Autistic Culture Presents...

In this episode of Two Mics, No Masking, Katie Scott and Jenna Goldstein question the way resilience is often celebrated, asking whether what's praised as adaptability is sometimes simply chronic self-abandonment.Together they explore the hidden cost of constantly overriding your own needs, how burnout can become normalised, and why enduring difficult circumstances isn't the same as thriving. Through personal reflection and honest conversation, Katie and Jenna discuss what it means to move away from survival mode and towards a life built on regulation, self-awareness, and genuine wellbeing.🎙️ Subscribe now to hear future episodes.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Learn more about the network at AutisticCulturePodcastNetwork.com

In this episode, Helen and Elizabeth explore the bittersweet subject of endings. Whether it's the final episode of a favourite TV show, the end of a relationship, or deciding whether to continue a project that no longer brings you joy, letting go can be difficult.Together they discuss why endings can feel so challenging, how periods of transition can create opportunities for growth, and the importance of embracing change as part of the creative process. Through personal reflections and creative examples, they explore how one chapter ending can become the beginning of another.In this episode:Understanding the sunk cost fallacyNavigating change with Bridges' Transitional ModelCreative becoming through life's transitionsHow artists and collaborators approached endingsCollecting, curiosity, and autistic cultureFinal reflections, lessons, and creative tipsResources and LinksHelen's graphic diary archive: https://arted.online/blog/diaries/Graphic diary template: https://arted.online/toolbox/resource-diary-template/The 10 Pillars of Autistic Culture: https://www.autisticculturepodcast.com/p/the-10-pillars-revisited-episodeBridges' Transitional Model overview: https://www.changequest.co.uk/resources/bridges-transition-model/Understanding the sunk cost fallacy: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_the_sunk_cost_fallacy_can_drive_bad_decisionsContact: creativebecomingpod@gmail.comSupportIf you are experiencing distress, please contact your GP or a relevant support service in your area.DisclaimerCreative Becoming is connected to Helen Shaddock's practice-based PhD, "Welcome to My Messy World": A practice-based, messy auto-ethnographic artistic exploration into multimedia storytelling as an integral method towards creative becoming.🎨 Subscribe now to hear future episodes.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Learn more about the network at AutisticCulturePodcastNetwork.com

The opening episode of Autistic Menopause introduces the concept of autistic menopause. It explores why so many neurodivergent people may struggle to recognise the transition until they are already in crisis.In this episode, Sam Galloway (she/her) shares the profoundly personal story of how perimenopause slowly dismantled the coping strategies she had relied upon her entire life.From unexplained anxiety, insomnia, rage and cognitive changes to late diagnoses of autism and ADHD, Sam traces the path that eventually led her to understand what was really happening. She reflects on hormonal sensitivity throughout her life, the challenges of parenting while neurodivergent, and how recognising her autism ultimately helped her make sense of an experience that nearly broke her.Content Warning: This episode includes frank discussion of mental health crisis and suicidal thoughts, alongside experiences of autistic burnout, medical care, and menopause. Please take care while listening and skip any sections that may be difficult for you.Resources mentioned or relevant:🌐 Divergent Menopause community and newsletter📖 MENO-D – A rating scale to detect depression in menopause🌿 Australasian Menopause Society📚 Autistic Menopause – A Guide to the Menopausal Transition for Autistic People and those Supporting Them by Dr. Rachel Moseley and Professor Gamble-Turner (2026)📄 Resources for autistic (/neurodivergent) women and people with ovaries at menopause – Dr. Rachel Moseley and Professor Julie Gamble-Turner, Bournemouth University📱 Balance – menopause symptom tracking and information from menopause specialist Dr. Louise NewsonContinue the conversation:Find Sam at Divergent Menopause for essays, research updates, practical reflections, and stories from the neurodivergent menopause community.Every article is free to read. Paid subscriptions operate as a patron model and help fund the advocacy, research translation, and community work behind Divergent Menopause.🌐 https://samgallowayaudhd.substack.com/☕ Support Sam's work: https://buymeacoffee.com/samgallowayProduced for the Autistic Culture Podcast Network.🎧 Autistic Menopause is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast

Seeing your life clearly doesn’t mean seeing it harshly.In this episode of Mindful Mondays, we explore how mindset and reframing shape not just how we think - but how our nervous system experiences the world.Many neurodivergent and highly sensitive people live with a loud inner commentary. Thoughts can feel convincing, critical, and fixed - yet thoughts are not facts.Together, we explore:* Growth mindset through a neurodivergent lens* Why reframing supports nervous system safety (not toxic positivity)* How meaning - not circumstances - shapes our experience* Why challenges often deepen, rather than diminish, a meaningful lifeDrawing on wisdom from thinkers and creatives including William James, Hugh Mackay, Tina Turner, Joan Rivers, Kurt Vonnegut, and Michael Jordan, this episode invites a gentler, truer way of seeing yourself.You’ll also be guided through a reflective visualisation - The Gallery of Your Life - offering a new relationship with past moments, old judgments, and the stories you live inside.This is not about fixing yourself.It’s about learning to see yourself in a way that supports you.Our Sponsors:🧘‍♀️ Ashley Dupuy – Integrative Coaching, Breathwork & Hypnotherapy🤝 Sophie James - Neurodivergent Mentoring: sophiejamesndmentoring.com🎧 The Neurodivergent Experience is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcast.com

