Geek Therapy Network

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Channel • 9 Shows

Mental Health

Mental Health

Updated 12/13/2024
Hobbies

Hobbies

Updated 07/01/2024
Mental Health

Mental Health

Updated 05/13/2019
Mental Health

Mental Health

Updated 09/01/2020
Society & Culture

Society & Culture

Updated 08/04/2022
Science Fiction

Science Fiction

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Animation & Manga

Animation & Manga

Updated 05/31/2021

11/12/2013

Magic: The Gathering

#27: Guest: Natasha Lewis Harrington, a PsyD student and active member of the Magic community. Natasha writes articles combining psychology and Magic: The Gathering, the popular trading card game. Natasha and Josué discuss the game, the community, parallels with positive psychology, the MTG color pie, tournament play, and Magic’s potential uses in mental health. Natasha goes into detail about running a Magic gaming group at a mental health facility and the effect the experience had on its members. The post Magic: The Gathering appeared first on Geek Therapy.

11/12/2013

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56 min
11/11/2016

How To Become A Therapeutic RPG Game Master

#68: Josué interviews Adam Davis and Adam Johns, professional game masters and founders of Wheelhouse Workshop, where they run groups using tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons to help teens build real-life social skills. This is part 1 (of 2) of the interview. For the second half check out the episode “How To Be A Therapeutic RPG Game Master” on Rolling For Change. If you are on iTunes, click here. Wheelhouse Workshop: http://www.wheelhouseworkshop.com/ Rolling For Change on iTunes: https://itun.es/us/l64pfb.c Rolling For Change website: http://podcast.rollingforchange.com/ — Come chat with us on Geek Therapy Community Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/2jwHRv8 Find us at www.GeekTherapy.com | @GeekTherapy | Lara: @GeekTherapist | Josué: @JosueACardona *We are currently building the Geek Therapy Library which is designed to help fans communicate through their favorite movies, books, and games. It is a resource for therapists, teachers, and parents to find a way to work with or talk about things through awesome content and allow Geeks and Nerds everywhere a way to be better understood. You can help out by suggesting entries for the GT Library here: https://geektherapy.typeform.com/to/azCwM5. Or become a patron of the Library and Podcast here: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy. The post How To Become A Therapeutic RPG Game Master appeared first on Geek Therapy.

11/11/2016

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46 min
SEASON 1, EPISODE 6

Parliament of Dreams

In this episode, Josué and Woody discuss Parliament of Dreams- the 5th episode of Season 1 of Babylon 5. We discuss the fetishes of Narns, the value of personal attaches, and the ways in which Babylon 5 celebrates diversity in culture. The post Parliament of Dreams appeared first on Conspiracy of Light.

