Ozempic in the headlines, weight stigma in the subtext
Sounds Like Impact: A newsletter for audio and action – Vol. 1
Welcome to Volume 1 of Sounds Like Impact!
Content warning: The podcast curation and calls to action for this edition will focus on topics related to weight stigma. Managing our weight has traditionally been framed as an issue of individual responsibility and less as an issue of systemic shortcomings with social determinants at play.
If you have struggled with disordered eating, please take care with the episodes in this newsletter. You can find resources in the “Calls to Action” section, and can skip to the “Spotlight” section should you want to avoid this topic altogether.
Announcements: It’s Adopt - a - Listener Month brought to you by Tink Media!
If you told me in the Tell Me About Yourself survey that you’ve never listened to a podcast, congratulations, I am trying to adopt you! If you know of someone who hasn’t listened to a podcast before, consider recommending your favorite show or maybe sharing this newsletter to get them started. And if your suggestions don’t work for them, have them email me this month and I will make it my mission to find them something. I’m serious! soundslikeimpact [at] unofficialsocialchair [dot] com
Speaking of Tink, special shoutout to Shreya Sharma–one of the hardest working women in podcasting–who among many other things in the podcast ecosystem does PR & marketing for Tink and writes Inside Podcasting, which featured Sounds Like Impact this week. She also writes an audio recs newsletter you can check out here.
🙌 Keeping the faith: Narcan will be available over the counter in the U.S., meaning we may be able to more easily play a role in preventing overdoses from opioids!
Read more from Word In Black.
🎧 #AudioforAction Theme of the Week:
Weight stigma is the subtext
Ozempic is a drug that has been in the headlines a lot lately. Most of the chatter is speculation about which celebrities are taking it, and how those with wealth are tapping the supply dry.
Podcast ICYMI implies there is something more sinister at play, and I agree: we are once again engaging publicly in conversations steeped in weight stigma and anti-fat bias. While I’ve included Science Vs to talk about the science behind Ozempic, and ICYMI to shed light on the recent discourse, the rest of the curation will remind us of the very real impact our talks about, and bias against, fatness has on people–especially children.
Science Vs, Weight Loss Meds: Is Ozempic a Miracle Drug?
“…I don't do it to be a size 2, I do it to maybe be a size 18, which doesn't really change how the world sees me. I still will be a plus size woman in a country, in a world where that's not the ideal, but I just try to do the best I can with what I got.” - Science Vs. listener from episode
ICYMI, Gwyneth Paltrow and the Ozempic Craze
“So the fat acceptance movement began around the late sixties and early seventies and very importantly, I’m going to say this so many times throughout the show, it began not as this very individualist you should feel good about your body RA s*** that we’ve been subjected to for the past decade.
It began as a recognition of the fact that fat people were and are treated in society as lesser than thin people.” - Host Rachelle Hampton
The Sporkful, Raina’s Disordered Eating, One Year Later
“Like, my mom came to visit me in spring, and I said to her, ‘This is a real problem for me. And I would like to talk to a therapist about this.’ And she was like, ‘You have to acknowledge. You have to acknowledge that you're not like, you know, those girls throwing up in the bathrooms or like, who starve themselves.’ And I just didn't know what to say to that because I felt like I was being really vulnerable with her and she was not honoring that.” - Raina
Additional content warning: In this episode, actor and comedian Margaret Cho briefly mentions her experience being molested.
Maintenance Phase, Doctors Have a New Plan for Fat Kids
“Childhood obesity results from a multifactorial set of socioecological, environmental, and genetic influences that act on children and families. These influences tend to be more prevalent among children who have experienced negative environmental and social determinants of health, such as racism. Overweight and obesity are more common in children who live in poverty, children who live in under-resourced communities, in families that have emigrated, or in children who experience discrimination or stigma." - American Academy of Pediatrics
Rebel Eaters Club, Debunking the BMI with Dr. Janet Tomiyama |
“…you will not tell me how to eat. And that is how I maintain dignity. And dignity is significant for a person's mental health.” - Host Virgie Tovar
Get the podcast playlist on Spotify or Podchaser for wherever you may listen.
On Podchaser I will maintain a record of all playlists. The Spotify playlist will refresh on Wednesdays with each edition.
🚨 Calls to Action
First, think before you speak: It is rarely okay to comment on anyone’s weight whether you believe they gained weight or lost it, especially if unprompted. Speculation about who is using a weight-loss intervention is to be avoided
Review: Stop Weight Bias for how to be an ally
Listen / Read: Fat Phobia and Its Racist Past and Present, NPR Short Wave
Learn: Did you know that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month? While not the case with everyone, history of trauma and abuse has been linked to disordered eating
Resources: National Eating Disorder Hotline (800) 931-2237 ; Text / Call 988 for Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
📣 Spotlight
Lately I have enjoyed listening to I Am America. This show is a reminder that there are good, everyday people that find ways to be extraordinary by showing up for their communities. More on the show below:
I Am America, presented by Tracee Ellis Ross, is a collection of audio portraits that expand our understanding of identity, the idea of community, and the possibility of our country. In each episode, you’ll hear the story of someone searching for belonging, hope, and joy, and the effect that their experience has on people around them.
The 10-part series sheds light on some really important issues. And if you would like to continue with this week’s theme in your listening, I suggest starting with “Episode 1: Growing Children in Harlem with Tony Hillery” and following with “Episode 7: ‘Injustice in Health’ with Dr. Rachel Hardeman.”
⏭ Coming Up
Next week we will have the first of many environmental themed curations coming to your queue from this newsletter. In honor of Earth Day (April 22), I will also have a special interview with Ruxandra Guidi, who most recently hosted The Catch podcast.
🤗 An act of joy: I am on a family vacation and signed up for snowboarding lessons today! My experience with winter sports is limited to ice skating…twice. Needless to say, I’ll have an experience. No photos to share yet, but maybe next week.
Take care of yourselves! And if you listen or take any actions, be sure to let me know in the comments or via email soundslikeimpact [at] unofficialsocialchair [dot] com.
Amazing 👏
Love this so much, Ayo!