The month of May happens to be both Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and Mental Health Month. The current period has been one of tragedy, hope and ongoing tension for Asians in the U.S. Since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in early 2020, Asians have been frequently scapegoated as bringers of contagion. More recently, a spate of violent attacks on Asian Americans has heightened their sense of vulnerability and brought issues of trauma to the forefront. For this episode of Into the Fold, we sought out comedienne Ivy Le, a second generation Vietnamese American podcaster, writer, performer and activist, to share her perspective on the status of Asian Americans in the year 2021 with a focus on the lessons this holds for those who care about mental health and building a more just and equitable future.

Related links:

Episode 101: Asian American Identity in the Time of COVID-19

https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-covid-19-and-asian-americans

It’s well established that children with histories of abuse demonstrate higher levels of depression, conduct disorder, PTSD, impaired social functioning and other problems. This is deeply entangled with how we discipline them. On this special episode of Into the Fold, we are teaming up with fellow member of the Texas Podcast Network, Marc Airhart, host of the Point of Discovery podcast from the University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences. Together we talk with child discipline expert Dr. Elizabeth Gershoff, professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at UT Austin and the director of the Population Research Center, who has been studying the effects of physical discipline on children for two decades and is advocating for an end to the practice.

The term “vaccine hesitancy” is all the rage—but does it adequately explain what is going on in the minds of those who are “hesitant” to get the COVID-19 vaccine? By focusing on the hesitancy of individuals, do we risk losing sight of fundamental problems of access, equity, and trust? This episode features two interviews with experts whose work straddles the lines between medicine, community outreach, and health communications. First, we talk with Dr. Shalonda Horton, Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing, who is working on the frontlines at mobile vaccine clinics in Austin, followed by a conversation with Chelsea Brass, a communication studies doctoral student and former doctoral fellow for the Center for Health Communication in the Moody College of Communication and Melanie Connolly, a medical illustrator, 3D animator and marketing director for the Austin Healthcare Council, who designed a Vaccine Curiosity Tool to help resolve uncertainty about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Related links:

Episode 70: Designing for Mental Health

http://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-mental-health-design

It is no longer “news” that the pandemic has devastated the restaurant industry. Here in Austin, dozens of iconic restaurants and venues did not make it through 2020. For the establishments that did survive, workers in the service industry face the daily stress of managing mask and social distancing mandates, dealing with recalcitrant customers, and caring for one’s workforce. Our guest on this episode is Nicole Cruz, a Case Manager at Southern Smoke, an organization that provides help and support to food and beverage industry workers. Nicole joins us to talk about what this unique industry is experiencing and the impact of the last year of the pandemic.

Related links:

Episode 69: Mental Health and the Musician's Life

http://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-musician-mental-health

On February 14, 2021 the Hogg Foundation and the world lost a champion of mental health, Stephany J. Bryan. Stephany passed away due to complications related to COVID-19, and we at the foundation are deeply feeling this loss. Our dear friend and colleague had a spirit that was larger than life, full of passion, drive, and an unforgettable sense of humor. On this episode of the podcast, we are joined by two members of the Hogg Foundation, Vicky Coffee, Director of Programs, and Tammy Heinz, Senior Program Officer and Consumer & Family Liaison, as well as Luanne Southern, Executive Director of the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium – three of Stephany’s longtime friends and colleagues – to celebrate the life and legacy of the one and only Stephany J. Bryan.

Related links:

My Journey of Recovery: Stephany J. Bryan

https://hogg.utexas.edu/my-journey-of-recovery-stephany-bryan

Episode 77: Consumer Voice: Its Role in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-consumer-voice

Hogg Foundation Mourns the Passing of Stephany J. Bryan

https://hogg.utexas.edu/hogg-foundation-mourns-the-passing-of-stephany-j-bryan

In recognition of Women’s History Month, we are reaching into our archives to share a conversation between two history makers: Bert Kruger Smith and Maggie Kuhn. In this 1979 episode of The Human Condition, a radio series produced by the Hogg Foundation that ran from 1971 to 1983 on KUT, the show’s host Bert Kruger Smith interviews Maggie Kuhn, an American activist who founded the Gray Panthers movement in 1970. Their conversation puts at center stage the agency and creativity of older people, and addresses the challenges of organizing and mobilizing a specific community for the sake of doing effective advocacy — challenges that still ring true over forty years later.  

