PODCAST · health
Unspoken
by Kate
There are some experiences that live in the body long after words fail. This podcast is for those stories.Unspoken is a raw, unfiltered exploration of trauma, survival, and the weight of what we carry. Through spoken word poetry, I give voice to the things often left unsaid—childhood wounds, mental illness, the scars of nursing, and the vicarious trauma that lingers long after we leave the bedside.These are not easy stories. But they are real. And if you’ve ever felt like no one understands, I hope you find something here that makes you feel less alone.
Episodes
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The Terms of My Disappearance: A Spoken Word Poem About Betrayal, Illness & Being ‘Too Much’
What happens when the only way to be loved is to disappear? This spoken word performance dives into trauma, chronic illness, and the cost of staying in relationships that require silence and self-erasure. “The Terms of My Disappearance” is a poem about betrayal, survival, and the moment you…
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Humiliation Ritual: When Silence Becomes Violence
Humiliation Ritual is a spoken word poem about silence, rupture, and the moment suffering becomes impossible to ignore. The poem unfolds in a hallway outside a closed door. Inside, conversation continues. Laughter moves easily between people. Outside, someone is calling for help. But the door…
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Two Floors: The Distance Between Survival and Silence
Two Floors is a spoken word poem about the distance between survival and indifference. While voices and laughter carry easily through the floorboards above, someone lies below—waiting, fading, listening to a world that continues without them. With quiet intensity and vivid imagery, Kate explores...
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The Girl Who Cried Wolf: A Spoken Word Poem About Trauma, Therapy, and the Wolves We Carry
In this spoken word poem, Kate reimagines the familiar fable of The Boy Who Cried Wolf through the lens of trauma and therapy. The Girl Who Cried Wolf asks what happens when the threat others dismiss is not imaginary—but internal. In trauma work, the past does not always stay in the past. It...
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Apology Loop: A Poem About People-Pleasing, Trauma & Self-Worth
If “I’m sorry” slips out of your mouth before you even know you’ve said it — this episode is for you. Apology Loop is a spoken word piece about the survival habit of over-apologizing: the way we shrink ourselves to stay safe, make others comfortable, and disappear before we cause disappointment....
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Don’t Feed the Animals: Spoken Word Poetry on Survival and Spectatorship
In Don’t Feed the Animals, poet and nurse practitioner Kate Earley delivers a haunting spoken-word piece about empathy, control, and what it means to be “safe enough to love.” Through the metaphor of the zoo, this performance explores how care can turn to captivity — how survival, hunger, and...
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Put A Finger Down – A Poem on Consent, Coercion, and Survival
What does it mean to give something you never wanted to give? To say yes because no felt heavier? Put A Finger Down is a raw and haunting spoken word poem exploring themes of coercion, trauma, dissociation, and survival. Through visceral imagery and quiet devastation, this piece captures the…
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Reverse Triage: A Poetic Glimpse of the Bystander Effect
Reverse Triage is a taut, atmospheric spoken-word poem by Kate Earley about a quiet office hallway that turns into an unexpected scene of collapse and hesitation. With stark, cinematic language, Kate captures the suspended moment when everyday routine fractures—the hum of fluorescent lights, the...
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Body of Proof: A Spoken Word Reckoning on Medical Gaslighting and Survival
In this raw and electrifying spoken word poem, pediatric nurse practitioner and patient advocate Kate Earley delivers a searing indictment of medical gaslighting, institutional betrayal, and the fight to be believed. Body of Proof speaks to every patient who’s ever been dismissed, doubted, or...
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Her Name Means Light: A Poem About Nour, Wael, and Survival in Gaza
In this moving episode of Unspoken, Kate Earley shares “Her Name Means Light,” a poem born from friendship and witness. Centered on Nour, whose name means light, and her brother Wael, the piece captures everyday survival in Gaza—water carried for kilometers, firewood cut from the ruins of bombed...
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The Last Pages of a Genocide: A Poetic Witness to Memory, Silence, and Survival
n this episode of Unspoken, Kate Earley reads “The Last Pages of a Genocide,” a haunting testimony that refuses erasure. This poem confronts the politics of silence and complicity—those who turned away, justified brutality, or rewrote history in the aftermath. Through unflinching imagery and…
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Gaza Is Not a Metaphor – A Spoken Word on Starvation, Silence, and Solidarity
In this gripping spoken word poem, Gaza Is Not a Metaphor, poet and humanitarian Kate Earley strips away the euphemisms and demands we face the brutal reality of mass starvation under siege. This episode of Unspoken confronts the politics of silence, the ethics of witness, and the cost of global...
