Empire Waist follows a group of teens learning to love their bodies through inclusive fashion design and friendship. Not only do we talk about this amazing film in this episode, but we also discuss body image, body representation, and how learning to love yourself exactly as you are can sometimes feel like a radical act.  

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day and we have a wonderful interview with writer, director, and actress, Nadine Crocker. We talk about her film, Continue, and the importance of representing depression and suicidal ideation on film and TV. We also talk about shows like The Bear and Modern Love (amongst many).

We have decided to take a summer break and will be back in September with an interview with writer, director, and advocate, Claire Ayoub.

Today we’re talking about anxiety through the lens of how it functions in relation to others with Dr. Kathleen Smith. We discuss how we can get stuck in patterns and the impact of over-functioning and under-functioning roles in a relationship.

In today’s episode, we deep-dive into the films and television that best represent the different experiences of having breast cancer with our guest filmmaker and indie journalist, Traven Rice.

We have the pleasure of talking with filmmaker and journalist, Traven Rice, about her experiences with Breast Cancer. We talk about how she discovered she had cancer, her treatment, the effects breast cancer can have on your mind and body, and the importance of community.

AboutFace Canada’s chairperson, Alim Somji, digs into some of the stigmas surrounding facial differences and what Alim’s biggest personal turning point was when it came to his own facial difference.

Alim Somji, the chairperson of AboutFace Canada, discusses what facial differences are, the impact having a facial difference can have on mental health, and how Deadpool represented Alim’s journey to accepting his own Facial Difference.

This episode covers the five types of imposter syndrome and some of the myths that persist around this universal experience in our conversation with Communication Skills Trainer, Ottillie Parfitt.

Communication Skills Trainer, Ottillie Parfitt, joins us to talk about all things imposter syndrome: what it is, what some of the triggers are, how it shows up in the workplace, and some techniques for overcoming Imposter Syndrome.

With the creators of CBC Gem’s Get Up, Aisha, we discuss other films and TV series about depression that inspired Rabiya and Marushka and how important it is to get it right when you are dealing with subjects surrounding mental health, depression, and suicide.

With the creators of CBC Gem’s Get Up, Aisha, we discuss what depression is, the signs (or lack of signs) that present, what you can do to get help, and how to reframe your experience to allow you to choose yourself.

Today we talk about the stigmas surrounding menopause, what board-certified ObGyn, Dr. Sophia would like to see represented on TV, film, and in the media, and how to prepare for menopause.

Our conversation with OBGYN Dr. Sophia covers what menopause really is, the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause, how to ask for treatment, and what the representation of menopause looks like in film and TV.

Dr. Jill L. Creighton, a higher education professional and the host of SA Voices from the Field Podcast, talks with us about her experience as a transracial adoptee and how she would like to see adoption represented on film and television.

Today we’re talking with Gretchen Sisson, a research sociologist ANSIRH at the University of California, San Francisco, and her new book Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood, a critical, ten-year examination of domestic adoption.

Today’s mini-episode is all about working with consultants and team members with lived experience on projects about mental health and disability.

In this episode, we discuss sight loss, the representation of vision loss and blindness on SIGHT UNSEEN, and what considerations had to be made when creating a television show for viewers across the entire vision spectrum. 

New York Times Best-Selling Nigerian-American author Bassey Ikpi discusses the depiction of mental illness (specifically Borderline Personality Disorder or BPD) in The CW's musical comedy-drama series My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015–2019) by Rachel Bloom.

New York Times Best-Selling Nigerian-American author Bassey Ikpi discusses Bipolar II disorder, how she got her diagnosis, and the representation of bipolar and depression on shows like Atlanta, Insecure, and Dave.