Welcome to our new feature, Podcasts of the Week! Every week we’ll pick out a podcast that we’re really into and tell you all about it.
October is Black History Month, and our pick this week is Black Gals Livin’, the pop culture podcast hosted by Essex girls Vic and Jas. With a variety of great guests, the girls discuss everything from coping with serious mental health issues to Love Island, baggy jeans to British politics, with a particular focus on issues affecting or involving the black community. The podcast is very informative, but its tone is often lighthearted, owing to the hilarious banter between the hosts. During the interviews, the more serious issues are never shied away from.
In the 49th episode, which aired on September 1st, the girls interview the inspirational Rianna Patterson, founder of The Dominica Dementia Foundation. Having discussed at length the elusiveness of white KitKat Chunkies and how hard they are to get hold of these days, their guest is introduced and the interview begins.
Having witnessed her grandfather die with Dementia in 2013, Patterson was inspired to start her foundation with the aim of raising awareness of Dementia, raising funds for families affected, providing emotional support to families and their caregivers and also facilitating research towards Dementia in Dominica. Since it launched in 2016, the charity has expanded and now helps 4,000 individuals affected by the condition. Ultimately, the foundation hopes to change attitudes towards Dementia in Dominica for good. Vic and Jas are engaging and sensitive interviewers; they always get to the heart of the matter whilst ensuring they don’t push their guests too far.
A real strength of this podcast is the way in which the hosts talk openly with their guests about mental health struggles. In this episode, Patterson talks about the struggles she has had with low confidence and anxiety in the past, and the way in which her work for the foundation has helped her to overcome some of these challenges. It’s refreshing to hear mental health discussed in a podcast that always makes plenty of room for laughs, and the girls offer plenty of practical, everyday tips for coping with anxiety.
Following the interview, the hot takes come rolling in. At whirlwind speed, the girls discuss Stormzy and Maya Jama’s split, Cadbury’s four-in-one ‘India Unity’ chocolate bar, and how Zara’s clothes never look nice on the website. If you’re looking for a new podcast that will make you laugh out loud, keep you up to date with pop culture and educate you regarding issues concerning the black community, this is certainly the one for you.
You can find Black Gals Livin’ in Apple’s podcast app’s Black History Month collection, or listen for free on Soundcloud.
