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4 episodes with professor simon
2 episodes with professor simon
2 episodes with professor simon
2 episodes with professor simon
2 episodes with professor simon
2 episodes with professor simon
2 episodes with professor simon
4 episodes with professor simon
3 episodes with professor simon
Paperwings Podcast - Der Business-Interview-Podcast mit Danny Herzog-Braune
Thu, 17 Apr 2025 22:15:00 +0000 https://paperwings-podcast-intro.podigee.io/220-new-episode e56613db53f96ae4d8c96e68d62db46c Herzlich willkommen liebe Zuhörerinnen und Zuhörer zu einer neuen Paperwings Podcastfolge: Heute geht es um das Thema: „„Wie ergreife ich erfolgreich als Populist die Macht?“ Für dieses Gespräch habe ich den berühmten Prof. Dr. Fritz Simon eingeladen. Professor Simon ist nicht nur ein renommierter Professor für Führung und Organisation am Institut für Familienunternehmen der Universität Witten/Herdecke, sondern auch ein erfahrener systemischer Organisationsberater, Psychiater, Psychoanalytiker und systemischer Familientherapeut. Als Mitbegründer der Management Zentrum Witten GmbH und der Simon Weber Friends - Systemische Organisationsberatung GmbH hat er die praktische Anwendung seiner tiefgreifenden Einsichten maßgeblich geprägt. Sein beeindruckendes OEuvre umfasst zahlreiche wissenschaftliche Fachartikel und über 35 Bücher, die in 15 Sprachen übersetzt wurden. Darunter befinden sich so bedeutende Werke wie "Kommende Diktaturen" , das auf beunruhigende Weise aktuelle gesellschaftliche Entwicklungen beleuchtet, "Stalin und der Apparat" , eine tiefgreifende Analyse der Organisation von Diktaturen, "Tödliche Konflikte" , das die Eskalationsdynamik von Kriegen und Konflikten systemisch durchdringt, und "Wenn rechts links ist und links rechts" , das uns hilft, die Paradoxien unserer komplexen Welt besser zu verstehen. Mit seiner Expertise in Systemtheorie, Kommunikations- und Konfliktforschung bietet uns Professor Simon einzigartige Perspektiven auf die Herausforderungen unserer Zeit. Sein Werk ist von unschätzbarem Wert, um die psychologischen und gesellschaftlichen Dynamiken zu verstehen, die unsere Demokratien und unseren gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt prägen. Ich fühlen mich sehr geehrt, Professor Dr. Simon im Paperwings Podcast begrüßen zu dürfen und freue mich auf seine wertvollen Einsichten in diesen "spannenden Zeiten". 220 full no Managementberater und Personal & Business Coach Danny Herzog-Braune, MBA 4221
The Gormant and the Arch are fighting over the souls of our Werewolf and the Supernatural Expert and utter immortal Professor Simon de Montfort. It has already come to blows, and Gabriel has landed the first blow. The mighty Pink flashing Djinn will make up his mind about how they fight this one out. It is his plain of existence, so that is fair enough. iGdtwP2IvB4dNpEmSymL It is the 1980s British Wrestling scene. Welcome to Werewolf, the flipping podcast, a weekly dramatic horror comedy soap opera. Support the show. Follow us. Rate us. You know we are are proper cosmic. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Werewolfwil The Werewolf's Story Book. Link below. https://amzn.to/3BjXoZu The YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/Werewolf Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/werewolfthepodcast/ Xthingy's @SempaiGreg @AWerewolfsStory Greg's books and short stories. It is in multiple formats, from #Kindle to #Paperback and even #GooglePlay #Audiobook. I've got you covered. Get them here: https://books2read.com/ap/81Dy7v/Gregory-Alexander-Sharp/
Professor Simon Stoddart is professor of prehistory at the University of Cambridge, and Director of Studies at Magdalene College. In this episode we discuss Simon's early interests in archaeology and how his career took him to research in Malta.From the landscape to the incredible megalithic temples and interpretations of burials, we discuss the the fascinating history of the island of Malta.
Several road safety experts have voiced concern about the new batch of changes for speed limits. Transport Minister Simeon Brown says all blanket speed limit reductions on local streets, arterial roads, and state highways will be reversed by July next year. He says there'll be reduced variable speed limits outside schools during pick up and drop off times by July 2026. Professor Simon Kingham co-wrote an open letter urging the Government to rethink these changes - and he's still disappointed with them. "I'm disappointed because they are completely contrary to all the evidence about health, safety, well-being, emissions and all sorts of other things - but I'm unfortunately not surprised, because the Minister hasn't shown any apparent interest in science and evidence." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
When he was still researching and teaching at university in Germany, Professor Hermann Simon undertook to study the landscape of market leaders in exports around the world and in different industries, with the goal of identifying the characteristics of the companies that managed to find their way into that selective group. What he discovered surprised him; it was not the giants he expected who occupied the top spots. It was, instead, predominately middle market companies who remained relatively unknown who were the clear leaders. Many of them came from Germany. In this Tugboat Institute® talk, Professor Simon shares key learnings from his work on his subsequent book, Hidden Champions: Lessons from 500 of the World's Best Unknown Companies. The Hidden Champions are different from Evergreen® companies, but they share some important and interesting characteristics. Professor Simon went a step beyond simply articulating his theory on Hidden Champions. Following publication of the book, he left the university and founded his own company which, following the steps he outlined in the book, he has grown into a Hidden Champion itself. Listen to this talk, consider the characteristics of the Hidden Champions, and see if any of them might help your company.
Professor Simon Forrest joined Mark Duffield in the studio to dissect the significance of a welcome to country before gatherings of purpose. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an RNA virus which causes respiratory infections; the most significant clinical effects are in infants and people who are elderly and have chronic medical conditions or immunosuppression. In this podcast, Professor Simon de Lusignan from the RCGP's Research and Surveillance Centre discusses the new RSV vaccination programme, which offers a one-off vaccine to everyone at the age of 75, with an initial catch-up programme between the ages of 75 and 80. He also touches on monoclonal antibodies and antivirals, which are given in secondary care to children who are at high risk of serious complications if they contract RSV. Sponsored by Pfizer Limited. Pfizer has had no involvement in the editorial component of this educational material. Editorial and content decisions were made solely by the RCGP.
Today, Hunter is joined by professor Samantha Simon, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Arizona. This episode is a deep dive into Professor Simon's book, Before the Badge: How the Academy Training Shapes Police Violence. In it, Professor Simon embed herself into various police academy training programs to try and understand how police academies select, train, and prepare the next generation of police officers. Through her work, we gain an excellent insight into the challenges with changing the culture of violence that is so prevalent in American policing. Guests: Samantha Simon PhD, Professor of Sociology, University of Arizona Resources: Professor Simon's Faculty Page https://sociology.arizona.edu/person/samantha-simon Pick up a Copy of Before the Badge https://nyupress.org/9781479813278/before-the-badge/ Coverage of SrA Roger Fortson https://weartv.com/news/local/okaloosa-county-community-rallies-for-justice-at-town-hall-after-sra-fortsons-shooting https://weartv.com/news/local/hurlburt-field-airman-identified-as-man-shot-dead-in-officer-involved-shooting# https://weartv.com/news/local/okaloosa-county-sheriffs-office-fires-deputy-involved-in-fatal-air-force-airman-shooting# Contact Hunter Parnell: Publicdefenseless@gmail.com Instagram @PublicDefenselessPodcast Twitter @PDefenselessPod www.publicdefenseless.com Subscribe to the Patron www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast Donate on PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ Donate on Stripe https://donate.stripe.com/7sI01tb2v3dwaM8cMN Trying to find a specific part of an episode? Use this link to search transcripts of every episode of the show! https://app.reduct.video/o/eca54fbf9f/p/d543070e6a/share/c34e85194394723d4131/home
The bird family tree may need pruning. Geneticists have made new connections that take us back to the great extinction event. Professor Ho explains to Dr Karl how this is changing our views on dinosaurs and chickens. Prof Simon Ho DrKarl.com
Professor Simon Lucey is the Director of the Australian Institute for Machine Learning, a professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Adelaide and an 'Arrow,' someone who has moved to Adelaide to live and work. Originally from Queensland, Simon has spent time working as the Principal Research Scientist at the CSIRO in Brisbane and as an Associate Research Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh, USA. In October 2020, he was lured to Adelaide to set up the Australian Institute for Machine Learning, Australia's first facility dedicated to Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, computer vision, deep learning and innovation. We chat to Simon about his career to date, his work developing technology for self-driving cars and the opportunity for Adelaide to be a global leader in AI. We also find out what he loves about living in Adelaide, his typical Saturday routine and his favourite Adelaide restaurants, events and regional getaway destinations.
In this episode, Professor Rory O'Connor and Craig spoke to the Regius Professor of Psychiatry at King's College London, Professor Sir Simon Wessely. Simon is a psychiatrist and epidemiologist with a focus on military health and unexplained symptoms and syndromes. In 2017, the then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, commissioned Simon to chair the review of the Mental Health Act based on his extensive knowledge and experience. In this conversation, they discussed Simon's unique insight into the NHS, the process of reviewing mental health legislation, and his research on Gulf War veterans.
Today's special episode is an interview with Professor Simon Miles, Author of Engaging the Evil Empire: Washington, Moscow, and the Beginning of the End of the Cold War. To purchase his book, and learn more about this fascinating topic, go to https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501776069/engaging-the-evil-empire/#bookTabs=1Support the show
#BusinessOfAFCON is an exclusive six-part series, produced by The Football Foundation for Africa in collaboration with Africa Business of Sport Podcast, which focuses on the various business and commercial aspects of the Africa Cup of Nations 2023.
Professor Simon drags Shawn deep into the world of Sourdough starters and how to make the perfect loaf of bread out of a jar of beige slime. Questions, comments or corrections? Hit us up at email@eatdrinkcheap.ca eatdrinkcheap.ca eadrinkbreathe.com/podcast Music by John Palmer Show notes and Shout Outs: I would argue that when it comes to bread, half (at most) of the final result comes from the recipe. Far more important is handling and process. You Still Need a Recipe… Probably 400g Flour 400g Starter 200g Water 10g Salt Knead until smooth, place in a banneton or bowl and cover with a clean cloth. Allow to rise for a lot longer than you probably think is necessary. I'll often do overnight. Fresh bread in the morning! Preheat the oven to 450. I recommend having either a baking stone or a dutch oven. GENTLY turn out the loaf. It's basically a balloon at this point and we don't want any of the delicious air to escape. Okay I lied, we want SOME of the air to escape. Slash the top all fancy. You can use a lame or sharp knife. BAKE! The amount of time is dependant on the equipment currently in your oven. Once done allow to rest for half an hour Only Lovers Left Alive: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1714915/ The Menu: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9764362/ Delicious in Dungeon: https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/81564899
According to Simon Dalby, Professor emeritus in the Balsillie School of International Affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, global politics over the past 70 years has been driven by an overabundance of "firepower," both nuclear and carbon-based. The first was used by Great Power to threaten incineration of the world, by intention or accident, in the name of "national security." The second now threatens the future of life on Earth--human and nonhuman--but Great Powers (and the not-so-great) resolutely refuse to give them up in the name of "national security" and "lifestyle." In 2022, Dalby published Rethinking Environmental Security, an analysis of firepower past, present and future. Join host Ronnie Lipschutz for a thought-provoking conversation with Simon Dalby about these two threats and what countries are not doing about it.