S1, E6

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1h 6m
07/01/2024

All the Feels in Inside Out 2

47: Join Ariel, Stef, and special guest Helen Garcia from Yellow Chair Collective for a heartfelt, hilarious, and insightful discussion on Inside Out 2 and the emotional rollercoaster that is adolescence. This episode unpacks how the film portrays anxiety, perfectionism, and identity shifts with surprising nuance, and why so many of us saw our younger (and current) selves in Riley’s journey. Whether you cried, cringed, or left the theater texting your therapist, this episode holds space for it all! Summary 00:00 Hosts and guest intros01:10 Inside Out 2, its massive marketing push, and what got left behind04:00 Spoiler warning and movie synopsis06:00 Anxiety’s debut and the anatomy of a panic attack09:00 When Joy can’t reach Anxiety—symbolism of helplessness11:00 Emotion combos, Internal Family Systems theory, and dynamic identity14:00 The evolving sense of self and grounding techniques17:00 Cultural misattunement during puberty (e.g., immigrant family dynamics)20:00 Why Riley’s experience didn’t feel universal for everyone22:00 Cultural TikToks reimagining emotions: Wu Ting, Honor, Filial Piety24:00 Core belief shifts: “I’m not enough” and perfectionism27:00 Visual art therapy and naming personal narratives30:00 Complexity vs. affirmation-only approaches32:00 Revisiting Joy, Sadness, and emotional integration34:00 Classroom tools for building identity through the school year37:00 Changing education systems and honoring the whole child39:00 Perfectionism as a survival response in racialized and immigrant communities42:00 Reflections on gamification, experiential learning, and emotional literacy47:00 Symbolic meanings in control boards and character design51:00 Are we all driven by one dominant emotion?54:00 The fragility of identity and metaphor of the belief system design56:00 Ice skating, burnout, and overachievement culture58:00 Sports as metaphor for identity, connection, and drive59:00 Where to find Yellow Chair Collective and final thoughts Transcription Speaker 1 0:00Shrink wrap radio, number 300 on the neuroscience of dreaming with Robert Haas. Speaker 2 0:07Shrink wrap radio, all the psychology you need to know, and just enough to make it dangerous. It’s all in your head. And now here’s your host, Dr Dave music. Speaker 1 0:27My return guest today, after a long absence, is Robert J Haas and we’ll be discussing recent developments in the neuroscience of dreaming. Robert Haas MS is author of the book Dream language. He’s also a director and past president of the International Association for the Study of dreams. He’s on the faculty at Hayden Institute for Dream leadership training and a former adjunct faculty for Dream studies at such institutions as Sonoma State University, Richland College and Scottsdale College, a former corporate executive scientist and researcher with training in Gestalt and humanistic psychology, he now devotes his skills to dream studies for which he has been a frequent guest on radio and TV and an internationally acclaimed lecturer and instructor for over 30 years. His unique, simple but powerful dream work approach is based on his training in Gestalt therapy and background in Jungian studies the neurobiology of dreaming, plus his pioneering research on the significance of color in dreams. Now here’s the interview. Bob Haas, welcome back to shrink wrap radio. Well, thank you. It’s great to be back. Yeah, it’s been five years since you were here, back on episode number 90, announcing the 2007 dreams conference and speaking about the language of dreams. Now this is going to be episode number 300 and you can help me celebrate, yeah, you can help me celebrate our 300th shrink wrap radio. And of course, after our interview, I’ll ask you to say a few words about the upcoming 29th annual iasd conference. That’s the International Association for the Study of dreams. But before we get into that, I understand you’ve been doing some work on recent developments in the neuroscience of dreaming. Speaker 3 2:27Yes, there’s a tremendous amount of interesting stuff going on now, particularly since over the last decade, certain researchers have been able to use brain scan equipment, PET scans, MRI, things of that sort, or fMRI, to understand what Saturn’s of the brain are active and inactive during the dreaming. Tremendous amount of research out there, and I basically just been kind of compiling it and reporting on it. Yeah, Speaker 1 2:57yeah. And you’ve done a terrific job. You sent me a couple of articles that that you’ve written, and very impressive. So what are some of the more exciting things that neurological research has discovered about the dreaming brain? Speaker 3 3:10Well, just just kind of going into past history, way back in 1952 the discovery of REM occurred, and at that point in time, we suddenly realized that we dream a great deal of our evening two hours, or