This podcast discusses suicide in a graphic manner and may be disturbing to some listeners.

This is a first person narrative documentary created by Help Text founder Emma Payne. It was originally produced in 2017.

In 2002, colleague and friend Emma Payne’s husband Barry died by suicide. As she struggled to make sense of things, I gave Emma a mini-disc recorder and suggested that, like keeping a journal, just talking into the recorder might be helpful.

15 years later, Emma listened to the recordings for the first time and we started to work together on what would become a single episode podcast called The 20 Minute Walk.

Originally released in 2017, the podcast has been remastered and re-released in 2022 to mark the 20th anniversary of Barry’s death.

Resources:

Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention

Mental Health Commission of Canada

Talk Suicide Canada

Centre for Suicide Prevention

Government of Canada Suicide Warning Signs

We talked about lines in the sand. But I was so busy looking forward to see the lines, I didn’t realize they were under my feet all along. So that’s when I had the resolve to end my life.

On April 6th Ted died peacefully at home. He was 57.
This episode is titled The Lines Behind Me

ISBN: 978-1-926758-30-5

The Trivia Event in New Westminster
The Trivia Event at the Anvil Centre in New Westminster was streamed live. You can watch the replay on YouTube.

Links:
End of Life Doula Association of Canada
ALS Society of BC
What is ALS (Wikipedia)

The more I think about it, the more I understand that Pocket Girl started long before I began dating terrible men, flailing in my artistic career, or smacked hard into the wall of sexism. I was raised to not have a self. Gas-lit into believing the problem was me, and not the horrendous, dysfunctional, misogynist, abusive bullshit, I was marinated in.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from the Pocket Girl and this episode explains why. Also, she’s now officially Alexandra Carson. For now, she still lives in Portland.

ISBN: 978-1-926758-13-8

Resources:

Pete Walker is not only a survivor of CPTSD, but also a therapist. His book Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving is a must read and offers so much hope.

Beauty After Bruises is one of the very few sites dedicated to CPTSD awareness and can help connect you to therapists and resources.

Shahida Arabi: Her book Power: Surviving and Thriving After Narcissistic Abuse was instrumental in helping me with some breakthroughs last year.

The Body Keeps Score by Bessel van der Kolk. Not CPTSD specific, but tons of relevant and helpful information.

All Episodes in this series:

In spite of all the suffering, this a fantastic time…to really think inwards and try to realize that there are so many things that we change. This is the first time since the industrial revolution that the whole world stops.

(Ouimet Presents, Episode #18)
Rogério Soares is a documentary film maker who is based in Montreal. His most recent film, River Silence, tells the story of the social and cultural impact of one of the biggest hydro electric dam projects in the world, the Belo Monte dam in Brazil.

He was Brazil shooting another film when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

ISBN: 978-1-926758-29-9

Show Notes:
Sifting Through the Misinformation
Exit Brazil
Alone with a Phone
Creative Reflection
An Opportunity to Make Changes

Transcripts:
Read the full transcript
Download the full transcript (PDF)

Links:
Rogério Soares on Facebook
Rogério Soares on LinkedIn
River Silence film trailer at NFB
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

COVID-19 Resources:
COVID-19 Prevention and Risk (Government of Canada)
Outbreak Updates (Government of Canada)
Government of Canada COVID-19 information portal
BC Government COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool
John Hopkins University COVID-19 Interactive Map

Et cetera
Yellow Quarantine Flag (Wikipedia)
Be a guest on the Yellow Jack podcast

If we could just somehow pause all rent, all mortgages and pause all interest for this time period, I think that could help everyone. Because then those small businesses won’t be paying for a building that they can’t run a business out of.

(Ouimet Presents Episode #17)
Grant Baldwin and his wife Jenny Rustemeyer were in Costa Rica on holiday with their two children when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

They are both film makers at Peg Leg Films in Vancouver. So when they got back home safely, and into their two weeks of self-isolation, they decided to put together a family film project.

ISBN: 978-1-926758-28-2

Show Notes:
Stop Motion Can be Exhausting When You’re Six
Still Able to Finish Latest Film on North Shore Rescue
Just Pause all Rents, Mortgages and Interest
Value of this Job?
People Coming Together and Checking In
New Appreciation for Home Schoolers
First Thing I’m Going To do

Transcripts:
Read the full transcript
Download the full transcript (PDF)

Links:
Grant Baldwin on Facebook
The Mountain Life
Just Eat It. A Food Waste Story
North Shore Rescue

COVID-19 Resources:
COVID-19 Prevention and Risk (Government of Canada)
Outbreak Updates (Government of Canada)
Government of Canada COVID-19 information portal
BC Government COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool
John Hopkins University COVID-19 Interactive Map

Et cetera
Yellow Quarantine Flag (Wikipedia)
Be a guest on the Yellow Jack podcast

People make documentaries, not for money, they make them for love because they’re committed and have stories they want to tell and think they can make a difference…but it’s very precarious work, always. And now this.

(Ouimet Presents Episode #16)

Michelle van Beusekom had just returned from a vacation when the COVID-19 pandemic re-arranged her work at her new job at the Documentary Organization of Canada. Now she’s spending quality time with her cats while working remotely.

Here is her story.

ISBN: 978-1-926758-27-5

Show Notes:
Back from Puerto Rico Just In Time
Hello Mom in Brazil, Canada calling
Biggest Worry
Crazy Way to Start a New Job
An industry at a Standstill
What Kind of World Do We Want to Come Back To
And about those cats

Transcripts:
Read the full transcript
Download the full transcript (PDF)

Links:
Documentary Organization of Canada
Michelle on LinkedIn
Michelle on IMDB

COVID-19 Resources:
COVID-19 Prevention and Risk (Government of Canada)
Outbreak Updates (Government of Canada)
Government of Canada COVID-19 information portal
BC Government COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool
John Hopkins University COVID-19 Interactive Map

Et cetera
Yellow Quarantine Flag (Wikipedia)
Be a guest on the Yellow Jack podcast

Would you like to be a guest on the Yellow Jack Podcast?

