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Mother Tongues

For many children of immigrants, speaking their heritage language can feel like one of the few ways of maintaining their cultural identity, being born and living away from their motherland. But by the second generation of immigration, many people lose the ability to speak their mother tongue. In this episode, host Karina Zapata speaks with Kayko Jarvis, Isabel Stanleigh and Carole Yue, all from Calgary, Alberta, about what it’s like to speak — or not speak — their mother tongues. We discuss how it affects their cultural identity and relationships with their families, and how they plan to navigate the situation with future generations.

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Let’s Talk About… Resilience

In this episode counselor and psychologist Sonya Flessati joins host Angie Therrien to talk about the ins and outs of resilience, how to strengthen it and how it can be used as a tool to improve your overall outlook on life.

Show host: Angie Therrien
Show producer: Jasleen Bhangu
Special thanks to our guest, Sonya Flessati, for joining us!
Find out more about the 3/1 positivity ratio and how it can help you build resilience: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2020/10/16/10-ways-the-3-to-1-positivity-ratio-can-advance-your-career/?sh=4e62702a70c4
To learn more about MRU counselling, head over to: http://www.mru.ca/counselling
For more resources and wellness events on MRU’s campus make sure to follow @mrulivewell on Instagram.
Theme music: Sunday-Analog By Nature

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LGBTQ2S+

Being part of the LGBTQ2S+ community comes with extra challenges as children of immigrant parents whose cultures and beliefs are often opposed to their queer identities. In this episode, host Karina Zapata speaks with Cece Chow, Camila Gomez and Abhi Sanhi, all from Calgary, Alberta, about their experiences as queer children of immigrants. We discuss the feeling of not belonging in both cultural spaces and queer spaces, and how the guests learned to live authentically — as their full selves — despite the adversities they faced.

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Let’s Talk About… Personal Growth and Understanding

In this episode, Kelly Waters-Radcliffe talks about self-growth, understanding emotions, and what to consider when choosing counselling. Since therapy isn’t “one size fits all,” Kelly gives listeners some insight as to how they can analyze their lives and start improving themselves so that they are energized by their life again. Hosted by Julie Patton and produced by Kai Rae.

Show host: Julie Patton
Show producer: Kai Rae
Special thanks to our guest, Kelly Waters-Radcliffe, for joining us!
To learn more about MRU counselling, head over to: http://www.mru.ca/counselling
For more resources and wellness events on MRU’s campus make sure to follow @mrulivewell on Instagram.
Theme music: Sunday-Analog By Nature

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Mental Health

Navigating mental health as children of immigrants can be challenging, coming from communities who may not believe in getting support for it and parents who were often too busy surviving to focus on their own wellbeing. In this episode, host Karina Zapata speaks with Clara Jaide from Calgary, Alberta, Shanice Coombs from Brantford, Ontario, and Alonso Melgar from Toronto, Ontario. Each guest has faced various challenges with their mental health in their lives, from facing racial violence, to not being allowed to attend therapy growing up.

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Let’s Talk About… Overcoming Obstacles

In this episode, Shellyza Murji, a counsellor with MRU Wellness Services, talks about overcoming and conquering the feelings that arise with misfortunes. She shares her experience as an MRU alumna hoping to relate to students and encourage them to seek out help when they’re overwhelmed. Hosted by Sannah Chawdhry and produced by Noel Ormita.

Show host: Sannah Chawdhry
Show producer: Noel Ormita
Special thanks to our guest, Shellyza Murji, for joining us!
To learn more about MRU counselling, head over to: http://www.mru.ca/counselling
For more resources and wellness events on MRU’s campus make sure to follow @mrulivewell on Instagram.
Theme music: Sunday-Analog By Nature

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Podcasting and Authentic Storytelling

In this episode, the Community Podcast Initiative (CPI) presents a panel discussion on emerging career paths in digital audio, and how this can promote a space for more authentic storytelling. The three panelists share their experiences in different forms of audio production, how it makes space for under-represented voices, and how their work today might not have been the career path they imagined when they first started their studies. The panel is moderated by the CPI’s Brad Clark, a professor in the Broadcast Media Studies program at Mount Royal University. 
 