I have an in-depth UFO discussion with researcher Simon Holland, analyzing famous cases like the WWII foo fighters, the Rendlesham Forest incident in the UK, and the more recent USS Nimitz encounters with Tic Tac shaped UAPs. We explore theories linking the foo fighters to secret experimental radar technology used during that time. For Rendlesham, Simon shares perspectives on covert directed energy weapons testing occurring in that region. As for the Tic Tacs, he provides analysis that they could have been advanced aerogel drones possibly being tested by defense contractors in the Nimitz operating area. Overall, Simon and I find common ground in wanting scientific evidence-based explanations for UFO cases, without jumping to extraterrestrial conclusions. We agree that continuing citizen investigation is key to uncovering the truth about these fascinating and mysterious UAP encounters.Thsi podcast premiered on 22 Dec 2023
(*SOME GRAPHIC CONTENT ON YOWIE ATACK - LISTENER DISCRETIONS ADVISED*) Three items from recent radio shows - Tony Healy in Australia on evidence of a Yowie attack on a wild boar... The excellent astronomer/author/broadcaster Dr David Whitehouse has a Space update.... And Professor Simon Holland on his belief some UAPs have an earthly - but ultra-top-secret - explanation...
Cities are one of the defining features of the Iron Age Mediterranean, as urbanism spread across the sea and beyond to form the backbone of the classical age that would follow. Professor Simon Stoddart is one of the world's leading experts on this process, specifically how it happened in Etruria, and how that particular example compares to urban formation elsewhere.Patrick's book is now available! Get The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years that Shook the World in hardcopy, ebook, or audiobook (read by Patrick) here: https://bit.ly/PWverge. And check out Patrick's new podcast The Pursuit of Dadliness! It's all about “Dad Culture,” and Patrick will interview some fascinating guests about everything from tall wooden ships to smoked meats to comfortable sneakers to history, sports, culture, and politics. https://bit.ly/PWtPoDListen to new episodes 1 week early, to exclusive seasons 1 and 2, and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/tidesofhistorySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
If you missed last week's webinar, you can now listen to the conversation between with faculty members from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Professor Simon Barak and Dana Gavish-Fridman, and Rabbi Greg Weisman. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev sits 25 miles from the border with Gaza and was significantly impacted by the October 7 terrorist attacks. More than 60 BGU students, staff, faculty, and family were either murdered, kidnapped or missing. Since then, the University has transformed, turning dorms into army barracks and homes for displaced families, and mobilizing students and, staff to support the war effort. They shared how the war in Israel has impacted Ben-Gurion University, the work of Soroka Medical Center that serves the southern part of the country and which treated 1,000 patients in its emergency room on the day of the attack, and how it has affected them personally. Organizations we encourage contributions to include the following: The Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County is raising money to support Israel's defense and recovery efforts. Magen David Adom is supporting Israel's rescue and medical resources. The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism is supporting the families of Israel's Reform congregations. Please also consider a contribution to Yozma, Temple Beth El's sister congregation in Israel.
Against all the thoughts of the world's military, the Werewolf Ant-villain of the piece decides he will just ignore their threats and run away. Professor Simon de Montford has told him that the sky is full of death. That the land is full of death and that the Wolf was going to die if he did not behave himself and give up the magic spell that they wanted. The Werewolf did what he thought was best. He ran away. Let's see in this episode how this goes for him. Werewolf the Podcast: https://linktr.ee/WerewolfthePodcastSupport the show by becoming a monthly subscriber: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797037/supportOr Caffeine us up! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/WerewolfwilThe Werewolf's Story Book. Link below.https://amzn.to/3eftjPaFacebook Grouphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/werewolfthepodcast/Twitter thingyhttps://twitter.com/AWerewolfsStoryYoutube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKNSJs6cyQ-zq6QBLisikCwGregory Alexander Sharp: linktr.ee/sempai_gregIl Lupo on Amazon: UK: http://tinyurl.com/lupobookuk US: http://tinyurl.com/lupobookusaAdrian Lopez: http://linktr.ee/alstorytimellcalstorytimellc.comLycaon Bloodlines on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lycaon-Bloodlines-Adrian-Lopez-ebook/dp/B0CHXDVBBH/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3H3SXY9XIYT1C&keywords=lycaon+bloodlines&qid=1695669708&sprefix=lycaon+bloodlines%2Caps%2C161&sr=8-1Support the show
Professor Simon de Montfort is the world expert in Supernatural Criminality. He has to try to talk to a Werewolf in order to explain why that Werewolf should comply. Will Wil comply? We will see. Wil has watched his home burn at the hands of the Blood Cult that he had thought were all destroyed. Things have not gone for Wil, and his reaction to the Professor may be somewhat coloured by his latest experience. Werewolf the Podcast: https://linktr.ee/WerewolfthePodcastSupport the show by becoming a monthly subscriber: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1797037/supportOr Caffeine us up! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/WerewolfwilThe Werewolf's Story Book. Link below.https://amzn.to/3eftjPaFacebook Grouphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/werewolfthepodcast/Twitter thingyhttps://twitter.com/AWerewolfsStoryGregory Alexander Sharp: linktr.ee/sempai_gregIl Lupo on Amazon: UK: http://tinyurl.com/lupobookuk US: http://tinyurl.com/lupobookusaAdrian Lopez: http://linktr.ee/alstorytimellcalstorytimellc.comLycaon Bloodlines on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lycaon-Bloodlines-Adrian-Lopez-ebook/dp/B0CHXDVBBH/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3H3SXY9XIYT1C&keywords=lycaon+bloodlines&qid=1695669708&sprefix=lycaon+bloodlines%2Caps%2C161&sr=8-1Support the show
Professor Simon Griffith on why magpies swoop.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We have come a long way from the start of the pandemic, when those well enough to avoid admission could not even access a COVID-19 test, let alone any specific therapeutics. Those in the highest-risk groups for severe consequences of COVID-19 can now access an antiviral or neutralising monoclonal antibody in the community. In this podcast, Dr Toni Hazell and Professor Simon de Lusignan outline the various drugs available, which are recommended by NICE, who is eligible for them and the practicalities of ensuring that your patients have access to these medications in a timely manner. They also discuss the PANORAMIC trial and which patients might want to take part in that, as well as the broader issues around testing for viruses in primary care. As of June 2023, national commissioning of Covid Medicines Delivery Units (CMDU) in England has ended. These services will now be commissioned locally by ICBs and patients will not be contacted if they are high risk and have a positive COVID-19 test. Depending on local arrangements, patients might access COVID-19 therapeutics via 111, via the GP, via their hospital consultant, or by emailing/phoning their local CMDU directly. Further information is here https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2023/06/PRN00532-access-to-covid-treatments-letter-190623.pdf. Full financial support for the design and development of this podcast is provided by Pfizer Ltd as a corporate sponsorship project, an arm's length agreement. Pfizer has had no involvement in the content. Editorial and content decisions were made solely by the RCGP.
Learn more about Inside Matters - https://insidematters.health/ Professor Simon Carding is Group Leader at the Quadram Institute and is a Professor of Mucosal Immunology at the University of East Anglia. Professor Carding's research covers a broad area of gut biology including epithelial cell physiology, mucus and glycobiology, mucosal immunology, commensal microbiology, foodborne bacterial pathogens, and mathematical modelling and bioinformatics. The success of this programme has led to the establishment of the Gut Microbes and Health research programme that is integral to the research agenda of The Quadram Institute. In this episode, Dr McIlory chats with Professor Carding about his journey into the field of the gut microbiome and they discuss some of the ground-breaking ways his research is revealing the connection between gut health and debilitating conditions such as Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's and ME. They also cover the topics of how to ensure good gut health while debunking some popular myths on the topic.
Nearly a century ago, two wealthy Chicago teenagers committed a heinous crime, and became infamous figures in the annals of American crime. In this episode, The Murder Sheet interviews John Jay College of Criminal Justice Professor Simon Baatz about his book documenting the legal showdown at the heart of this notorious case.You can purchase Professor Simon Baatz's book — For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago — here or via other online platforms: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/for-the-thrill-of-it-simon-baatz/1111666746Send tips to murdersheet@gmail.com. The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC .See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
According to Simon Dalby, Professor emeritus in the Balsillie School of International Affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, global politics over the past 70 years has been driven by an overabundance of "firepower," both nuclear and carbon-based. The first was used by Great Power to threaten incineration of the world, by intention or accident, in the name of "national security." The second now threatens the future of life on Earth--human and nonhuman--but Great Powers (and the not-so-great) resolutely refuse to give them up in the name of "national security" and "lifestyle." In 2022, Dalby published Rethinking Environmental Security, an analysis of firepower past, present and future. Join host Ronnie Lipschutz for a thought-provoking conversation with Simon Dalby about these two threats and what countries are not doing about it. Previous shows are available at https://ksqd.org/sustainabilitynow/ Sustainability Now! is underwritten by the Sustainable Systems Research Foundation.
Charlotte Robson speaks to Simon Chadwick on Newcastle United and Saudi Arabia. They discuss: NUFC's impact in Saudi Arabia since the takeover The rumours about PIF and Manchester United The impact of the World Cup on Saudi Arabia Much, much more Please consider supporting us on Patreon - www.patreon.com/tfpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Michael Calvin is joined on the Football People podcast by Professor Simon Chadwick, who outlines the game's future in the context of a hugely significant World Cup in Qatar. Paul Hayward and Dominic Fifield analyse his observations, and discuss the chances of Lionel Messi confirming his greatness in Sunday's final against France. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
To complement the onset of the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup, the Africa Business of Sport will have a special coverage of the sports business aspects related to the global showcase. In the following week, the podcast brings you conversations with leading professionals in the sport business who have unique perspectives of the World Cup as a business. In this episode, Professor Simon Chadwick extensively discusses the political nature of the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup, the volatile geopolitical relationship between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Qatar's uncertain post-World Cup strategy, reports of Qatar Sports Investment potentially selling a minority stake in Paris-Saint Germain and adopting a “pro-human” approach to finding a negotiated way forward for football. ------------------- ⭐ The best way to support the podcast is to subscribe, share and leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Practices are well into the flu vaccination season by now, but how often do we actually stop and think about what is in the vaccinations that we give, and how we know when flu is circulating? Dr Toni Hazell talks to Professor Simon de Lusignan of the RCGP Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC). They discuss the strains of flu that are in the vaccine, our expectations for uptake this year and why we have moved to a quadrivalent vaccine. Simon also talks about the work of the RSC, who are always looking for more practices to be part of their network. If you would like to enquire about joining the RCGP Research and Surveillance Centre, please email practiceenquiries@phc.ox.ac.uk You can view the RSC's Virology Dashboard here: https://tinyurl.com/34p2xjbb CSL Seqirus has funded these podcasts and has been involved in discussion for the topic of this podcast. The content has been prepared independently by the RCGP without any input from CSL Seqirus. This podcast is intended for healthcare professionals and is disseminated by media determined by the RCGP.
