Accessing Vulnerability Through Poetry with Alisha Yi & David Xiang

Explicit content warning

07/13/20 • 54 min

Alisha Yi and David Xiang are on the podcast this week - the first DOUBLE GUEST episode in the podcast's short history. Alisha and David are the creators of the Hope Storytelling Project, a virtual series of poetry workshops designed to discuss themes of hope and vulnerability. Alisha M. Yi is a rising junior at Harvard University, studying History and Science and is a 2018 U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts for Writing. David Xiang graduated this year magna cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in History and Science, and is an incoming medical student at Harvard Medical School. In 2015, he was selected as a National Student Poet, the nation’s highest honor for youth poets. In this conversation, we discuss: How poetry helps make vulnerability accessible, how intergenerational spaces create more opportunities for connection and empathy, what we don’t know about others, how Alisha and David each got started writing poetry, loneliness, competition, and connection on college campuses, coming to terms with leaving college during the pandemic, AND POETRY SHARES!!! Scientific American article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/using-poetry-to-combat-loneliness-and-social-isolation/ Join their last session of the storytelling project here!: https://www.cambridgema.gov/en/cpl/calendarofevents/2020/05/27/thehopestorytellingprojectfindingcomfort https://lvccld.bibliocommons.com/events/5ec41a3e171b7a24001534e1

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Culture, Society, and Loneliness with Melanie Aronson

Melanie Aronson is on the podcast this week, and we get into a super juicy conversation about the ways that our culture and societal norms affect the loneliness of its inhabitants. Melanie is US-born but currently living in Sweden and we get into all the nuances of what is considered "normal" in connection and our own experiences with loneliness. In this conversation, we discuss: Melanie’s research on middle eastern integration in Sweden, her app Pinion aimed to connect people with similar interests, how individualistic societies breed socially isolated people, why Scandinavian countries are both the happiest and most lonely countries on earth, hardship as connection, and the nuances of loneliness and connection. Melanie Aronson is the founder and CEO of Panion, an app for connecting like-minded people and building community around common interests. She has a bachelors in anthropology from Columbia University and a masters in documentary filmmaking from the School of Visuals Arts in NYC. Melanie worked in sales for Apple for almost 3 years and for more than 10 years as a freelance filmmaker, photographer and designer. She moved from NYC to Sweden on a Fulbright grant in 2014 and has lived there ever since. https://www.panion.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/getpanion/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/panion.app/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/panionapp Melanie's Twitter: @melaniearonson

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Celebration as Connection with Jacques Martiquet

We've got Jacques Martiquet on the pod this week! Jacques is an international party scientist who has facilitated ecstatic celebrations at Envision Festival, Shambhala Festival, LUSH Cosmetics, and Lululemon. Jacques has been interviewed by VICE media about his mission to bridge public health and party culture. Jacques' current focus is working within the events industry to address the loneliness epidemic, by offering new entertainment experiences founded on fun and social connection. In this conversation, we discuss: weirdness, party science, how celebration can lead us to more fulfilling, healthy lives, how alcohol and tobacco industries have commodified the act of celebration, our perceptions of other people’s perceptions, sober vs. drunk connection, how to source joy, and the co-creation of celebration. VYVE: vyve.life My sister's fashion company: www.quellnyc.com