roughly for adults, about 24% of our sleep time is spent in in dreaming, or in vivid dreaming. What is what typically happens in what’s known as the REM state, which is a rapid eye movement, but now what? What’s happened during through a lot of other testing and research has been done, as they found that we really dream throughout the entire night, even outside of REM state. However, the Dreaming is the dreaming that we think of as dreaming, which is the more vivid dreams and all still occur during this, this REM state. So there’s been a lot of focus with with brain scan type research on neuroscience, on the REM state as being more associated with the kind of vivid dreams that we typically think of. And what has occurred is that the researchers have found that during our this REM state or this more vivid dream state? A great deal of our brain is active. It’s actually awake. And there are other parts of the brain that are that the activity is diminished in or they’re relatively asleep, and they really create the sort of characteristics we see in a dream, for example, the parts of the brain that tend to be asleep, if I can use that simple term when we dream, are the parts of the frontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is our thinking brain, and the rational thinking part of our brain. If. And other areas like motion and parts of the brain responsible for waking consciousness remain pretty much inactive, and what that does is it tends to make our dreams the kind of bizarre characteristics that that we see in our dreams we because there’s no rational filtering going on or rational directing of the dream activities so dreams can hyper Connect. Speaker 1 5:27Yeah. Is that because that prefrontal part of the brain that you were talking about is asleep? Speaker 3 5:34Yeah, the dorsalatal prefrontal cortex is a part of the frontal cortex that really is responsible for our rational thought, and that tends to be inactive. But now that the a whole bunch of centers are active in our dreams, for instance, in particular, the emotional processing, the emotional brain, the emotional part of our brain, called the limbic system, is highly active, also parts of the frontal cortex, lower frontal cortex and the anterior cingulate, which deal with analytical problem solving, learning and problem solving, about those kinds of activities, are quite active. And the really interesting thing is that our visual our primary visual cortex, is not active, the part we see with which is interesting because we’re seeing our dreams. However, what is active are the centers all around that the association cortex in principally the visual association cortex. And what that means is that the things we see in our dreams are really associations, visual associations and visual metaphors associated with the stuff being processed more deeply within the brain. So, you know, people have worked with dreams a long time. Know that, you know, they look at Dream imagery as associations. However, now it’s been shown as to why that is that that visual association cortex is what’s creating the images in our dreams. So we see the sensitive pictures of what is going on inside of our brain, pictures of the emotions being processed, for example. Speaker 1 7:12You know, that part actually seems to me to be in line with some of Freud’s early insights. I mean, he talked a lot about associations, and he was, he was trained as a neurologist, and of course, they didn’t have all the tools that we have today. And boy, I think he would just be tickled. Speaker 3 7:34Stuff. It would be a lot of this is actually supportive of you, even more than Freud, yeah, particularly the part about how the brain can learn and how the brain does problem solving, dealing with unresolved issues of the day and providing cues as to how one might solve it, testing dream scenarios, and thus Actually self rewarding and learning. So there’s a lot of activity going on there that the June would be proud of as well. Speaker 1 8:06Yeah. Now that relates to the whole question of, you know, what’s the function of dreaming? Why has it evolved? What you know, maybe you can speak to that a bit. Speaker 3 8:18Okay, yeah, there has been an awful lot of theory, theories related to the function of dreaming over time, and some of the brain scan activity is actually helping to consolidate some of those theories into a few areas that seem to make sense. And one of them, the first thing, is the finding that the limbic system, or this emotional brain is highly active has led a lot of researchers to believe that the brain is processing unresolved emotional or at least emotionally important issues of the day. A bunch of researchers now feel that that’s the case that we’re really dealing with emotion and emotional processing in our dreaming activity, also the fact that the active frontal regions, the anterior cingulate, cingulate, and some other areas of the brain are active. This is an in