This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have Professor Simon de Graaf, a fellow podcaster and a world expert in sheep reproduction, sperm sexing and AI.Simon is currently a Professor of Animal Reproduction at The University of Sydney, where he says 90% of the work he does now is sheep "But my background is such that we've dealt with a lot of different species."Simons work in reproduction began during his PhD where he studied sexed semen. Mark asks for a run through of the process of sexing semen."It's all based on the fact there's a different amount of DNA in a male sperm and a female sperm." explains Simon. "The X chromosome is bigger than the Y chromosome so if you add a special dye to it, you can pick up the higher florescence in the X chromosome." The method for successfully separating sexed semen was a success. "The big challenge, after they initially developed the technology, was keeping the sperm alive though the process." explains Simon. "It's a lot to be shot through a cannon at 80 miles an hour...it's not a recipe for long life. So there was a lot of research that went into keeping them happy and healthy in the process" Fast forward 20 years and the results of sexed semen have pretty good conception rates."There's certainly been some people that have gotten fantastic results in recent times and [they] are going back for second or even third sexed semen programs. You should expect, if everything goes right, around your normal AI, which is around 70%."Mark asks if Simon is involved in anything that might explain the variability of AI success."With in my team, Dr Jessica Rickard and Eloise Spanner, they have just commenced a project on prediction of AI success."Part of this project is to attempt to place a few more numbers or gather more information on what makes for a success or what makes for a failure.Mark and Simon then cover "Reproduction Co", Simons latest venture."I've always been quite interested in the commercial space and I was keen to offer the semen assessment service at a national level. So what I decided to do was set up this business. Amongst other things it's offering standardised semen testing.""We have three labs where everyone is doing the same thing, following the same protocols. They've been trained in the same way and we exchange reference samples to check we're all seeing the same thing and scoring the same thing.""We all talk about how expensive AI programs are...I would argue that you should take a look at the semen that you are going to be using. Check it for numbers, looks, swimming patterns.... Why not test for those things if they are relatively inexpensive in comparison to a failure?" he asks. Simon delves into the science behind artificial insemination and he and Mark discuss the future of AI. Currently work is going on to facilitate cervical AI in sheep with frozen semen. And finally, Simon discusses his podcast "Repro Radio" which covers all aspects of reproduction. From human fertility to wildlife conservation.If you would like to know more about Simon, The Reproduction Co or his podcast "Repro Radio" you can follow the links below. https://www.thereproductionco.com/https://www.simondegraaf.com/Check out The Hubthehub.nextgenagri.comOur community where our members have the opportunity to keep up to date with everything we are working on.
Professor Simon Chadwick is the a Professor of Sport & Geopolitical Economy at Skema Business School in Paris. Throughout his career he has studied the impact of geopolitics on the beautiful game. Increasingly over the past decade and as part of his studies he has spent a lot more time outside of Europe exploring regions where there is government involvement and football is used as "nation building". Ahead of the World Cup kickoff Simon joined me to discuss how football has evolved over the last 30 years to the point now where it is now unrecognisable to the game which he found in his youth.Listen to find out more including;- Where did football and "nation building" begin?- Brazil and how football can shape a global narrative.- Insight into FIFA's navigation through the complexity of a changing world.- Where is transnational governance headed to combat the hyper-commercialization of football?- Baking a bigger cake to satisfy the voracious appetite for football.- Is football beyond repair?
Professor Simon Hunter returns to the Common Good Podcast to talk about the results from the Scottish Mental Illness Stigma Survey. Professor Hunter had previously spoken about the project after it launched and now he discusses its findings and how they can be put into a practical context.
Michael Calvin gets a dispiriting glimpse into football's future from Professor Simon Chadwick, his latest guest on the Football People podcast. In addition to reviewing the Champions League, Miguel Delaney and Seb Stafford Bloor discuss the growing influence of Gulf states and the business principles of US investors on the global game. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sam speaks with Simon Gathercole, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Cambridge University, on early Christian gospel literature, the theological message uniting the gospels of the New Testament canon, and why The Da Vinci Code is probably not the ideal source for information on Jesus Christ (or, ahem, New Testament scholarship). Gathercole's latest book on the gospels, discussed throughout this conversation, can be found here. Listeners can access the lectures mentioned toward the end of the episode by clicking here.
Sam speaks with Simon Gathercole, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Cambridge University, on early Christian gospel literature, the theological message uniting the gospels of the New Testament canon, and why The Da Vinci Code is probably not the ideal source for information on Jesus Christ (or, ahem, New Testament scholarship). Gathercole's latest book on the gospels, discussed throughout this conversation, can be found here. Listeners can access the lectures mentioned toward the end of the episode by clicking here.
Simon Michaux is an Associate Professor of Geometallurgy at the Geological Survey of Finland in the Circular Economy Solutions Unit. Holding a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Physics and Geology and a PhD in Mining Engineering from the University of Queensland, Simon has extensive experience in mining research and development, circular economic principles, industrial recycling, and mineral intelligence. Through his recent publications, Simon has outlined the many challenges facing the global industrial ecosystem. He notes our world is currently energy and minerals blind and transitioning to renewable energies is not as straightforward as it appears.We've been growing without care to planetary limits for too long and change is coming, whether we like it or not. We need a completely new energy paradigm to address the challenges ahead, and as Simon says, it all starts with a conversation. We cover a lot of ground in this one, so grab a notebook and strap in for an important conversation – this is one you'll want to listen to more than once.In this episode we discuss:• Simon's diverse work background from R&D in the Australian mining industry, to organic farming, involvement in the circular economy sector and now his important work at the Geological Survey of Finland• A wake-up call; Simon's detailed reports outlining the quantity of minerals needed to phase out fossil fuels and the shortage of critical raw materials that will impose limits on growth• The need to restructure the circular economy into the resource balanced economy• Leaving oil before it leaves us and the limitations of alternative energies like biofuels and renewables• Simon's commentary on current geopolitical tensions and past resource wars• How technology is inextricably linked to commodities and why this means technology can't completely bridge the energy gap• Community strategies for overcoming our minerals and energy blindness and adapting to our lower energy future• And SO much more!• There was a lot we simply couldn't cover in this podcast episode due to time constraints but we urge you to find out more about Simon's work and recommend viewing his recent presentation at the University of Queensland's JKMRC Friday Seminars.To view all the links to the websites and documents, make sure you visit the show notes on our website. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast, leave us a review and share this episode with your friends and family.Please support our work and enable us to deliver more content by buying us a coffee.
Corporate CPR Episode 48: The Hidden Champions MarketOn today's show, we discuss the hidden champions market, what their success looks like, what makes them successful, and how you can apply those learnings to your organization.Hermann Simon is the Founder and Honorary Chairman of Simon-Kucher & Partners, today the world's leading price consultancy with 41 offices and 1600 employees. From 1995 to 2009 he served as the CEO and is the firm's Honorary Chairman today. He is an expert in strategy, marketing, and pricing, and the only German in the “Thinkers50 Hall of Fame” of the most influential management thinkers in the world. In German-speaking countries he has been continuously voted the most influential living management thinker. The magazine Cicero ranks him in the top 100 of the 500 most important intellectuals.Professor Simon has published over 40 books in 30 languages, including world bestsellers on Hidden Champions and price management. His most recent book is True Profit! No Company Ever Went Broke from Turning a Profit. His new book Hidden Champions in the Chinese Century: Ascent and Transformation will be published this spring. Key Takeaways:What is a Hidden Champion?A Hidden Champion is a company that is one of the top three in its world market, has a revenue of less than 5 billion Euros, and is not known in the general public. They make up a large part of the economy.How is it possible that they are hidden? Why don't they come out and be globally known?It's often part of their culture. They don't want to attract the attention of their competitors. Often, they are suppliers contributing to complex products made by other more visible companies. What is the blueprint for success for these companies?The strategy is built on three pillars.Ambition to be the best: Analyze what you are really good at.Focus: Stay away from diversification. Focus on what you can do the best.Globalization: Expand regionally, and then internationally. What are the main things that cause champions to fail?Many are family companies that don't manage succession well. Technological breakthroughs come which they can't keep up with.What is it about Germany that fosters so many of these types of organizations?Historically, because Germany was made up of 23 monarchies and 2 republics, a businessman had to become international very quickly because of the proximity of the neighboring regions. It became "normal" to think internationally. The German vocational training system has young people work as apprentices in a company three days per week and attend vocational training two days per week. This fosters a great balance between practice and theory, creating worker competence.Recent books by Hermann SimonMany Worlds, One LifeHidden Champions in the Chinese CenturyContact Hermann SimonWebsite: https://hermannsimon.comEmail: hermann.simon@simon-kucher.comLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonhermann/Twitter: https://twitter.com/hermannsimonFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/hermann.simon.50
RCPCH President Dr Camilla Kingdon speaks with Professor Simon Kenny about his role at NHS England. They discuss how to keep hold of core priorities in a changing world, the rapid and partnership response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the value of truly listening to children and young people. Sometimes you need to stand back and give appropriate time to the big issues, Simon tells us. And having a really good team allows this to happen. See full transcript from our website
A compilation of selected UAP, UFO, & OVNI as well as military technology and top secret science and engineering from an incredibly down to Earth video creator named Prof Simon (YouTube same name for his channel with over 700 videos). Iron sharpens iron and a friend sharpens a friend. I may not agree with everything he says or declares but great minds often think alike…linktr.ee/beyondtopsecrettexan patreon.com/beyondtopsecretTEX podpage.com/beyondtopsecrettexan --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/beyondtopsecrettexan/support
Professor Simon Fishel is the Founder, President, and Head of R&D at CARE Fertility in the UK. CARE is celebrating its 20th anniversary and apparently, a CARE baby is delivered every 4hours! Simon's early works were as Deputy Scientific Director of the world's first ‘test-tube baby clinic' at Bourn Hall, Cambridge, the first to demonstrate that embryos are capable of responding to their environment and communicating with the uterus and external factors. In our chat, we discuss what this means. Simon was also the first to show that the human embryo in vitro synthesizes and secretes the pregnancy hormone HCG (Science, 1984), and early in the 1990's he was the first to demonstrate conclusively the need to permanently immobilize the sperm tail for efficient and successful ICSI in humans, and during the late 1980s and early 1990's he pioneered human sperm microinjection. We discussed the efficiency of the endometrial scratch as well as eating pineapple post embryo transfer. Simon also gave his views on studies regarding Vitamin B3 and its impact on preventing miscarriage. One, in particular, was in Australia, where scientists identified a major cause of miscarriages and multiple birth defects that could change the way women prepare for pregnancy. Having low levels of a vital molecule called Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD) damages embryos in the crucial first weeks of pregnancy when organs start forming, the scientists at Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute have discovered. Simon has said - “While an intriguing and potentially important scientific study, which has been well conducted, it must be recognized that miscarriage has many causes.” In our chat, Simon discusses CARE's research which has shown a Male Marker for miscarriage and explained the blood test that could be carried out to determine whether a couple is carrying the marker. We also discussed the mental health aspect of failed fertility treatment and Simon gave his views on the postcode lottery in the UK, as well as how he feels IVF is looking in its 40th year of existence. It was interesting to hear him say " I have a great sadness that in the country that created IVF and made it available to the world that we still can't have a single unified policy" To follow Simon on Twitter visit I also referred to a previous episode I had released where I had covered the impact of fertility treatment on mental health, with blogger Strength and Infertility which you can visit here Don't forget to join my closed Facebook group Plus if you don't mind helping me out, a quick review on iTunes and clicking subscribe to this podcast would be AMAZING... just click here
Professor Daniel Simons has been researching the cognitive mechanisms of our experience of a stable and continuous visual world and on change blindness. These failures to notice what is often obvious to others suggests that we have a limited interpretation of our visual world. This is especially important when dealing with eye-witness accounts of crimes, suspect identifications, and in officer involved shootings. Research in Professor Simon's laboratory uses methods ranging from real-world and video-based approaches to computer-based psychophysical techniques, eye tracking, simulator studies, and training studies. Join us as Daniel Simons discusses the implications of human perception and memory and how we should be careful about the weight we place on eye-witness testimony.Originally aired on Oct, 14 2021
Simon Hunter, a Professor of Applied Psychology at GCU, joins the first Common Good Podcast of 2022 to talk about the launch of a new survey that will allow people with experience of complex mental illnesses to share their views and experiences of stigma and discrimination to help shape policy, support and services in Scotland. Professor Hunter outlines the kind of stigmas people with mental health problems can face, why this survey is needed and how its findings can be put into practice.
