Maintaining Relationships while Caregiving

When you're spending all of your time taking care of another person, it feels like everything else in your life comes second to the needs of that person. Family, friends, jobs, everything can take a backseat when you're in the trenches of being a caregiver. But when caregiving stretches from weeks to months to years, life without those other relationships can become much more difficult and unfulfilling. So how can we, as committed and overwhelmed caregivers, maintain the other relationships in our lives? How do we keep up with old friends, stay up to date with extended family, or even maintain a healthy marriage? In this installment of The Lisa Show's series on Caregiving, Lisa talks with caregivers Carlos Olivas, Kara Ryska, Richard Lui, Jeremy Jorgason, and Rach Wilson about they're experiences and advice that they have for other caregivers.

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We Don’t Agree on America’s Founding Story. Do We Need To?

Americans struggle to agree on even the most basic parts of America’s founding story. Some say it was divine intervention. Others, a scheme to profit off slavery, or simply a pursuit of freedom. Can we ever really agree on national narrative? Do we even need to? People are complicated and so is history. But when it comes to national narratives and founding stories, we tend to assume only one story can be right - and it's the version that most aligns with our own feelings about America. Simplicity might not be necessary, though. Can a founding story be complicated and contradictory and still do its job? In this podcast episode, a professor of classics recounts how the myth of Romulus and Remus laid a narrative foundation for the rise of the Roman empire. A history scholar explores America’s unique need for a founding story and traces the contributions of George Bancroft, William Gilmore Simms and Frederick Douglass. And a history curriculum designer encourages us to think differently about teaching American history and the nation’s narrative.

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Turkish Food and Culture

This is episode 9 of our 10-episode series about the crossroads of faith in Turkiye, an ancient land a modern nation. In this episode we explore traditions of the local people and suss out the difference between culture and religion. First, we'll speak with Pinar Bayrack Toydemir, the founder of the Utah Turkish American Association (UTAA) and originally from Ankara, but now living in the Salt Lake City area. We'll also sit down with Zeki Tulak, who served as our guide in the Kapodokya area, and eat a traditional meal with Muzzafar and Essengul Arslan, organic farmers in the village of Avahi. We also speak with Vefa Bowen, a musician and Director of Cultural Affairs for the UTAA, about music from Turkey, and listen to her band Kechi play at the Living Traditions festival.

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New season announcements—Apple Seed Season 5 and Kaboom Season 2

The Apple Seed is back with a new season on November 2! Season 5 will feature live recordings made in the Apple Seed Studio from favorite storytellers like Bil Lepp, Donald Davis, and Kim Weitkamp, as well as Apple Seed Live debuts from terrific storytellers like Shonaleigh, Diane Ferlatte, and Paul Strickland. And we've got another treat in store for you: our spinoff podcast Kaboom has returned for a second season, and we'd like to share the season premiere episode "Test Drive" with you. Kaboom is a show full of audio adventures for the whole family to enjoy together and it's available wherever you get your podcasts, so if you like what you hear go subscribe to Kaboom and tell a friend about it.

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Book of Delights

Poet and essayist Ross Gay talks about finding moments of wonder in everyday life. Wandering, finger painting, laundromats, bike riding, gardening, listening to beautiful music, recognizing the care that is offered to us. In this episode of Constant Wonder, we discover Ross Gay's philosophy of delight.

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Who Owns Our Cultural Heritage? — Museums, Repatriation, and Appropriation

Who should decide how the stories and artifacts of a cultural heritage are shared with the world? For a long time, the assumption has been that as long as culture’s stories are told, it doesn’t matter who’s telling them. But who would you trust to tell your story? Museums of human civilization and culture are at the center of this conversation. Some are returning antiquities taken by colonial force. Others are consulting with indigenous communities to reframe the stories exhibits tell. But what’s lost when museum’s make the question “Who owns this cultural artifact?” their primary focus? In this episode of the podcast, we visit the famed Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford to understand how 19th century ideas of white European superiority are perpetuated in modern museums. We speak with a prominent skeptic of repatriation who believes it undermines the power of museums to help us understand history and our place in it. We also hear a story of spiritual healing prompted by the return of Native American items by a small museum in Massachusetts. And then we make the issue modern and personal with a conversation about what cultural appropriation looks like in daily life and how we can appreciate, rather than appropriate.

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Book Club, Poetry by Rumi

We have a special treat amid the Turkey series--book club is back! To follow up on Episode 7, host Steven Kapp Perry and senior producer Heather Bigley meet with Kevin Blankinship and Rasoul Sorkhabi to discuss the poetry of Rumi. The group discusses the geographical and cultural impacts on Rumi in 13th century Anatolia as well his esteemed writing style and influence.

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Am I too controlling of my adult kids?

When kids grow up and leave the house, it can be so hard to know just how involved we should be in their lives. We don't want to be "helicopter parents" to grown adults, but we also don't want to completely give up on trying to protect them from harm and help them make good choices. So how can we as parents support our kids' mental, emotional, and physical health, while also letting them spread their wings and leave the nest? Lisa chats with fellow moms, Carrie Ann Rhodes, Jeanette Bennett, and Amy Hackworth about their experiences.

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Changing the Face of Ballet

Steven Melendez was introduced to ballet as a child living in a homeless shelter. After an international ballet career—during which he tried to downplay his past—he now works to welcome more kids with backgrounds like his into the ballet studio and onto the world's finest stages. The documentary "Lift" chronicles his journey.

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Caregiver Burnout

You wake up at 4 a.m. freezing cold, trembling, and with a feeling of despair. What's happening here? Caregiver burnout can look different for everyone, ranging from quiet chronic fatigue, to drastic health declines, as the physical, mental and emotional toll of caregiving reaches critical mass. In this episode, three caregivers (Mishka Sibert, Susanne White, and Rach Wilson) share their unique experiences of burnout while caring for a sibling, parents, or children, as well as how they coped and recovered their wellbeing. Lisa explores their journeys with glass child syndrome, nominal aphasia, nervous system dysregulation, and the intense exhaustion that so often accompanies a the caregiving role. Teepa Snow shares the signs that a caregiver is experiencing burnout, and how to identify these red flags even when burnout can look so different from one person to another.

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