07/01/2024

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1h 1m
11/24/2018

So Many Cool Kids

Gian finally teaches us how to properly pronounce his names & as a whole we discuss & promise to explain things in the episode in layman’s terms while discussing topics. With so many birthdays we discuss important rituals, cultural significance of certain rituals, the assumption of adult roles by Steven, the importance of play in helping maintain a person’s youth & vitality. How Steven proves to be the bridge for the crystal gems to human cultures. With Lars & the Cool Kids we discussed the importance of being authentic when attempting to make friends, and learning more about yourself & being true to yourself. Follow Kat on twitter @KatMFT Follow Gian on twitter @Psychogonically Follow Marc on twitter @Cuiriz96 Join us on the geek therapy forums https://forum.geektherapy.com/ Special Thanks to Joe Jeremiah for letting us use his version of “Here Comes a Thought” Don’t forget to subscribe where ever you hear our podcast and please leave a review! Also if you play Steven Universe: Tap Together, join our Club! Just search “Geek Therapy Club” and join in on the fun! The post So Many Cool Kids appeared first on Here Comes a Thought.

11/24/2018

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1 hr
02/06/2022

Table Top RPG? Twitch Therapy RPG!

#318: Lara and Special guest Kayla Devorak share some of the major emotional moments and therapeutic epiphanies they’ve had while playing Kids on Brooms with the CASTT Gamers group on Twitch. https://www.twitch.tv/castt_gamers/ Transcript Josué Cardona 0:12Welcome to GT radio on the Geek Therapy network here Geek Therapy. We believe that the best way to understand each other and ourselves through the media we care about, my name is Josué Cardona. And I’m joined by link Keller. Link Keller 0:22hiiiiii Josué Cardona 0:23Lara Taylor. Lara Taylor 0:24Hey, Josué Cardona 0:26and special guests first time on. GT radio Kayla Devorak. Kayla Devorak 0:32Hello. Josué Cardona 0:33Devorak? Devorak? Devorak, Kayla Devorak 0:36Devorak Josué Cardona 0:36Devorak Kayla Devorak 0:37Yeah. Don’t say Devorak. That’s incorrect. Josué Cardona 0:41Thank you. Thank you for Yeah, Lara Taylor 0:43Josué is very specific, about pronouncing, Kayla Devorak 0:45thank you for asking Josué Cardona 0:45I want to make sure. I want to make sure it’s right. It’s important to me. Yeah. Yeah. Welcome. The reason why you’re here is because Lara, you know, we take turns picking a topic. And every week, you know, one of us goes, and we really bring up who’s gonna go? And I’ve been asking Lara, and she kept saying, like, oh, I don’t know, I don’t have an idea because I’ve been obsessed with something. And it gets, and the first week, okay, it’s fine. We can skip you. And then the second time, she said, I was like, Whoa, that’s your topic that I think that’s it. I think we Lara Taylor 1:23the first time was something else. But then it was my second time. And I was like, all that’s on my brain is buying this house. stuff at work. And this Friday night CASTT game we’ve been playing. Josué Cardona 1:40Please tell us more about that. Lara Taylor 1:42I got to explain everything? Josué Cardona 1:45Start with explaining CASTT, and then and then and then explain what’s happening on CASTT. Lara Taylor 1:50Here, Kayla, you want to explain? Kayla Devorak 1:51Hi, yeah, I can explain CASTT a CASTT it stands for community of applied spiritual, and therapeutic tabletop gamers. We are a Discord server of helping professionals who like to use tabletop role playing games, and board games in an applied manner. We also stream doing those things. Lara Taylor 2:22Yeah, more and more shows being added. Kayla Devorak 2:25We have Friday night casts, which is every Friday night at 9:30pm. Eastern on Twitch, I always forget the timezone transitions. And then we have every other Sunday is gays of our lives, which is an all queer cast playing queer games and talking about being queer. That’s every other Sunday. And then newly started is the tabletop transformations, which is the fourth Thursday of every month where Menachem and Tanya talk about how tabletop games can help us in our spiritual journeys. We have another show coming, but I can’t talk about that one yet. No. Link Keller 3:11For our listeners, you can check that out at Twitch tv slash CASTT. Lara Taylor 3:17With two Ts underscore gamers, Kayla Devorak 3:20yes, thank you. Lara Taylor 3:21Or on YouTube. were CASTT with two T’s gamers no underscore. Kayla Devorak 3:30That’s correct. Lara Taylor 3:31Yeah, yeah. And Josué Cardona 3:32that Discord server, how could we possibly find it or join? If we were so interested. Kayla Devorak 3:41We’re working on getting a submission form built out in our it’ll be in our link tree which you can access in our about page on Twitch. Josué Cardona 3:53Okay, we’ll put in the show notes. Yeah, okay. All right. So that’s CASTT. And then so so. So you’ve been playing a game. Lara Taylor 4:03We’ve been playing a game kids on brooms by if I had thing out Kayla Devorak 4:10Doug Levandowski. Josué Cardona 4:13On rolling for change. We’ve, Lara Taylor 4:15you’ve talked about kids on brooms and kids on bike. Kayla Devorak 4:18Yep, yep. Josué Cardona 4:19Yep. And they’ve played a campaign on there as well. And Menachem, which you mentioned before, has also been on rolling for change. Lara Taylor 4:29So kids on brooms, I started playing. The group that plays on Fridays had been playing games together since before I joined and then kids on brooms was the first game I played with them. Then we decided to do a bunch of other games and then stream and we streamed a bunch of other games and decided we really wanted to come back to the characters that we played in kids on brooms, and it’s been a very interesting, enlightening experience. I think it’s very interesting that we have a queer show. And yet most of like, what we’re going to talk about is like the queer journey in this relationship that our characters have. But this game is Kayla Devorak 5:16super gay Lara Taylor 5:17it is so gay. It’s so gay and so good. Um, Link Keller 5:23before you start describing your characters, could you give us a little quick synopsis of kids on brooms and how it sort of works and in the play style and everything? Lara Taylor 5:37Um, kids on brooms is like a rules light kind of game compared to d&d or any of that you do have dice. You have stats? Link Keller 5:47Do you use d 20 or D sixes? Lara Taylor 5:50a whole bunch of different die. Mm hmm. Link Keller 5:54I love that an excuse to use all of my clackies. Lara Taylor 5:57Exactly. So like you can have a D 20, in brawn and like, be able to beat things up, right? Or you can have a D 4 in brains and not make some good decisions. There’s each, like, we talked about playbooks. There’s tropes instead of classes or whatever. So in this one, it’s kids on broom, so it’s all I don’t want to say Harry Potter base, but Harry Potter magicians, that kind of stuff. Link Keller 6:30Hogwarts adjacent Kayla Devorak 6:31That’s the best way to explain it, Yeah, Lara Taylor 6:32yeah. Um, so you’ve got like, the firstborn caster. That’s my character. The haughty descendant that’s Kayla’s character. You’ve got unlikely ally. I’m trying to remember some of the Oh, teacher’s pet. There’s a whole bunch of good ones. Yeah. Yeah, a whole bunch of tropes, you answer questions based on that. There’s a lot of relationship building in the game. We asked each other relationship questions at the beginning of the game, each time we play. or not each time you play, each season, except sessions. Kayla Devorak 7:20During the character creation and world building. There are relationship questions that will ask you you roll a die, you roll the D 20. And whatever number you get is the question you ask. And you can you can ask a question about a character relationship that is negative, or positive, or you don’t know the person. Lara Taylor 7:42And then we built the world together in that we have a GM it is a GM game. Dustin is wonderful and created this world for us. But we get to have input too. And then we build in rumors that may be true or not help give him ideas on where to go and what we’re interested in in the world. This particular version, our first time playing, we were students at a high school in Yale, or not in Yale to in Salem, where we were deali...