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Birthright: A Poem About Zionism, Memory, and the Illusion of Indigeneity
In this episode, Kate reads Birthright, a searing poetic reckoning with the myth of entitlement and the weaponization of heritage. Through the imagined lens of a North American tourist on a Birthright trip, the poem interrogates what it means to claim indigeneity without ever touching exile, war,...
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If They Would Just: A Poem About Gaza, Genocide, and Global Indifference
In this episode of Unspoken, Kate performs “If They Would Just,” a searing spoken word poem that dismantles the hollow excuses and dangerous detachment surrounding the genocide in Gaza. From hostages to humanitarian aid, forced displacement to selective empathy, this poem interrogates the phrases...
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Apocalypse Fatigue: Scrolling Past Genocide
In this episode of Unspoken, Kate performs “Apocalypse Fatigue”—a spoken word piece confronting the privilege of disengagement in the face of ongoing genocide in Gaza. While children burn and mothers scream through rubble, much of the world scrolls past, citing “apocalypse fatigue.” This poem...
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The Gaza Strip Is the Length of My Morning Walk
In this episode, Kate shares a haunting spoken word poem titled The Gaza Strip Is the Length of My Morning Walk, reflecting on the dissonance between curated Canadian comfort and the devastation in Gaza. Walking through Yorkville’s lilacs, luxury bakeries, and quiet parks, the poet draws a...
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Season 9: Look Away - Poetry, Palestine, and the Politics of Starvation
In Season 9 of Unspoken, titled “Look Away”, spoken word artist and advocate Kate Earley confronts the world’s silence on the genocide in Gaza through searing poetry, lived witness, and uncompromising truth. This season explores themes of Palestinian survival, systemic starvation, medical...
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Ungovernable: When Healing Doesn’t Make You Softer
In this episode of Unspoken, Kate performs her original poem “Ungovernable”: a fierce, tender exploration of what healing really feels like for anyone who’s had to make themselves small to survive. This spoken word piece challenges the myth that healing is always soft, gentle, or palatable....
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The Art of Being Palatable: A Spoken Word on Beauty, Compliance, and Disappearing for Love
What does it cost to be wanted? In this raw and lyrical spoken word poem, Kate Earley unpacks the quiet violence of being “palatable”—the pressure to shrink, sweeten, and shape oneself into something desirable at the expense of authenticity. The Art of Being Palatable explores hunger, shame,...
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Only Palatable When Starving: A Spoken Word Poem About Eating Disorder Recovery and Betrayal
In this raw and furious spoken word poem, Only Palatable When Starving, Kate explores the devastating reality of eating disorder recovery that is only accepted when it stays silent and small. After years of starvation, she finally finds her voice — only to be punished for it by the very clinician...
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Anorexia Mirabilis: A Spoken Word Poem About Emotional Neglect, Shame, and Sacred Hunger
In this haunting and lyrical spoken word piece, Anorexia Mirabilis, Kate explores the lasting scars of emotional neglect, trauma, and the deep-rooted shame of needing. Drawing from the history of canonized self-denial, she gives voice to the parts of herself that learned to equate hunger with...
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Requiem for a Body: Navigating Eating Disorders, Trauma, and the Paradox of Recovery
In this poignant episode, we present “Requiem for a Body,” a raw and visceral spoken word poem that delves into the arduous journey of reclaiming a body ravaged by years of restriction and starvation. The piece explores the intricate intersections of trauma, eating disorders, and survival,...
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Season 8: Hunger Isn’t Holy – A Spoken Word Introduction on Eating Disorders and Trauma
In this opening episode of Spoken Season 8, titled Hunger Isn’t Holy, poet and nurse practitioner Kate Earley introduces a new season centered on the lived experience of eating disorders—beyond the stereotypes, beyond the numbers, beyond the aesthetics. With raw honesty and lyrical precision…
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The Cost of Asking Why: A Spoken Word Poem on Autism, ADHD, and the Price of Curiosity
What if your questions were too sharp, too fast, too much? In this episode of Spoken, poet and nurse practitioner Kate Earley shares The Cost of Asking Why—a raw, lyrical reflection on growing up with undiagnosed autism and ADHD. Through childhood memories, clinical encounters, and moments of…
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Season 7: Not Too Much - Autism, ADHD, and Being Misunderstood
In the Season 7 premiere of Unspoken, Kate Earley introduces a new series of spoken word poems exploring the raw, often invisible experience of living with autism and ADHD—especially as a woman. This season challenges the labels of “too much” and “not enough,” examining how neurodivergent people...
