People Like Me

The tables turn as Host Leah E. gets interviewed about the creation process of the “People Like Me Podcast” by her fellow family members (who are also podcast hosts). This episode is a live recording of the first ever People Like Me Party! Enjoy this recording full of laughs, introspection, and amazing audience participation!

For people with depression, for Black People with depression, for Ghanaian-Canadians with depression this is for you. In this episode I got a chance to sit down with Kwasi Adu-Poku, creator of The Reach Series (IG @TheReachSeries). Kwasi isn't shy when it comes to discussions around mental health, his advocacy work around destigmatizing mental health, personal development support, and very relatable love for anime has helped numerous people in the GTA. In this episode, we delve into Kwasi's experience with depression as we talk about the ins and outs, the social determinants, the interpersonal, the romantic, and even the silver linings of depression.intro(0:00), “This or that”(3:30), What is your first understanding of mental health?(5:15), Campus Therapy (9:00) , Debilitation with mental health(11:30) , Experiencing Depression as a Black person(14:00), Ghanaian Culture(17:00), What's the “solution” for Black People with depression? (21:00), Jane and Finch Community(24:00), Navigating Friendships with Depression(26:38), Reciprocity and Depression(32:00), Romance Relationships and Depression(35:00), What's the worst part about depression?(41:00) , Joy and Depression(44:00) , Suicidality(47:00), Final feelings about depression(48:00), outro(50:00)!

For People Who “Please”, PLEASE listen to my friend Mohammed and I as we journey through the ins and outs of People Pleasing, as two recovering people pleasers. We ventured into the complexity of our behaviours, and how familial, racial, and gendered aspects all play a role in our People Pleasing.What constituted this conversation was several online discussions about People Pleasing that I found to be one-dimensional. And so Mohammed and I took a holistic approach in dissecting the nuances of People Pleasing. We answer questions like “What does it mean to be in community with people pleasers?” and the longstanding question, “Is People Pleasing Manipulative?”.Mohammed's background in Law and Gender Studies, and his desire to seek for the "why" of things, offered an in-depth feminist/sociological perspective on People Pleasing.Note: Our voices sounded unusually high in this episode? Idky! Also my friend Capucine was kind enough to support our conversation and gather her thoughts on the topic as well–so listen out for her voice!!Intro (0:00), Would You Rather: People Pleasing Edition (4:15), Culture and People Pleasing (6:30), Online #Discourse (9:20), The N word….”Nuance” (13:05), Definition of Fawning (15:40), Falling out over People Pleasing (19:00), The rules we make up as People Pleasers (23:00), Middle Child Plight (24:00), BOUNDARIES (27:00), Is there a solution to People Pleasing? (28:40), Being in Community (32:30), Is People Pleasing manipulative? (33:50), Women/Gender and People Pleasing (34:00) Advice Segment: Do we forgive cheating?! (38:15), Outro (43:20)

For people who are Jamaican-Canadian, please enjoy this fruitful conversation on all things Jamaican-Canadian. In this episode I sat down and spoke with my good-up friends (aka yaardies) Shana, Khadecia, and Nakyta and discussed our shared and differential experiences living in Canada as both Canadian-born-Jamaicans and Jamaican-born-Canadians. This is a culture-filled episode as we question and interrogate the ever-changing aspects of language, family, preservation, and community in the Jamaican-Canadian experience. This episode was recorded in early June, before the news struck regarding Hurricane Beryl. Please go to the @peoplelikemepod instagram bio to find out information on how you can help Caribbean countries recovering from the hurricane.Intro (0:00), How do you identify? (1:30), Game/Trivia (2:50), Growing up in Canada (8:40), Jamaican Community in Toronto/Toronto Slang (14:00), What makes someone Jamaican? (19:15), How do we keep our culture alive (22:00), Jamaican Women and losing accents (25:05), Is Patois a language? (33:00), Going back to Jamaica (37:04), The concept of community in Jamaica (39:30), Teaching Leah Patois!!! (42:36), Jamaica vs. The World (47:00).