02/06/2022

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1h 8m
06/21/2024

Feeling Out of Control? Build a World You Can Manage

#387: In this episode, Josué, Link, and Marc explore why they keep returning to sandbox and survival-style games like The Sims, Terraria, and Minecraft—especially during times of stress, burnout, or major life changes. What starts as a joking callout about control quickly becomes a thoughtful conversation about agency, structure, creativity, and comfort. The hosts reflect on how building persistent worlds, setting self-directed goals, and engaging with familiar systems can meet psychological needs that real life often fails to satisfy. Drawing on personal experiences with job loss, burnout, and instability, they unpack how these games offer a sense of control, consistency, and safety—without the same stakes, costs, or unpredictability of the real world. Characters / Media Mentioned The Sims (The Sims 4)TerrariaMinecraftBaldur’s Gate 3Fallout 4Animal CrossingBreath of the WildMini Shoot AdventuresOxygen Not IncludedDon’t StarveProject ZomboidWorld of WarcraftMetroid (Samus Aran)My Hero AcademiaGundamReality Is Broken (Jane McGonigal)Themes / Topics Discussed Control and AgencyBurnoutJob Loss and InstabilityCoping Through GamesSandbox and Survival GamesCreativity and World-BuildingStructure vs. FreedomFamiliarity and ComfortPersistence and OwnershipAccessibility and Game DesignNew Game Plus MentalityRelatable Experiences Discussed Feeling Out of Control in LifeLosing a JobBurnout From Work or SchoolWanting Busy Work Without PressureEscaping Into Familiar MediaReturning to Comfort GamesAvoiding Starting From ScratchNeeding Structure Without ObligationFinding Stability in Digital SpacesWant to continue the conversation? Join the GT community and tell us about the games you return to when life feels overwhelming.Connect with the Geek Therapy Network: Website: https://geektherapy.orgCommunity Forums: https://forum.geektherapy.orgSocial Media: @GeekTherapyWhat games do you return to when you’re feeling overwhelmed or out of control?Do you gravitate toward building, exploration, or structured objectives—and why?What needs do games meet for you that real life sometimes doesn’t?

06/21/2024

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59 min
11/22/2024

What if?