The passing of the years in general practice often seems to be marked by the annual flu vaccination season; recently it has been more complex with the need to social distance and the simultaneous running of the COVID-19 vaccination programme. In this podcast, Dr Toni Hazell and Professor Simon de Lusignan discuss some of the issues which will affect this years flu vaccination season, as well as wider issues of social distancing and management of viral infections. The podcast also touches on COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy. As mentioned in this episode, if you are interested in joining The RCGP Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) you can email practiceenquiries@phc.ox.ac.uk or visit the website at https://orchid.phc.ox.ac.uk
In episode 36 we chat to Simon Guild who is the Head of The School of Life Sciences within the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow where he has oversight of 20 undergraduate and 5 PGT Masters degrees. We talk to to Simon about all manner of stuff, ranging from strategic planning, leadership, innovation and research-led teaching, right through to staff development and promotion on the Learning Teaching and Scholarship career pathway. Expect the usual drenching of imaginative analogies to enrich the flow of conversation. You will be sure to enjoy this one!
Professor Simon Driver beams in to explain how AESOP will help the European Space Agency's VISTA and 4MOST telescopes survey over two million galaxies looking for more information on dark matter… The post Aiding Dark Matter Research : Professor Simon Driver on AESOP appeared first on Trekzone.
In this episode of It's Time for Ewe, Fiona Macarthur is joined by Associate Professor Simon DeGraaf to gain some insight into the oestrous cycles of ewes. Simon is recognised as an expert in the reproduction and artificial breeding of sheep. He has published over 75 journal articles papers and three book chapters on animal reproduction and has trained over 2,500 veterinary medicine, animal science and agricultural university students.
In episode 34 we ask sustainability big dog Simon Kemp back on to the podcast to chat about all things education during and beyond Covid-19. No script, no plan, just education chat and a weird man standing at the window trying to signal to us a couple of times! Stephan is back with his feature from The US, this time reflecting on Adam Procter's episode, plus he has a few literature recommendations.
#7 Professor Simon Werrett (UCL Professor of History and Philosophy of Science) talks about his award-winning book, THRIFTY SCIENCE. In Britain of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the practices of reuse, re-purpose, and recycle were core to the work of what became science. More important, if you follow the trails left by these activities, you'll find ideas that reorganise how we should think about the way science was done, where it was done, and who did the work. Professor Werrett also resurrects the old word “oeconomy,” putting it to work to help us understand why reuse was understood to be virtuous. And he explains how industrialisation in the nineteenth century substituted ideas related to consumption and specialisation. In this interview, Professor Werrett discusses the main ideas of his book, plus how he hopes to extend his analysis to histories of thrifty science in Russia and elsewhere. He also talks about other projects he has underway and some of the joys that come from a focus on material culture in the history of science and technology. In our age of recycling, is thrifty science making a comeback? Professor Werrett argues it never went away. It simply is something we tend to let drift out of focus. Simon's book: Simon Werrett. 2019. Making the Most of Materials in the History of Experiment (University of Chicago Press), ISBN 978-0-226-61025-2. It was awarded the 2020 Paul Bunge Prize from the German Chemical Society and the German Society for Physical Chemistry. Simon talks about some of the main ideas from his book in a series of short films produced by STS: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqDGBZHFcMlnaTbR1vS266tWaCnnCaCjK The project described by Simon at The Institute of Making was the 2014 “Emotions, Transformations, and Restorations”: https://emotionstransformationsrestorations.wordpress.com Featuring Interviewee: Professor Simon Werrett, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science Interviewer: Professor Joe Cain, Professor in History and Philosophy of Biology Music credits “Rollin At 5,” by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5000-rollin-at-5 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Production information Editing and post-production by Professor Joe Cain. Podcast information “WeAreSTS” is a production of the Department of Science and Technology Studies (STS) at University College London (UCL). To find out more, and to leave feedback about the show, visit us online: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/podcast STS Students and staff also can find on the website information about how to get involved with our programme. “WeAreSTS” producer is Professor Joe Cain. Twitter: @stsucl #WeAreSTS
SUMMARY If you're wearing a mask to hide mental health challenges, why not swap it for a superhero cape and brainpowers so strong they're sure to save the day! Sharon Blady, PhD (comic book geek, former Manitoba Minister of Health, founder of Speak Up: Mental Health Advocates) and Dr. Simon Trepel (a psychiatrist and member of Sharon's treatment team) openly talk about Sharon's multiple diagnoses, what's helping her heal, and how you, too, can embrace neurodiversity and load your mental health toolkit with superpower solutions. They also touch on the impacts of stigma and childhood trauma on mental health, the effects of COVID-19, the need for resilience, and the importance of strong doctor/patient relationships. TAKEAWAYS This podcast will help you understand: Personal experiences from a person with multiple mental illness diagnoses, and those same experiences from the vantage point of her psychiatrist An individual's experiences with post-partum depression, ADHD, OCD, Bipolar 2, and suicidal ideation Challenges and opportunities associated with multiple diagnoses Mental health “superpowers” and how they can help promote personal healing and support others Superhero Toolkit Benefits of neurodiversity (seeing that brain differences such as ADHD and autism are not deficits) Impacts of stigma (structural, public, and private) and reducing its negative effects “Resilience” from personal, professional, and community perspectives Impacts of COVID-19 on mental health Doctor/patient relationships and what makes them work SPONSOR The Social Planning & Research Council of British Columbia (SPARC BC) is a leader in applied social research, social policy analysis, and community development approaches to social justice. The SPARC team supports the council's 16,000 members, and works with communities to build a just and healthy society for all. THANK YOU for supporting the HEADS UP! Community Mental Health Summit and the HEADS UP! Community Mental Health Podcast. RESOURCES Speak Up: Mental Health Advocates Inc. Embrace Your Superpowers program Managing Multiple Diagnoses of Mental Illnesses The Importance of a Complete Diagnosis: Managing Multiple Mental Illnesses Neurodiversity in the Modern Workplace GUESTS Sharon Blady, PhD Sharon Blady is former Minister of Health and Minister of Healthy Living for the Province of Manitoba, an academic, and a comic book geek turned mental health superhero who empowers others with her fandom-based Embrace Your Superpowers program. Using her lived experience of multiple mental health and neurodiversity diagnoses, she helps others better understand and achieve improved mental health and well-being. Her diagnoses became a source of strength – Superpowers – which she harnessed and directed for personal, organizational, and community growth. Sharon's life experiences range from being a single mom on social assistance, to being responsible for a $6-billion health department budget. She is a survivor of domestic violence, cancer, and suicide, along with being a published author, entrepreneur, and public speaker. Email: sharon@speak-up.co Phone: 204-899-4731 Website: www.speak-up.co Facebook: @SpeakUpMHA Twitter: @SpeakUp_MHA & @sharonblady Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-blady/ & https://www.linkedin.com/company/speak-up-mha Simon Trepel, MD, FRCPC Simon Trepel is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with more than a decade of experience assessing and treating kids and teens. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba, where he teaches medical students, residents, psychiatrists, pediatricians, and family doctors. Simon is also a clinical psychiatrist with the Intensive Community Reintegration Service at the Manitoba Adolescent Treatment Center. Simon is co-founder and consulting psychiatrist for the Gender Dysphoria Assessment and Action for Youth clinic, and consulting psychiatrist for the Pediatric Adolescent Satellite Clinic, where he primarily works with children and adolescents in Child and Family Services care. Simon has worked with Vital Statistics as well as Manitoba school divisions providing his expertise in child and adolescent gender dysphoria. He has spoken to audiences on a range of topics, including gender dysphoria, video game addiction, anxiety, attention deficit disorder, and neuroplasticity. Websites: https://matc.ca/ (Manitoba Adolescent Treatment Center) Email: sptrepel@gmail.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/simontrepel LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-trepel-md-619a76b8/ HOST Jo de Vries is a community education and engagement specialist with 30 years of experience helping local governments in British Columbia connect with their citizens about important sustainability issues. In 2006, she established the Fresh Outlook Foundation (FOF) to “inspire community conversations for sustainable change.” FOF's highly acclaimed events include Building SustainABLE Communities conferences, Reel Change SustainAbility Film Fest, Eco-Blast Kids' Camps, CommUnity Innovation Lab, Breakfast of Champions, and Women 4 SustainAbility. FOF's newest ventures are the HEADS UP! Community Mental Health Summit and HEADS UP! Community Mental Health Podcast. Website: Fresh Outlook Foundation Phone: 250-300-8797 PLAY IT FORWARD The move from mental health challenge to optimal restoration becomes possible as more people learn about various healing challenges, successes, and opportunities. To that end, please share this podcast with anyone who has an interest or stake in the future of mental health for individuals, families, workplaces, or communities. FOLLOW US For more information about the Fresh Outlook Foundation (FOF) and our programs and events, visit our website, sign up for our newsletter, and like us on Facebook and Twitter. HELP US As a charity, FOF relies on support from grants, sponsors, and donors to continue its valuable work. If you benefited from the podcast, please help fund future episodes by making a one-time or monthly donation. Sharon Blady, Dr. Simon Trepel Interview Transcript You can download a pdf of the transcript here. The entire transcript is also found below: RICK 0:10 Welcome to the HEADS UP! Community Mental Health Podcast. Join our host Jo de Vries with the Fresh Outlook Foundation, as she combines science with storytelling to explore a variety of mental health issues with people from all walks of life. Stay tuned! JO 0:32 Hey, Jo here. Thanks for joining me and my two guests as we conduct a brain tour that will take you on a journey of discovery, from mental illness all the way to mental health superpowers and superheroes. This great conversation is brought to you by the Social Planning and Research Council of British Columbia. My first guest is Sharon Blady, founder of SPEAK UP: Mental Health Advocates Inc., and former Minister of Health and Minister of Healthy Living for the province of Manitoba. She knows firsthand how getting mental health or neurodiversity diagnoses means living with stereotypes and stigma associated with those labels. She also knows there's a way to reframe those stereotypes and define assets that empower us instead. Sharon's lived experience, combined with a lifelong love of comic book superheroes, successful treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy, and robust peer support, gave her the perspective and tools she needed to see her mental health challenges as assets or superpowers that she now harnesses and manages for better mental health and success. Helping us navigate Sharon's brain tour is Dr. Simon Trepel, a psychiatrist with more than a decade of experience assessing and treating kids and teens. He's an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba, where he teaches medical students, residents, psychiatrists, pediatricians, and family doctors. He's also a clinical psychiatrist with the Intensive Community Reintegration Service at the Manitoba Adolescent Treatment Centre, and co-founder and consulting psychiatrist for the Gender Dysphoria Assessment and Action for Youth Clinic. Welcome to both of you, and thank you for embarking on this journey of disclosure and discovery with me. SHARON 2:39 Thank you. It's great to be here, Jo. SIMON 2:41 Hey, Jo... yeah... thanks for having me as well. JO 2:43 I know the relationship between doctor and patient is sacred, so your willingness to help us better understand that connection is brave, and so very much appreciated. First, we're going to dive into Sharon's story, peppered with Simon's clinical perspective. I think this is going to give you a whole host of insights. Sharon, let's start with you. When we spoke to prepare for this episode, you talked about being born with quote, "different brain things," unquote. Can you tell us that story, starting with you being an energizer bunny and chronic overachiever right from the get-go? SHARON 3:27 Yes, that was my very articulate way of self-identifying, but that's how I felt as a kid... that there was just something different about me. And it wasn't just that I felt that way. I kept getting told that I was different, and not always in a good way. Sometimes I did receive positive encouragement in school and always did well. The first time my parents had to ever deal with the principal, and my being in the office, was because in grade three I had decided I wanted to drop out because I felt there was nothing more that they had to teach me because I was spending more of my time helping other students. And it all just seemed so boring. That's what would eventually get me into advanced programs and stuff like that. So, it was just that thing where I was always doing things and not intending to be one step ahead of things, but finding myself there and then kind of getting simultaneously rewarded and punished for it. So, it'd be like, yeah, there's a great grade, but then you get the side-eye from your classmates. And then I get my father. His tendency was to say that, on one hand, yes, you're my child, you're so smart. But don't think you're that smart... don't get too confident or cocky. So, there was never 100 percent security in it. It's the way I lived in terms of the university and how I was managing things. I remember a girlfriend and I… the joke was that no one would have thought of giving us mental health or neurodiversity diagnoses. More that the joke was made to zap us both in the butt with tranquilizer darts to slow us down so that everybody else could keep up. That was my childhood. JO 4:57 What were your teenage years like? SHARON 5:00 Oh, a roller coaster. I was always good in school, but I got into the IB (International Baccalaureate) program, and it was the first year that they had the IB program in school. So, I think in some respects, they weren't ready for us. We were that first class... 