Empathy For The Devil
Message Heard
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During his short career, Lil Peep quickly became the voice of Gen Z. After pioneering the grunge-laden emo-rap genre that blew up on Soundcloud in the mid 2010s, he was selling out venues from the US to Russia – all without ever having released any music. He wore his emotions not just on his sleeve but on his face, and his powerful lyrics told the story of a young man struggling with mental health issues and substance addiction which took his life in 2017.
In our final episode of the first season of Empathy for the Devil, Matt Thomas returns to tell us the story of a musician working in a different time to our other episodes, but whose story still resonates profoundly with the themes we’ve been discussing. From childhood trauma to anxiety and addiction, to the identity issues of a character who just wanted to be ‘Everybody’s Everything’, Lil Peep’s story rounds off our season in a tragic tale of an artist whose unique style was lost too soon.
This week’s ‘One for the Road’ is Barbara Kingsolver’s award winning novel, ‘Demon Copperhead’. A reworking of Dickens’ classic ‘David Copperfield’, this book explores the life of the eponymous protagonist, a young orphan growing up in the US Appalachians during the opioid crisis, and is a profoundly moving story of a left behind America and the effects that prescription drugs have had on the region. You can buy a copy here: https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571376483-demon-copperhead/
Content Warnings: substance use, mental health, childhood trauma, and his death by drug overdose. We also discuss bullying, the experience of homelessness, and the psychological impacts of witnessing 9/11.
IMPORTANT: Alcohol withdrawal happens once an individual is physically dependent/chemically addicted and can be fatal and should only be attempted with medical guidance/assistance. The most serious form of withdrawal is called delirium tremens, or DTs. People with severe withdrawal symptoms or DTs should always have a drink if they need it while professional help is sought. If in doubt, call 999.
If you or someone you know has been affected by the themes in this episode, there are some useful organisations on Attune’s website that can be of help: www.we-are-attune.com/podcast
Attune, as a dedicated provider of mental health and well-being services, is committed to delivering holistic support and resources. With its team of skilled professionals, Attune excels in recognising and responding to the intricate needs of people and teams in talent-based industries.
You can learn more about Attune through our website: https://www.we-are-attune.com/
Follow Attune on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/we_are_attune/#
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@weareattune
and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/we-are-attune/
Empathy For The Devil is produced by Message Heard
Listen to more Message Heard shows through our website: https://messageheard.com/
Follow Message Heard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/messageheard/mycompany/ and Twitter: https://x.com/messageheard?lang=en-GB
This is a Message Heard Production
Produced by - Harry Stott
Executive Producer - Sandra Ferrari
Edited by - Blu Posner and Ethan Judd
Production Coordinator - Lizzie Hartree
Episode Description: Dive deep into the life of Whitney Houston, exploring the woman behind 'The Voice' through a compassionate, modern mental health lens. From overnight sensation to troubled icon, we uncover the complex journey of a pop legend.
Join host Chula Goonewardene and the team as they sensitively explore Whitney Houston's triumphs and tribulations. We examine her story with empathy, offering a fresh perspective on celebrity mental health and addiction.
This week’s ‘One for the Road’ is M. Scott Peck ‘The Road Less Travelled’, a best selling book by one of the world’s leading psychiatrists. In it, Peck suggests ways in which facing our difficulties - and suffering through the changes - can enable us to reach a higher level of self-understanding. You can buy a copy here: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9781846046391?a_aid=prh
Also, check out Whitney’s incredible and iconic rendition of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ as mentioned in the show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAYKTMQl7MQ
Content Warnings: childhood trauma, including child sexual abuse, racism and colourism, homophobia, codependency, domestic violence, and of course her drug addiction, eventual overdose and drowning.
IMPORTANT: Alcohol withdrawal happens once an individual is physically dependent/chemically addicted and can be fatal and should only be attempted with medical guidance/assistance. The most serious form of withdrawal is called delirium tremens, or DTs. People with severe withdrawal symptoms or DTs should always have a drink if they need it while professional help is sought. If in doubt, call 999.
If you or someone you know has been affected by the themes in this episode, there are some useful organisations on Attune’s website that can be of help: www.we-are-attune.com/podcast
Attune, as a dedicated provider of mental health and well-being services, is committed to delivering holistic support and resources. With its team of skilled professionals, Attune excels in recognising and responding to the intricate needs of people and teams in talent-based industries.