#400: In this episode of GT Radio, Josué Cardona is joined by Link Keller, Lara Taylor, and Marc Cuiriz for a wide-ranging conversation about the psychology, appeal, and risks of “what if” thinking. What starts as Marc’s curiosity about alternate timelines in fiction turns into a thoughtful exploration of rumination, imagination, anxiety, hope, and why humans seem wired to replay—or rewrite—reality. The group distinguishes between different kinds of “what ifs”: Looking backward, often tied to regret, shame, or ruminationLooking forward, used for planning, preparation, and imaginationExploring fictional what ifs, which give us safe spaces to play with ideas that might feel overwhelming or impossible in real lifeLara emphasizes that backward-looking what ifs in our personal lives often aren’t productive unless they help us change future behavior. Without that forward application, they can trap people in self-blame and emotional paralysis. Forward-looking what ifs, however, can support decision-making—unless they turn into anxiety-driven catastrophizing. Link frames science fiction itself as a genre built almost entirely on “what if,” suggesting that humanity uses these stories to collectively process rapid technological, social, and cultural change. From dystopias to utopias, these imagined futures allow societies to rehearse fears, hopes, and ethical dilemmas before they arrive. Josué reflects on how “what if” thinking shows up in anxiety, preparation, and even moral reasoning—using imagined extremes (“what if everyone did this?”) as a way to guide ethical decisions. He also shares how running too many future simulations at once can become draining, both personally and culturally, drawing parallels to multiverse storytelling fatigue in modern media. Marc discusses how backward what ifs once dominated his inner world, especially in adolescence, but how learning to shift focus toward present and future possibilities has helped reduce their emotional grip. The group acknowledges that while humans can’t stop themselves from imagining alternatives, learning how and when to engage with those thoughts makes a significant difference. The conversation also touches on fan fiction, alternate universes, and reboots as communal “what if” playgrounds—spaces where people can explore identity, justice, representation, and belonging without rewriting real history. Afrofuturism, indigenous futurism, and speculative reimaginings are discussed as examples of hopeful, forward-facing “what ifs” that inspire action rather than regret. Ultimately, the group lands on a shared understanding: “What if” is a powerful tool—but like any tool, it can help build or cause harm depending on how it’s used. Stories give us a place to practice imagining different outcomes when real life offers no rewinds. Characters / Media Mentioned: Black MirrorStar TrekMarvel’s What If...?This Is UsHorizon Zero DawnBaldur’s Gate 3Family GuyDeadpool & WolverineThe MatrixBintiBlack PantherThemes / Topics Discussed: “What If” ThinkingRumination vs. ImaginationAnxiety and CatastrophizingDecision-Making and Moral ReasoningFan Fiction and Alternate UniversesScience Fiction as Social CommentaryHope, Fear, and FuturismPreparation vs. ParalysisMultiverse FatigueStorytelling as SimulationRelatable Experiences: Replaying Past DecisionsGetting Stuck in “If Only” ThinkingImagining Worst-Case ScenariosOver-Preparing for the FutureLoving a Story and Wanting MoreFeeling Disappointed by AdaptationsUsing Fiction to Process Fear or HopeStruggling to Let Go of Alternate OutcomesJoin the discussion on the GT Forum at https://forum.geektherapy.org and connect with the Geek Therapy Network through the links at https://geektherapy.org. Do you tend to “what if” the past or the future more? When has imagining alternatives helped you—and when has it held you back? What fictional “what if” stories have stayed with you the longest?

11/22/2024

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1h 2m
05/25/2019

Our Origin Stories

#1: Welcome to The Happiest Pod on Earth! We are a podcast about how Disney content, parks, and memories can bring people together. Your hosts Lara Taylor and Josué Cardona share their Disney origin stories and their plans for the show. Questions? Comments? Discuss this episode on the GT Forum. — Check out the GT Network: network.geektherapy.com GT Forum: forum.geektherapy.com GT Discord: geektherapy.com/discord GT Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/geektherapy Find us at happy.geektherapy.com | @HappiestPodGT | Lara: @GeekTherapist | Josué: @JosueACardona Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/geektherapy The post Our Origin Stories appeared first on The Happiest Pod on Earth.

