Kara Baker is a fashion designer, whose business stopped dead on 13 March this year, when a host of major events including Melbourne Fashion Festival were cancelled.

In this episode, she talks with Sally about how major historical events influence the evolution of fashion, how the pandemic might change outdated and unsustainable fashion business models and how women might want to burn their leggings after lockdown.

Photo of Kaitlyn Blythe

Did you know that Halle Berry is diabetic? Izzie's dad once told them that and they've never fact-checked it. They think he meant it to be encouraging, like, 'Hey, you’ll be okay, see? Catwoman has diabetes,' but unfortunately that movie was terrible. In this episode of Pill Pop, hosts Silvi and Izzie speak with writer and performer Kaitlyn Blythe about media representation of chronically ill people. They’ll give you the good, the bad, and the Jeremy Renner in what was easily the hardest time they’ve had staying on topic in an interview.

Kaitlyn Blythe is a writer and performer living in Naarm (Melbourne) and dealing with encephalomyelitis, also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. She also has a podcast, Just A Spoonful (currently on hiatus), where she talks to other chronically ill folks, and is working on her first book, a collection of essays about life with a disability.

Content warning: this episode includes discussions of physical and mental illness, hospitals, medical trauma.

We want to hear from our listeners! Tweet us your non-compliant body stories at @PillPopCast, or send us an email at pillpoppodcast@gmail.com. 

Hosted, produced and edited by Silvi Vann-Wall and Izzie Austin. Writer and perfromer Kaitlyn Blythe, formerly Kaitlyn Plyley, is our guest.

Recorded at Studio 757, Melbourne and Silvi and Izzie's respective home offices. This series is produced in partnership with the Wheeler Centre's Signal Boost programme. Mentorship and production support from Bec Fary.

Music: 'Dip Dop' by Barrie Gledden; 'Sad Marimba Planet' and 'More on That Later' by Lee Rosevere. Sound effects sourced from SoundSnap and Klankbeeld.

A transcript of this episode will be available soon.

Earlier this year, Todd Heery was already preparing himself for a year of isolation. Todd is the plumber at Mawson Research Station in Antarctica – the only continent so far untouched by the coronavirus. When he boarded the boat for departure, he never expected that the world he was leaving behind would change the way it has. In this episode, Todd speaks to Sally Warhaft about life in Antarctica, the importance of ritual and surviving isolation. 

Amongst her teachers, Chenxin Tu is known as a ‘force of nature'.

In this episode, Chenxin talks about coming of age during a global pandemic, and navigating her final year of school after moving to Australia from China seven years ago. She speaks on resilience, adaptability and her passion for the environment.

Take Home Reading is a new short-form audio series for readers and writers – shining a spotlight on Australian writers with recently released books. In each instalment, you’ll be introduced to a writer, learn a little about what they’ve been reading lately, and hear a short reading from their latest work.

In this episode we’re talking to Katerina Bryant about her debut memoir Hysteria, a compassionate and insightful account of illness, strength and women’s stories. 

‘We’re told that illness has a narrative structure, and that it ends. We're told that illness is a tragedy that is, or should, be overcome. I was trying to fit my own narrative within that structure, and it wasn't fitting. And through the act of writing, I was able to see how much of a trope that was and how, really, the experience of living with chronic mental illness like I do is not the difficult part. The difficult part is finding how to live within a world that doesn't accommodate that, and doesn't believe that it's ongoing.’

Hysteria is out now through NewSouth books.