We're Totally (Not) OK

Don’t start here! Go one ep back! This is part 2 of 2 of our conversation with documentary filmmakers Omar Mouallem and Dylan Rhys Howard, creators of “Digging in the Dirt” — a documentary film about addiction, suicide, and men's mental health in the Alberta oil sands. Find it on CBC Gem, and listen on to hear them share views on things like:

How do we think about work? Is productivity worth more than life itself? Not sure anyone would openly conquer, but what does our economy’s last — oh, I don’t know — few hundred years reflect? How much of our identities are intrinsically tied into our occupational endeavours? Is work the epitome of our cultural values? Is there that much more of a culture of silence around men’s mental health, given our hegemonic ideologies about masculinity? Does reporting on suicide expose and curb paths that lead to them or encourage copycats? What kind of fear is good to have as a journalist? Emotionally, how does communication like texting or typing differ from speaking the words from your mouth?

So. Many. Questions.

They also open up about their own mental health whilst working on a documentary about suicide. Spoiler alert: one starts going to therapy, the other claims to have been going to therapy long before it was cool.

Let’s get deep and have fun about it.

E-book: Mindset: Reporting on Mental Health

http://www.journalismforum.ca/mindset-reporting-on-mental-health

“Digging in the Dirt” on CBC Gem:

https://gem.cbc.ca/media/media/absolutely-canadian/episode-23/38e815a-011a7b71c5b

Cool Things:

Justin’s:

SPJ Code of Ethics

https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

Cales’:

Coffee grounds (obvi) but for plants!

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/ingredients/coffee-grounds-gardening.htm

Theme music by Tessa Good & Petr Balaz

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This interview was recorded on June 4, 2020

We dive into the social, economical, and emotional expectations of men in the oil & gas culture with documentary filmmakers Omar Mouallem and Dylan Rhys Howard. Their film “Digging in the Dirt” (on CBC Gem) focuses on addiction, suicide, and men’s mental health in the Alberta oil sands. They explore the layers underneath the culture of silence that surround men’s mental health and how men are sometimes stoic to their own detriment.

The more they learned about men’s mental health, the more they were able to reflect on their own personal mental struggles and journeys. If the work didn’t begin personal, it certainly became so.

This was such a poignant and deep conversation that we kept Omar from his kids for an extra episode’s worth of discussion. So, here’s part 1 of 2.

“Digging in the Dirt” on CBC Gem:

https://gem.cbc.ca/media/media/absolutely-canadian/episode-23/38e815a-011a7b71c5b

Alberta’s Mental Health Line

1-877-303-2642

Cool Things:

Justin’s:

Breaking the fourth wall

Cales’:

Sadhguru

https://isha.sadhguru.org/ca/en

&

“The Most Unknown” (2018) on Netflix

Theme music by Tessa Good & Petr Balaz

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This interview was recorded on June 4, 2020

Four ladies found each other after each losing their spouses. Their connection led them to start a business together — one that would help others learn how to handle life’s hardships or how to be there for others going through hard times.

Alexie and Shannon from Lost + Found (soon to be known as “Crying Out Loud”) join us for a beautiful convo and an even more lovely reminder that it’s totally OK to not feel OK.

Pause and have a cool little listen. It’s totally fine that you didn’t get everything done today. Be kind to yourself. You deserve it.

N.B.: Some details are intentionally left out to safeguard the wishes of associated individuals.

N.B.B.: Keep it shoved in your earholes ’til the very end for sneak peeks. ;)

insta: @lostandfoundto

https://lostandfoundto.com/

Cool Things:

Alexie’s:

Running to podcasts

Shannon’s:

Puzzles + Onesies

Cales’:

@ryan.heffington

Justin’s:

App: Routines by Care/of

Theme music by Tessa Good & Petr Balaz

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This interview was recorded on May 19, 2020

TW: spirituality; therapy; reframing obstacles and pain as gifts and opportunities for growth (on a large scale); feeling 'crazy'; triggers in general.

We’re all about personal growth. Sometimes, therapy’s a part of that. For Cales, that means running, meditating, spending a third of her budget on crystals and soul-talk; for Justin, it’s pasta.

But what's in a soul? Has anyone ever been able to aptly describe a soul? Heck, nah. Does that stop us from trying to deconstruct it in this episode? Also, nah. We interview Naranjan Nota — a spiritual intuitive — to try to understand what it means to “get deeper” and learn common issues her clients are facing in their days of isolation.

Cool Things:

Cales’:

Disconnecting from social media (hypocritically, of course)

Justin’s:

Beautiful homemade postcards

Connect with Naranjan:

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N.B.: This interview was recorded on May 27, 2020.