05/25/2019

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35 min
06/19/2024

Queer Cheer: Disney Dreams & Rainbow Realness

Join Ariel, Stef, and their guests Jodie Anders and Shalom (aka Boy Venus) for an honest, colorful, and insightful episode that celebrates queer identity through the magic (and mess) of Disney. The conversation spans nostalgic awakenings, media analysis, cultural critique, and the affirming power of telling your story—your way. Jodie, author of Queer Cheer, shares how travel and diverse narratives helped her discover her own queerness. Shalom, a young activist and indie musician, reflects on the power of subtext in media like Luca and Frozen, and how art has been central to their self-exploration. Together, this group celebrates Pride, critiques tokenism, and envisions a future where queer stories aren’t subplots—they’re the main event. Summary Summary of HPOE 45: 00:00 Hosts and Guests Introduction 00:50 Pride Month focus and framing queer media through Disney 02:00 Progress or performative? Disney’s track record on LGBTQ+ representation 06:00 Nostalgic queer awakenings: crushes, princesses, and games 10:00 Queer coding in villains: Ursula, Jafar, and beyond 13:30 Explaining the Hays Code and its legacy in queer subtext 15:00 Highlights from Disney’s official Pride Night 18:00 Emotional weight of safe spaces at theme parks 20:00 Critiques of Disney’s capitalist allyship 22:00 Centering joy: queer characters beyond coming-out stories 24:30 Luca and fan interpretations as liberation 28:30 Elsa, headcanons, and intersectional readings 31:00 The power of dynamic identities in evolving characters 33:00 Queering Spider-Man and self-discovery through metaphor 36:00 Labels, fluidity, and growing into new identities 38:00 Demisexuality and the importance of representation 40:00 Jodie on travel, storytelling, and affirming queer youth 43:00 Affirmations that actually work 46:00 Shalom on community building and queer history 50:00 Spotlighting queer media: Punks, Watermelon Woman, indie music 54:00 Real allyship: more than rainbows—listen, uplift, include 59:00 Final thoughts and where to find Queer Cheer and Boy Venus’s music Transcription 00:00:00:00 – 00:00:08:18 00:00:08:18 – 00:00:35:00 Unknown Hello, everyone. Welcome to the happiest pot on Earth. I’m Steph. I’m an educator who uses passions and fandoms to help my students grow and learn about themselves and the world around them. And I’m Ariel, a licensed therapist who uses clients passions and fandom to help them grow and heal from trauma and mental and wellness. Hey everyone, I’m Jodi Anders, I am a Jewish bisexual creator and I focus on creating diversity and promoting youth empowerment. 00:00:35:02 – 00:01:01:01 Unknown I currently serve as the publicity and communications director for a youth nonprofit in California, and I’ve spent over two decades mentoring teens in confidence and leadership skills. I’m the coauthor author of Queer Cheer Activities Advice and Affirmations for LGBTQ Plus Teens, and I also produce a podcast. Let’s talk about leadership, service, and Sisterhood, which is a podcast for teens by teens. 00:01:01:01 – 00:01:25:12 Unknown Hi. My name is Shalom. As a student, I’ve been involved in many campaigns and community organizing organizations, working with youth organizers in the San Fernando Valley to fight for the rights of Filipino migrant workers, justice and visibility for displaced ethnic communities abroad, and have worked to create, support and educate members of the Residents of Color community through the creation of my ever growing coalition. 00:01:25:14 – 00:01:51:16 Unknown California State University, Northridge is Queer Students of Color Club. I’m also a queer indie musician, producing music under the name Boy Venus. Check me out on SoundCloud if you’re interested. Specifically working within the electronic genre to make music reminiscent of games like Pokemon Legends of Zelda, Undertale, while also using techniques from artists like Rebecca Sugar, Ivy Tran and Stephen Filemon. 00:01:52:00 – 00:02:08:14 Unknown beautiful. And here at Happiest Pod, we dissect Disney Medium. So the critical lens. Why? Because we are more than just fans and we expect more from the mediums we consume. So, what are we talking about today? As you both heard these wonderful introductions from our exceptional guests today we have Jodi and Shalom. 00:02:08:15 – 00:02:38:08 Unknown Welcome to the happiest Pod on Earth. We are so thrilled that you are here to talk about all things LGBTQ representation. In honor of Pride Month and we’re really excited to really dive in, and, see the world and see the Disney World from Euro Isles lens. So yeah, welcome to the podcast. So to be here, I’m curious, you know, we have heard about representation in general in the media. 00:02:38:08 – 00:02:59:20 Unknown And when it comes to Disney, do you feel or believe that they’re increasing LGBTQ plus representation, and if so, when do you think they’ve done it? And are there opportunities they missed or were they just like completely missed the mark? I feel like it’s kind of like an ebb and flow situation. I mean, it’s definitely had some more, you know, representation. 