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Here at Fatigued Pod, we’re deciding to heed our own advice and take care of our mental health…which is why we’re taking a temporary hiatus. We’re not gonna lie, the world has been making us sad lately! And after 10 months of production (44 episodes in) we’re going to take a break, reengage with the world on a healthy level, and then come back with more content once we’re refreshed and recharged. Please continue to engage with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@fatiguedpodcast) and reach o...

Here at Fatigued Podcast, we're big advocates for taking care of your mental health, which is why we interviewed Christina this week! She's a licensed therapist based in NYC (and married to that Ben Jeffrey guy we keep bringing on our show). For all her talk about introversion, she sure is a bubbly light in this time of grief. Speaking of grief, we break down some interesting behavior we've seen in the last year and a half and discuss our responses to this wild and crazy time. Give it a listen -...

This week's episode is slightly longer than usual. It didn't feel right to cut any part of our conversation with Daffney because the last year and half has been a specific type of hell for her and we appreciated her vulnerability and honesty. She's a respiratory therapist and has witnessed countless deaths in the pandemic. We touch on everything from our opinions on anti-vaxxers and getting doxxed on tiktok, to vaccinating her 12 year old and putting people on ventilators. In spite of her year, ...

This week, Melissa Mann takes time from her work managing lab research for a Children's Hospital to help answer questions and better inform folks about the Vaccine, Covid, and the Delta Variant. Melissa has been conducting research in cell / molecular biology for over 20 years and has always been passionate about science. So, her opinions are well-founded and well research, which we love. She also discusses with us her experience in contracting Covid and offers resources to help answer skeptic...

Our special guest this week is Nani Sinah, who uses her background as an opera singer to help other people regain their lung strength after their battles with Covid. "If a global pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that music stops for nothing. And in fact, music has become more important than ever before," according to LA Opera. For over 10 years, internationally acclaimed German-Indian American mezzo-soprano Nandani Maria Sinha has worked as a teaching artist for LA Opera Connects. And over ...

This week, the Fatigued Pod Squad (as we like to call ourselves) decided to get together and catch up on our recent travels, Covid takes, and favorite TikToks. We’re collectively frustrated by this virus, and with that frustration comes a sense of humor and we're glad we can share it amongst ourselves and you :) We plug some things in this episode and wanted to include them below: Follow Charles Osborne (@astarosborne), O'Neil Thomas (@oneilthomas97), and Catieosaurus (@catieosaurus) on TikTok b...

Sam Cadman is here to offer a different perspective, not only from across the pond but also as a director! His UK & US commercials have won Gold & Silver at Cannes, Gold & Silver at British Arrows, Silver at Creative Circle, Silver at LIA, a Gold Clio and have been Honored in both Performance and Dialogue at AICP. In this episode we discuss directing through a computer screen (in case you never got the memo: skype is out, zoom is IN), how commercial advertising shifted during the pandemic (what ...

Chase Brantley is a jack of all trades and master at all: comedian, director, writer, business owner, theater teacher, musician, and long distance thru-hiker. In Athens, Georgia, most people know Chase as the founder of Moonlight Theater which was founded after he graduated from École Philippe Gaulier, a French clown school. Inspired by the school’s philosophy of playfulness and games, the Theater grew into an award-winning program that hosted over 182 performances in under two years. During t...

Ben Jeffrey's eyes lit up the second he told us about Lion King's reopening on Broadway. (September 14th, 2021 is going to be a magical day!) This past year was incredibly disheartening for actors, especially to those who've dedicated ten years of their life to a rigorous Broadway schedule. Ben replaced the original Pumba in 2011 so we were curious to know what it's been like having a year+ away from the role. We also discuss about how important it is to take care of your mental health, the dark...

Our guest today is the incomparable Pat McCorkle, head and founder of McCorkle Casting and a Covid survivor! As actors, we understand the frustration of the industry during the pandemic, so we were eager to hear Pat’s point of view from the other side of the table. Rather than talking about zoom fatigue, we discuss its advantages and how it creates more opportunities for people to be seen. We also talk about how scripts have evolved over the last year, her personal experience with covid, and mov...

Jeffrey Omura is an artist, activist, and labor leader running for City Council in District 6 of New York City and we could not back a better candidate! Jeffrey was recently elected to his second term as an officer of Actors’ Equity Association after he helped create and lead #FairWageOnStage, a grassroots movement and campaign demanding higher wages and fairer contracts for Off-Broadway stage managers and actors. As a response to the pandemic, he helped create the #BeAnArtsHero Campaign to orga...

Welcome to Season 3!!! (Whaaaaat!?? Can you believe?!) This season we’re focusing on something that’s near and dear to our hearts: the arts industry. We’re kicking off with a bang and Frank Harts is a barrel of laughs. He just completed two seasons as series regular on the hit show Prodigal Son for Fox/Warner Brothers Television. Raised in the Midwest, Frank is of mixed heritage with Southern roots on the African-American side and Brooklyn roots on the Irish side. Frank went directly from train...

