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After six years and more than 180 episodes, I've decided that it's time to put the Better Me Podcast to bed. Three of my favourite people, who were also guests on previous episodes, joined me to say farewell. My dear friend Jennifer Diehr, who was a guest multiple times to talk about books, and author Kelly S. Thompson, whom I met because she was a guest in 2023 joined me. Also, my daughter Sydney Burns joined us for this special episode. Thank you for listening these past six years. I hope that found something valuable, or at least entertaining in those many episodes. As always, please, take care of yourself.

Fall is a good busy time, and snow has arrived, but when exactly does winter start?

Julie M. Green was diagnosed with autism when her autistic son, Carson, was ten years old. She joined me to talk about her experience as a mom with autism and how her own diagnosis helped her to better understand and care for herself. Her new book Motherhood: A Memoir of Generational Autism, Parenthood and Radical Acceptance, is out from ECW Press. Julie's website - https://juliemgreen.ca/home Julie's Substack page - https://theautisticmom.substack.com ECW Press page on the book - https://ecwpress.com/products/motherness

My dear friend Jennifer Diehr returned to the podcast to talk about the World Series, what we've been reading, and the terrible algebra course we met in a long, long time ago.

Dr. Brittany Penner, an author and practicing family physician in Manitoba, joined me to talk about her new memoir, "Children Like Us: A Métis Woman's Memoir of Family, Identity and Walking Herself Home," growing up as an Indigenous woman in a non-Indigenous family, the 60s Scoop, and how her experiences growing up, including multiple traumatic events, shaped who she is as a person and a doctor. A note of warning, in this episode, we're going to talk about sexual assault and suicide. I'll include some support information in the show notes, but if this is going to be triggering for you, you may not want to listen to this episode. Canada - Sexual Assault Centres, Crisis Lines, and Support Services -https://endingviolencecanada.org/sexual-assault-centres-crisis-lines-and-support-services/ U.S.A. - National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence - Hotlines - https://www.ncdsv.org/hotlines.html

Author Ashley Herring Blake joined me to talk about her writing process and what it's like to have her books banned.

Here we are with the start of another season of the Better Me Podcast. In this episode, you'll hear about some of the upcoming episodes, self-care, and my impending experience with empty-nest syndrome.

It's time to take some time off for the summer, but before I go, I recorded this episode on having patience with yourself and setting up your supports and tools before you need them.

Writer and illustrator Gabrielle Drolet joined me to talk about her struggles with chronic pain, its effects on her ability to write and draw, and what that has meant for her identity and mental health.

Unexpected things happen all the time in our typical days. We need to keep an eye out for the ones that will make us smile or laugh. I also talk about the parody film Hardware Wars (1978), which I was reminded of when I recently saw the trailer for the sequel to Spaceballs.

Award-winning author Tessa McWatt and I had a lovely chat about the role that elders, whether human or trees, play in the world. We spoke about her latest book, The Snag: A Mother, A Forest and Wild Grief, and about the joy and peace we both find in writing.

Friend and fellow educator and podcaster Terry Greene joined me to discuss our concerns regarding generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).

Best-selling author Claire Cameron joined me to discuss her latest book, How to Survive a Bear Attack. We talked about an infamous bear attack, how much bears and humans are alike, and how her life has changed since a cancer diagnosis.

Once Renee Hess discovered the game of Hockey, she was hooked. But as a black woman, she found that she and women and girls like her weren’t always welcomed into that space as fans, players, or the families of players. Out of that came the founding of the Black Girls Hockey Club. Renee joined me to talk about her journey into the hockey world, what BGHC is and does, and the role that individual self-care has on a community.

Noelle Podar was finally living as the person she truly is, but as a trans woman, she couldn’t keep silent anymore about what the U.S. government and others are doing to the trans community. She joined me to talk about her journey and becoming a reluctant activist.