Tess joins Hannah Brockway to share her lifelong passion for musical theatre, from discovering it as a child to performing on stage and becoming part of a close-knit theatre community.Together they discuss favourite productions, the creativity behind costumes and performance, the friendships formed through theatre, and the hard work that goes into bringing a show to life. Tess also reflects on navigating rehearsals and performances as a neurodivergent performer, and why musical theatre continues to be such an important part of her life.Find Tess and her work:🎬 Short film: https://youtube.com/@joshwahl969?si=M8ZcWOvFAqXfcl63🦥 Awful Sloth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awfulslothofficial/🛍️ Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/awfulsloth/?etsrc=sdt&dd_referrer=https://beacons.ai/Produced for the Autistic Culture Podcast Network.🎧 Info Dump is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast

Welcome to another edition of This Week in Autistic Culture, our Sunday magazine podcast that brings together the stories, conversations and ideas shaping Autistic culture each week.This week, Angela and Simon unpack the ongoing conversation around autism and overdiagnosis following recent comments from Uta Frith, asking why outdated ideas about autism can remain so powerful even when they conflict with the lived experiences of Autistic people.That leads to a much bigger conversation about who gets to define autism, why greater recognition can be treated as a threat, and the role representation can play in changing how Autistic people are understood.We also introduce Autistic Menopause, a brand-new ACPN podcast from Sam Galloway, before looking ahead to another packed week across the network, with conversations about musical theatre, fibromyalgia, situational mutism, resilience, safe foods, creativity and much more.Plus, we head to the Community Notice Board for books, events and opportunities from across the wider Autistic community.📌 Community Noticeboard:The Community Noticeboard is your space to share what’s happening across autistic culture. Whether you’re launching a book, hosting an event, releasing a podcast, starting a creative project, celebrating a milestone, or simply have something you’d like the community to know about, we’d love to hear from you.Send your announcements, links and updates to autisticculturepodcast@gmail.com, and we’ll feature as many as we can in a future edition of This Week in Autistic Culture.This Week’s Topics:Has autism become too broad to be useful?NAS response to Professor Dame Uta Frith’s new paperThe Jeremy Vine Show on BBC 2 - Discussion on Uta FrithBooks & research:Menopause and ADHD: How to navigate hormone flux and neurodivergence by Dr Helen WallBeing Eve: A Graphic Novel by Em HammondEvents:Interoception and Autism - Pete Wharmby - Wednesday, August 19th - 8 to 8.40pm - Free. Dive into how sensing your body differently can shape the autistic experience in this short, chilled out meetup. This short, free talk will explore how the internal sense - Interoception - can be experienced differently by autistic people. This can lead to complicated relationships with food, drink, tiredness and more.https://www.allthingspractice.com/diverge - Traditional business advice wasn’t built for neurodivergent brains. Join 23+ ND entrepreneurs at the Diverge Summit (Aug 24–Sept 4) to learn how to build on your own terms—no masking or hustle-culture BS required. Free ticketsBeing Me 10-Week Online Group Experience for Autistic 12 to 16-year-olds - GROVE - Starts Monday, October 5th - 5.30 to 6.30pm - From £250📻 Listen to Autistic Culture Radio🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast

In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, hosts Matt Lowry, LPP and Dr. Angela Kingdon explore Eminem’s potential place in Autistic culture—sparked by a viral meme suggesting the rapper is Autistic.🎧 What You’ll Learn:How Eminem’s lyrics, including a direct reference to “Asperger’s syndrome,” suggest lived experiences familiar to Autistic people.The Autistic traits visible in his life and work—sensory overload, emotional intensity, OCD tendencies, addiction struggles (rooted in ableism), and a monotropic focus on rhyming.How his childhood special interests in comic books, dinosaurs, poetry, and rap helped him cope with bullying, school changes, and isolation.Why special interests aren’t just “annoying habits” but life-saving passions that provide identity and purpose.How Eminem’s focus and creativity allowed him to transform pain into art and become one of the world’s best-selling music artists.Personal reflections from Matt and Angela on the role of special interests, survival, and expression within Autistic culture.Resources:The Meme that Started it AllLegacy LyricsWicked Ways LyricsHeat LyricsRelated episodes:Questlove is Autistic🌟 Connect With Us📱 Follow us on Instagram🎧 Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify🛍️Our Autism-affirming merch shop🌐 Learn more at www.autisticculturepodcast.com

In the season finale of Under the Lights, Turrell Burgess counts down the greatest Super Bowl games he's ever watched. From unforgettable finishes and championship-defining performances to dramatic comebacks and iconic moments, these are the games that showcase why the Super Bowl remains one of the biggest spectacles in world sport.Choosing just ten wasn't easy, but every game on this countdown has earned its place through unforgettable drama, incredible performances, and lasting memories. Whether you're a lifelong NFL fan or discovering American football for the first time, Turrell revisits the moments that made these Super Bowls truly unforgettable.🏈 Subscribe now to hear future episodes.🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com🌐 Learn more about the network at AutisticCulturePodcastNetwork.com