled for the rest of the editorial year. Thanks to everyone who submitted or agreed to participating! You can still pitch guest curations or interviews, but please note that consideration will be for 2024.
If you want to be part of any remaining 2023 planning, curations still accepting episode pitches are below:
11/15 - Indigenous Science
11/29 - Debt
🎧 #AudioForAction Theme of the Week
Minding Our Mental Health
It goes without saying that mental health is an important topic, and that we all are trying to manage in different ways: some healthy, some not, and some caught in the middle of a polarizing debate.
There are six episodes in the curation, and it is organized into pairs. You may choose to listen to one episode from each pair, or both. The first two episodes deal with the increasing recognition of psychedelics as potential ways to treat mental health struggles. The second set of episodes are about substance addiction and sobriety. And the final two selections are about the connection of sleep and mindfulness to mental health.
My hope is that we learn what might be possible when it comes to taking care of ourselves, and that we also increase our empathy for one another while we try to find inner peace on this planet.
What Happens Next?, Should We Decriminalise Psychedelics?
This is a great podcast from Australia that in addition to perspective and context from there, also references some research done in the U.S. Thanks to producer Stephanie to pitching this!
Seeking, Psychedelics | 1. Leap first
Full disclosure: I haven’t listened to the whole series yet, but I plan on finishing. If you are looking for a series on the topic, outside of my previous recommendation–Truth Be Told’s season on psychedelics to heal racial trauma–this could be an option.
Mina AF with Mina Starsiak Hawk, Why We Went Sober
More and more people are exploring sobriety, and they all have their reasons for doing so. I appreciate Mina and her husband’s honesty in making this decision for themselves and for their mental health. Thanks to Andreea for pitching this!
All The Wiser, 80. Her Secret Ambien Addiction Almost Killed Her
I chose this episode because of how this story intersects with race and class. I am glad Laura—the guest—is on the other side of this, and that she told her story.
When Science Finds a Way with Alisha Wainright, Waking up: How can sleep impact on mental health?
I’m the first to admit that I am a night owl, and it’s a “good night” for me if I manage six hours of sleep. Seven, eight hours? I don’t know her. I know this isn’t sustainable long term, and this episode is making me rethink some of my sleep hygiene habits…
Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris, What is Mindfulness, Really? And How Do You Know If You Are Doing It Right? | Diana Winston
Before I came across this episode, I had also wondered what mindfulness actually is. I feel like it’s a word we hear over and over, but what does it actually mean for managing our mental health. Listen to find out.
🚨 Calls to Action
If you or someone you know is in need of help, please contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting 988 if in the U.S. or checking out Befrienders Worldwide for resources near you.
Listen:
The podcast Baggage Drop is not just about mental health, it’s about creating healthy habits through adjusting your mindset. Yes, it is branded content, but it does provide tips some may find helpful. It’s organized into 12 steps, and the episodes average about 10 minutes.
Work often plays a huge part in our lives, so The Anxious Achiever is a podcast that aims to reframe the conversation about anxiety and mental health in the workplace.
Learn: Did you know it is possible to get certified in Mental Health First Aid? You can look into this, or mental health education in general.
Looking for more mental health related curations? See below for some past editions of this newsletter:
👥 Community Corner
Say hello (again) to Alexandra Rivera! If you aren’t new here, you might recall I interviewed Alexandra last month about her podcast United Stateless. Alexandra is now also a paid subscriber to Sounds Like Impact, so allow me to reintroduce her as part of our Community Corner. For her bio, please check out the interview.
You pass a stranger on the street and can only say one sentence to get them interested in your show. What do you say?
Have you ever thought about what happens to Mexican immigrants who return to Mexico?
Share a podcast episode that you still think about to this day. What was it that moved you?
From my show United Stateless, Selena's story is the one that still haunts me. It's partly because I got to know her better than some of the other people who I talked to, but I also think that she and I had similar identity struggles growing up that manifested in such different ways, that this episode brings up a lot of emotions of existential dread and guilt for me personally. But I'm also so proud of her and where she's at now.
Make sure to check out United Stateless and more from those who help make this newsletter possible by visiting our Community page.
🌟 Classifieds
Nothing to promote but still want to support? You can donate here.
