Into the Fold: the Mental Health Podcast

The month of May happens to be both Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and Mental Health Month. The current period has been one of tragedy, hope and ongoing tension for Asians in the U.S. Since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in early 2020, Asians have been frequently scapegoated as bringers of contagion. More recently, a spate of violent attacks on Asian Americans has heightened...

It’s well established that children with histories of abuse demonstrate higher levels of depression, conduct disorder, PTSD, impaired social functioning and other problems. This is deeply entangled with how we discipline them. On this special episode of Into the Fold, we are teaming up with fellow member of the Texas Podcast Network, Marc Airhart, host of the Point of Discovery podcast from the Un...

The term “vaccine hesitancy” is all the rage—but does it adequately explain what is going on in the minds of those who are “hesitant” to get the COVID-19 vaccine? By focusing on the hesitancy of individuals, do we risk losing sight of fundamental problems of access, equity, and trust? This episode features two interviews with experts whose work straddles the lines between medicine, community outre...

It is no longer “news” that the pandemic has devastated the restaurant industry. Here in Austin, dozens of iconic restaurants and venues did not make it through 2020. For the establishments that did survive, workers in the service industry face the daily stress of managing mask and social distancing mandates, dealing with recalcitrant customers, and caring for one’s workforce. Our guest on this ep...

On February 14, 2021 the Hogg Foundation and the world lost a champion of mental health, Stephany J. Bryan. Stephany passed away due to complications related to COVID-19, and we at the foundation are deeply feeling this loss. Our dear friend and colleague had a spirit that was larger than life, full of passion, drive, and an unforgettable sense of humor. On this episode of the podcast, we are join...

In recognition of Women’s History Month, we are reaching into our archives to share a conversation between two history makers: Bert Kruger Smith and Maggie Kuhn. In this 1979 episode of The Human Condition, a radio series produced by the Hogg Foundation that ran from 1971 to 1983 on KUT, the show’s host Bert Kruger Smith interviews Maggie Kuhn, an American activist who founded the Gray Panthers mo...

Last September, the Hogg Foundation issued a unique statement: a Declaration of Racism as a Mental Health Crisis. Its purpose is to call attention to the link between racial justice and mental health, and to argue that racism undermines our collective health and well-being. More than 200 organizations, including non-profits, cities, and public health associations, have co-signed this document. Thi...

For twenty-five years, Girls Empowerment Network has been helping young women across Texas discover that they are unstoppable. They have done so by laser-focusing their curriculum on one critical component: building self-efficacy, which is a girl’s belief in her ability to succeed. On this episode of the Into the Fold, we are joined by Vanessa Beltran, newly hired Mental Health Policy Fellow for G...

As we enter 2021, most of us are beyond exhausted. In many ways, these awful circumstances of the last year serve as a reminder of just what a moral pivot point the Black American experience has been and continues to be. To put it simply, everything that is going on isn’t just about the Black American experience, but, in many ways, it is not fully comprehensible without the Black American experien...

Nearly one million Texans do not have physical access to broadband at home. Over eighty-nine percent of these disconnected Texans live in rural areas. Broadly, this is a matter of equity and economic participation, both of which bear on overall well-being in our state. This is especially true during this pandemic, where remote work, school, and health have become the norm. Jennifer Harris serves a...

There is currently a strong push in Texas toward diverting people with mental health conditions away from the criminal justice system and into treatment. This is the good news. The bad news is that the demand for flexible, evidence-based, person-centered mental health treatment far outpaces the supply. The state's forensic system is a case in point. In this episode Limestone County Sheriff Dennis...

To say that the media has a public trust problem, earned or not, is an understatement. How should we evaluate the media’s coverage of the pandemic, and how can we all become more savvy media consumers? Joining us to help make sense of these questions is Dr. Timothy Caulfield, Professor of Law at University of Alberta, Canada, Research Director of the Health Law Institute and current Canada Researc...

