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Curious minds select the most fascinating podcasts from around the world. Discover hand-piqd audio recommendations on your favorite topics.
piqer for: Global finds Health and Sanity Doing Good
Bangalore-based Rashmi Vasudeva's journalism has appeared in many Indian and international publications over the past decade. A features writer with over nine years of experience heading a health and fitness supplement in a mainstream Indian newspaper, her niche areas include health, wellness, fitness, food, nutrition and Indian classical Arts.
Her articles have appeared in various publications including Mint-Wall Street Journal, The Hindu, Deccan Herald (mainstream South Indian newspaper), Smart Life (Health magazine from the Malayala Manorama Group of publications), YourStory (India's media technology platform for entrepreneurs), Avantika (a noir arts and theatre magazine), ZDF (a German public broadcasting company) and others.
In 2006, she was awarded the British Print-Chevening scholarship to pursue a short-term course in new-age journalism at the University of Westminster, U.K. With a double Masters in Globalisation and Media Studies from Aarhus Universitet (Denmark), University of Amsterdam and Swansea University in Wales, U.K., she has also dabbled in academics, travel writing and socio-cultural studies. Mother to a frisky toddler, she hums 'wheels on the bus' while working and keeps a beady eye on the aforementioned toddler's antics.
Podcast Series: What's So Funny About Depression?
There is nothing hilarious about depression. Or is there? As much as depression is a dark, lonely place full of self-doubts, guilt and its many cousins, this podcast series showcases how it is still possible to extricate some laughs even from gloom.
Depression is so common nowadays that the WHO has declared it to be the “leading cause of disability” worldwide today. According to the latest WHO statistics, more than 300 million people of all ages suffer from the disease. So it is eminently possible that we have all either personally encountered it or know someone who has.
This is where podcasts such as these make a difference, however slight.
When it comes to depression, conversations hold the key – to better understand the disease and also to come to terms with it. In this case, since comedians are doing all the talking, the discussions acquire an additional vivacity. Host John Moe, a veteran humorist himself, speaks to top comedians who have dealt with depression in their own lives. The conversations are honest, often as hilarious as the title claims, and sometimes, touching.
I particularly recommend listening to the episode that discusses the use of right words to refer to any mental illness. Unlike what one would assume, it is rather difficult to avoid the use of words like ‘crazy’ and ‘demented’ when we refer to mental illness in everyday conversations. There is another podcast on comedian Chris Gethard that I found inspiring. It follows Chris' journey from dealing with the illness to him turning its darkest moments into a show for HBO, among other things.
What the podcast does, quite disarmingly, is to provide its listeners with the feeling of being part of a community. It tells them in as many words that nobody needs to suffer the disease alone; that it is possible to break out of its vicious grip. And sometimes even laugh.