The Panelists: 
Kyle Napier
Kyle Napier (Northwest Territory Métis Nation) is Dene/nêhiyaw Métis, with Gaelic and French connections. Kyle is a sessional instructor with the University of Victoria’s Certificate in Indigenous Language Revitalization program. He’s involved in graduate research at the University of Alberta, where he earned an MA in Communication and Technology, and supports education across Nunavut in a variety of IT roles. Kyle is a co-consultant with Tatâga, and is the Communication Manager and an audiovisual technician with Calgary Show Services. Kyle oversees the release of multiple podcasts and podcast cohorts with partnering universities. He is also co-chair with Native Land Digital maps, as well as a video game designer creating Indigenous language resources for the South Slave Divisional Education Council.
Grace Heavy Runner
Poksikainiaki Grace Heavy Runner is from the Kainai Nation in Treaty Seven Territory. For the last several years she has worked at CJSW as a producer and podcaster hosting Indigenization Across the Nation, and Treaty Nation Music. More recently she was the host and narrator for Survivors, a series on residential schools. Grace is also a fourth-year student in MRU’s Journalism and Digital Media program. 
Hadeel Abdel-Nabi
Hadeel Abdel-Nabi is an assistant producer with CBC Podcasts in Toronto. A Calgary-born journalist and poet, and a graduate of MRU’s journalism program, she has bylines in HuffPost, VICE, Avenue Magazine, The Sprawl, Muslim Girl and more. She also launched, hosted and produced Muslim Girl’s podcast, which she premiered live at SXSW in Austin, TX, with an interview from congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. Hadeel’s passion has always been to bring underrepresented voices to the forefront of the conversation. She is most interested in stories about social inequity, the first-generation Canadian experience and politics.

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Eldest Child

Eldest children of immigrant parents often have to bear the weight of taking on extra work and responsibilities to help their families succeed. In this episode, host Karina Zapata speaks with Rome Lim from Hamilton, Ontario and Cassandra Ngo from Markham, Ontario about their experiences as the eldest children of immigrant parents. From navigating language barriers to being the main emotional support to parents experiencing hardships, we discuss the pressure eldest children of immigrants often face, and how that changed the way they live as adults.

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Let’s Talk About… Managing Stress

In this episode, counselling psychologist Janet Miller talks about everything stress. You will hear about ways you can manage stress, as well as what happens when you neglect stress and the dangers it may cause. Hosted by Zach Payne and produced by Matt DeMille.

Show host: Zach Payne
Show producer: Matthew DeMille
Special thanks to our guest, Janet Miller, for joining us!
To learn more about MRU counselling, head over to: http://www.mru.ca/counselling
For more resources and wellness events on MRU’s campus make sure to follow @mrulivewell on Instagram.
Theme music: Sunday-Analog By Nature

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The Mountain Risk Knowledge Exchange Project

Mountain landscapes are dynamic systems, and life in the mountains is inherently exposed to a wide range of natural hazards, including landslides, mudslides, volcanoes, avalanches, earthquakes, wildfires and flooding.

This episode of the Canadian Mountain Podcast focuses on the Mountain Risk Knowledge Exchange, which was designed to integrate citizen and community science into monitoring mountain hazards. This new community-based approach is harnessing Indigenous and non-Indigenous local knowledge and building risk management capacity and resilience in mountain communities.

This podcast episode features Principal Investigator Dr. Glyn Williams-Jones from Simon Fraser University, who is leading the Mountain Risk Knowledge Exchange. The second guest is Juan Anzieta, a PhD student from Simon Fraser University who works alongside Williams-Jones on the project.

They discuss their work in developing an open-access portal, where knowledge is co-produced with contributions from citizen scientists, some of which have gathered local knowledge through generations of observations. Users can also learn from the portal, which is a one-stop-shop of information, data and knowledge related to mountain hazards.

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