Standing Up in a World That Tried to Break You

Trigger Warning:  This program talks about sibling violence and suicide ideology.This week on ReThreading Madness, Bernadine Fox speaks with three individuals - Sandra Yuen, Penny Marie, and Venge - about survival, identity, creativity, and what it means to keep living in a world that often punishes difference. Sandra Yuen who lives with schzophrenia discusses her new prose poetry collection I Want to Be Buried Standing Up, the tactile magic of writing on an old typewriter, neurodivergence, and creating art that refuses neat categories. Penny Marie shares the devastating realities of sibling abuse, growing up autistic and trans in a violent environment, and the lifelong impact of being scapegoated inside a family system that refused to protect her. Venge reflects on suicide, isolation, and the unexpected way a cat named Linus became the reason she stayed alive long enough to rediscover connection, nature, and herself. Together, these conversations explore what happens when people reclaim the stories that others tried to silence and how creativity, animals, language, and truth-telling can become acts of survival.Music by Shari Ulrich and Jann Arden Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rethreading-madness--5675300/support.www.rethreadingmadness.ca