50 of us kids that were used to being chronic overachievers… outsiders… were all suddenly in one small school that only had a total of 350 students. I was, again, still doing well in school, but I found my own people and then went off in directions that had me going to The Rocky Horror Show and doing all of this wonderful world of exploration and finding like-minded people. That was when my second round of visits with the principals started to happen. But again, that weird place where it's like, how do you discipline the kid that's in the advanced program for doing a thing, because they're supposed to be there as a role model. And also, that thing, like the seven colors in her hair, might not actually be a disciplinary issue. It's just you've never encountered it before as a principal. So, I was all over the place. I was doing really well in school and was the very untraditional captain of the cheerleading squad where we cheered to punk rock songs like Youth Brigade. And then I was also in Junior Achievement and, in fact, was the president of the Company of the Year for all of Canada in my final year. Yeah, so again, chronic overachiever... energizer bunny. JO 6:25 What happened that triggered your first experience with mental illness? How was it treated? And how well did you respond? SHARON 6:34 It was actually a while after my first son was born. I was 25, I was a grad student, I was doing my master's degree. I had been going out with somebody that had been a classmate, but when he found out that I was pregnant, ran the heck away. Of course, he also ran the heck away, because the day I found out I was pregnant, I also found out he was cheating on me, and basically said, "Don't let the door hit your butt on the way out." So, I moved back to Manitoba from BC. I had my son, and didn't feel very well, and I couldn't figure out what it was. Because it was, "I've got this kid, I'm doing my master's degree, I've got support from my family," and then one day, I had... after feeling all of this up and down and trying to juggle everything... the overwhelming desire to drive my car off the side of a bridge. And was really the red flag, and something stopped me in the same moment that my wrist almost turned to do that. Another part of my brain went, "That's not the rational thought that you think it is, that's not going to save you or your child the way you think it is." And that's when I sought out help, and would end up with a postpartum diagnosis. And then that would go on to being diagnosed as chronically depressed, and then I spent some time on Luvox. The GP that was looking after me… I wasn't receiving any therapeutic care… I wasn't receiving any kind of counseling or supports that way… it was just medication. I was eventually on the maximum dosage, and it was making me physically ill, so I did a very unsafe thing and I went cold turkey. I was lucky to then connect with a psychotherapist that helped me and introduced me to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. And that's where my really first positive journey happened. But I have to admit, I probably lived the first three, four years, five years of my eldest son's life in a real, foggy, ugly place. That's where the journey started. And it's led to other things and seeking out care has been intermittent and based on things like addressing being assaulted by my ex-husband. Other basic traumatic events have triggered seeking out care. And it's now working with Simon that I've really had that opportunity to go back and dig through a lot of stuff and learn more about myself. And she's like a superhero geek kind-of-way retcons my narrative in the sense that I've realized my understanding of things has changed, especially as we've dug deeper and I've learned more about my brain and what my diagnoses are, as opposed to what I thought they were, and what others had told me they were in those shorter forms of treatment and care. SIMON 9:12 That might be a nice place for me to maybe step in a little bit if you guys don't mind. Sharon's covered a lot of things simultaneously… I'm going to try to have a foot in Sharon's side and to be preferential and biased in Sharon's behalf. But, I also want to take a bit of a meta sense, as well and take a look at what Sharon has said through the lens of maybe how people with mental health challenges or superpowers are sometimes treated by the system or by their families or even by themselves. So, we backed up a little bit to the beginning when you asked Sharon about her childhood. She talked about having lots of energy and being an overachiever. And she was told that she was different, which is an ambiguous message. “Difference” doesn't let a child necessarily understand that that's good or bad. And the child is left to struggle with, "Am I special? Yes. But do I fit in? No." That is the mixed message that a "different" label gives us as children, and we struggle as well to make sense of that. And we are, simultaneously, as Sharon mentioned, rewarded for our special features, our cognitive abilities, but at the same time it isolates or sometimes distances us from other connections that we can have in social circles and with peers and things like that. So, Sharon felt ahead of others, which then makes her feel separated from others, which then makes her aware of pure jealousy. And then she mentioned this mixed message from her father to be, “Hey, you're good, but don't become arrogant.” And I think that's a big understanding of Sharon's struggle to really understand, "Am I a good person or not?" And this is ultimately what leads us to struggling with our sense of self-esteem and sense of identity. You then went on to talk about the teen years and, again, Sharon is propelled to this academic special status of IB program. But you hear her own worries about the school's ability to contain and nurture that in a good way by her own misgivings about it being, quote, "the first year the IB program is in effect." And so again, the theme is, "I'm not sure the adults can handle us... I'm not sure the adults and the systems and the parents can handle us special kids." And you hear the same thing when she talks about getting in trouble, and the rebel phase of, I think it was, pink hair, and getting into trouble despite good marks. And she remarks, "Yeah, it was really tough for the principal because he'd never encountered it before." But he had, Sharon, many times. The principal had encountered many rebellious yet academically talented kids who weren't getting clear messages at home about who they were, and letting them shape a foundation and identity that gets stable over time, then becomes something for them to fall back on in later years. When they struggle, or even fail at things, they're able to tell themselves, "Hey, that's okay, I'm good at stuff." But when you get a mixed message for so much of your life, and so many systems, you end up falling back on yourself, and you're not sure if you're going to catch yourself. So, you start to wonder if you're able to get helped by the adult authority or systems that are supposed to be catching us. And then we move on to university degree, and we hear Sharon talk about these awful experiences with a partner, and yet she glosses over it very quickly. And you hear the avoidance in her about talking about that very traumatic rejection and separation that happened abruptly at a time when she needed help the most. And see here, there's no ability to process that trauma. And so, when she gets home, all of a sudden, she wants to drive into traffic, and she doesn't understand why. But yet it's the lack of processing that trauma that sits in the basement of our mind and the sub-cortex and waits like a monster until we are at our lowest, and then it shows and rears its ugly head and attempts to take everything from us because we don't feel like we have anything there. JO 12:47 Sharon, I know that you have had multiple diagnoses with different mental health challenges. Can you explain to us how that unfolded? SIMON 12:59 How about, “Sharon, how you doing?” Because we talked about a lot of things just now. And I think an important part of doing these type of interviews where we are laying bare our souls and our histories is that we can go too far. And we can open up too much. And I took Sharon's lead from how far she went in hers. But I think at this point, I'd like to sort of check in with all of us because we've really unloaded some very heavy things. And we don't have to act like it wasn't heavy, Sharon? Well, it's not just for sharing. It's also for our host. JO 13:29 I love this back and forth. I think it's brilliant in that we combine lived experience with a clinical perspective of that lived experience. And I think that's very, very positive. And as you mentioned, Simon, it must be positive for Sharon as well. SIMON 13:48 Exactly. And when we unload things like this, we feel exposed. When we feel exposed, really, again, the sub-cortex of our brains, our basement where our amygdala (which is our fear and emotion center) sleeps beside our hippocampus (which is our library), and that retrieves our memories. And when those two get intertwined in the dance of trauma, they end up opening up these boxes again, when we're not always ready. And so, I always make sure whenever we're talking about traumatic events that I take the lead of the patient, but then when I do the step that seems like I'm being asked to do, we stop and we take a breath, and we reregulate our nervous systems, to make sure that we're still on the same page, and it still feels safe, because therapy doesn't always feel safe, but it should always feel caring and kind and make sure that you are checking back with people. So, you're walking together. And I hope I've given you some time now, Sharon to sort of articulate what it is that you want to maybe say at this point. SHARON 14:47 Thank you for the processing time. I want to thank Simon for how he picked up on how I had said things. And so that in that time to process what I recognized was, for example, that tendency to gloss over things or to say things quickly and sort of dismiss the traumatic aspect of it. And that I've kind of conditioned myself to just telling that story, and that sometimes it has left me raw and open and vulnerable. And that I would just keep moving on not recognizing that it was effectively taking a psychological or a mental scab, and leaving it open to possibly getting infected. And so that's one of the really interesting processes. SIMON 15:31 Oh, I like that. I like that metaphor. SHARON 15:33 Well, that's what I've loved about this process, and about being able to share this today here in this manner, because I've come to realize that so many things that I had taken as normal... they were my normal, they were my habits, they were my whatever. But they weren't. And they maybe got me through the thing at the time, but that they weren't the way things had to be... they weren't a mandatory default setting… that they could be changed. And that even some of the language that I use is, again, a process or part of that, again, what I had internalized. And so that's what I always love about feedback. And the support that I get from Simon is that recognition of, oh my god, am I still using that language? Oh, really? Okay. I thought I'd made some growth here. Yes, I have made some growth, but I'm still carrying around some baggage that I didn't realize I had. I thought I dropped that emotional Samsonite back two weeks ago, but somewhere along the line, I decided to pick up the carry-on version of it after all. And, so what can I do to process that... SIMON 16:35 I hate to interrupt you, Sharon at this point, but we often talk about again, in trauma, this idea of a win-lose or black-white, or yes-no. But when we get into this idea you are doing it again, you're selling yourself short when you say, "I thought I made some growth, but if I made a single mistake, I obviously haven't." SHARON 16:47 Again, and that's what I appreciate, because it's a black and white thinking that