Sorting Podcasts for Mental Health

I have a hard time getting into new podcasts without knowing how my mental illness will react to them. I'm hoping to help anyone else with similar problems--if you want me to add a category, let me know!Submissions always welcome!

[deathonair]

The Lavender Ladies

[ID: Lavender Ladies logo. A lavender background with white splotches. In the foreground, a dark-skinned woman in a short-sleeved yellow shirt with natural hair stands facing left but side-eyeing the viewer and smiling. A light-skinned woman with blonde hair and a pin-striped suit stands by her, one hand on her hip, the other arm casually around the first woman’s neck, holding a gun in that hand and facing the viewer. Much of her face is hidden by the first woman’s hair. She wears a sprig of lavender on her lapel. End ID.]

I’ve listened to: All episodes.

To be aware of: Violence, discussions of murder and violence, firearms, death on air, occasional screaming, coercion, and other mafia-related things.

Summary: A young woman moves back to her childhood home and accidentally starts dating the local mafia boss.

Episodes to skip: Every episode contains something potentially upsetting. There are content warnings at the beginning of each episode. Death on air in episode 10.

Transcripts: I have not found free transcripts yet, but they are available as a $1 perk on their patreon.

[thelavenderladies]

Hi! Thank you for your review! All of our transcripts are already free on our website and published normally around the same time the episode first airs.

If you’d like them early it is a $1 perk.

@deathonair

https://www.thelavenderladiespodcast.com/home-1

Home | The Lavender Ladies Podcast

[deathonair]

Time Bombs

[ID: Time Bombs logo. A black background with ‘Time:Bombs’ in the center in red pixelated font. End ID.]

I’ve listened to: Full series (three episodes)

To be aware of: Discussions of violence and explosive devices, nothing on air.

Summary: A bomb disposal squad tries to break a record; it’s New Year’s Eve and they only have a few hours left.

Episodes to skip:

Transcripts: I have not found transcripts available yet.

[deathonair]

Thank you sciencematter for this update!

transcripts available here: https://timebombs.show

[deathonair]

Dining in the Void

[ID: Dining in the Void logo. The background is stars / space. The words ‘Dining in the Void’ are centered in large all-caps white letters, with black lines like claw marks over parts of the words. End ID.]

I’ve listened to: Full first season

To be aware of: Graphic violence, torture, mutilation, screaming, discussions of death, terminal illness, etc.

Summary: A group of dinner guests are unexpectedly trapped aboard a space ship in the void. While trying to learn who trapped them and why, they discover unlikely truths about each other and the secret threads that link them.

Episodes to skip: Every episode has potentially upsetting material. Episode descriptions contain content warnings, and they are also announced at the beginning of each episode. S1E3 The Games Children Play contains torture, screaming, and mutilation–it was the only episode I could not listen to. S1E12 (firearms and implied murder on air)

Transcripts: Available here.

[samnightingalesmirror-deactivat]

Hey there! Thanks for featuring @dininginthevoidpodcast on your blog. Just a heads up, the transcripts link in this post is defunct. All our transcripts are now available here.

[deathonair]

We Fix Space Junk

[ID: We Fix Space Junk logo. A simple yellow rocket ship flying to the right with a grey porthole in the middle; a simple wrench is centered in this hole. The background is a mottled dark blue with small white stars. In bold white capital letters, ‘We Fix’ in the top left corner,  with “Space Junk” slanting beneath that to the top right hand corner and “by Beth Crane” in smaller orange capital letters in the bottom right hand corner. A border the color of the title around it all. End ID.]

I’ve listened to: Main seasons, not Marilyn’s Diary episodes

To be aware of: Giant evil corporation, conditions bordering on slavery.

Summary: Samantha Trapp, daughter of one of the richest families in the galaxy, is broken out of prison by her fiancee and smuggled onto an old cargo ship. When her fiancee fails to pay the smuggler fees, Samantha is left to work off her debt, learning mechanics from the cyborg woman who saved her.

