Mental Health and Music: Podcast Recommendations
Music and Mental Health Go Hand in Hand
Each week at EarBuds Podcast Collective, we send a weekly themed list of podcast picks. Each week’s picks are curated by a different person. And anyone can curate a list. Sometimes, we put out those lists as blog posts.
By Nikki Lynette
Addressing One’s Mental Health Needs Is a Big Step
Acknowledging and addressing mental health issues can often be an extreme hardship, even a debilitating one. For some, such as performer, artist and writer Nikki Lynette, it can also be a blessing in disguise.
A Chicago native with her self-produced songs featured in popular series on Netflix, Hulu, and Showtime, Lynette is known for more than her music; she is also a proud mental health activist. Having secretly battled mental health issues while releasing music, she began writing articles about depression and suicide for prominent sites like BlackDoctor, Afropunk, and AllHipHop. In 2020, Lynette wrote and staged the autobiographical musical ''Get Out Alive”, which raises mental health awareness through the lens of a hip-hop concert. Besides recounting her personal journey marked by abuse, grief, sexual assault, and suicide, the goal of the musical is to use storytelling, song, dance, visual media, and a live DJ to bring an offbeat approach to sharing one’s mental health journey, showing that even when life leads us to a bad place, we can always make it out alive. After a sold-out run in Steppenwolf Theatre Company's LookOut Series, “Get Out Alive” has been reimagined for the internet, and its release is coming soon.
For her latest project, Nikki will host Season 2 of the scripted narrative podcast, “About A Girl”, which tells the stories of the women behind the scenes of twelve of music’s greatest male icons, and how they helped, inspired, loved, supported, and challenged these artists on their way to shape modern music as we know it. You can listen to the Season 2 trailer here, and the first episode drops on Monday, June 7th. Some of the women featured on this season include Mayte Garcia (ex-wife of Prince) and Marianne Faithfull (the notorious girlfriend of Mick Jagger from 1966 to 1970), to name a few.
Nikki Writes…
I didn’t exactly choose the theme of these podcast recommendations... it kind of chose me. I live with a serious mental health condition and since being diagnosed, all of the music and art I make is informed by my desire to help kill the stigma. During the pandemic, more and more people began to struggle. And now, the CDC considers the US to be in the midst of a mental health crisis. So now more than ever, people need to be engaging with content that talks about this stuff in a relatable, accessible way. The podcasts I listed below range from stories about people’s struggles to conversations that get a bit clinical. (I’m nerdy, so I like the clinical stuff, too.) But all of them give voice to a subject that’s been silenced for way too long. I’m a social impact artist so my life is pretty much about my mental health activism. It’s dope to be able to share pods I like, for anyone who might need them.
Podcast Recommendations:
The Model Health Show
This is a health and fitness podcast, but he focuses on wellness and self-improvement across the board. Mental health is very much part of physical health, they are equally important, and this podcast addresses that kinda seamlessly. Some of the things I learned on this pod helped me through recovery after my mental breakdown.
Dear Young Rocker
I grew up as an alternative black girl who was very much a weirdo and a loner. So I connect with this one on a spiritual level. It’s not a mental health podcast, but it is about self-reflection and learning to cope with life’s challenges.
The AFFIRM Podcast
This one is all about encouraging women of color to affirm their value and their mental wellness needs. I like it because it creates an opportunity for women like me to address subjects that still are culturally taboo to talk about.
Here Comes the Break
I also really like “Here Comes the Break.” It’s not directly about mental health, but they deal with topics like using music as an outlet for emotional expression, which is literally what I do for a living. And the backstory behind this pod is interesting. I just really like pods with hosts you feel connected to.
Other People’s Problems
This one is pretty much a listener getting to be nosy and hear another person’s therapy session. From other people’s experiences and things they are navigating, you learn about yourself.
Extra: Check out the first episode of our curator Nikki’s new podcast, About a Girl.
Hey, readers! Did you enjoy this blog post? We wanted to combine two of our favorite things: podcast listening and guest contributions. Do you have an idea for a blog post that combines podcasts with your favorite things? Let us know! We’d love for you to write a guest blog post for us.