I've normalized. So, I'm enjoying the growth. I appreciate the reminders. Jo had the question about the different diagnoses, and I have to say that, because I've been given a variety of things over time, I didn't view them necessarily as negative. Some people will look at mental health labels and neurodiversity labels as negative and other, and I found ways of reframing that, but I still found them as identifying mechanisms or filters that I would run things through. And what I've come to realize in the time that we've worked together is that while those were, I guess you'd say, things that I could use to ground and navigate with. I think it's Maya Angelou that said, "You do the best you can, and then when you learn more, you do better. Some of the diagnoses that we've talked about that I ascribed to at one point, and then realizing that they were mislabelings. I'm glad that I had them for the time that I was there to get me through the thing. It's nice to go back, and that's where I use that term about retcon and go, "Oh, that wasn't really the thing that I thought it was. And now I can adapt to it differently having a better sense." And I would have to say that the one thing that I was most surprised to sort of learn about myself, was just how much of my own mental health has been shaped by trauma of all the different things that I've been dealing with. That is not one of the ones that I would have put near the top of the list or is having had the most influence. SIMON 18:26 That's powerful, and it's because we as a society demonstrate one of the symptoms of trauma, which is avoidance. In my clinical work, and in my everyday life, we are all desperately trying to avoid talking about traumatic things. And that's the reality. JO 18:41 Simon... a question for you. A few of the diagnoses that Sharon had were ADHD, OCD, bipolar two, PTSD. Do you often have patients with multiple diagnoses like that? And if so, isn't it incredibly difficult to diagnose if a person has more than one problem? SIMON 19:05 Well, yeah, but we're not textbooks. We are complicated things. And so, there's many, many reasons why somebody may or may not have a diagnosis at a certain time, and maybe why someone might look like something at one point, but they'll change over time. So, for instance, children, children to teenagers, teenagers to adults, our brains are qualitatively changing over that time, not just in size, but in how they work. A child is not a mini adult... a child is a qualitatively different animal, so to speak. I think that's first of all. So, really, what we're learning is that the brain undergoes incredible amounts of development over our lifetime. And we know that, for instance, in ADHD, while 7% of children are born with the psychological diagnosis of ADHD, according to our latest studies, by the time you reach 18 years old, we know that only 50% of people are going to have ADHD, which is about 4% of adults. And the reasoning for that is because we know as the brain develops and matures naturally over time, if given the right supports and the right conditions, and you will naturally develop the ability to regulate yourself in unique ways as you develop more skills, have good experiences, and accomplish things, and believe in your ability to manage yourself. And we see those things. You can be diagnosed as ADHD as a child, never having been treated or medicated and end up not having ADHD as an adult just by the power of development of the human brain and neuroplasticity. But there's also other things that happen. For instance, you might learn skills that allow you to be more organized, and so you no longer meet criteria for ADHD because you've learned skills that compensate for it, the same way maybe somebody with diabetes might learn how to regulate their diets. They don't have to rely on as much insulin. So, I think we're all regulating our chemistry in different ways all the time. And lastly, we're not in Star Trek or the Jetsons yet, so we don't have the ability to scan a human brain and say, "Okay, well, now we know exactly what this is." So, if somebody comes in talking about hearing a voice or feeling delusional, or being disorganized, and it looks like something called psychosis, well, psychosis is a really a general term that can be many, many things… anything from a bonk on the head, to paranoid schizophrenia, to somebody using math for the first time, to somebody having an autoimmune disorder that's causing an inflammation of the cerebral arteries in the brain. So, there's many reasons why we present the way we do, and sometimes it's not clear in the beginning. Lastly, PTSD and trauma is a great imitator, it can look like almost anything in medicine. We talk about lupus sometimes looking like many, many, many different types of disorders from many different areas. And I feel that in psychiatry, in particular, child, adolescent and young adult psychiatry, I see that trauma looks like many things before it finally gets figured out to be what it is. JO 21:52 Sharon, how did your understanding of the diagnoses and yourself change as your treatment with Simon unfolded? SHARON 22:01 I would have to say the greatest thing was that recognition of what he just explained about PTSD. And I love his comment about the societal avoidance of trauma. Because when I think about my childhood, or the way I used to think about it in terms of or even how well I was in it, it was that… well, you know, my folks are together, I live in a nice house, I've got my brother, I've got my cousins, I've got this, I'm doing well in school. I never would have thought of things necessarily as trauma... trauma was for somebody else that lived far away, that didn't have a stable roof over their head, that lived in a warzone, that kind of thing. So, it was again, not that eight-year-olds necessarily have the clinical or academic understanding of adverse childhood experiences, so the notion of trauma didn't really enter my life until I got to things like dealing with an abusive ex, dealing as an adult recognizing what I had experienced with my father, and what he considered discipline, was, in fact, abuse, and that it was both physical and emotional, psychological, that kind of thing. But that was like, again, in retrospect. So, I understand now exactly how the labels... I go, okay, that's the thing. If that's what I've got, at least I know what I'm up against, at least I know how to deal with it. And so, the understanding that there was something actual masquerading, and that my trauma responses, I think that's the other part, was things that I thought were other things were now like, "Oh, that's a trauma response. Okay, I didn't realize that. Well, that shines a whole new light on it." So, I have to say that's the one thing is that it's given me a lot more, or an ongoing sense of self-reflection. Not that I ever figured out, I never thought that I had it all figured out, but it's encouraged me to keep a growth mindset about my own mental health and neurodiversity. And that there are things that I can always learn about myself so that I can really learn better, healthier ways of coping and adjusting and just moving through life. JO 24:08 Simon, what are you learning about Sharon's unique brain during all this? And is her response to her trauma similar to other people's responses who have experienced similar trauma? SIMON 24:23 I'll take the second part first, if that's okay. What's really fascinating to me about trauma is that every single human being that's ever existed, has experienced something traumatic, but not all of it becomes something that we call PTSD, or a fundamental change in how your brain works after that event. And that's what separates it. We can be scared, and we can struggle by something for a few days, and then our brain essentially gets back to factory settings. Or we can have a really horrific event happen and our brain can then change. And they can do two different ways. And so often people think of trauma, like somebody has been to war or has been raped, really something we think about something truly savage has happened. And that is one type of trauma. And that is the classic type of PTSD you think about. But we are now becoming very aware, our eyes have been opened to another type of trauma called complex PTSD, where it doesn't have to be savage, at least not savage through the eyes of an adult, but is savage through the eyes of a child. So, for instance, if you are a harsh parent to a child, you are a big, much larger individual. And if you scare, intimidate, or otherwise terrorize a child in the act of trying to be a parent to teach something, you are actually in some ways putting that child through a savage event, and that can be scary. And when the person that lives with you scares you, that can easily become something we call complex PTSD, and it fundamentally changes how our brain works. And so that's something that has to be recognized. And it doesn't recognize that, as Sharon said, "I didn't realize how much trauma affects me," but it's like putting a lens over your reality from childhood. And so, you start to recognize that when we see this happen in other ways, for instance, in religion, or even in more severe things like cults, for instance, where children are very young or sort of shaped in a certain way, it becomes very difficult for them to disentangle themselves from those perhaps bias messages from their childhood, or perhaps healthy messages. I'm not going to moralize on these things right now, but my point is, what we learn early affects us, and sometimes it can affect us for a very long time. So, savage or harsh, either one can create trauma. And so that's the first message. The second one is Sharon's brain is unique, but I don't know where to start, actually, like we've already mentioned lots of things. And so, I honestly think that the most unique part of her brain is simultaneously the ability to experience everything she's been through, and then be able to look at it and really allow her to renegotiate who she is, again, looking back, which is the power we all have. And so, I really am honored about and privileged to work with somebody who is so strong and doesn't know it all the time, but is so strong, they're willing to walk back and say, "Let me look at my childhood, again, with my kinder eyes, with my more neutral, healthier eyes, with eyes that aren't afraid, in the same way anymore... and let me see what was truly there. And let me look in the shadows, then find out they're not as scary. Let me look into my eyes and see that I matter all the time, not just when my Dad's in a good mood." And these kinds of things become extremely powerful moments for anybody, but in particular, people willing to risk the discomfort of therapy with somebody who's willing to go there with them, but also take care of them along the way. And that's what Sharon and I have been able to create. JO 27:56 Sharon, what have been your biggest challenges along the way? SHARON 28:01 Wow. I'd have to say that it's been breaking belief cycles and habitual cycles that reinforce the trauma behaviors. So, whether, like I said before, it's the use of language or the comparative competitive thinking, or even recognizing, as I'm recognizing my own strength, because I have to say that there's a lot of things where I would describe the situation or thing that I'd accomplished and kind of felt that it's like, well, anybody would do that under those circumstances, and not allowing myself to recognize the specialness, of maybe something that I had done or accomplished the uniqueness of it. And whether that was academically, politically, it was just oh, this is what I had to do at the time. Or, gee, anybody in my shoes could have done it. And so, I think the biggest challenge will be in that assignment. Okay Simon... I'm curious what you have to say, cuz you're always good at reminding me when... SIMON 29:02 Well, again, when you are putting yourself in the crucible of your own personal accomplishments, you have to remember that earlier on it was compounded into you that you can't get cocky. Yes. And so, what you end up keeping with you is that what seeming like an innocuous message from your father when you brought home 105% on that math test, and he said, "You know, don't get too full of yourself because no one likes an arrogant person," and you didn't know what to do with your accomplishment. And you see how long you carry that. And so, what I challenge you to do is to put that down and say, you don't have to worry about the backhand when you do a perfect forehand. Yeah, I just made that up. But that sounds great. SHARON 29:41 Yes, it does, I agree, and that's probably the biggest challenge right there is living in those things. SIMON 29:48 Or maybe you should not have to worry, because that's not reasonable for me to suggest that you shouldn't worry when the person there perhaps is a vulnerable narcissist and needs to extract his self-esteem from you in some way. And as a child, we are unequipped to even imagine that as possible from the gods that we sort of worship. Right? Yeah, sorry to be so powerful. I'm just in that kind of mood today... loving it! JO 30:15 Sharon, you touched on your challenges. What have been your key moments of personal growth and resilience? SHARON 30:23 Well, it has been the aha moments like those and recognizing that I'm allowed to celebrate these things. And in fact, I should be encouraged to celebrate them. And that it's okay, and that I'm not being cocky and celebrating. Yes, I was the Health Minister dammit, and I was responsible for the $6 billion budget, and I think I did it well. People are allowed to have another opinion. That's their opinion and their business, but I don't have to diminish myself anymore around those things. Earlier on in my own experience, like I said, I've learnt to get through things by reframing them. And that came from experiences with my son and finding the assets. So, I have been able to go, "Yeah, you know what, you might say