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Dear John: Confronting Emotional Manipulation and Online Stalking Through Spoken Word
In this compelling episode of Unspoken, we present “Dear John,” a raw and unapologetic spoken word poem that delves into the harrowing experiences of emotional manipulation and online stalking. This powerful piece addresses a man who transformed a fleeting encounter into years of digital...
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Not a Nice Girl | Spoken Word Poetry on Boundaries, Survival, and Sexual Trauma
In this powerful spoken word poem, Kate delivers an unflinching message about reclaiming boundaries, surviving sexual trauma, and breaking free from the toxic expectations placed on women and survivors. “Not a Nice Girl” is a raw, emotional piece that confronts the burden of politeness, the…
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The Sacrament of Silence: Navigating Self-Sacrifice and Emotional Manipulation in Imbalanced Relationships
In this deeply personal episode, we delve into the complexities of self-sacrifice and emotional manipulation within relationships characterized by power imbalances. Through evocative spoken word poetry, “The Sacrament of Silence” examines themes of faith, guilt, and longing, shedding light on how...
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First, You Flinch: Unpacking Coercive Control and the Erosion of Boundaries
In this compelling episode, we delve into the calculated tactics predators use to identify and exploit vulnerabilities. Abusers often target individuals whose boundaries have been previously eroded, recognizing those who may flinch but not flee. This discussion sheds light on the insidious nature...
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Season 6: Coercion Isn’t Consent - Naming the Violence That Hides in Plain Sight
In this Season 6 opener of Unspoken, Kate introduces a powerful new collection of spoken word poems exploring coercive sexual assault, misogyny, silence, and survival. These are the stories that don’t always get named as abuse—because there was no fight, no scream, no clear “no.” But there was...
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Erasure — The Gift of Absence
In this raw and quietly devastating poem, Kate gives voice to the grief of self-erasure—the kind that begins in childhood, when silence was survival and disappearing was seen as goodness. “Erasure” explores the heartbreaking calculus of being palatable: swallowing screams, softening pain, and...
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Holding Isn’t Feeling – A Poem About Trauma, Erasure, and the Limits of Empathy
In this raw and powerful spoken word poem, Kate Earley challenges the assumption that witnessing trauma is the same as understanding it. Holding Isn’t Feeling explores themes of childhood abuse, therapeutic invalidation, and the quiet violence of clinical detachment. With searing imagery—bodies...
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Starving the Scream: When Survival Means Silencing Yourself
In this raw spoken word poem, Starving the Scream, poet and trauma survivor Kate Earley explores what it means to stay quiet to stay safe. This piece examines the invisible cost of being the “good client,” the “palatable patient,” the one who swallows her pain to preserve the comfort of...
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The Letters Beside Your Name: Credentialed Care, Performative Allyship, and Real Harm
In this raw and unflinching spoken word poem, Kate explores the rupture that occurs when therapists speak the language of trauma-informed care—but fail to embody it. The Letters Beside Your Name holds space for survivors who have been retraumatized by silence, by absence, and by clinicians who...
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Doorknob Confessions: What the Body Carries Past the Hour
In this episode, Kate performs her spoken word poem Doorknob Confession, written after a therapy session where she found herself alone in the bathroom, vomiting quietly, afraid to ask for help. This piece captures the embodied tension of trauma survivors—the way the body signals distress long...
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The Girl Beneath the Ice: When Healing Feels Like Drowning
In this episode, Kate shares a hauntingly intimate spoken word piece about trauma, survival, and the terrifying beauty of coming back to life. “The Girl Beneath the Ice” explores the body’s quiet genius in the face of danger, and the disorienting process of unthawing — when the world starts to…
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Beyond the Frame: A Spoken Word on Trauma, Healing, and Being “Too Much”
In this powerful spoken word poem, Beyond the Frame, Kate explores the impossible expectations placed on trauma survivors to keep their healing tidy, quiet, and contained. This episode dives deep into the messy, raw reality of recovery—the kind that refuses to fit inside the 50-minute therapy…
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Clinically Speaking – A Spoken Word Poem on Trauma, Silence, and Survival
In this powerful episode, Kate shares her original spoken word poem, Clinically Speaking—a raw, unflinching exploration of trauma, dissociation, and the silences that exist within the clinical world. As a pediatric nurse practitioner and survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Kate weaves her…
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The Red Pen
In this powerful spoken word poetry episode, Kate Earley explores the complex, often painful experience of reenacting trauma patterns in therapy. The Red Pen speaks to the struggle of navigating attachment, survival, and silence—especially when reaching out for help feels like breaking an…
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Can You Leave a Light On? – The Space Between Sessions
“Can You Leave a Light On?” is a spoken word poetry piece about the aching space between therapy sessions—the silence, the uncertainty, and the desperate need for reassurance. It explores the feeling of relying on someone to help navigate the dark, only to be left searching for light in their...
