Safe Space Radio
The show about subjects we'd struggle with less if we could talk about them more.
From Violence to Voice
The experience of violence is shaped by shame and silence. We’ll hear stories about how silence and shame define the experience of violence for everyone involved: the victim, the perpetrator and the bystander, with a special focus on white bystanders and racist violence. We explore how violence is dehumanizing, and leads survivors to blame themselves. We also hear about the forces that make it difficult for victims and bystanders…read more »
Saying Goodbye
This show is about the mental health benefits and challenges of saying a good goodbye at the end of life. Through stories, we explore different facets of goodbyes, including why so many of us avoid saying goodbye even in the most life-changing moments. We also discuss how initiating a goodbye conversation can make us more emotionally resilient long-term. …read more »
Climate Courage
Reports of wildfires, hurricanes, and extinctions are frightening, yet we rarely hear people talking about the mental health impact of these changes. This hour long show explores how coping with the mental health impacts of climate change can actually make us more effective at combating it. We hear stories about the challenge of facing the facts, and emotions including grief, hopelessness, and fear.…read more »
Profiles in Mental Health and Courage
Courage is the choice to act even when we feel afraid. It forces us to confront fear, shame, and stigma—and to feel our own strength. This hour-long show is about how accessing our own courage also supports our mental health and well-being, exploring the experience of living with mental illness—such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and borderline personality disorder—as a kind of “courage boot camp.” We also discuss how culturally-imposed silence can enforce shame and make accessing our courage much more difficult. …read more »Recently Aired
Talking to White Kids About Race & Racism
Many white parents have never learned how to talk about race and racism with their kids. Silence perpetuates racism—but it can be hard to know how to start. This hour-long program is about talking to white kids about race and racism: how white parents, families, and teachers can learn to show up for racial justice …read more »
Loneliness
This episode is about loneliness: what it is, why so many of us feel it, and the surprising toll loneliness takes on our physical and mental health. The health effects of chronic loneliness are akin to smoking 15 cigarettes every day—it literally shortens our lives. Yet it can feel vulnerable to name it when we feel lonely. …read more »
Asking For Help
This hour-long program is about asking for help: why it’s so hard to admit when we need something from another person, and the surprising effects that sharing our vulnerability can have on our mental health. The episode explores how shame and stigma can prevent us from asking for what we need, why we tend to underestimate the generosity of others, and how asking can make us feel …read more »
Apologies
We all make mistakes. Knowing how to mend our relationships is vital to the mental health of our families and communities. This episode is an exploration of apologies: why saying “I’m sorry” can be difficult, and how we can get better at repairing the relationships that matter the most. Through stories, this show addresses apologies …read more »
Still Here: Caregiving and Dementia
This hour-long special is about the unspoken challenges of caring for a family member with dementia. The show explores the experience of ambiguous loss, where the person is both here and not here at the same time. …read more »
Out-Takes: The Unheard Stories of LBGTQ Teens
This show is about the courage of teenagers who come out at a time in life when it is hardest to be different. So many of the legal and social changes in this country that support LGBTQ civil rights are happening because one by one, year after year…read more »
Yoga For Trauma with Matthew Sanford
Matthew Sanford is a yoga teacher focused on trauma recovery. Matthew was paralyzed from the chest down at age 13 in a car accident that killed his father and sister. As a teen, he was encouraged to “overcome the silence” of his paralyzed body. He learned that he could listen to his body instead, and …read more »
Talking To Kids About Sex & Sexuality with Layne Gregory
Social worker Layne Gregory shares strategies for navigating the subject of sex and sexuality that she used with her own kids and gives 6 basic principles that are important for kids to understand.
Advocating for a Child with Autism with Ellen Jennings
Ellen Jennings’ son is living with high-functioning autism. She talks with Anne about the long and difficult path to his diagnosis, and about the many ways she has had to push for him to get the services he needs and help him thrive.
Prisoners and Hospice with Bobby Payzant
This episode revisits Safe Space Radio’s 2014 interview with Bobby Payzant, an inmate at the Maine State Prison. He discusses the crime for which he is serving time, and his work as a hospice volunteer, giving care to inmates dying in prison.
Stigma and Teen Pregnancy with Meredith Hall
This episode revisits Anne’s 2012 conversation with Meredith Hall about her pregnancy at age 16. Meredith remembers being shunned by her family and school and forced to give the child up for adoption. Her memoir, Without a Map, explores how silence can be an impediment to healing.
Breaking the Silence with Carl Russell
Episcopal priest Carl Russell talks about the childhood sexual abuse he experienced at the hands of his family’s own priest. He remembers the catalyst on his own path to healing: a radio story about sexual abuse in the Boston Archdiocese. At 72 years old Carl decided to press charges, and broke a silence that had …read more »
