Sickbabe
Suriya Aisha
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A series of funny, frank chats with fellow #SickBabes who exist and resist every day with invisible physical health conditions.
The series will investigate the relationship between invisible disabilities, capitalism and the awkward bits of life in between. It's produced by She Wants a Dog, and is supported by Contact Manchester and Arts Council England.
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
Oct 27, 2021
Holding the Cancer card, with Pippa Frith
Independent theatre and podcast producer Pippa Frith joins Suriya to talk about the words we use, the labels they carry, but also how they can unite people and create positive change. This episode has some strong language.
Pippa talks openly and with dark humour about life after two cancer diagnoses, the limitations cancer has put on her life, and the challenges in expressing the invisible disabilities she was left with after chemo.
Links
* Pippa's website
* Crutches and Spice
* Download the transcript
Sickbabe is is hosted by Suriya Aisha, sound-designed by Eliyana Evans, and produced by She Wants a Dog. You can follow @SickBabePod on Twitter and Instagram.
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Oct 27, 2021
Balancing ambitions from bed, with Jenica Leah
How do you balance ambition with listening to your body? Suriya talks with author, publisher, podcaster, and sickle cell campaigner Jenica Leah, to discuss fighting stigma, setting long-term goals, and life as a multi-hyphenate with a chronic illness.
Jenica writes the My Friend Jen series of children's books, to help kids understand sickle-cell, and remove the stigma that comes from ignorance of the condition. Although sickle-cell can put limitations on life-expectancy, Jenica still sets long-term goals and works towards them, because everyone's time is finite.
Download the transcript
Sickbabe is is hosted by Suriya Aisha, sound-designed by Eliyana Evans, and produced by She Wants a Dog. You can follow @SickBabePod on Twitter and Instagram.
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Oct 27, 2021
Reframing our relationship with time, with Toni-Dee Paul
How can we, as sick people, reframe our relationship with time? Suriya is joined by theatre maker, writer and performer Toni-Dee Paul to discuss her latest work that tackles the idea of rest – rest in progress, rest in resistance, and how we live our lives based on our bodies' clock, and not capitalism's.
Download the transcript
Sickbabe is is hosted by Suriya Aisha, sound-designed by Eliyana Evans, and produced by She Wants a Dog. You can follow @SickBabePod on Twitter and Instagram.
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Oct 27, 2021
Unpacking shame, with Saschan Fearon-Josephs
Saschan Fearon-Josephs joins Suriya to chat about failings in medical care for women with reproductive health problems, and how to deal with shame that can come from family members or medical staff. This episode features discussions that focus on the vagina, the vulva, and other female reproductive organs – plus practical tips for sex if you have endometriosis.
Saschan started blogging her experiences nine years ago, writing with humour and honesty, countering the myth that young people don't suffer from chronic illnesses. She set up The Womb Room to hep women advocate for themselves, and undo some of the shame and indignity that arises from a patriarchal society.
Links
* Follow @TheWombRoom on Instagram
* Download the transcript
Sickbabe is is hosted by Suriya Aisha, sound-designed by Eliyana Evans, and produced by She Wants a Dog. You can follow @SickBabePod on Twitter and Instagram.
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Oct 27, 2021
Making your own safe space, with Tobi Adebajo
Artist, community organiser and doula Tobi Adebajo joins Suriya to talk about rest as resistance, and the meaning and challenges in community.
The pandemic has changed society's understanding of disability and ablism, with those who'd previously not experienced disability, now expressing pain and fatigue disabled people have been experiencing – often silently – for years.
Links
* Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice
* Purple Rain Collective
* Femmes of Colour
* Brené Brown on Empathy vs Sympathy
* Unmuted
* Download the transcript
Sickbabe is is hosted by Suriya Aisha, sound-designed by Eliyana Evans, and produced by She Wants a Dog. You can follow @SickBabePod on Twitter and Instagram.
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Oct 27, 2021
Body neutrality and acceptance, with Imogen Fox
Queer disabled femme and anti-diet activist Imogen Fox joins Suriya to talk radical body politics, sharing your body with someone new and feeling disconnected from it, survival, the perception of disabled people in society, and how racism affects medical care.
This episode features discussions on trauma and being in hospital, from 10:20 to 14:02, 27:40 to 28:21, and 39:00 to 40:31.
Links
* What is the cost of a disability?
* Download the transcript
Sickbabe is is hosted by Suriya Aisha, sound-designed by Eliyana Evans, and produced by She Wants a Dog. You can follow @SickBabePod on Twitter and Instagram.
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