I have this thing, and that makes me difficult to manage or whatever. But I've also got this other positive aspect of it." So, it was that process of the reframing, which would turn into that superpower language that I use, because being the Energizer Bunny can be very useful and productive. And being somebody that gets told that they can't sit still, and they can't focus, also means that, you know, I pulled together pretty damn good master's theses, and I connected some really interesting dots in some other places, both in my academic and political life that other people hadn't got to. And that in some respects, I was surprised that, "Why is it taking me to do this? How come nobody else thought of this, because once I got here, this seemed really obvious.?” So that reframing is health. SIMON 31:55 Or, how about one ever talks about Steve Jobs and Elan Musk never sitting still. JO 31:59 Yeah, exactly. SHARON 32:03 Yeah, well, and that's the other part of it, too, is that some of it's even been gendered, in a way. SIMON 32:08 In a way... some of it? All of it! SHARON 32:10 Yes. Yes, I was the Chatty Cathy doll that was a know-it-all and this and that... but I'm sure boys... SIMON 32:16 No, you weren't, you were a woman with an opinion. SHARON 32:18 Yes, but that's how I was... SIMON 32:20 ... like a human being. Yeah, exactly. SHARON 32:22 But that's how I was labeled when I was growing up was that it was... SIMON 32:25 ... no, that's the microaggression. SHARON 32:27 And that's the thing that has to be unlearned, because I'm watching my granddaughter right now, who's also recently been diagnosed with ADHD. And one of the messages that came home was that we need to get her to learn to be quiet, and to behave herself in class. And I was just like, "Oh, you do not tell a young girl who has got a voice and an opinion and is able to articulate thing well... you don't put baby in a corner.” SIMON 32:55 Particularly in 2021. SHARON 32:57 Yes, exactly. SIMON 33:00 I thought we just learned these lessons. SHARON 33:03 This was it. So, it was like, we work with her on how to focus, manage, empower, but do not make her quiet, because that would be doing to her in 2021 what was done to me in 1971. SIMON 33:17 Well, yeah, talk about a replay. JO 33:20 So, what you might be saying, Sharon, is that your granddaughter... her ADHD may be a superpower for her. SHARON 33:27 Oh, it honestly is. Like this kid, it blows my mind, honestly, sometimes the things that we'll watch her do, and then process and be able to articulate back. When they went to Drumheller, guess who came back like the little dinosaur expert, and that she was, again, connecting dots and doing things. She's now a big sister, and I think one of the things that she's also got is a sense of compassion there, where she understands her little brother in a way that while he's not even two weeks old, I mean, she wanted to sit down and read all of these books so that she could be a good big sister, and she read some bedtime stories. And I think that there's a compassion that she's acquired because she knows what it's like to be treated particular ways, to make sure that she's going to be her little brother's defender. She's going to be a good big sister. SIMON 34:21 Let's not do that to her. SHARON 34:22 Okay, that's a good point. Let her be her. SIMON 34:25 Let's not sign her up for a job without discussing it with her first, because we've got all sorts of great plans, but John Lennon had some song about that or something. I'd like to challenge us, as well, to circle back the last two minutes and let's reframe something. What is the school telling her by saying she needs to learn to be quiet… what are we actually missing in that message? Because, if we see it as a pure criticism, we might be missing some wisdom in there that is helpful for us to think about. Because superpowers... when you discover heat vision as a child, you don't make microwave popcorn for your parents, you burn a hole in their curtains is what you do. And so, we're not talking about that... we're acting like the superpowers are easy to handle, and the person who has them knows how to wield them. But I think what we're hearing the school say is that she has something cool that makes her unique, but it also interferes at times, and we don't want that to hurt her. JO 35:25 Before digging in deeper was Sharon and Simon. I'd like to acknowledge a major HEADS UP! sponsor... the Social Planning and Research Council of British Columbia. SPARC BC is a leader in applied social research, social policy analysis, and community development approaches to social justice. The council's great team supports 16,000 members, and works with communities of all sizes to build a just and healthy society for all. Thanks yet again, to all of you great folks for your ongoing support. So, Sharon, let's circle back... we've been talking about superheroes and superpowers. And I'd like to hear the story of how that all got kicked off for you. SHARON 36:17 Well, I'm a comic book nerd. I fell in love with superheroes at about a year-and-a-half when the Spider-Man animated show came on TV, and I found myself fixed on the screen. And I just never broke away from that, and it's gone down into other different fandoms over time. So, I've got a whole bunch, I'll spare you the list, but what happened was in raising my kids, especially having two boys, we were surrounded by comic books and action figures and Marvel movies. So, it was just familiar. We had favorite characters, and this and that. And, so what happened was when my second son was born in 2003, I noticed some things about him very early on, especially once he started school, it became really obvious. He was not interested in learning to practice his writing, he would just scribble, he had a very strong auditory sense, like, go to a movie with his kid, do not ever try to debate script with him, because he will have picked it up. And he can come back, like literally with the phrasing, the cadence, the tone, that kind of thing. And that was his gift. But he was struggling in school, and he always had problems. He was told that he was daydreaming. He was having problems with reading and math. So, they would just send him home with more stuff, and he just was super frustrated. And as much as I'd asked for psychological assessments, I was told that he was too young and will get by. And they kept passing him from one grade to the next, where things just kept getting progressively harder and harder, because he didn't have the skills. And he was eight years old, and he just melted down one day and said, "Mommy, if you love me, you wouldn't send me to school anymore. Because I'm a failure, I'm broken. And I'm not going to do well there. And it's just it's not worth it." And I found myself saying to him, as he rattled off each of these different things that were wrong with him. I found the flip side. "Oh, so what you're telling me is that you think you're oversensitive to this and that, well, I see empathy there, I see caring, I see strategic thinking." And we flipped all the things and found assets. And I said, "Sweetheart, you're not broken... you're like an X-Man... you have mutant superpowers. And it's just a matter of figuring them out and figuring out how to harness them. So, we're going to do for you what Professor X does for the X-Men," and I use the example of Cyclops with laser vision. I said, "Think about Cyclops... you can blow up buildings and save his friends to do all these things and take down the bad guys, whatever. But if he doesn't put his visor down in the morning, guess who's gonna set his underwear on fire while he gets ready for school?" So, we use the example of Cyclops, and what I found myself doing at first I was like, "Oh my gosh, did I just blow smoke at my kid?" And then I realized how I had been coping and managing since that diagnosis of postpartum, and the different tools that I had been given intermittently, and what I had learned on my own... taking those tools and then researching and doing things further on my own,... was that I had been reframing, and I had been finding assets, and that actually previous to that diagnosis the thing is like the kind of thinking that I had with ADHD... well, that had been an asset. As long as I was checking off the right boxes and I was getting rewarded, that was an asset that was a spidey sense that I was hiding. And that why is it as soon as things helped out on me at a diagnosis of postpartum, that suddenly there was like, “Whoo, I've got a thing wrong with me… it's a diagnosis... bad, broken.” And I saw that it's stigma, that kind of thing. That's what I started doing, and that's where we started really trying to Identify within our own family, what were the assets that we had. And it was things like hyperfocus, it was creativity, and that's just the language that we started using, because we also found that it was neutral. The superpower is inherently neutral... it's what's done with it. It goes to Simon's comment about burning the hole in the drapes or making the popcorn, right. It is what it is... now, am I going to be stigmatized and end up someone like Magneto, who becomes the antihero and become reactive and defensive? Or am I going to become someone that's more like a Professor X and the X-Men and use my powers for my own benefit, but also for the benefit of others. And that's where I realized that a lot of the things that I had been doing were about using those powers to help others. So that's where it came from. It was basically me trying to parent my little boy who was broken, and to help him build a toolkit until he could get proper clinical diagnosis and support. It was our way of getting through things. JO 41:06 How have you evolved that program? I know now that you're offering the toolkit, for example, to other people. Tell us about that. SHARON 41:15 I guess it's been about a decade now or so since that originally happened. I was using that language with my kids, which crept into my language at work. So, you want to see political staff, which have the minister in a meeting, use the word “superpowers.” That was on the list of words that the minister wasn't allowed to use. And also, not allowed to talk about neuroplasticity, or anything else that will get the opposition a front-page headline where they can call me quirky or a flake or something. And they tried, but it was a case of going through that and deciding that after coming out of office, and after working at another organization, that I wanted to share that, because as I encountered different people that went, "Oh my gosh, that's an interesting way of looking at it." And so, I realized, and also watching my son and other people I'd shared it with, that it had a destigmatizing approach. I'm not a clinician, and I'm not someone that's trained as well as Simon is... I'm someone with lived experience who has trained in things like peer support, and, that for me, it's a language that I find helpful in taking these big complex ideas and making them relatable, and making them a conversation that we can have, without it being again, scary or distancing. So, I can talk about anxiety and talk about Spider-Man. And we can have conversations around Peter Parker, and Spider-Gwen, and Miles Morales, and find out that people have empathy for those characters in a way that they might not have for themselves, or someone they know what that diagnosis is. So, it creates that little bit of a safe space. I guess how I put it is I take mental health seriously, but I don't always take myself seriously. And if I can share stories and do things and introduce people to tools and perspectives, or especially introduce kids to ways of handling their emotions, because a lot of times it manifests more emotionally, where they see it as positive. I've seen the results with my son, who specifically has got some powerful reframing tools. That's what it is. And so now it's a program called Embrace Your Superpowers. And I've since encountered another fandom that I've been dived way too deep into, and I have another program based on the music of Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS), and just published an article in a peer-reviewed journal out of Korea on the mental health messaging within their music and how they model things like CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy), peer support, and some other therapies. JO 43:43 Wow, that's amazing. Simon, can you put all this into clinical/neuroscience/neurological context? SIMON 43:54 You mean, as assistant Professor S? JO 43:56 Yes. SIMON 43:59 Like that one... Sharon... Professor S? SHARON 44:00 Yes, yeah. SIMON 44:01 Pretty close... yeah... not bad. And as a psychiatrist, I didn't want to say sex because then I have to say something about my mother... it's embarrassing. So no, I really can't summarize it in some perfect way. But I can talk about Sharon's use of superheroes as a way for her to lovingly and empathically discover herself. And I think that when you think about how difficult Sharon's life is… especially early on was, maybe not so much now, which is awesome… but as a child, she didn't have a hero that was safe to look up to. And when kids don't have a hero that's safe to look up to they find them. They find them in teachers, or they find them in pop culture, or they find them in rock and roll, or they find them in fandoms. And Sharon was really lucky to be able to find such an awesome fandom that gave her such positive messages, that allowed her to start to say, "Wait a minute, different is unique." It gave her the idea that adults could be nice, that they could do things that were selfless that did not have to hurt other people. That adults could do big things and handle things. That they could be role models. That adults could be strong, and that people could look up to them and still be safe in doing so. And these are all contrary to the messages that Sharon had been experiencing in her own life. And so, this was a very much a place for her... a