In this episode of Unmasked, I take you back to where it all started—East 97th Street in Manhattan, where I grew up straddling the line between East Harlem and Yorkville. It was a block shaped by invisible borders and constant noise. Not metaphorical noise—literal, body-shaking, soul-draining noise.

Sirens. Car alarms. Yelling. Street chaos. That was my normal.

Now? I live in a suburb of Minnesota where the loudest thing on my block is a wild turkey beefing with a rabbit in my backyard.

This episode explores what happens to the body, the brain, and the spirit when chronic noise becomes your baseline—and how, for many of us, that noise was never just “city life.” It was violence by design.

We unpack the science behind chronic noise exposure, the policy choices that have targeted poor and marginalized communities, and how our mental health suffers when our nervous systems never get to clock out.

We also talk about how KindPath is building tech that understands environmental trauma—so we’re not just reacting to symptoms, but designing support that accounts for the chaos people are trying to survive.

What You’ll Learn:

* Why chronic noise exposure is a public health issue, not a personality quirk

* The mental health effects of environmental noise, including anxiety, depression, and cognitive strain

* How urban zoning and systemic racism make noise exposure a class and race issue

* What peace feels like after a life of noise—and why silence can feel unsafe

* How KindPath is reimagining behavioral health by factoring in environmental stressors

Cited Sources:

* Basner et al. (2014). Auditory and non-auditory effects of noise on health. The Lancet.

* World Health Organization (2018). Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region.

* Clark & Paunovic (2018). Environmental noise and mental health: A systematic review. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 15(11), 2400.

Listen Now:

Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere else you listen

Quote to Remember:

“If your nervous system is always bracing, KindPath becomes your soft landing. We don’t pretend to quiet the whole world—we build something that whispers when everything else is shouting.”

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit melodymejeh.substack.com