Cultivating Healing in Challenging Times with Re:Work Podcast

By Simone Frank

Within the first few weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term, the need for healing has never been greater. Burnout, high anxiety levels and emotional tolls threaten to overwhelm the spirit of community. Many community advocates may find themselves asking a vital question: “How can we care for ourselves while continuing to fight for justice?” Recent episodes of the UCLA Labor Center podcast, Re:Work, answer this question.

For over a decade, Re:Work has elevated stories of work and activism to humanize and break down economic and racial justice issues, and challenge problematic dominant narratives. Produced by Veena Hampapur and Saba Waheed, the latest episodes feature guests who discuss emotional well-being when doing social justice work, including their experiences from the first Trump administration.

In the newest podcast episode, “Beyond the Glass Wall” Ainee Athar, a recent graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, shares her family’s immigration challenges and her journey into advocating for immigrant rights, as well as her experiences with burnout and her pivot to climate justice.

Another recent episode, “Radical Therapy,” features Claudia Morales, a Los Angeles-based therapist whose work exists at the intersection of social justice and mental health. Morales shares her journey to developing a radical approach to therapy, one that centers community and emphasizes connection — to one another, to ourselves, to ancestral wisdom, to the Earth, to storytelling and art, and much more.

The stories shared by Athar and Morales show how resilience thrives in community and is grounded in self-care and inspired by hope. By prioritizing well-being, the work towards building a social justice movement can be sustainable.

The full episodes of “Beyond the Glass Wall” and “Radical Therapy” are now available to listen through the Re:Work website or on all podcast platforms, including Apple, Spotify and YouTube. Learn more about the Re:Work podcast’s narrative change mission.

For additional resources and support for mental health, please view the list below.