cocoon for her... to be able to develop safely in her own mind and her own psyche to survive how harsh childhood was with all the adults in her life that were not sending her comfortable messages. In fact, they were quite mixed, and they were quite barbed. So, I think that I would start off by just saying it's awesome to think about this way, and in Sharon, teaching other people how to have more empathy for themselves. We always work on the idea that what we do for others we're actually doing for ourselves. And so, it brings us back to the idea that Sharon is doing this, in fact, for herself, which then makes me wonder if I'm doing this for myself, and it makes me feel good to help other people. So perhaps, I'm selfishly also baked into the system here and doing some of the same things. But that's okay, because you can reach a point in your life where you can give to others without taking anything away from you. And that's the other idea about how things are not a zero-sum game, things are not black and white. In fact, we can generate kindness and love on the spot as humans, and we have this beautiful ability to do so. And that's, as well, what superheroes do... they love the human regardless of the situation, because they know the person's always trying their best. And that's one thing that I always make sure I work on with everybody... I will truly believe that everybody is trying to be as successful as possible at every moment, including when we don't want to get out of bed, we just calculate that. That's all we have that day, and that's the best we can do. And I just want to make sure Sharon continues to embrace those parts of her because they are easily the most powerful parts that really do have the ability to generate almost infinite abilities to believe in yourself. JO 47:02 Sharon, you mentioned earlier… neurodiversity, and I'm really interested to know, first of all, from you Simon, what that means, and what that means to people like myself and like Sharon, who have mental health challenges. She may not be considered, quote, "normal" unquote, from a mental health perspective, but look at who she is. Look at what she's accomplished. Look at how she's helping people. So, can you just respond to that? SIMON 47:37 Absolutely. I'll back you up a little bit. Sharon's as normal as anyone else... there's no such thing as normal. This is the lie that we've all been sold very early on in our lives, that there is something called "normal." And, by the way, that normal is also perfect. And that's also the thing we all wanted to aspire to be. But it's really a story of conformity... the language of normal or perfection is actually language of conformity. And so, the reality of it is, we are all so different. If you go into a field and look at 100 cows, but then you put 100 people in the field beside them, you look at the people, humans are really unique. I'm not suggesting cows aren't unique... cows are pretty neat, too, but humans are exponentially more unique. And because of the freedom that we enjoy, because of our prefrontal cortex to imagine ourselves in almost any scenario we like, we're walking around with a holodeck in the front of our skull. So, we all have that. But what neurodiversity truly speaks about, it's recognizing that in the great, great ghetto blaster of Homo sapiens, the equalizer is spread uniquely throughout all of us, all of Homo sapiens is a spectrum. And so, we do cluster sometimes around some tendencies such as gender, but we're learning that not everybody experiences a “normal” quote/unquote, as we've been sold, gender. In fact, there is intersex conditions, there is agender, there is gender fluid, there is genderqueer, there is non-binary. So, there is no such thing as normal. There is just this incredible adventure called being a human being. And the only limitations we're going to put on that are the ones we put on ourselves. JO 49:16 So, Sharon, how did your understanding of neurodiversity help you to see yourself in a different light? SHARON 49:23 Well, it goes definitely to what Simon said... one of my favorites expressions around this is "normal is just a setting on a dryer." That's the only place it's a useful term. SIMON 49:34 And it doesn't always work for the clothes in the dryer either. SHARON 49:37 Exactly, exactly. It might not be the setting you need. Again, when my youngest one was finally tested and given diagnoses that said that he had discalculate dysgraphia and dyslexia, these are things that are called learning disabilities. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, he just learns differently, and that he learns in ways, that again, it's this idea of along a spectrum, and so it's a case of wanting to take the stigma away from it. There is all of this diversity. And that somewhere along the line, somebody came up with some sort of liberal, conformity-based normal in the supposed center, and that the rest of us were put out on the margins. And we have a disability or like with ADHD, the idea that it's a deficiency, and I'm like, “Okay, no, no, I don't have a deficiency disorder. I can hyper focus. My ability to focus is divergent, and it can be hyper focused, it's not deficient.” The term, variable attention stimulus trait is one that I've come across as an alternative. And I appreciate that one, because it's the idea that I just have greater variety in my stimulation range. It's not better or worse, that idea of positive or negative. So that's why I tend to use the term neurodiversity, where other folks would tend to use terms like a learning disability or some kind of a challenge or something, again, something that implies other or negative. It's like, no, there's this wonderful spectrum that exists. And that's what we need to understand and appreciate. And then the other thing that I've come to realize, especially, I guess you'd say, in real time with my son's experience… and then I'd say, in retrospect, with my own on this journey with Simon… has been that those of us that have that kind of a diagnosis or a label, will inevitably have some kind of traumatic or mental health issue. Because you're going to experience anxiety, you're going to be stressed out, you are going to overthink and self-judge and do all of these things. When you are being treated as other in the classroom, because you're not reading the same way, you're not writing the same way, you're not allowed to hand in a video presentation instead of an essay. And so instead, you're beating yourself up for two nights trying to get two paragraphs on a piece of paper. Whereas if you had been left to give an oral presentation, or maybe my son had a geography assignment that by God, if you'd been able to do it in Minecraft, to build this world that he created for this class, he would have knocked their socks off. But instead, it was knowing we need five paragraphs on a piece of Bristol board and a picture. And that just wasn't his thing. So that's for me, neurodiversity is about we need to challenge how we see each other, how we teach, how we work, because we're missing out. There's a lot of us that I call sort of shiny sparkling stars that, you know, you're trying to take those shiny, pointy stars, and that's what you're trying to shove into the round hole, not just a square peg. But you're trying to shave off all of my shiny pointy stars to stick me in a boring round hole. And we all lose. SIMON 52:44 And I think really the other thing we have to mention is that we need to treat education like fine dining, but instead we treat it like the drive thru. Yes. And so, if we don't talk about that, we're going to blame the teachers for everything. And it's not their fault. Schools, education has been undervalued, underfunded, and quite frankly, is not sexy or cool. Even though I think it's the best thing ever. SHARON 53:07 Yes. SIMON 53:09 We don't look at teachers as heroes, yet, they are probably one of the highest skilled and the most patient and most saint-like versions of humans that have probably existed in our society. And I'm not joking, the ratios are too high and unmanageable for teachers to spend the qualitative time to actually help kids learn in the best ways they learn. So, what they do is they bundle kids… and I know sounds like a [Bell] MTS package…but they bundle kids into packages of classrooms where the median learning style will get served the best. But what we have to start doing is recognizing there might be seven or eight unique learning styles, and then streaming our children into those enriched learning environments. So, they simultaneously get to enjoy their easy way, while working on the other seven types of learning that they're not good at. So that everybody starts understanding that there's no deficit for those people. We all have deficits, because we don't have everyone else's skills, but that's a qualitative aspect about being human. We're all capable of learning to greater or lesser degrees, but we're all capable of learning, period. And we're gonna find some ways that we do it easier across the board, which is going to work in many environments, but it's not going to work in all environments. So, the challenge for all humans is to enjoy what you got and flaunt it, and be celebrated. But at the same time, celebrate learning the other things you don't do well, and we're not going to blame the student because the school doesn't know how to approach their unique learning challenges. We're going to help fund the school, we're going to elect people that take education seriously, and we're going to start to really give our kids a fighting chance to develop self-esteem and identity and an actual career that they feel fulfilled by. JO 54:53 Simon you mentioned that we can all learn. How does neuroplasticity play into that? SIMON 55:00 Our brains have changed dramatically since the beginning of this podcast. That's how our brains are a dynamic ocean of neurons and waves that are sending electrical signals to each other all the time. Every single thought you have is like playing a single note or several chords on a keyboard at the same time. That's why people say we only use 10% of our brain, because if we used all of it at once would be like playing every key on the piano at the same time, and you would not make sense of what that was. Neurodiversity and neuroplasticity, in particular, talks about the idea that our brains are shaped by our genes that sent templates for them, but then having great amounts of potential to be shaped in dramatically unique and different ways. By our experiences, in particular, if those experiences are harsh, they can hardwire in some ways and rigidly keep that template baked into the system for sometimes decades at a time. And on the other side of the spectrum. If our young brains are nurtured… like an orchid in a garden that understands the conditions under which they will thrive the best… then the human brain doesn't seem like it has limits, and we see that in our neurodiverse populations that are allowed, because they're so separated in so many other aspects. If you have severe autism, for instance, we see human abilities that are beyond anything we could ever imagine. And that's all within the human brain. JO 56:29 You can't discuss mental health without talking about stigma. Sharon, what kinds of stigma have you experienced? Be it structural, public, personal? And if you have experienced that, how have you reduced the impacts of that in your life? SHARON 56:46 I might not have identified it as stigma as a child. But there was definitely that sense of being othered. I wouldn't have had that word. I remember when I was first given the postpartum diagnosis, and I remember the doctor asking about if there was any history of mental health issues. And then going back to my folks and being given this adamant, "NO," that there was nothing. Okay, they're very defensive. And yet, at the same time that I was given this adamant "NO," it was then followed up with my mother's explanation about how she and her two sisters all spent some time on Valium in the 70s, while six of us peasants were all young and growing up together. There's been a lot of self-medication on both sides of the family, and how those that had nothing to do with those behaviors, nothing to do with that. And there was this real sense of denial, and, How dare I ask these questions? And I still have some family members, from whom I am estranged because, How dare I talk about mental health? How dare I be the crazy person? And as I said, I had been given a diagnosis of bipolar which again, through work with Simon, realize that behaviors that were seen in there, it seemed like the thing at the time, but we're realizing those because trauma hadn't been addressed appropriately. So, my son, his father to this day still asks, and because my son lives with me predominantly, has had the gall to say... my son would come back, and this is pre-COVID, would come back from a visit. And you know, so how did your visit go? Oh, well, Dad asked, "What's it like to be raised by a bipolar mom?" And, "Am I okay?" And, "Am I safe?" And then, when I went public with my mental health, as the Minister of Health, part of the reason why I did that was because I wanted people to know that I was somebody with lived experience, I wasn't just a talking head. And it had to do with a particular situation, where we had just lost someone to suicide, and that the system failed this person, and hadn't been able to meet his needs. And as a result, we lost this wonderful artist. And that broke my heart, because I always looked at that job as if the system can't look after me and my family, then it's not good enough. And if we lost this person, I saw the situation, I guess, from both sides. I saw myself as the potential parent in that situation, and also the potential adult child who was lost. And I remember my staff, people were flipping out about how the minister cannot discuss this, because we're gonna have to deal with peop
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