People Like Me

In this episode I interview Alexis (@omgisthatlexx) about the historical significance of Caribana in Toronto, Carnival in the diaspora and the politics of playing mas here vs internationally, queerness in carnival, and where Caribana is going in the future! This was such a fruitful discussion I am so excited to share with y'all!

HEADS UP: Consent and harassment in party spaces is discussed in this episode on a surface level, no personal stories are shared. (41 min - 44 mins).

0:00 - 0:24 - content-heads up!

0:24 - 8:00 Alexis on her research, and Vincy + Jamaican

08:30 - Rita Cox, The history of Caribana in Toronto

14:15 - Where did Carnival begin?

17: 30 - The Commercialization of Caribana

19:20 - The Sexualization of Mas Costumes

25:00 - Why Do People Hate Stormers?

29:40 - How do we Make the history more accessible?

32:00 What are Mas Camps? Politics in Playing Mas

37:00 Queerness in Caribana, Consideration, and Consent

48:12 Where Do You See Caribana Going In The Future?

In this episode @Julesfromtheconcrete and I share our thoughts about social media activism.

0:00 intro

3:00 Glee as the beginning of activism?

6:20 sociopolitics in cosplay

7:10 "its too much"

11:10 "if you don't post you dont care"

13:40 our struggles are interconnected

18:40 the roles we all play in liberation

20:20 positives of social media activism

26:20 challenges of social media

27:40 the echo chamber

31:20 The context of disability

32:40 where do. you see social media activism going?

33:46 is social media actually changing people's minds?

36:00 The ego in posting

In this episode I chat with my sister Alyssa, and my two cousins, Tarika and Philly about motherhood.

• 0:00 - Guest Introductions
• 3:50 - "This or that": Mom Edition
• 6:40 - Is Motherhood Hard? Social Media vs Real Life
• 10:00 - Having a kid in 2026 vs. our parents' generation
• 15:50 - Losing Yourself in Motherhood
• 20:00 - How many kids are too many?
• 23:00 - Jamaican/Ghanaian/Black Family Experiences
• 28:00 - What your kids teach you, breaking generational traumas
• 33:00 - Gentle Parenting Perspectives
• 37:00 - The importance of a support system
• 41:15 - How much money do you need to save for a kid?
• 43:00 - What to expect from your partner?
• 46: 00 - Were your kids planned?
• 51: 00 - Black Maternal Health
• 53:00 - Favourite thing about being a mom

I chit chat with my music buddies Sineet and Peter about alll things r&b and music related.

• 0:00 - Intros
• 5:00 - This or that: R&B Edition
• 9:20 - Where did your love for music begin? Habesha and Nigerian Influences
• 17:50 - Why do you listen to music?
• 19:25 - Music for travelling (hack!)
• 21:45 - What is your fav genre of music?
• 24:35 - "low vibrational music"
• 27:00 - Can you separate the art from the artist?
• 29:30 - Fav song from 2016
• 31:20 - How Tiktok has changed music?
• 34:30 - Why is music not sticking?
• 41:30 - AI music (scaryyy)
• 43:40 - Sineet and Peter get CALLED OUT
• 45: 00 - New fav artist

In this episode Jack (@mascblocwr) and Kemora (@moratalks) and myself talk about how COVID is still impacting the masses regarding masking, desirability politics, disability justice, and sooo much more. And don't forget to find us @peoplelikmepod on Instagram/Tiktok!

0:00 - Intro

2:20 - How have you changed since covid began, where are you now?

9:20 - Do you call yourself "Covid Cautious?"

18:00 - Desirability and Covid

22:00 - Masking and Entertainment

25:00 - Are Covid Cautious Communities "Too Angry?"

33:00 - Masking and Intersectionality/Race

35: 00 - Positive Stories With Masking

40:00 - Who's fault is it that we're still dealing with covid?

45: 00 - Making Covid Awareness more accessible?

51:00 - Final thoughts for People Still Living like it's 2019

In this episode, Jessica Carmichael joins the People Like Me Podcast as she promotes her debut novel "The Full Picture".