Related links:

Episode 33: Nightmare at Noon: The UT Tower Shooting

https://hogg.utexas.edu/nightmare-at-noon-the-ut-tower-shooting

Episode 54: Raising the Voices of Individuals with IDD

https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-self-advocacy-idd

Episode 76: From the Archives: Dr. Kenneth Clark on Racism and Child Well-Being

https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-dr-kenneth-clark-on-racism-and-child-well-being

Episode 77: Consumer Voice: Its Role in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-consumer-voice

Episode 94: From the Archive: Efua Sutherland on Theatre, Literature and Self-rediscovery

https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-from-the-archive-efua-sutherland

Last September, the Hogg Foundation issued a unique statement: a Declaration of Racism as a Mental Health Crisis. Its purpose is to call attention to the link between racial justice and mental health, and to argue that racism undermines our collective health and well-being. More than 200 organizations, including non-profits, cities, and public health associations, have co-signed this document. This episode of Into the Fold features a discussion with our three guests, each an esteemed figure in the world of public health: Josè Ramón Fernández-Peña, President at the American Public Health Association (APHA), Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, executive vice president at Trust for America’s Health (TFA), and our own Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr., executive director of the Hogg Foundation. Together we talk about the Declaration, and how a broad effort to take its goals to heart can shape all of our futures for the better.

Related links

Hogg Foundation Declaration of Racism as a Mental Health Crisis

https://hogg.utexas.edu/who-we-are/racism-declaration

Episode 97: The Inequality of COVID-19

https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-the-inequality-of-covid-19

Episode 66: Moving Upstream; How Funders Can Address Root Causes

https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-moving-upstream

For twenty-five years, Girls Empowerment Network has been helping young women across Texas discover that they are unstoppable. They have done so by laser-focusing their curriculum on one critical component: building self-efficacy, which is a girl’s belief in her ability to succeed. On this episode of the Into the Fold, we are joined by Vanessa Beltran, newly hired Mental Health Policy Fellow for Girls Empowerment Network, and her policy mentor Dr. Sarah Miller-Fellows, Director of Impact, to discuss the unique challenges facing girls and how self-efficacy helps young leaders advocate for themselves and their communities.

Related links:

Episode 54: Raising the Voices of Individuals with IDD Raising the Voices of Individuals with IDD

https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-self-advocacy-idd

Episode 75: Substance Use: A Public Health Approach

https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-substance-use-policy

Episode 78: Mental Health and Housing: The Need for Alternatives

https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-mental-health-housing-alternatives

Episode 79: Maternal Mental Health: Where Family Well-being Begins

https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-maternal-mental-health

As we enter 2021, most of us are beyond exhausted. In many ways, these awful circumstances of the last year serve as a reminder of just what a moral pivot point the Black American experience has been and continues to be. To put it simply, everything that is going on isn’t just about the Black American experience, but, in many ways, it is not fully comprehensible without the Black American experience. We are joined on this episode by Dr. Chase Anderson, fellow in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco, to discuss the limits of how helpful our professional identities can be while experiencing racial grief at this time.

Related links:

Episode 65: The Past Does Matter: Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome

https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-the-past-does-matter

Nearly one million Texans do not have physical access to broadband at home. Over eighty-nine percent of these disconnected Texans live in rural areas. Broadly, this is a matter of equity and economic participation, both of which bear on overall well-being in our state. This is especially true during this pandemic, where remote work, school, and health have become the norm. Jennifer Harris serves as the state program director for Connected Nation Texas. She also serves on the Governors Broadband Development Council. Wynn Rosser is CEO of the Temple Foundation, which is dedicated to increasing prosperity and well-being for rural deep East Texas. Both join us on this episode to discuss rural broadband and its pivotal role in the future well-being of Texas.

Related links:

Into the Fold Episode 64: Understanding Rural Communities

https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-mental-health-rural-communities

Hogg Foundation Awards $4.5 Million to Address Well-being in Rural Texas Communities

https://hogg.utexas.edu/texas-rural-communities

The Rural Church Creating Inclusion Through Education

https://hogg.utexas.edu/gods-way-faith-based-initiative

What is Texas Doing Wrong When it Comes to Rural Mental Health?

https://hogg.utexas.edu/rural-mental-health