Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla and I’m the host of this podcast.

Since the release of Heated Rivalry, a show commissioned by Canada’s Crave and distributed by HBO Max originally written by Rachel Reid, queer media has had some of the greatest visibility I’ve personally ever seen in my life. From Young Royals to Red, White, and Royal Blue to Girls Like Girls to Leviticus, it seems as if, finally, queer folk are being eagerly represented. Sometimes, though, I cannot help but wonder if representation is inherently progressive, or if the undertones to the sudden intent from large corporations to depict queer folk could be sinister. How does capitalistic demand drive which “type” of queer person is shown in media? Where is the line drawn between fetishization and appreciation? Is there even a “right” way to create and market queer media to a predominantly straight audience?

Joe Halsch, the director of The Jim Toy Center in Ann Arbor, a community for queer folk and allies dedicated to advocacy and community engagement, helps answer these questions during this 2-part segment in which we discuss the history of queer representation and its implications in modern day media, as well as his own thoughts and experiences regarding queerness.

Without further ado, here’s Joe.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla and I’m the host of this podcast.

Tucked in a quiet corner of Ann Arbor, Michigan, The Safehouse is a refuge for any who may be facing intimate partner violence. At the head of the Safehouse is Christine Watson, who has long been an advocate for the protection and understanding of victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and other forms of intimate partner violence. Despite resources like The Safehouse being readily available, many misunderstandings still plague our knowledge of how to approach victims, a topic that Christine and I dive into as she discusses the careful intersection between gender, race, sexuality, and more when it comes to her work. How do you ensure all feel heard, no matter their story and background? Can you acknowledge all sides of a spectrum while still realizing that one demographic may be disproportionately affected? How do you make room for nuance in a topic as sensitive as intimate partner violence? In this episode, Christine and I discuss how she navigates her own understanding of her work and its intricacies, and more importantly, how we can change the conversation surrounding intimate partner violence to better help those without a voice.

Without further ado, here’s Christine.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla, and I'm the host of this podcast.

Following Judith, the founder of Center for Eating Disorders in Ann Arbor who starred in the previous segment, it seemed as if new perspectives could be incorporated in order to gain a better understanding of the increasingly prevalent issue at hand: disordered eating.

While many may know textbook knowledge based on internet think pieces and middle school health classes, it is all too often that when we are faced with helping someone struggling with an eating disorder, we do not know what to do. People cannot be read like articles on the internet or vague social media posts. Unfortunately, they cannot be treated and supported simply based on the quotes you see when you google “what to say if my loved one might be struggling with an eating disorder.” Eating disorders are different for everybody. Some may want advice and a shoulder to lean on during worse episodes. Some may just want an ear to listen. For parents of children with eating disorders, the issue of how to spot, help, and alleviate becomes increasingly difficult as they try to grapple with the nuance of the situation and the individuality of their child.

In this segment, a parent will share their perspective on how an eating disorder made its way into their daughter and the aftermath of its destruction.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla, and I’m the host of this podcast.

About 28.8 million Americans are currently affected by an eating disorder. That’s about 9% of the entire US population. And yet, nobody seems to truly understand what they are unless they actually struggle with one. Even then, stigma prevents many from ever reaching out and seeking support, or even realizing that they might have one. As you’ll be able to tell by my comments during this segment, the topic of eating disorders is a little personal to me. Not because I suffered from one, but because one of my close family members did, which eventually led to her hospitalization. And so, this episode is dedicated to one simple question: defining an eating disorder. Talking to Judith Banker, the founder and president of Center for Eating Disorders in Ann Arbor, Michigan, felt like I was in a counseling session myself. Even as somebody who witnessed the spiral in somebody else in such close proximity, I quickly realized through our conversation that the complexity of an eating disorder is not something that can quickly be unpacked. Today, I still struggle to understand what happened to my family member and why it did. Despite this complexity, it remains ever important for further treatment, research, and support to be developed for the millions that need it. Treatment is a necessity for saving millions of lives, people that could potentially be your parent, sibling, or neighbor…eating disorders do not discriminate, and they are unafraid to tear through one’s life and harm them in ways that are still misunderstood.

Without further ado, here’s Judith.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla and I’m the host of this podcast.

If you don’t know, this is the second part of Nikki’s story, where she dives into how she turned a past of abuse and trauma into what she describes today as “intentional living.” Nikki doesn’t hide from her past: she builds onto it and uses it as proof that she is worthy of all the happiness she has today. Now in her 50s, she fights for others like her who deserve to heal and build their own future on their own accord with her education in social work, nonprofit called the Worthy Brown Girl Network, and podcast, The Worthy Well by Nikki G. If you haven’t listened to the first segment, now’s the time to do so.

Without further ado, here’s the last part of Nikki’s story.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla and I’m the host of this podcast.

When I approached Nikki, the first thing I noticed was how well spoken she was. Words flowed from her mouth so naturally and so coherently that I found it hard for me to keep up. However, behind her demeanor was a story riddled with trauma that made her the woman she is today, building a story that does not let her past define who she is now. Nikki, now working with A Brighter Way, an organization helping the previously incarcerated, turned her past into the change she wants to see today as the founder of her own nonprofit, the Worthy Brown Girl Network and even her own podcast, The Worthy Well Podcast with Nikki G. Her story reverberates one powerful message: all of us are worthy of healing and building a future dedicated to personal happiness, no matter our past and the trauma we believe we will never be able to move past.

Due to the length of her segment, Nikki’s story will be split into two episodes: one tackling her background and past traumas, and another where we discuss what she has learned and how she is moving forward as she shares insights on self-worth.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla, and I’m the host of this podcast.

A few weeks ago, I got the opportunity to sit down with Uzochi Nwauwa to talk about a topic that most of us avoid despite its inevitably: grief and the concept of death. Specifically, we talked about the scary, unavoidable thing that most of us will have to face at least once in our lives, grief, and how it impacts children. This is the second part of Uzo’s story, where we dive into specifics on how society can better approach those who are grieving and slowly take down the barriers that prevent us from facing death not just for ourselves, but for the sake of others. If this is your first time listening to her, I suggest you take a look at the first part of this segment. Without further ado, here’s Uzo.

Welcome back to This Person I Met! My name is Kayla, and I’m the host of this podcast.

On my first snow day of the season, I drove 30 minutes to Ele’s Place, braving the iced highways to sit with Uzochi Nwauwa. Uzo, the bereavement coordinator for Ele’s Place, talked to me for nearly an hour about a topic that many, including me, shut our ears to: grief and death.

Ele’s Place was founded by Betsy Stover and her husband following the death of their daughter, known as Ele. The organization was created in the interest of youth dealing with grief and the concept of death, an idea that many young minds have yet to truly define and absorb. Death is the thing that we do not talk about. It’s “passing away,” “kicking the bucket,” “biting the dust,” but it truly is just what it is. Dying.

In this episode, Uzo talks about how grief differs from person to person, and specifically how it affects children. She is blunt about death and how to go about helping those dealing with grief, those existing on, as she said, “a completely different timeline” as those that are not. The world moves on when a loved one dies, but how do you move with it when the one who you loved is no longer in the same world that is still pushing forward? What does existing in this new timeline without them look like? And to a child, what does this feel like, and how can we support those who have yet to formulate even the idea of death?

Due to the length of our conversation, this will be the first of two episodes dedicated to Uzo and her work. Without further ado, here’s Uzo.