The View From A Broad
Hi welcome to The View From A Broad. I'm Teresa Norton and this podcast dives into my past, revisiting columns I wrote for the South China Morning Post between 1993 and 2000 during my 40 years living in Hong Kong.
These often funny, sometimes tender, occasionally provocative musings cover everything from marriage and working motherhood, to national identity and global events. As a weekly columnist I aimed to capture the quirks of human interactions, carve up a few sacred cows and tell it like it is... but did I? In the 30 years since those columns were written much has changed and... so have I.
In each episode I read a column and talk to a guest about how the piece stands up today - what still rings true and what feels out of sync with today’s world. They then share a true story from their past that's been unearthed by something in the column.
The result is an engaging and honest conversation about the evolution of social norms, culture and humor, re-examining the past through the lens of today’s values.
By looking back with compassion and curiosity, my hope is that The View From A Broad encourages reflection on how our perspectives have changed... or not... and why.
The View From A Broad
Going Postal In the Nicest Way | Teresa talks to John-Paul Flintoff
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NOTE: In this episode we discuss mental health, depression and suicide, so please take a moment to consider whether or not this is safe subject matter for you.
"A Speccy Man Has a Breakdown" is the name of the book that my guest, John-Paul Flintoff has recently published - it captures, through illustrations his experience as a patient in a psychiatric hospital, having checked himself in with severe depression.
Each of my guests chooses a newspaper column I wrote from 1993 - 2000 so we can unpack what still feels relevant and what has changed in our world and ourselves.
John-Paul chose a humorous piece that made a comparison of the cheerful chaps who posted my overseas Christmas parcels with their "disgruntled" counterparts in the US Postal service who had gained notoriety for turning up at work and "going postal". That term, by the '90's, had become commonplace slang to describe someone who had simply lost their temper with no violence involved. It had become a joke. In fact, there's a reference, in the 1990's comedy series "Seinfeld" to Jerry Seinfeld's neighbor Newman who is disgruntled and a postal worker, taking over Son of Sam's postal route.
John-Paul and I talk about whether mental health should be off limits in comedy today. I ask if there were signs that family members and friends should be aware of that may indicate serious depression is affecting a loved one. John-Paul shares about the confluence of events that he feels brought him to seek help.
John-Paul is an artist and a writer and worked as a feature writer on the Financial Times and the Sunday Times of London, his book is available through his website: https://www.flintoff.org
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