• 0:00-09:00 Intro/ Who is Jessica Carmichael?
• 9:00 Do the Black girls need to leave Toronto to find love?
• 10:00 What were the steps you had to take to become an author?
• 23:35 Feeling “Ghanaian enough”, cultural dis/connections.
• 28:00 Osei vs Kelvin.
• 30:00 Do Romance Authors Find Love Easier?
• 33:00 Character development in The Full Picture.
• 36:00 Grief and Robyn’s Story
• 38:00 Detaching from The Full Picture as an author.
• 44:00 Where do you see The Full Picture in the future?

For people who are Queer, for people who are #FiguringThingsOut, or for people who simply want to know more about Queerness, this episode is for you. Please enjoy the uncoverings of queerness that my friend Jam (IG: @jams.creative.lab) get into. HAPPY PRIDE!

Intro (0:00- 3:50), Game: How Queer Are You? (4:00), What is Queerness? (6:10), Does being a lesbian make you less of a “Woman”? (10:45), What does it mean to be a Woman? (14:00), Black Womanhood and Gender (15:15), When did you first know you were gay? (20:00), Queer “Scent”: how do we know who’s queer? (24:30), How is your art also Queer? (27:45), Is Queerness Contagious? (29:20), Are Cis Gay Men Messy? (32:30), The GAY in Greys!! (34:30), Are Bisexuals Valid (37:10), Is Christina Yang Queer?? (39:00), Is Queer Representation important to you? (40:00), Final Thoughts on queerness (42:00), Outro/Where You can find Jam (43:00)

The tables turn as Host Leah E. gets interviewed about the creation process of the “People Like Me Podcast” by her fellow family members (who are also podcast hosts).

This episode is a live recording of the first ever People Like Me Party! Enjoy this recording full of laughs, introspection, and amazing audience participation!

For people with depression, for Black People with depression, for Ghanaian-Canadians with depression this is for you. In this episode I got a chance to sit down with Kwasi Adu-Poku, creator of The Reach Series (IG @TheReachSeries). Kwasi isn’t shy when it comes to discussions around mental health, his advocacy work around destigmatizing mental health, personal development support, and very relatable love for anime has helped numerous people in the GTA. In this episode, we delve into Kwasi’s experience with depression as we talk about the ins and outs, the social determinants, the interpersonal, the romantic, and even the silver linings of depression.

intro(0:00), “This or that”(3:30), What is your first understanding of mental health?(5:15), Campus Therapy (9:00) , Debilitation with mental health(11:30) , Experiencing Depression as a Black person(14:00), Ghanaian Culture(17:00), What’s the “solution” for Black People with depression? (21:00), Jane and Finch Community(24:00), Navigating Friendships with Depression(26:38), Reciprocity and Depression(32:00), Romance Relationships and Depression(35:00), What’s the worst part about depression?(41:00) , Joy and Depression(44:00) , Suicidality(47:00), Final feelings about depression(48:00), outro(50:00)!

For People Who “Please”, PLEASE listen to my friend Mohammed and I as we journey through the ins and outs of People Pleasing, as two recovering people pleasers. We ventured into the complexity of our behaviours, and how familial, racial, and gendered aspects all play a role in our People Pleasing.

What constituted this conversation was several online discussions about People Pleasing that I found to be one-dimensional. And so Mohammed and I took a holistic approach in dissecting the nuances of People Pleasing. We answer questions like “What does it mean to be in community with people pleasers?” and the longstanding question, “Is People Pleasing Manipulative?”.

Mohammed’s background in Law and Gender Studies, and his desire to seek for the "why" of things, offered an in-depth feminist/sociological perspective on People Pleasing.

Note: Our voices sounded unusually high in this episode? Idky! Also my friend Capucine was kind enough to support our conversation and gather her thoughts on the topic as well–so listen out for her voice!!

Intro (0:00), Would You Rather: People Pleasing Edition (4:15), Culture and People Pleasing (6:30), Online #Discourse (9:20), The N word….”Nuance” (13:05), Definition of Fawning (15:40), Falling out over People Pleasing (19:00), The rules we make up as People Pleasers (23:00), Middle Child Plight (24:00), BOUNDARIES (27:00), Is there a solution to People Pleasing? (28:40), Being in Community (32:30), Is People Pleasing manipulative? (33:50), Women/Gender and People Pleasing (34:00) Advice Segment: Do we forgive cheating?! (38:15), Outro (43:20)