TELUS Talks with Tamara Taggart

Andrea Paquette founded the Stigma-Free Society in 2010 after being hospitalized for bipolar disorder and losing her home. She was hoping to address the significant stigma around mental illness, and created customized workshops, mental health toolkits and presentations to support people too embarrassed or ashamed to speak up about their experiences. Andrea believes that the more we remove judgement and encourage people to share their stories, the more educated and understanding we’ll all become.

Dr. Dominik Nowak joins us again to talk about how “social prescribing” can complement medical treatment and help provide better health outcomes for everyone. Social prescribing addresses issues like loneliness, poverty, and job insecurity and ties them into formal recommendations from health professionals for mental and physical support resources. You get a more holistic approach to your health, and your community benefits from greater overall wellbeing.

The son of a residential school survivor, artist and master carver Carey Newman has spent the past decade working on The Witness Blanket, an art installation created with artifacts gathered from Indigenous communities across the country that have been affected by Canada’s dark legacy of the residential school system. In this episode, he speaks about his process of creating the piece, the profound impact of bearing witness to the stories of survivors, and why we need truth before we can achieve reconciliation.

When hockey player Kori Cheverie became Assistant Coach of the Ryerson Rams in 2016, she made sports history as the first woman to hold that role with a men's university-level hockey program. Kori shares her trailblazing experience, the differences between coaching women’s and men’s teams, and why professional sports could benefit from more diversity.

Tackling misinformation has long been a passion for health policy expert and bestselling author Timothy Caulfield, and the COVID-19 pandemic is providing ample opportunity to further his research. In this episode, Timothy discusses the importance of fact-checking medical advice from celebrities, why we should avoid social media influencers who are peddling miracle cures, and how we all can make informed decisions when it comes to our health.

For the past 20 years, Saleema Noon has been a driving force in helping kids and their parents navigate the topic of sexual education, something that has changed dramatically since the introduction of the internet. Saleema speaks on the different ways to teach consent, body science and sexual health, and takes a look at some of the questions being asked at all ages in the classroom.

When storyteller, activist and self-proclaimed “road dog” Ivan Coyote found their travel plans put on hold due to COVID-19, they began writing replies to the stack of letters fans had sent them, unaware that this heartfelt correspondence would become the core concept of their new book, Care of. In this episode, Ivan speaks to Tamara about how storytelling and conversation can spark powerful connections with others and even show us the potential for our own future.

If you’ve ever googled your own symptoms you know first hand that the internet is a minefield of shady advice, influencers selling miracle cures and sites that are adamantly against modern medicine. Luckily Dr. Jen Gunter, affectionately known as “Twitter's Resident Gynecologist” is on our show this week to educate listeners on the right way to research and advocate for their health, as well as delving into why we need to normalize the conversation about menopause.

Cheekbone Beauty founder Jenn Harper didn’t just decide to start a sustainable, cruelty-free beauty brand that gives back to the Indigenous community: it came to her in a dream. Now she’s helping Indigenous youth feel beautiful in their skin, and her products are on the shelves of some of Canada’s largest beauty retailers. She joined Tamara to talk about being an Indigenous business woman, honouring her family, and why representation in every industry matters.

When most of us hear the words virtual reality we think of futuristic technology and bulky headgear. But artist and technologist Amelia Winger-Bearskin sees VR as a way to connect to a fully sensory form of story-telling, and a tool to help amplify marginalized and remote voices. She spoke to Tamara about how equitable access to innovative technology can help create a friendlier, more just future for everyone.