It’s friends like these that make us miss being in each other’s personal presence that much more and also friends like these that remind us what presence even means — as actors, as producers, as creative forces of nature. Four of BDB Productions’ team members — Franckie Francois, Lovell Adams-Gray,  Adrian Walters, and Emmanuel Ofori — join us to share how they came together as actors in times of strife and began finding their own individual voices as well as that of their collective to tell underrepresented stories. They talk about their first steps as new producers, what the production landscape looks like in a rapidly changing industry with new COVID-19 related safety measures and regulations, shining light on the Black Lives Matter conversation and presenting different voices within the black community through their art, balancing self-belief and faith in something greater, and finding their tribe that made all the difference in moving forward. Everything culminates in a heated debate that we all turn over to you, the audience. To help us settle the debate, share your voice at https://anchor.fm/wtnok/message.

We’re still isolating. So, we Zoom’d with Cales’ good pal Navin Ramaswaran — director, editor, classic cocktail consumer extraordinaire — to chat about post-set blues, how he chooses his creative teams and prepares as both a commercial and narrative film director, and how he celebrated his 40th birthday in isolation with a bartender wife! Y’also get to hear just how gross some of Cales’ shut-in meals have been and, honestly, it’s wholly due to laziness -- she had proper meal foods.

Cool Things:

Navin’s:

Cales’:

Justin’s:

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Anybody up for tea? This week we're jumping across the pond and talking to Carly Holt about her experience moving from Toronto Ontario to London England. She opens up about never settling for less than perfect and the challenges of leaving behind the opportunities you have while starting fresh. 

This episode was recorded over a video chat thanks to COVID! We've been working hard to keep content from a number of perspectives coming to your ear holes, so please don't mind the short delays or lack of studio quality. We love these convos. We love these people. And we want to share them no matter which pandemic gets in the way. 

ONE COOL THINGS

Cales: Visualization and 

Justin: Gratitude Journal/Bullet Journal

From a young age, Erin envisioned her future self as a blooming Bettie Page. Today, you can not only catch her in stunning pin-up photos, she’s on-stage, behind the camera, and regularly on the mic with her own Sonar Network podcast The Bed Post Podcast. This past weekend, you may have caught Cales and Justin guesting over there. Now, we give you the other half of our conversation about sex, kink, comedy and more with Toronto performer, producer, sex worker Erin Pim. We learn Beyoncé is the answer to protecting your sex vids, BBC doesn’t always stand for the British Broadcasting Corporation, and that you can catch a supportive community of Toronto doms getting their park on some weekends to play with their non-human dogs.

One Cool Things

Erin’s:

Sex worker support network  

comeasyouare.com

Cales’:

Man in Polyester, 1980 by Mapplethorpe Penis

https://i8.is/m/exhibitions/120/works/artworks7742/

Justin’s:

Sex toys are an essential service!!! You're welcome!

Did we interview one of Caleigh’s exes? Did we shove a joke-a-minute into this new favourite episode? Is this one big sponsored ad for Whirlpool? MOSTLY, NO. ONE-AND-A-HALF YESES. (But actually sponsored by the dating app, Hiii.)

We’ve been holding out on you — David Elmaleh stopped by near the beginning of this year and we kept him all to ourselves all this time because HE’S SO FAHKING GREAT. But, like, fine. We’ll share.

David opens up about depression, taking pills, crossing lines with comedy and entertains ALL 👏🏽 DAY 👏🏽 LONG 👏🏽. It also warms our hearts because there is no mention of the coronavirus… oops, until just that then there now. Meh! This’ll distract you! (But then go educate yourself and wear an effing mask.)

SHOVE IT IN YER EARHOLES.

Cool Things:

Justin’s:

Cheese Chocolate? Whatever you enjoy, DO IT. HAVE IT. LIVE IT.

Cales’:

Looping Cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne

https://www.instagram.com/raphcello/

David’s:

Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the original TV series! (Don’t ruin it by watching that new shit.)

Theme music by Tessa Good & Petr Balaz

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This episode is sponsored by Hiii, the dating app with icebreaker games and quizzes for creative, interesting people. We even made a quiz for it (so fun)! Take our hilariously merrymaking quiz at hiii.com/notok.

The world is a freaky place. Like REALLY freaky. Instead of spending half an hour adding to your Covid anxiety, we're talking about another reason to lock your doors and say goodbye to the sun: stalkers. Much like Covid, you'd rather not have it, and if that means social isolation for a few weeks, then so be it. How do we behave with social media? Or when your place of work is listed on a public linked in? Learn about some of our creepy experiences and the takeaways (along with professional advice) that you should probably know. Just in case. 

Meh. Life’s short. 😳🤷🏻‍♀️

Professional Resources:

Canadian Resource Centre For Victims of Crime

Call: 1-877-232-2610

Text: 1-613-208-0747

crcvc.ca

American Centre for the National Victims of Crime

mailto:[email protected]

victimsofcrime.org

Victim Connect Resource Centre (North America)

1-855-484-2846

www.VictimConnect.org

Domestic Violence Hotline

1-800-799-7233

If you are in immediate danger, CALL 911

Stalking Awareness

https://www.stalkingawareness.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Safety-Strategies.pdf

CBC News Article:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-to-do-if-youre-being-stalked-advice-from-an-expert/

COOL THINGS:

JVL’s

The resources we mentioned exist, and you can literally walk through them with a step-by-step guide.

Cales’

Say no.

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