Braaains

Braaains Podcast

A podcast exploring the inner workings of our brains, mental health, & disabilities and how film & television portray them. Each episode, hosted by sisters Heather & Sarah Taylor, has an expert talk about a specific facet of our brains. Guests include therapists, scientists, and those with lived experiences and they share facts, insights, and how-tos with our listeners. We then discuss TV series and films that capture this specific aspect of our brains and tell it as it really is. Please follow/subscribe on your favorite podcast app, listen to new episodes biweekly on Tuesdays (every two weeks), and let us know your thoughts about the show. If you enjoy Braaains, please take a moment to rate the show 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ For more information or to suggest a topic, please visit: https://www.braaainspodcast.com.

  1. Unfolding Faith and How Deconversion Redefines Identity and Relationships

    NOV 25

    Unfolding Faith and How Deconversion Redefines Identity and Relationships

    Elyse Bouvier is a filmmaker, photographer, and writer who recently wrote and directed the short documentary, Unfolding Faith, for the National Film Board of Canada. In this nuanced and timely short film, Elyse explores how her decision to give up her faith redefined both her identity and her relationships with her parents.  We spoke to Elyse about her deconversion from Evangelical Christianity and what it was like to have raw yet empathetic conversations about faith while making her documentary with her devout mother and her father, a former pastor turned atheist. We also discussed shows like Unorthodox and films about transformation, like Barbie and Wild, and how Elyse would love to see TV and film tackle the nuanced, grey areas of the deconversion process and what it is like to live in mixed-faith families. CW: religion and religious themes DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPT: https://braaainspodcast.com/s/Braaains-Podcast-Transcript_EP078_Unfolding-Faith.pdf Contact us: BraaainsPodcast.com Follow: @BraaainsPodcast Music: @_Deppisch_ Support this show: Patreon.com/BraaainsPodcast

    49 min
  2. Crip Trip and the Labour of Care Work

    OCT 28

    Crip Trip and the Labour of Care Work

    Today's guests are the creators and stars of Crip Trip, a new AMI-tv series following Daniel Ennett, a quadruple amputee, and his best friend turned first-time caregiver, Frederick Kroetsch, on a cross-country road trip from Edmonton to New York City in their beat-up 1983 RV.  Over the course of the series, they tackle the challenges of caregiving, government shortcomings, and personal growth, all while offering a unique and candid look at the disability community, friendship, and the fight for equal opportunities.  In our conversation about the series, we delve into a conversation about the realities of caregiving and how often we forget that care work is labour that often goes unrecognized and unpaid.  Sarah has had the opportunity to work with Daniel and Fred throughout her career and was one of the editors on the series. In fact, this past weekend, Crip Trip won two Rosie awards, including best editor for documentary series over 30 minutes!! So proud of them!! DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://braaainspodcast.com/s/Braaains-Podcast-Transcript-Episode-077-Crip-Trip-and-the-Labour-of-Care-Work.pdf Contact us: BraaainsPodcast.com Follow: @BraaainsPodcast Music: @_Deppisch_ Support this show: Patreon.com/BraaainsPodcast