Schools have become a flashpoint in the larger debate about how we balance living our lives and keeping ourselves safe during the time of COVID-19. Schools serve as crucial bridge between families, young people, and essential services and community resources. They are also increasingly sites of mental health care. In this episode of Into the Fold we hear from Tasha Moore, Chief Strategy Officer of...

Substance misuse has long been a pain point on college campuses, and the University of Texas at Austin is no different. This week we talked with an organization that is pushing back against the engrained belief that substance misuse is a “rite of passage” for college students, and instead is offering a holistic model for shifting the conversation around substance use on campus. Kate Lower, Directo...

This week we are joined by Dr. Eric Tang, Associate Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies and Director of the Center for Asian American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. We discuss COVID-19 and Asian Americans, especially now that the pandemic has brought to the forefront many of our nation’s deep xenophobic biases that harm Asian people of color in the United States, inclu...

In this milestone 100th episode of Into the Fold, we dive into the topic of racism and historical trauma with a panel of experts. We are joined by three former podcast guests: Dr. Christen Smith, an associate professor of African and Diaspora Studies and Anthropology at The University of Texas at Austin; Dr. Ryan Sutton, director of the Heman Sweatt Center for Black Males at The University of Texa...

With COVID-19 putting unprecedented stress on our already overburdened systems of support for older people, the need to provide for the mental and physical health of this population has reached a critical level. On this episode of the podcast, we are joined for the second time by licensed clinical social worker Carly Bassett, who specializes in mental health care for older adults. Related links: U...

May is Children’s Mental Health Month. Today we are talking about COVID-19 and its effect on children, youth, and families. In the state of Texas, schools have been shut down since mid-March. Millions of children and adolescents have been sheltering at home. Just as much as kids have never needed more attention, parents have never needed more of a break. On top of that, we have good reason to beli...

It is fashionable to say that coronavirus doesn't discriminate, but this may be misleading. In fact, there is compelling data suggesting that the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting some communities harder than others. A new study conducted by epidemiologists and clinician-researchers from six organizations and universities across the country found that counties with high rates of African American resi...

COVID-19 is the world’s biggest story. It is seriously trying people’s emotional, financial, and even spiritual ability to cope. In this episode of Into the Fold, we are joined by Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, who has been front and center in coordinating the official response to the pandemic for Travis County, and Carrie Barron, M.D., Director of Creativity for Resilience Program at Dell Me...

This year’s census is extraordinarily for one main reason. It is taking place under the shadow of a public health emergency: coronavirus, which is currently consuming people’s attention here in the U.S. and worldwide. Our two guests, Katie Martin Lightfoot and Ava Graves, join us to discuss Census 2020 in general and in the impact of coronavirus in particular. Related links: Texas Communities Coun...

In honor of Women’s History Month, this episode of Into the Fold features the voices of three extraordinary women in the Hogg Foundation’s history. First, we hear from Bert Kruger Smith, the longtime host of the Human Condition radio series, and her interview guest, Efua Sutherland, the Ghanaian playwright, director, researcher and children’s rights advocate. We also hear from former employee of t...

This episode of Into the Fold takes place against the backdrop of the 20th anniversary of the annual Central Texas African American Family Support Conference (CTAAFSC), where we talked with two of the event’s keynote speakers Dr. King Davis, and Dr. Altha J. Stewart, about historic issues of race in psychiatry and the importance of defining health equity as a matter of social justice. Related link...

February is Youth Leadership Month. In this episode of Into the Fold, we talk with three young people who are change-makers in their communities. Through two of the Hogg Foundation’s latest initiatives, these youths have been empowered to embrace new leadership opportunities to help improve their neighborhoods and communities. Our three guests, Kam’rin Christal, Cristina Figueroa, and Ricky Longor...

In observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th, this episode of Into the Fold features an interview from a late 1970s episode of the Human Condition, a radio series produced by the Hogg Foundation between 1972 and 1983. Longtime host of the Human Condition, Bert Kruger Smith, speaks with eminent Holocaust scholar Raul Hilberg, who died in 2007, about the conditions that l...