Graphic Medicine Podcast

In this installment, Ian Williams interviews Professor Helen Spandler, Dr Jill Anderson and Tamsin Walker, of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) about their Wellcome Trust funded project which explores how zines ‘craft contention’ about mental health – and can help to turn individual struggles into critical issues for society. Ian writes, “I really enjoyed this interview. I am very taken with the idea of mad studies.” For an introduction to this exciting new area of study and activism, check out the article by Helen Spandler linked in the post about this episode.Helen and Jill work on Asylum Magazine, to which Tamsin often contributes cartoons. Asylum, the radical mental health magazine, has been running for 30 years, acting as a platform to voice and discuss all perspectives on mental health. Download Episode.      

Ian Williams talks with Zara Slattery, whose book Coma comes out May 13, 2021 in the UK from publisher Myriad Editions and September 14, 2021 in the US. The book chronicles her experience with an infection which forces healthcare professionals to put her into a medically induced coma. For relevant links, visit graphicmedicine.org. Download here

Steve Haines together with artist Sophie Standing have created the …Is Really Strange series. The most recent is Touch Is Really Strange coming out April 21, 2021. Ian Williams talks with Steve Haines about the series and about the book. For relevant links on this episode visit https://graphicmedicine.org. Download here.

Kevin Wolf has been the Graphic Medicine Reviews Editor since 2020. He is a health actuary and has been writing reviews for the graphic medicine website since 2016. Kevin talks with me. Alice Jaggers, about what he does for the website and a few standout reviews and books he has covered. For relevant links for this episode, see the post on graphicmedicine.org  Download episode.

Kendra Boileau is the Publisher of Graphic Mundi and the Assistant Director and Editor-in-Chief of Penn State University Press. She developed the Graphic Medicine line of graphic novels for PSU Press and is launching the Graphic Mundi imprint with this week’s release of COVID Chronicles. We’ll talk about all of that in our conversation.  Download episode.

Join Michael Green, a physician and educator, Shelley Wall, a medical illustrator, Alice Jaggers, a medical librarian, and Matthew Ngo, a social media editor, as they dive into the highlights of graphic medicine from 2020. They discuss the powerful rise of COVID-19 comics that provide education through personal storytelling. The group also explores influential works like 'Go With the Flow' and 'Kimiko Does Cancer,' emphasizing the importance of accessible reproductive health education. Plus, enjoy their book recommendations that blend entertainment with societal relevance.

In this episode, MK Czerwiec interviews Kimiko Tobimatsu and Keet Geniza about their recent book, Kimiko Does Cancer. They discuss working on the book during a pandemic, what it was like to work with each other and more. Support for this podcast comes from Penn State College of Medicine, Department of Humanities, the nation’s oldest Humanities Department within a medical school, pioneers of innovations in medical education since 1967. Download episode.

Susan Squier, a scholar and co-author of the Graphic Medicine Manifesto, joins to reflect on the significant graphic novels of 2019 that address complex themes of health and illness. The conversation highlights works like 'Drawing Power' and 'Lines,' focusing on emotional topics such as trauma and grief. They also discuss the upcoming release 'Menopause, a Comic Treatment,' aimed at breaking societal taboos. The duo emphasizes the role of graphic storytelling in promoting dialogue around health disparities and invites listeners to engage in this vital conversation.

Welcome to the first of two keynote addresses from the 2019 Graphic Medicine conference, the theme of which was, “Queerying Graphic Medicine: Paradigms, Power, and Practice.” Meg-John Barker’s keynote address fits perfectly with this framing of our conference and our work in Graphic Medicine. Meg-John is the author of a number of popular books on sex, gender, and relationships, including Queer: A Graphic History, How to Understand your Gender, Life isn’t Binary, Enjoy Sex (How, When, and IF You Want To), Rewriting the Rules, The Psychology of Sex, and The Secrets of Enduring Love. They have also written a number of books for scholars and counsellors on these topics, drawing on their own research and therapeutic practice. You can learn more about Meg-John’s work at rewriting-the-rules.com – zines and books mentioned in the talk are available for download at that site. This fantastic lecture first traces MJ’s career through art and academia, then dives deep into queer theory, broadening our thinking about what it means to resist binary thinking in all aspects of our lives, not limited to sexuality and gender. They also turn our thinking to contextualization of ideas in time, history, structures of power, and the plurality of self. Thank you to MJ for sharing the comics for that correspond to the keynote. You can find these images on the graphic medicine website post for the episode.  Enjoy! Download. 

The episode opens with Alice Jaggers and host MK Czerwiec discussing Graphic Medicine News. That segment is followed by Whit Taylor‘s keynote address from the 2018 Comics & Medicine conference in White River Junction, Vermont. See the main website post on this episode for images and links to all the comics whit mentions. Download episode.