00:02:59:20 – 00:03:24:23 Unknown And actually this discussion can get so nuanced, right? Because are we talking about like, original animation? Are we talking about like the entire Disney, universe, you know, within Marvel and Star Wars? So, at this point, apparently Hulu’s in there too. So if there’s some horror movies, or other anime animation you want to include that counts. 00:03:25:01 – 00:04:11:02 Unknown Yeah, I think like in the more like traditional sense of Disney Pixar. It’s it’s slowly increasing, like strictly within like movies and TV. Like in movies, I feel like we’re still not other than maybe like Strange World getting those main characters. That would be great. But, it’s really nice to see at least, you know, some nuances through the community, like having a non-binary character in elementals or, just, you know, at least some representation. 00:04:11:02 – 00:04:57:15 Unknown Which is better than that. But, there’s also just questionable things that they’ve done in the sense of like pulling from different markets or, you know, like, I know, so, like when they did Lightyear, I, I loved that they had a Lisa like, that his sidekick was such a big representation. And then it was so incredibly heartbreaking to have this, reaction to what was not even a minute of their relationship, the lesbian relationship she had, which was this beautiful little heartwarming family and, seeing at the time, like them, like pulling it from market to things like that. 00:04:57:17 – 00:05:01:20 Unknown But at the same time, like, if we kind of pull back the lens a little bit, 00:05:01:20 – 00:05:25:22 Unknown at the same time, there’s like getting the, the monthly emails, not even just the LGBTQ, pieces. They will highlight a monthly email, but like other minority communities and, even, like, abilities, I think they’re doing better on, although sometimes embarrassing when they maybe only have 1 or 2. 00:05:26:00 – 00:05:49:16 Unknown And I mean, I went to Pride Night. I just do that last night, which, you know, they now officially have their official one. And how many years do we have our unofficial. You know, we we still do have kids at Disneyland, but like, it’s nice that they’re officially hosting that. So. Getting better. But riding a wave and still carrying a little too much. 00:05:49:16 – 00:06:15:06 Unknown Maybe about what some people think. Sheila, any thoughts on your in? Yeah. I totally agree. And I think when thinking about representation at Disney, it’s when you look at it as like a conglomerate. I do think that they’ve missed the mark in a lot of ways. But I do think if you look at individual stories and individual narratives, then, you know, there’s some great representation. 00:06:15:08 – 00:06:31:16 Unknown At Disney for queer people, like just recently, in fact, they did a remake of the goosebumps books, and Myles McKenna, who’s a trans, activist, trans activist, actor and musician, is one of the leads in the show. And so, like, 00:06:31:16 – 00:06:45:16 Unknown individual properties, you know, they do have great representation. And even ones that, like, aren’t necessarily inherently queer, like frozen, you know what I mean? 00:06:45:16 – 00:07:10:02 Unknown Or like, not well, turning red too. But then also, Luca, you know, those are movies that weren’t intended to be queer, but they’re autobiographical stories that, you know, queer people can relate to. You know, like having those is great and that it makes you feel more seen. But I think as a, like a conglomeration, I think that’s really the way. 00:07:10:04 – 00:07:39:18 Unknown And I love when you said that there are stories that have been out there that queer people can relate to. So thinking back when you were younger, did you have any specific Disney characters that you were drawn to? Or like you were you just felt this special connection to real? Yeah. I, Todd, Jody and Eric, actually that, the way that I found out that I was queer is through watching The Little Mermaid. 00:07:39:20 – 00:08:06:04 Unknown Because I had a crush on both Eric and area. Yes. And that was really my first, like, understanding of queerness, you know, even before I could put words to it. Disney kind of opened up my mind for queerness, and I think a large part of that was like, I grew up, for a while in a very, like, predominantly woman like community. 00:08:06:04 – 00:08:34:06 Unknown I don’t know how to say that

06/19/2024

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1h 3m

At Geek Therapy we believe that the best way to understand each other, and ourselves, is through the media we care about. Check out GT Radio: THE Geek Therapy Podcast and our other great shows focused on video games, anime, tabletop, Disney, Queer comics, diversity, Steven Universe, and more. Geek Therapy Network podcasts are brought to you by Geek Therapy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that advocates for the effective and meaningful use of popular media in therapeutic, educational, and community practice. We provide education and resources so helping professionals, educators, and community leaders can better understand the communities they serve, through media that matters.

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