When a person is struggling, there are two questions available. The first is always asked: what is wrong with this person? The second hardly ever gets asked: what is wrong with the world around them?
The Wider Existence Podcast asks the second question, and follows it as far as it goes.
In this trailer, David Gray-Hammond and Helen Edgar introduce themselves and set out what Season 1 will explore across ten episodes:
The ecosystemic model of distress and joy, and why all experience is ecological experience
Where distress really lives, how it builds, and what happens when the web frays into burnout and crisis
The experiences the neurodiversity movement has largely declined to touch, including madness, psychosis and other heavily stigmatised experiences
Who gets to decide what counts as real, and symphrenia, the word we have proposed for the connected mind
Other animals, the spaces in between, and the star stuff and soil we are all made of
Every episode does two things. How sure are we? sorts what we know into what is established and what we are proposing that nobody has tested yet. One thread leaves you with one small thing to sit with through the week; an invitation to think about the in-between spaces and what they mean for you.
Some episodes discuss psychosis, burnout and crisis; each of these begins with a content note.
How to listen
Every episode has a free edition here, with the opening of the conversation and the thread we end on. Paid subscribers get the full episodes, and every paid subscription keeps this work Autistic-led, independent and free from the gatekeepers. If this is a conversation you have been waiting for someone to have, please consider going paid.
Until then, stay weird, everyone.
Find out more
The Wider Existence: the home of this podcast and our writing on symphrenia, existential diversity and the connected bodymind. Subscribe for free, or go paid for full episodes and subscriber-only posts.
NeuroHub Horizons: an Autistic-led project from NeuroHub Community, in partnership with Autistic Realms. Self-paced courses, the NeuroHub Compass daily check-in app and self-publishing for neurodivergent authors, plus free guided meditations, writing and the Phoenix AI companion.
Re-Storying Autism: our online video course and workbook for parents, carers and Autistic adults, created by Helen and David. 63 lessons on telling new, more affirming stories about autism, with free family guides too.
NeuroHub Community: the neurodivergent-led organisation David founded, offering community, training, consultancy and resources for neurodivergent people, families and professionals.
NeuroHub Connect: NeuroHub’s online community for neurodivergent adults, with a free tier; a place for connection, conversation and belonging with people who get it.
