Voltage Revolution x Spotify Podcast Club - Session 2

Voltage Revolution is a programme designed to provide community, training, and paid opportunities to support young, Black creative talent in the UK.

Over the past weeks, we have been working closely with Spotify on an event called “The Spotify Podcast Club”. The Spotify Podcast Club is a 1-hour monthly event aimed at providing space for themed podcast discussions to be exchanged between participants in Voltage Revolution and professionals at Spotify. The vision here is to support VR’s community regardless of socioeconomic status to thrive & develop academically by challenging & inspiring them to new ways of thinking. Ultimately the purpose is to contribute to an increased ambition & resilience for them to easier identify and fulfill career goals.

The format is a monthly session where young black people within Voltage Revolution & Spotify professionals listen to one podcast episode on varying social issues topics ( motivation, networking, public speaking, failure, family, racism, and relationships to name a few) and come prepared with notes ahead of the meeting, ready to share their insights/reflections.

Following on from our first session, we wanted to dive further into Mental Health. The podcast in conversation was “Azryah Harvey- EMOTIONAL REGULATION, Is It My ADHD?”. Since Grace Timothy’s (Host of the podcast) ADHD diagnosis, she made a point to understand how it really feels to have ADHD for women and non-binary people whilst sharing her learnings to spread awareness and strengthen the ADHD community. She interviews Azryah Harvey, an anti-racism consultant, SEN teacher, presenter, writer, and ambassador of Takeda’s Staring Back at Me campaign which raises awareness of the symptoms of ADHD in women and non-binary people. Azryah was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 30 and shares how her perception of her ‘emotional profile’ has changed since her diagnosis and how confidence plays a part in shedding shame. She also shares on the podcast how quitting has become a form of regulation for her. In addition to this, Grace explores the fairly new label “deficit emotional self-regulation” which is the idea that people with ADHD struggle to moderate emotional responses and many more.

A point in conversation that stood out was about how our perceptions of ADHD may have changed since either being diagnosed or after listening to the podcast (in relation to how we treat people around us who have ADHD). A lot of participants shared that “Being patient and giving themselves and the people around them with ADHD grace has a great impact on their lives! More than people realise”.

In addition to this, listening to the podcast broadened their understanding of “Emotional Regulation” as mentioned a few times on the podcast. A lot of people shared ways in which they regulate their emotions such as going for walks, meditating, listening to music, setting boundaries for themselves and the people around them and more.