Episodes Warnings: S1E1 (dying groans, mentions of blood and murder), S1E3 (sexism, implications of cannibalism, gun fire on air, mentions of human remains), S1E4 (riots on air with screaming, threats of bodily mutilation, graphic discussion of cannibalism and torture), S1E5 (alarms, accidental injury, apparent death on air, surgery), S1E6 (body shaming), S1E7 (heavily features insects with sound effects, eggs implanted into a person, surgery), S1E8 (discussion of murder) S2E1 (brain surgery with sound effects while patient is conscious), S2E2 (choking/oxygen deprivation), S2E4 (violent colonialism), S2E5 (terminal infection but not death on air), S2E6 (politics apocalypse), S2E8 (Gun fire / injury on air)

Transcripts: I have not found free transcripts available yet.

[deathonair]

Update: Transcripts are freely available on their blog and will be linked in episode descriptions.

[deathonair]

battlebirdproductions replied to your post “We Fix Space Junk”:

Thank you so much for these! Would you be ok with us copying these into our descriptions? Also free transcripts are available on our Libsyn page, attached to the Episode and on our blog. We'll link to those in the descriptions too :)

Of course! And thank you for pointing out the transcripts, I’m not sure how I missed them before.

[deathonair]

Just a reminder that submissions and suggestions are always welcome!

[deathonair]

Odd Tonic

[ID: Odd Tonic logo. On a solid black background, a black and white line drawing in the style of a vintage medicine label. There is a decorative outline of skulls and foliage, with a double-pupiled eye at the head and a planchette at the bottom. there is a set of hands to the sides of the word "ODD", and a ribbon below that says "TONIC". The words are written in an old-timey font. End ID.]

I’ve listened to: All episodes so far

To be aware of: A ghost / supernatural podcast. Some descriptions of graphic death or traumatic accidents. Some mentions of suicide and self harm - these come with a content warning.

Summary: A husband and wife team (with Addams family levels of love and creepiness) talk about paranormal occurrences from history and read listener-submitted ghost stories. 

Episode Warnings: Discussions of death and depictions of the supernatural in every episode, but no sound effects, nothing happens on air. Ep 7 Delusions, Madness, and Mania talks about mass hysterics, not about mental illness as an inherently violent/scary thing. Ep 8 deals heavily with animal death. Ep 10 heavily features self harm and suicide (this has content warnings at the beginning of the episode and embedded in the episode when it comes up with enough time to skip).

Transcripts: I have not found free transcripts available yet.

[griffinmcelroyspisskink-remade]

this mental health month please remember to not exclude psychotics from your mental health activism/positivity

something a lot of non-psychotics dont seem to realize is that psychosis can be an extremely traumatizing disorder to live with— even if the things we believe are real arent actually happening, they are still happening to us. We still are experiencing awful things, even if they aren’t technically happening.

I’ve had things that used to be 100% fine for me turn into debilitating triggers because of psychosis, I have to constantly be careful of what media I consume because psychosis fucked me over and gave me a load of new triggers. Even if the things didnt technically happen to me, they still felt like they happened to me.

There’s also a lot of delusions/hallucinations/etc that may seem silly or ridiculous to non-psychotics, but if you actually experience them they are absolutely hell. I’ve had people tell me that certain delusions of mine were funny which… please do not say stuff like that. Unless the psychotic is making jokes about it, you really should not treat our symptoms like theyre a joke.

Just. Be kind to us. Stop excluding us, stop using language that demonizes us, stop saying you accept mentally ill people but turn around and shame us. We go through so much bullshit from our own minds, we don’t need added hostility from the world as well.

[deathonair]

Professor Theo’s Mystery Lab

[ID: Professor Theo’s logo. On a spotty blue-green background that appears to be covered in water droplets, the silhouettes of an open book, an old fashioned key, and a simple microscope line the bottom. Above these, in large white childish letters, “Professor Theo’s Mystery Lab”. End ID.]

I’ve listened to: Four episodes

Reason I stopped: Lack of interest 

Summary: A cute podcast for children. Usually two short stories about kid super heroes or kid scientists per episode. Narrated by Professor Theo, who swears the strange happenings in town have nothing to do with his mysterious laboratory.