For people who may not know, or who want to know more about the Tigray Genocide, this is an episode encapsulating the current politics from the perspective of Delina, Snit, and Heaven. With the utmost vulnerability, the girls share their experiences as Tigrayan women living in the diaspora, what is happening in Tigray today, and what we can do to help. This episode is full of information, knowledge, personal anecdotes, hope, and care. Please engage with an open heart as we touch on one of the worst atrocities of the century. This episode does have volume issues, please expect overlapping sounds to subside around 6 minutes. Intro (0:00), What is happening in Tigray? (6:10), Why is it controversial to say “Genocide”? (11:35), Pretoria Agreement- TPLF and Ethiopia (14:40), Immigrant parents and generational healing (17:50), Identifying as Tigrayan vs. Ethiopian (23:22), Mixed Identity (26:55), How do we feel about Ethiopian people now? (28:00), Why African countries get left out of these conversations (32:50), Social Media Activism (33:50), Palestine, Congo, Sudan, and interconnected struggles (41:30), How do we help Tigray? (44:50), Having hope (43:35), Canada is also complicit (47:00).

For people with long distance besties this is for you! My friend Michelle moved to Los Angeles a couple years ago and I went to visit her and recorded this episode on our last night, and together we reminisced on EXTREMELY drunken nights and funny stories from our adolescence. Listen to two friends catch up on childhood/teenage memories, and about the requirements of not only a long distance friendship but friendships in general. Intro (0:00), how we met (1:00), getting out of Toronto (3:00), what healthy long distance requires (10:00), Michelle having THEE basement (18:00), THEE PARTY….(20:20), Another drunken night that solidified us (27:44), Michelle's perspective of Leah (30:00), Why accepting love is so hard (31:00), people pleasing (34:31), Keeping up with friends + going ghost (36:50), The power of Vulnerability in friendships and life (40:22). Closing (42:57).

For people who are Black Girl Dancers, who want to know more about Desirability Politics, colorism, or who simply enjoy any subject, please enjoy this interview-style episode about my cousin's life as a Darkskinned-Black-Girl-Dancer. IG: @Moratalks discusses her experience as a Darkskin Black Woman in the professional dance space and how that intersects with Desirability (the way modes of oppression, like colorism, ableism, transphobia, classism etc. intersect and affect how one navigates social mobility). Listen to us chat about how media, institutions, and Kemora's life are impacted by desirability.Intro (0:00), When did you know you could dance? (7:15), Being a Black Girl in the dance space (11:00), Racism & ownership in dance (14:30), Black in Post-Secondary Art Program (16:45), What is Desirability? (22:15), Colorism in Friendship (26:45), “Self-Love” as a solution? (30:00), Pretty Privilege (35:45), Executive Black People in the Dance world (42:35), Advice for Darkskin Black Girls who want to dance (47:00).

For people who love(d) The Bear, listen to this episode as my friend Anam and I discuss FX's hit show, The Bear! In a lengthy conversation about this hit television series, we offer our takes on our favourite characters, analysis of scenes and episodes, and our takes on the beloved showmances of season one and two. Given Anam's background she offers a neuro-psychological perspective on characters like Carmy and Richie, and delves into what makes someone a movie-television fanatic like herself. It was a pleasure getting to chatIn this episode you can find:Intro (0:00), character breakdowns (7:55) Syd-Carmy, (14:30), The Christmas Episode (16:00), thoughts on “Claire Bear”(21:45) Richie analysis (25:15), The Psychoanalysis of Carmy (34:40), Syd and Marcus (38:00), what's next for the bear?(41:15), What TV/Film mean to Anam (45:40).

This is the official People Like Me trailer! The host, Leah E. outlines the upcoming developments of the podcast. This project will entail subjects of mental health, relationships, culture, media and more. Listen for a sneak preview of the show! Stay tuned for People Like Me episodes coming soon!