    41 min
  3. Military Service and Life After Deployment

    SEP 30

    Military Service and Life After Deployment

    Our guest, Dylan Park-Pettiford, is a writer, director, and author from the San Francisco Bay Area. He served as a member of the military for six years, including a deployment in Iraq during the Iraq War. Dylan wrote for the popular courtroom drama, ALL RISE, and served as a writer and consultant for 68 WHISKEY, which follows a group of army medics deployed to a forward operating base in Afghanistan. Dylan recently released his new book, Roadside: My Journey to Iraq and the Long Road Home. A military memoir by a biracial child of refugees and survivors, Roadside is about life and death, about family lost and gained, and about America, as a dream and a reality. In a world marred by a seemingly endless wave of negativity, this story of love, loss, and brotherhood may offer a faint glimmer of hope as we face an uncertain future. In this episode, we talk with Dylan about his time in Iraq as part of the US Military, the impact it had on his mental health, and what it was like to return home to a world that had moved on without him, especially when the violence he thought he'd left in the Middle East followed him home.  "An indelible story of war and survival. Roadside is a portrait of America, its wars, and the kids who fight them. It is also a map of the funny, tortured, and heartbreaking journey they must undertake if they want to return home."—Elliot Ackerman, award-winning author of On Places and Names: On War, Revolution, and Returning. CW: We discuss PTSD, suicidal ideation, addiction, murder, and homelessness in this episode. READ THE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://braaainspodcast.com/s/Braaains-Podcast-Transcript-EP076-Military-Service-and-Life-After-Deployment.pdf Contact us: BraaainsPodcast.com Follow: @BraaainsPodcast Music: @_Deppisch_ Support this show: Patreon.com/BraaainsPodcast

    37 min
  4. Navigating Low Vision and Albinism on Pretty Blind

    AUG 26

    Navigating Low Vision and Albinism on Pretty Blind

    We are excited to talk to broadcast presenter, columnist, host, speaker, and now actor, Jennie Bovard. She stars in and is an associate producer for the scripted comedy series Pretty Blind on AMI. She is also the creator & host of the Low Vision Moments podcast, where she discusses her experiences with albinism and low vision. On today's episode, we talk about how Jennie developed the show based on the experiences she shared on her podcast. We also discuss albinism and low vision and what Jennie would love to see represented more on film and television – obviously, our favorite subject! TRANSCRIPT:  https://braaainspodcast.com/s/Braaains-Podcast-Transcript-Episode-075_-Navigating-Low-Vision-and-Albinism-on-Pretty-Blind.pdf Contact us: BraaainsPodcast.com Follow: @BraaainsPodcast Music: @_Deppisch_ Support this show: Patreon.com/BraaainsPodcast

    37 min
  5. Reframing Life After an Acquired Disability

    JUL 29

    Reframing Life After an Acquired Disability

    Today's conversation is with Laura McKenzie about how she reframed her life after experiencing Transverse myelitis, which led to her spontaneous paralysis on New Year's Day in 2023. Laura is a stay-at-home mom who raises her kids, loves her dogs, and is a good partner, all while being in a wheelchair and having to relearn everything she previously knew how to do. She has become immersed in the once-foreign world of disability, and she has now found herself an advocate for it.  She recently wrote a children's book titled 'Mommy Grew A Wheelchair,' which features images of Laura (before and after her paralysis), her two kids, and the family's two big, shaggy dogs. It's currently available on Etsy or Ko-Fi. READ TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://braaainspodcast.com/s/Braaains-Podcast-Episode-074-Transcript-Reframing-Life-After-an-Acquired-Disability.pdf Contact us: BraaainsPodcast.com Follow: @BraaainsPodcast Music: @_Deppisch_ Support this show: Patreon.com/BraaainsPodcast

    37 min
  6. PBS's The Class and the Importance of Mentorship

    JUN 24

    PBS's The Class and the Importance of Mentorship

    Our guest, Wax Taber, is a multi-award-winning documentary editor who worked on the PBS series, THE CLASS. This docuseries was set amid the turmoil of a pandemic year and follows six students from Deer Valley High School as they pursue their dreams of higher education, with their adviser, Mr. Cam, helping them overcome the challenges they face. We talk about the importance of mentors as seen in this series and the impact this support can have on your mental health. We also talk about the importance of mentors in Wax's life as she navigated: homelessness as a teen in New York to being a part of the EOP program, which allowed her to have financial and emotional support to attend SUNY Fredonia and finally, to becoming an award-winning editor who maintains life-long bonds with the mentors who helped her make it all possible.  READ TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://braaainspodcast.com/s/Braaains-Podcast-EP073-Transcript_-PBSs-The-Class-and-the-Importance-of-Mentorship.pdf Contact us: BraaainsPodcast.com Follow: @BraaainsPodcast Music: @_Deppisch_ Support this show: Patreon.com/BraaainsPodcast