Episode Warnings: 3 (giant bugs)

Transcripts: I have not found free transcripts available yet.

[deathonair]

Can We Start A Podcast

[ID: Can We Start a Podcast logo. On a light blue background, a bearded and mustachioed man on the left smiles at the viewer; on the right, a woman in red glasses with long auburn hair gazes off to the right with a slight smile. Centered at the top of the image in pink letters, “Smadam” below that in white, “Productions”. Over the bodies of the hosts in large all caps white letters, “CWSP”. Below that in smaller white letters, “Can We Start a Podcast”. End ID.]

I’ve listened to: Four episodes.

Reason I stopped: Lack of interest

Summary: A man tries to convince his friend to start a podcast with him. The first few minutes of each episode is banter between them about how nerdy podcasts are. Most of each episode is a parody of a popular podcast. 

Episode Warnings: S1E1 (misguided views on polyamory (immediately addressed)), S1E2 (description of graphic death, no sound effects or screaming), S1E3 (child death and cannibalism)

Transcripts: I have not found free transcripts available yet.

[deathonair]

Kaleidotrope

[ID: Kaleidotrope logo. A simple pink heart, tilted to the left, on a plain white background. A wavy line the same shade as the heart protrudes on either side. Beneath that in all caps pink letters, “A Queer Fannish Rom-Com”. Over the heart in all caps white letters outlined in pink, “Kaleidotrope”. End ID.]

I’ve listened to: All episodes

To be aware of: Some sexual content (all discussion, nothing happens on air).

Summary: Drew, a grumpy college radio host, gets a chipper new co-host. As students write in for advice, the co-hosts work through their own differences and find some common ground. The show plays around with fanfic tropes in a slightly magical way.

Episode warnings: Ep 1 (mentions of rape in the context of Gossip Girl), Ep3 (mentions / discussion of emotional abuse), Ep 4 (nonviolent but distressed abduction on air), Ep8 (sudden loud radio feedback),  Ep9 (sudden loud radio feedback).

Transcripts: Linked in episodes descriptions.

[deathonair]

Champions of the Earth

[ID: Champions of the Earth logo. A dark pink background with a complex, stylized repeating pattern of black leaves and vines and bright pink roses.    Blocky letters textured to look like golden wood read "CHAMPIONS OF THE EARTH". Below this and in the same material is a logo in the shape of a shield with delicate wings branching off from either side. On the shield is a cutout in the shape of a d20. End ID.]

I’ve listened to: Half an episode.

Reason I stopped: Violence has sound effects, not enough interest in the story to sit through that right now. Also premised on the end of the world.

Summary: A few unlikely high school students find themselves in detention and are about to become heroes, responsible for saving the world. This is another RPG liveplay podcast; it is a beta test of a system, but I don’t know which. The players seem to be having a lot of fun and very into the roleplay aspect.

Episode Warnings: The violence mentioned above is relatively minor (fist fight), but is still more than I want to deal with right now. It was accompanied by yelling. There were also fire alarms going off. The sound-scape was overwhelming.

Transcripts: I have not found free transcripts available yet.

[deathonair]

Middle: Below

[ID: Middle: Below logo. The background looks like crumpled parchment, pale brown in the middle but stained with dark ink around the edges. In letters just a shade lighter than the brown circle, centered text reads “tin can audio presents” in small letters. Below that in larger letters that fade from white on the left to dark grey on the right, “middle: below. bad things will happen”. End ID.]

I’ve listened to: All episodes

To be aware of: A horror-comedy. A mild horror, but if you don’t like ghosts or creepy sound effects this may not be for you.

Summary: Taylor lives in the Middle, but unlike most people he can casually travel back and forth to the Below. The show follows his efforts to help ghosts in the Below, with his friend Gil (a ghost) and Heather (a writer who just stumbled into his life). And of course, with his cat. 