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Looking In – A Spoken Word Poem on Trauma, Isolation, and Longing
What does it mean to stand outside, looking in? To carry the weight of others’ pain while no one carries yours? In this raw and haunting spoken word poem, I explore the loneliness of trauma, the struggle to be seen, and the deep unfairness of giving so much while receiving so little in return....
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You Hold Me With Gloves On – A Spoken Word Piece on Transference, Therapeutic Distance & Longing
“You Hold Me With Gloves On” is a raw reflection on transference—the ache of seeing a therapist as a mother, a caretaker, or a lifeline, only to be met with professional detachment. It captures the struggle of seeking warmth in a space built on boundaries, of feeling like a case study instead of…
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The Velveteen Rabbit: A Spoken Word Journey of Vulnerability and Healing
In this emotionally charged episode of Unspoken, we present “The Velveteen Rabbit”—a powerful spoken word poem that explores the deep pain of being misunderstood and the struggle to express hidden truths. Using evocative symbolism drawn from the classic tale, this poem captures the silent cry for...
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When Silence Speaks: Therapy, Childhood Trauma, and the Quest for Empathy
In this raw and emotional episode, I share the vulnerable moment I disclosed my childhood trauma to my therapist, only to be met with silence—no tears, no visible emotion. This haunting stillness left me questioning whether my pain was ever “bad enough” to warrant empathy, either from her or from...
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‘Trauma-Informed’: A Spoken Word Challenge to Performative Allyship
In this compelling episode, I delve into the often superficial application of the term “trauma-informed” within institutions and among professionals. While intended to signify a deep understanding of trauma’s pervasive nature and a commitment to fostering healing environments, this label…
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Season 5: The Space Between Us — Therapy, Transference, and Trauma Treatment
Welcome to Season 5 of Unspoken, a spoken word poetry podcast by Kate Earley. This season is called The Space Between Us, and it explores the complex emotional landscape of therapy, transference, and clinical boundaries. In this introduction to Season 5, Kate reflects on what it’s like to be in...
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Internet Strangers: The People Who Showed Up When Real Life Didn’t
In this spoken word poem, Kate Earley shares a raw, heartfelt tribute to the internet strangers who showed up when real life didn’t. Through chronic illness, disability, and the quiet ache of being misunderstood, there were people online—sometimes from thousands of miles away—who offered more...
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Fault Lines: Embracing Change, Boundaries, and Healing Through Life’s Quakes
In this deeply moving spoken word poetry episode, Fault Lines, the poet reflects on the emotional earthquakes that disrupt our lives, forcing us into transformation. From silence and compliance to embracing authenticity and setting firm boundaries, the poet explores the powerful journey of...
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Sixteen Kilometers: A Spoken Word Poem on Friendship, Loss, and the Pain of Being Left Behind
Some friendships feel like forever—until they’re not. Sixteen Kilometers is a raw, emotional spoken word poem about the kind of friendship that feels like home, the quiet ways we show love, and the unbearable ache of losing someone without knowing why. Through vivid memories of late-night...
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Season 4: Love Stories Without Romance - A Spoken Word Introduction to Friendship and Loss
Welcome to Season 4 of Unspoken, a spoken word poetry podcast by Kate Earley. This season is called Love Stories Without Romance, and it explores the deep bonds of friendship—the connections that save us, shape us, and sometimes, leave us behind. Through powerful spoken word poems, Kate shares...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
There are some experiences that live in the body long after words fail. This podcast is for those stories.Unspoken is a raw, unfiltered exploration of trauma, survival, and the weight of what we carry. Through spoken word poetry, I give voice to the things often left unsaid—childhood wounds, mental illness, the scars of nursing, and the vicarious trauma that lingers long after we leave the bedside.These are not easy stories. But they are real. And if you’ve ever felt like no one understands, I hope you find something here that makes you feel less alone.
HOSTED BY
Kate
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Unspoken have?
Unspoken currently has 85 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Unspoken about?
There are some experiences that live in the body long after words fail. This podcast is for those stories.Unspoken is a raw, unfiltered exploration of trauma, survival, and the weight of what we carry. Through spoken word poetry, I give voice to the things often left unsaid—childhood wounds, mental...
How often does Unspoken release new episodes?
Unspoken has 85 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Unspoken?
You can listen to Unspoken on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Unspoken?
Unspoken is created and hosted by Kate.
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