Use the contact form below to get in touch with our producers, so we can share your story with the world.

Everyone has kicked in here….our doctors…all the health care professionals we’ve had any contact with…we were just so thrilled and we just felt so confident…you’re so vulnerable in this state. And then when you have people who are saying, it’s OK, come on and wash your hands, put a mask on, we’ve got this. It just does wonders for your sense of safety.

(Ouimet Presents Episode #15)

Janet Smith was in the middle of vacation in the middle of Mexico when she and her husband heard the news that Canadians should get back home. Right Now.

Here is her story.

ISBN: 978-1-926758-26-8

Show Notes:
Yellow Jack – Episode 4
Exit Mexico
Home with the Flu
Testing
Community support
Crisis Centre
A Pause for the Planet
Connect with People

Transcripts:
Read the full transcript
Download the full transcript (PDF)

Links:
Manitoba Farm Rural & Northern Support Services
Klinik Community Health
Manitoba Government COVID-19
Onanole (Wikipedia)

COVID-19 Resources:
COVID-19 Prevention and Risk (Government of Canada)
Outbreak Updates (Government of Canada)
Government of Canada COVID-19 information portal
BC Government COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool
John Hopkins University COVID-19 Interactive Map

Et cetera
Yellow Quarantine Flag (Wikipedia)
Be a guest on the Yellow Jack podcast

Part of my world is to experience it with my hands. And…it’s very difficult for me to know what proximity I am to other people. A lot of times I will bump into somebody or I just won’t be able to maintain a distance that they’re comfortable with…I touch more things than most people touch…and that also comes with a higher risk factor.

(Ouimet Presents Episode #14)

Self-isolation is challenging. Try self-isolating if you have a disability of some sort. Amy Amantea is an actor and artist who lives in Vancouver. She’s also blind, and currently in self-isolation.

Here is her story.

ISBN: 978-1-926758-25-1

Show Notes:
Yellow Jack – Episode 3
Feel and proximity
Creating new works remotely
Make room for others

Transcripts:
Read the full transcript
Download the full transcript (PDF)

Links:
Realwheels Theatre
Amy on Facebook

COVID-19 Resources:
COVID-19 Prevention and Risk (Government of Canada)
Outbreak Updates (Government of Canada)
Government of Canada COVID-19 information portal
BC Government COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool
John Hopkins University COVID-19 Interactive Map

Et cetera
Yellow Quarantine Flag (Wikipedia)
Be a guest on the Yellow Jack podcast

Would you like to be a guest on the Yellow Jack Podcast?

Use the contact form below to get in touch with our producers, so we can share your story with the world.

In a sense we’re like pioneers. We’re figuring stuff out, like if you came to a new place, and you had to figure everything out. That’s an exciting time.

(Ouimet Presents Episode #13)

On this episode of the Yellow Jack Podcast you’ll meet Richard Smith, SFU Professor and Director of the Masters of Digital Media Program at the Centre for Digital Media in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Here is his story.

ISBN: 978-1-926758-24-4

Show Notes:
(in the introduction, ECUAD should have been identified as the Emily Carr University of Art + Design)
Yellow Jack – Episode 2
Exit France
Cecil
No Commuting Social Life
No Agenda Meeting – Academics in PJs
From Classroom to No Classroom in 4 days or less
Like Learning to Drive
Our Chance to Excel

Transcripts:
Read the full transcript
Download the full transcript (PDF)

Links:
Dr. Richard Smith bio at CDM
Preparation Tips – Blue Jeans

COVID-19 Resources:
COVID-19 Prevention and Risk (Government of Canada)
Outbreak Updates (Government of Canada)
Government of Canada COVID-19 information portal
BC Government COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool
John Hopkins University COVID-19 Interactive Map

Et cetera
Yellow Quarantine Flag (Wikipedia)
Be a guest on the Yellow Jack podcast

At times like this it’s important we take care of ourselves. We don’t need to add stress…isolation in and of itself is stressful.

(Ouimet Presents Episode #12)

On this first episode of the Yellow Jack Podcast you’ll meet two Canadians who are in self-isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ina Fichman has been making award winning films for over 25 years. Her company, Intuitive Pictures in based in Montreal.

Riley Colasuonno is a geologist from Winnipeg.

Here are their stories….

ISBN: 978-1-926758-23-7

Show Notes:
Yellow Jack – Episode 1

Riley:
An unexpected birthday present.
Google Flights and Skyscanner
Not quite home, but at least back in Canada.
Favourite disinfectant.

Ina:
A funny things happened on the way back from Los Angeles.
From all travel to no travel.
Trying to be flexible.
How this new reality puts a microscope on a film in progress.
Forcing us to rethink a lot of things.

Transcripts:
Read the full transcript
Download the full transcript (PDF)

Links:
Ina Fichman on IMDB
Ina’s company website Intuitive Pictures
Good Pitch Vancouver page about the film Ina mentions in the podcast
Riley Colasuonno on Facebook

COVID-19 Resources:
COVID-19 Prevention and Risk (Government of Canada)
Outbreak Updates (Government of Canada)
Government of Canada COVID-19 information portal
BC Government COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool
John Hopkins University COVID-19 Interactive Map

Et cetera
Yellow Quarantine Flag (Wikipedia)
Be a guest on the Yellow Jack podcast