Episode Warnings: Some vague content warnings at the beginning of episodes. E2 (gaslighting, explosion on air), E5 (choking on air), E6 (dead child), E9 (explosion on air), E10 (possession and implied drowning on air). 

Transcripts: Linked in episode descriptions.

[deathonair]

Pessimists Archive Podcast

[ID: Pessimists Archive logo. A white background with a simple glass half full (or half empty) with water. Above this, two dark grey bars, a long one above a short one. Inside the bars in white type-writer letters, “Pessimists Archive Podcast”. End ID.]

I’ve listened to: Almost all episodes

To be aware of: Some discussion of period typical sexism.

Summary: A nonfiction podcast that explores the ways people have opposed new technology over the centuries. The host does interviews with current experts and makes all the historical quotes used as lively as possible; the podcast aims to really bring the story to life.

Episode Warnings: Nothing on air, just discussion.

Transcripts: I have not found free transcripts available yet.

[deathonair]

Pod to Pluto

[ID: Pod to Pluto logo. The interior of a space ship crowded with keyboards and equipment. In the center, a woman with long black hair, her chin propped on one hand, looks depressed and stares into the middle distance. On the computer screen behind her, a simple yellow smiley face.On a display screen above her in all caps orange letters, “Pod to Pluto”. End ID.]

I’ve listened to: Six episodes

Reason I Stopped: The woman is the main character, but all her decisions are made by men (or masculine computer programs), they make a big thing about women being able to vote, and when her boyfriend breaks up with her for a man it’s played for laughs / outrage.

Summary: Jemima is preparing to quit her job and move to the country with her boyfriend. As she’s writing her farewell speech for the company party, she gets one last assignment: a five-year mission to Pluto. The show follows what occupies her time during those five years.

Episode Warnings: Ep. 2 has a lot of screaming (as a game and then as a genuine reaction). See above for other general warnings.

Transcripts: Available on their website.

[deathonair]

Victoriocity

[ID: Victoriocity logo. A dark purple brick wall with a neon sign that depicts the silhouette of Queen Victoria in bright blue, with a red gear as her eye. Beneath her, also in in neon blue, “Victoriocity”. End ID.]

I’ve listened to: All full episodes (not minis)

To be aware of: Discussions of murder in every episode, ‘period-typical’ sexism

Summary: Set in an alternate London where the industrial revolution went much further much faster. Detective Fleet is asked to protect a scientist who has just returned to town after many years abroad. Clara Entwhistle is a young woman with journalistic aspirations. The two unexpectedly find themselves teaming up to solve a murder.

Episodes Warnings: S1E1 (minor violence including threats with firearms, non-fatal electrocution on air), S1E2 (very minor violence on air), S1E3 (insect noises, death on air), S1E4 (Yelling/ Falling death on air), S1E5 (explosion), S1E6 (screaming, decapitation on air with sound effects, falling death on air), S2E2 (yelling, description of murder), S2E4 (screaming/falling, momentary appearance of death on air), S2E5 (apparent drowning, lethal firearm use on air, minor violence on air)

Transcripts: I have not found free transcripts available yet.

[deathonair]

The 12:37

[ID: The 12:37 logo. A black background with a circle like a porthole; in the circle, a figure in a striped shirt and suspenders with a helmet. Behind this figure, a train window with black sparkles on the pale glass. At the top of the circle hangs a sign with “The 12:37″ in bold black letters. The lines in all the imagery fade from purple at the bottom right to blue at the upper left. End ID.]

I’ve listened to: All episodes so far

To be aware of: Violence / medical issues on air.

Summary: A scientist accidentally boards the wrong train and ends up traveling through time and space with a kindly crew of spies.

Episode Warnings: 1 (loud screechy sound effects), 3 (firearm use on death, appearance of death on air), 4 (last few minutes have medical complications of gunshot wound, pained yelling)

Transcripts: Available on their website with more thorough content warnings.

[1237pod]

Thank you for this! We always have warnings available in episode descriptions as well, in case anyone wasn’t aware - and for anything else you can always message us and ask. We want you to have a safe experience!