The Monday blues are here again.
I usually have a coffee on my way to work, but on Mondays, I pour myself an extra cup. So although I might be alive and awake, I’m also rendered completely unable to sit still for five minutes. This is problematic because while everyone else is off reading The Boston Globe or The New York Times and tranquilly becoming their best-informed selves, I’m muttering little jokes under my breath as I pace back and forth from desk to kitchen. Recently though, I came across a way to both get my news and counter low productivity.
I’m a fan of podcasts: Bill Burr’s “Monday Morning Podcast,” Chris D’Elia’s “Congratulations,” and Chris Hardwick’s “Nerdist,” to name a few. So when I discovered that Russell Brand created a new podcast called “Under the Skin with Russell Brand,” I thought, “Finally! Another comedy podcast to distract me from my 9 to 5.” Fortunately, I got something even better.
I’m not proud to admit it, but if I’m on-the-go or otherwise distracted, I will quickly browse Twitter for issues I might have missed. But when I tested out Brand’s podcast last Wednesday, I found myself engaging with those issues differently from when I read articles in print. The interview-style discussions that Brand leads are somehow able to penetrate my thick skull, even if I’m walking around or working on school projects while I’m listening.
Brand’s podcast, which released its first episode on March 8, usually puts out a new episode with a different featured guest every Wednesday. The first episode I listened to, titled, “Mental Health Crisis — Is Community the Answer?” featured Chirlane McCray, wife of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. McCray spoke about her work in NYC to help those affected by mental illness — whether it be connecting victims to helplines and councilors, or by educating the friends and family of those victims with courses that teach them how to recognize signs of mental illness. McCray has worked to launch over 54 funded programs to help erase the stigma around mental illness by promoting the idea that it’s perfectly normal to want to talk about it.
Being a recovered addict himself, Brand spoke to her initiatives. “I think providing the means for communication is such a vital part of it,” he said. “Being able to share my pain, being able to talk on that level … rather than continually broadcasting on the level of ‘everything’s okay.’” He went on to say, “When people can’t talk about their shame, isolation and loneliness, I think [that] leads ineluctably to mental health issues.”
The best thing about “Under the Skin” so far is that Brand’s commentary applies to more than just the one issue at hand. For example, in this episode he says about mental illness, “When something is stigmatized, it’s easy not to fund it.” This generalized statement bridges multiple issues together. I’ve had many discussions with other women about how the stigma around abortion has caused the defunding of Planned Parenthood, even though they offer other indisputably beneficial services to women. Brand’s comments on mental health managed to effortlessly convey the need to abolish other stigmas, like those around abortion, without ever mentioning these other issues.
For people who don’t know much about Russell Brand, he is an articulate British comedian, having starred in films like “Get Him to the Greek” and my favorite movie of all time, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” But you wouldn’t know he was so in-tune intellectually, because on screen he plays these outrageous, absurdly funny characters. The Russell Brand persona that comes through on screen and via podcast feel like two very different personalities to me. However, each personality is well suited for their respective media platform. And I will definitely be listening to future episodes. The most recent one, “Is Trump Better for Black America Than Barack Obama?” is safe to say, grabs your attention immediately.
I highly recommend the podcast if you’re looking for a witty person’s intelligent take on today’s current issues. I know that it will unquestionably be a source of news for me from now on.
Love Russell. A man of the masses, I have been in-tune with his intellect since he began The Twews. Kudos to you for being the exception to the rule of Russell Bashing. I look forward to his rise among intellectuals and wish both of you the very best.
—-McCray has worked to launch over 54 funded programs to help erase the stigma around mental illness
OK, so we teach there is a stigma around mental illnesses. McCray has internalized that lesson. You have, or you could not have repeated her.
We did the same with rape for generations- and then stopped.
OK we teach there is a stigma around mental illnesses, Hitler taught the same about Jews. We stopped him.
Who will stop us this time? From a survey of university publications, it will not be universities, though I find it difficult to assess why.
What you call something matters: “It is not my prejudice it is your stigma is a clever game”.
Its consequences are far from clever.