Episode 64: Mental Health 1 - Gender, Race and Empathy

State of the Theory

This is Episode 64 of the State of the Theory Podcast. Politics. Power. Popular Culture. And other stuff, probably. In this series, we’re like super nerdy philosophical DJs: mashing up Serious Academic Questions with the most topical news and trends in pop culture. Each week, we’ll tackle a new topic and collide it with ‘critical theory’ (we’re pretty loose with our definitions, though, so expect the unexpected). Our aim is to destroy the stuff we know, explore the stuff we don’t and unsettle everything we think we know about the world. We take the obvious, the commonsensical, the certain, and then we rip it all to shreds. We are your theory doctors and we are always on call. In this episode, we respond to a number of programmes featured on the recent “Mental Health Season” on the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04t6bc1 In particular, we discuss the programme on anxiety and Nadiya Hussain, and on psychosis with David Harewood. We think about the ways in which these documentaries dfealt with issues of gender and race, and what that tells us about empathy in society. Along the way, we mention the essay “The Great Family of Man” by Roland Barthes which can be found in his book “Mythologies”: https://soundenvironments.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/roland-barthes-mythologies.pdf Our theme music is "The Face of God" by The Agrarians (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Agrarians/The_Jovial_Shepherd/The_Face_of_God) State of the Theory is brought to you by Hannah Fitzpatrick and Anindya Raychaudhuri Find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stateofthetheorypodcast) or Tweet us @drhfitz and @DrAnindyaR