You can learn more about Attune through our website: https://www.we-are-attune.com/
Follow Attune on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/we_are_attune/#
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@weareattune
and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/we-are-attune/
Empathy For The Devil is produced by Message Heard
Listen to more Message Heard shows through our website: https://messageheard.com/Follow Message Heard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/messageheard/mycompany/ and Twitter: https://x.com/messageheard?lang=en-GB
This is a Message Heard ProductionProduced by - Emma Crampton
Executive Producer - Sandra Ferrari Edited by - Blu Posner and Ethan Judd Production Coordinator - Lizzie Hartree
Karen Carpenter’s sound was decade-defining – the sound of the 70’s. The beat she created as drummer and lead singer of The Carpenters takes you back to that era in every track. With a voice that Burt Bacharach described as "clean, clear, like a flag flying over the song," Karen was a female icon in a male-dominated music world and quickly soared to the dizzying heights of fame, literally at the top of the world.
But the pressures of her success and the complicated family dynamics in her band took their toll, exacerbating the anorexia which would eventually take her life at just 32.
This week, Samantha Parker takes the lead again to tell Karen’s story, looking beyond the smiling photos and honey infused sound, to explore an inner life dominated by a desperately misunderstood illness. We’ll discover how Karen found her voice, hear about The Carpenters’ meteoric rise to fame, but also explore the incredible toll that such a rise can have on young musicians, and women in particular.
This week’s ‘One for the Road’ is a clip of Karen playing drums and singing ‘Dancing in the Street’. An iconic performance which cemented Karen’s place as one of seventies’ s most incredible drummers and singers, this is one of the best entrance’s to Karen and the Carpenters’ music. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PAy6Ab3CcQ)
Content Warnings: mental health, eating disorders, her hospitalisation for anorexia, childhood trauma, and themes of emotional neglect.
IMPORTANT: Alcohol withdrawal happens once an individual is physically dependent/chemically addicted and can be fatal and should only be attempted with medical guidance/assistance. The most serious form of withdrawal is called delirium tremens, or DTs. People with severe withdrawal symptoms or DTs should always have a drink if they need it while professional help is sought. If in doubt, call 999.
If you or someone you know has been affected by an eating disorder, here are some organisations you or they can speak with to get help:
Beating Eating Disorders: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/get-information-and-support/
Eating Disorder Hope: https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/treatment-for-eating-disorders/international/united-kingdom/u-k-eating-disorder-organizations-charities
For other useful organisations which can help with any other themes we touch on, see Attune’s website here: www.we-are-attune.com/podcast
Attune, as a dedicated provider of mental health and well-being services, is committed to delivering holistic support and resources. With its team of skilled professionals, Attune excels in recognising and responding to the intricate needs of people and teams in talent-based industries.
You can learn more about Attune through our website: https://www.we-are-attune.com/
Follow Attune on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/we_are_attune/#
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@weareattune
and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/we-are-attune/
Empathy For The Devil is produced by Message Heard
Listen to more Message Heard shows through our website: https://messageheard.com/Follow Message Heard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/messageheard/mycompany/ and Twitter: https://x.com/messageheard?lang=en-GB
This is a Message Heard Production
Produced by - Emma Crampton
Executive Producer - Sandra Ferrari
Edited by - Blu Posner and Ethan Judd
Production Coordinator - Lizzie Hartree
Kurt Cobain was one of the most powerful and influential musicians, songwriters and performers of his generation, who’s lasting legacy still permeates the sounds and attitudes of artists from all genres today. As the lead singer of Nirvana, he fronted their own brand of groundbreaking emotion-laden, guitar-heavy music into the mainstream, defining a new genre with a scream of such naked vulnerability and authenticity that it tore through the listener, perhaps reflecting the trapped feelings of a generation. The scream of a butterfly.
But this came at a cost. As well as sharing his pain through music, Kurt Cobain lived it. Was this simply a life of magazine cover, paint by numbers, rock’n roll excess? Or the tragic story of someone with an enormous talent for expressing their pain, desperately trying to paint it in any way he could?
This week, Chula Goonerwardene takes the lead for the first time to talk about one of his favourite ever musicians – from a band who inspired him to become a drummer in the 1990s. But far from discussing the same tired, cliched ‘tortured artist’ myths that now surround Cobain after his death in 1994, Chula helps us to examine his story through a modern and empathetic mental health lens. This is a moving discussion that looks at Cobain’s life and in doing so identifies some truly universal themes.