    57 min
  7. Youth and Suicide in American Cinema

    MAY 20

    Youth and Suicide in American Cinema

    Our co-host, Heather had the pleasure of interviewing sociologist and artist Alessandra Seggi about her latest book Youth and Suicide in American Cinema: Context, Causes, and Consequences. Alessandra is a Fulbright grantee with a PhD in Sociology and MA in Media Studies and the analysis in her book is both a personal and professional reflection on suicide in film. Youth and suicide in American Cinema is about the portrayal of suicide in youth films covering both studio-driven and independent cinema from 1900 to 2018. It aims to understand such portrayals by offering a proactive approach via a media literacy strategy for engaged audiences in order for them to interpret these portrayals. Ultimately, via their thorough analysis, films become the much-needed buffer that allows people to gain enough distance from suicide and suicidal behavior to actually talk about it, and via this interview, Alessandra gives guidance to filmmakers on how to better portray this often stigmatized topic.  Content Warning: This episode deals with death, suicide, suicidal behaviors, and their portrayals DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPT: https://braaainspodcast.com/s/Braaains-EP072-Transcript-Youth-and-Suicide-in-American-Cinema-with-Alessandra-Seggi.pdf Contact us: BraaainsPodcast.com Follow: @BraaainsPodcast Music: @_Deppisch_ Support this show: Patreon.com/BraaainsPodcast

    1h 16m
  8. Ontario Place and the Importance of Third Places

    APR 1

    Ontario Place and the Importance of Third Places

    Today we delve into the importance of public and free third places and how they impact your mental health. We had the pleasure of talking with filmmaker, Ali Weinstein about her first observational documentary, Your Tomorrow, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024.  The film is about the last year in the life of Ontario Place which became a defacto public park 10 years ago after living many lives as an educational and entertainment destination. Ontario Place was a third place that acted as a refuge to a lot of Torontonians until the government decided to turn the main part of the space into a private spa and despite public process, construction began in October of 2024, a month after Ali's documentary premiered.  For those of you who haven't heard of third places before, it's a sociological term that refers to the social surroundings that are separate from the two usual social environments of home ("first place") and the workplace ("second place"). Third places are "anchors" of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction. They are spaces like churches, cafes, libraries, gyms, bookstores, gaming spaces, parks, and theatres, where people can gather, relax, and engage in meaningful interactions, which can positively impact mental health by fostering a sense of community and belonging. Third places are where we can both affirm our own identities and build empathy for identities different from our own.  In Ray Oldenburg and Karen Christensen's 1989 book The Great Good Place, Oldenburg argues that third places are important for democracy, civic engagement, and a sense of place. In the 2023 edition, Christensen argues that third places are also the answer to loneliness, political polarization, and climate resilience.  DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://braaainspodcast.com/s/Braaains-Podcast-Transcript-EP071-Ontario-Place-and-the-Importance-of-Third-Places.pdf Contact us: BraaainsPodcast.com Follow: @BraaainsPodcast Music: @_Deppisch_ Support this show: Patreon.com/BraaainsPodcast

    53 min
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4.9
out of 5
30 Ratings

About

A podcast exploring the inner workings of our brains, mental health, & disabilities and how film & television portray them. Each episode, hosted by sisters Heather & Sarah Taylor, has an expert talk about a specific facet of our brains. Guests include therapists, scientists, and those with lived experiences and they share facts, insights, and how-tos with our listeners. We then discuss TV series and films that capture this specific aspect of our brains and tell it as it really is. Please follow/subscribe on your favorite podcast app, listen to new episodes biweekly on Tuesdays (every two weeks), and let us know your thoughts about the show. If you enjoy Braaains, please take a moment to rate the show 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ For more information or to suggest a topic, please visit: https://www.braaainspodcast.com.

Information

  • Creator
    Braaains Podcast
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    80
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2024
  • Show Website
    Braaains

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