We’re closing out Mental Health Awareness Month with Dana, an introverted oncology nurse & parent - all this to say, she’s got many reasons to be fatigued. In a time where we’re more isolated than ever, Dana has experienced the opposite: she goes to work and is surrounded by people, she comes home and she’s surrounded by people (her husband and three adorable children we might add). With all of these humans around, there’s no opportunity for her to recharge her batteries. However exhausted she m...

This week we talked to Dr. Sadie Whittaker, the Chief Scientific Officer of Solve ME/CFS Initiative- a nonprofit whose mission is to find a cure for & end Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. The developments with ME/CFS are paving the way to understanding Long Covid. She is also the Chief Scientific Officer of You + Me: a registry and biobank that collects patient-recorded data & biological samples that are passed on to researchers to drive discovery & cure! Sweet! “I’m a big bel...

Continuing with the theme of Mental Health Awareness Month, this week we spoke to Chelsea, the Volunteer Resource Connector for L.A.Work’s TeleSocial Program — a program that our very own host Raymond started! What is TeleSocial, you ask? The L.A.Works TeleSocial Program is a great way to connect isolated & lonely seniors to buddies who will call and check in on them once a week. “During this time of self-quarantine, it is very easy for social distancing to become social isolation…especially for...

TW: death & grief This week we connected with Victoria Noe, an award-winning author, speaker and activist. She is the perfect candidate for Mental Health Awareness month because of her contributions to the AIDS community & her writing about grief, particularly her Friend Grief series which recognizes the importance of friendships in shaping our lives. A little background about Viki: her HIV/AIDS activism led her to write Fag Hags, Divas and Moms: The Legacy of Straight Women in the AIDS Communi...

Welcome to Mental Health Awareness Month! We've got a series of interviews we really think you'll enjoy. We begin with Kate, a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, specializing in complex trauma and complex PTSD. Some of her work includes the Crisis Intervention Team for the Knoxville police department which involves helping EMT service, fire rescue, and police sheriffs. We describe her as "the helper's helper" and take comfort that there's someone out there to aid our first responders....

Surprise: we’re our own guests this week! Both of us share our vaccine stories and experiences. At this point Raymond has received both doses and Caroline has gotten her first. (Hashtag Team Pfizer.) Unrelated but after staying home for a year with unlimited access to your toilet, has anyone else noticed their bladder’s capacity significantly decrease? We discuss that at length lol. We also talk about why we like our podcast and what we’ve learned from it, and we want to hear from you! What do y...

We've found a common theme among our April episodes: pivoting in the pandemic. This is exactly what our friend Jason has done (and quite well, we might add!). He owns The Long Room, a friendly neighborhood tavern in the Ravenswood Community of Chicago. Inspiration struck when all the bars & restaurants needed to close down, and he began selling bottled-up cocktails to go, which is not only cool but has kept his business thriving! It's also a great way to keep his staff safe which is a top priori...

Our guest this week is Jill, a compassionate & determined woman with a big heart and too many emotions for one person to contain. Her big heart led her to a position as an early childhood special education teacher in St. Louis, which has taught her a lot about herself: particularly that she's capable of pivoting on a dime to provide the education her students' need and protecting herself and other teachers in the process. She says, "It goes without saying that all of the success with virtual an...

Are you having difficulty locating a vaccine appointment? Do you wish there was a website that contained information for ALL your local pharmacies instead of having 20+ individual tabs open for each one? Well look no further! www.vaccinespotter.org is the one-stop shop for all your vaccine appointment needs! "A tool to help you track down COVID-19 vaccine appointment openings at your state's pharmacies. Updated every minute. Rather than searching around on each pharmacy's website, we'll automati...

We round out our Parosmia Series with Gemma who experiences parosmia and it's equally evil twin: phantosmia. For those who don't know, phantosmia is an olfactory hallucination that makes you smell things that aren't there. For Gemma it's a persistent smell of cigarette smoke (which was one of her least favorite smells to begin with). It makes mealtime unbearable and alienates her from sharing that time with her beautiful family. However, she's brilliant at turning lemons into lemonade: when she ...

In our fourth episode, we talk with Anissa - the self-described "cook of the family" who can barely bring herself to eat anything besides peanut m&ms. She spoke to us about how parosmia disconnects her from the rest of the world: she can't eat enough to keep up her fitness regimen, celebratory & holiday meals once full of connection and memory are uncomfortable, and she is left with the question "am I stuck like this?" In spite of her frustration, she has found a wonderful outlet: photography. "...

Chrissi Kelly is the founder of AbScent, a UK-based charity that is dedicated to providing support and trusted information to those affected by anosmia and other smell disorders. After her own struggles with smell loss, she has committed herself to the advancement of smell training and research. We found her perspective enlightening and, while we aren't personally experiencing parosmia, we imagine this conversation might provide some clarity and encouragement to those afflicted by this uncomfort...