Fatigued Podcast

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 organize the industry to collectively lobby Congress for arts relief. After meeting with over 60 US Senate offices, #BeAnArtsHero organizers were crucial in securing $15 billion for the arts in December 2020’s COVID-relief stimulus package. The arts are essential to the well-being of NYC, as well as communities and cities across the United States and Jeffrey is the perfect candidate to set the precedent for the representation we deserve: the perfect example of practicing what you preach.

If elected, Jeffrey would make history as the first openly gay person elected to the District 6 Council seat AND the first Japanese-American to ever win elected office in New York STATE. He promises "to represent you, to advocate for you, and to ensure that all New Yorkers, including the LGBTQ+ community, communities of color, organized labor, working families, and artists have a voice in City Hall.”

We've loved Jeffrey since we met him as fellow actors at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and we think you will too. If you or someone you know lives on the Upper West Side, we encourage you give him your vote for the wellbeing of our artists and city. Vote for Jeffrey Omura for District 6 in the NYC Democratic Primary on Tuesday, June 22 (or vote early June 12-20). Go Jeffrey!

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 training at Juilliard onto Broadway as George Murchison in the Tony Award-winning production of A Raisin in The Sun. He has also performed leading roles for The Public Theater, Signature, and Lincoln Center. On-camera, Frank has worked with notable film directors Spike Lee, Jason Bateman, Jim Jarmusch, Steve McQueen, and Kenneth Branagh. Prior to his series regular role on Prodigal Son, Frank recurred or guest-starred on Billions, The Americans, The Leftovers, Blue Bloods, Bull, 30 Rock, and Master of None in the critically-acclaimed episode, “New York, I Love You.”  

In this episode we talk about what it’s like being on television and having the industry shut down mid-season and (alternatively) what was it like to return to set mid-pandemic? What is it like to play a cop on TV during an age where we're we're in serious need of police reform — it’s encouraging to know they're having the hard conversations behind the scenes.

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 may be, she tells us a funny story about attending virtual therapy and gives great book recommendations. We love that she didn’t hold back and sugarcoat her experience, such an easy thing to do during the age of social media. 

We would like to note that this episode was recorded a month ago.  Since recording, Dana had a loss in her family, her mother-in-law.  The family member she speaks of in the episode is her grandmother-in-law and she is still with us.  Given the nature and topics of our discussion, we wanted to give our condolences and honor the passing of her family member. Our love to the whole family.

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 believer that information is power - when you’re dealing with an illness, you as the individual know more about what you’re going through than any other person alive,” she says and we couldn’t agree more. In this episode we celebrate the creation of the vaccine and the innovation and sense of community it brings us. Sadie brings to the You+Me Registry a deep understanding of the scientific discovery, drug development, and drug commercialization processes, as well as extensive experience in engaging members of the healthcare community.

If you or a loved one is suffering from Long Covid symptoms, create an account with youandmeregistry.com. Even if you’re not suffering Long Covid symptoms anymore, you can still log your old symptoms! Contributing your input could help pave the way to a cure for Long Covid. 

Additionally, Raymond is on a road trip across the United States so we’re happy to introduce Laura Wendt to the airwaves! Laura is our social media manager and you have probably seen her on our IG live. She’s an amazing dog mom, stage manager,  and friend - we’re lucky to have her on our team. Thanks, Laura! 

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 seniors, who are most at risk for COVID19 so must stay away from other people.” You can sign your loved ones up at https://www.laworks.com/telesocial where they will receive a friendly phone call from a volunteer to check in, share their experiences in self-quarantine, or just chat! Pretty neat, huh?  You can also check out all the other L.A. Works volunteer opportunities at https://www.laworks.com/

Chelsea has taken this program to new heights, and she’s truly the perfect candidate to do so. She is currently pursuing a Master's in Social Work & Disaster Resilience at Tulane University and hopes to further her work in the broad field of mental health and community development. We cover so much - what does a Disaster Resilience degree entail? How does isolation manifest in the body? And what inspired Raymond to create this program? Find out in this episode!

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 Community, the first book to honor the ways women changed the course of the epidemic. She is an accomplished public speaker with two degrees in theatre, she has presented at The Muse and the Marketplace, Book Expo America, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Open Hand, ACT UP/London and libraries around the country. She is also a Nerinx Hall Alum with Caroline and the two of them gush about their high school shenanigans in St. Louis, Missouri. 

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. Trauma therapy is more important than ever in this pandemic and she says, “We’re coming in in the midst of your worst nightmare … and I’m coming in as a stabilizing force to get a sense of what do these people need, and what can we do to be a soft place to land for them as they are navigating a very difficult situation." We also talk about her self-care routine which involves plants! Lots and lots of plants! Kate is a ray of sunshine in a dark world, enjoy! 

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 you like about us? What do you want us to cover? How is your own personal pandemic story unfolding? Follow us @fatiguedpodcast on socials and feel free to email us with feedback: [email protected]. Also head to our website www.fatiguedpodcast.com to sign up for our newsletter and be the first to hear about upcoming episodes! Thanks for listening! 

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 priority for him. We also discuss being a Black-owned business in the wake of George Floyd's murder.

The Long Room, Chicago - https://www.longroomchicago.com/
The Blue Bird Inn (AirBnB) - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/39821609?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=8a3408a7-3843-4c90-90e0-e07fe4c2d83a

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 and in person learning is because of my incredible teaching team; understanding parents and families; supportive admin; and of course, friends and family." This episode provides keen insight into the teaching world and is a testament that teachers are truly the backbone of the pandemic society, especially as their jobs become more complicated as the lines are blurred between teacher, health monitor, caregiver, and more.