This week’s ‘One for the Road’ is the hit Netflix show ‘Baby Reindeer’ – it captured the world’s attention when it came out this year, and is a truly honest and provocative drama that among many other things, looks at the relationship between trauma and substance misuse in a visceral and deeply uncomfortable way. Not for the faint hearted. You can watch it through the link here: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81219887
Content Warnings: substance use, addiction, rehab, overdose, suicide, childhood trauma, domestic abuse, religious indoctrination, trauma bonding.
IMPORTANT: Alcohol withdrawal happens once an individual is physically dependent/chemically addicted and can be fatal and should only be attempted with medical guidance/assistance. The most serious form of withdrawal is called delirium tremens, or DTs. People with severe withdrawal symptoms or DTs should always have a drink if they need it while professional help is sought. If in doubt, call 999.
If you or someone you know has been affected by the themes in this episode, there are some useful organisations on Attune’s website that can be of help: www.we-are-attune.com/podcast
Attune, as a dedicated provider of mental health and well-being services, is committed to delivering holistic support and resources. With its team of skilled professionals, Attune excels in recognising and responding to the intricate needs of people and teams in talent-based industries.
You can learn more about Attune through our website: https://www.we-are-attune.com/
Follow Attune on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/we_are_attune/#
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@weareattune
and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/we-are-attune/
Empathy For The Devil is produced by Message Heard
Listen to more Message Heard shows through our website: https://messageheard.com/Follow Message Heard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/messageheard/mycompany/ and Twitter: https://x.com/messageheard?lang=en-GB
This is a Message Heard Production
Produced by - Harry Stott
Executive Producer - Sandra Ferrari
Edited by - Blu Posner and Ethan Judd
Production Coordinator - Lizzie Hartree
From the Wham Rap to Careless Whisper, Club Tropicana and Faith… Wham! and George Michael’s discographies represent some of the best pop music to come out of the 1980s, the 1990’s and beyond. George’s iconic look and sound influenced the world and won him fans in their millions. But behind the stylish, cool exterior was a man battling with inner struggles. The social constructs of the time, the death of a partner and parent, the difficulty in separating George Michael the artist from Georgios ‘Yog’ Panayiotou the man – all contributed to George’s often troubled state of mind. These factors would haunt him throughout his life, exacerbating his substance use and perhaps bringing an end to his precious life too soon.
Samantha Parker tells us his story from the joint space of a George Michael superfan and mental health practitioner. From discovering him in her teens to mourning his death in adulthood, she discusses how despite winning so many devoted fans around the world, early life events and relationships combined with fame and media scrutiny to create an inner fragility that few people saw. As George himself said “sometimes the clothes do not make the man.”
This week’s ‘One for the Road’ chosen by Sam is super-producer Rick Rubin’s seminal book, ‘The Creative Act: A Way of Being’, which explores what creativity means, and how anyone can achieve success as an artist through their relationship to the world. You can buy a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-creative-act/rick-rubin/9781838858636
Content Warnings: drugs, addiction and rehab; homophobia, HIV and AIDs; mental health, childhood trauma, postpartum depression, xenophobia, and police entrapment.
IMPORTANT: Alcohol withdrawal happens once an individual is physically dependent/chemically addicted and can be fatal and should only be attempted with medical guidance/assistance. The most serious form of withdrawal is called delirium tremens, or DTs. People with severe withdrawal symptoms or DTs should always have a drink if they need it while professional help is sought. If in doubt, call 999.
If you or someone you know has been affected by the themes in this episode, there are some useful organisations on Attune’s website that can be of help: www.we-are-attune.com/podcast
Attune, as a dedicated provider of mental health and well-being services, is committed to delivering holistic support and resources. With its team of skilled professionals, Attune excels in recognising and responding to the intricate needs of people and teams in talent-based industries.
You can learn more about Attune through our website: https://www.we-are-attune.com/
Follow Attune on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/we_are_attune/#
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@weareattune
and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/we-are-attune/
Empathy For The Devil is produced by Message Heard
Listen to more Message Heard shows through our website: https://messageheard.com/Follow Message Heard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/messageheard/mycompany/ and Twitter: https://x.com/messageheard?lang=en-GB
Produced by - Harry Stott
Executive Producer - Sandra Ferrari
Edited by - Blu Posner and Ethan Judd
Production Coordinator - Lizzie Hartree