Proxy with Yowei Shaw – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Yowei shares exciting show news and goes on a self-delusion bender with the team at Proxy HQ. Is she being delusional? Or is delusion just necessary for starting any new project?

From the episode: 

— Useful Delusions: The Power & Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain by Shankar Vedantam

— Radiotopia from PRX

New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy, one of the clearest examples of what this show does, or Yowei Can't Speak Bro for a funny investigation into male friendship, bro-speak, and emotional translation.

An Emotions Beat episode about why rituals work — and what they have to do with Proxy.

When Yowei first started pitching Proxy, ritual was part of the concept. Proxy conversations, proxy rituals, “proxuals” — it was a whole thing. She eventually ditched the ritual component because no one understood what she was talking about.

But after making a layoff music video in a Kleenex box costume, Yowei still had a hunch: maybe rituals and proxy conversations are doing something similar.

In this episode, Yowei talks with Mike Norton, author of The Ritual Effect, about why humans invent rituals when ordinary life doesn’t give us one, how rituals help move us from one emotional state to another, and whether a conversation with the right stranger can work like a ritual too.

From the episode:

— Michael Norton — author of The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harnessing the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions— more about his work:www.michaelnorton.com

— Yowei's unhinged grieving ritual for her layoff

New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy for a classic case, or Yowei Can't Speak Bro for a funny investigation into male friendship, bro-speak, and emotional translation.

For episode liner notes, show gossip, and dispatches from the emotions beat, get our free newsletter File Under Feelings at proxyhq.org.

Proxy is an independent show, supported mostly by listeners. Paid members get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, live Proxy hangs, and the satisfaction of keeping emotional investigative journalism alive 🍏

Follow us on Instagram — @proxypodcast @yoweishaw

Visit — proxypodcast.com

Get in touch — proxythepod@gmail.com

An Emotions Beat episode about the surprisingly real feelings that can come from acting. 

Yowei has a problem: she’s making a show built around proxy conversations, but she still doesn’t totally know how to explain what’s happening inside them.

So she turns to psychodrama — an experiential therapy that uses role play, theater, and psychology to help people say the things they didn’t get to say, hear the things they needed to hear, and practice new ways of responding to old emotional loops.a

In this episode, Yowei talks with psychodrama expert Scott Giacomucci about how role play can create real catharsis, why acting can lead to healing, and what proxy conversations may have in common with a therapy that once rivaled Freud. Then Scott tries a little psychodrama on Yowei herself.

From the episode: 

— Scott Giacomucci — psychodrama therapist and author — more about his work: www.phoenixtraumacenter.com

— Scott's textbook about psychodrama available for free

— On Youtube @PhoenixTraumaCenter

New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy for a classic case, or The Mechanics and Magic of Ritual for another emotions beat episode about the emotional technologies we invent when to move through feelings. 

For episode liner notes, show gossip, and dispatches from the emotions beat, get our free newsletter File Under Feelings at proxyhq.org.

Proxy is an independent show, supported mostly by listeners. Paid members get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, live Proxy hangs, and the satisfaction of keeping emotional investigative journalism alive 🍏

Follow us on Instagram — @proxypodcast @yoweishaw

Visit — proxypodcast.com

Get in touch — proxythepod@gmail.com

Get in touch — proxythepod@gmail.com

An Emotions Beat episode about Dead Eyes, Tom Hanks, and why proxy conversations work.

Yowei is still trying to answer a basic question about her own show: why would talking to a stranger who wasn’t there help someone get unstuck?

So she calls Connor Ratliff, the actor and comedian behind Dead Eyes — a podcast about the time Tom Hanks fired him from Band of Brothers for allegedly having “dead eyes.”

Before Connor finally talked to Tom Hanks himself, he had dozens of proxy conversations: with actors who had their own rejection stories, showrunners who had fired actors, and people who could help him understand the tiny show business nightmare that has haunted him for years.

In this episode, Yowei and Connor investigate the difference between talking to a proxy and talking to the real person — and why sometimes the stranger who wasn’t there can still tell you exactly what you needed to hear.

From the episode:

— Connor Ratliff – host of the podcasts Dead Eyes, Tiny Dinos, and The George Lucas Show — on Instagram @connorratliff

New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy for a classic Proxy case, or Psychodrama: The 2nd Oldest Therapy You've Never Heard Of, But Have Definitely Tried for another emotions beat episode about how conversations can create closure, even when they aren't with the "real" person.  

For episode liner notes, show gossip, and dispatches from the emotions beat, get our free newsletter File Under Feelings at proxyhq.org.

Proxy is an independent show, supported mostly by listeners. Paid members get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, live Proxy hangs, and the satisfaction of keeping emotional investigative journalism alive 🍏

Follow us on Instagram — @proxypodcast @yoweishaw

Visit — proxypodcast.com

Get in touch — proxythepod@gmail.com

Content note: This episode discusses sexual violence.

An Emotions Beat episode about proxy conversations, restorative jusice, and the questions we may never get to ask.  

Yowei has a problem. She's having trouble explaining the show to people who don't get it. She knows proxy conversations work. But why would talking to someone who wasn’t directly involved in your situation help you feel less stuck?

For the first stop on this quest, she turns to a much higher-stakes version of proxy conversations: vicarious restorative justice. Alissa Ackerman, a criminal justice professor and co-founder of Ampersands Restorative Justice, has helped survivors of sexual violence talk with people who committed similar kinds of harm — when the actual person who harmed them is unavailable, unwilling, or unsafe to talk to.

In this episode, Yowei and Alissa investigate why talking to a proxy can sometimes offer something close to the real conversation: accountability, honesty, vulnerability, remorse, and the chance to ask questions you may never get answered otherwise.

From the episode

— Alissa Ackerman — criminologist and author of Healing from Sexual Violence: The Case for Vicarious Restorative Justice— more about her work: www.alissaackerman.com

— Ampersands Restorative Justice: www.ampersandsrj.org

New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy for a classic case, or Dead Eyes by Proxy for another emotions beat episode about why talking to the “wrong” person can still help you get unstuck.

For episode liner notes, show gossip, and dispatches from the emotions beat, get our free newsletter File Under Feelings at proxyhq.org.

Proxy is an independent show, supported mostly by listeners. Paid members get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, live Proxy hangs, and the satisfaction of keeping emotional investigative journalism alive 🍏

Follow us on Instagram — @proxypodcast @yoweishaw

Visit — proxypodcast.com

Get in touch — proxythepod@gmail.com

Get in touch — proxythepod@gmail.com

The case of the couple who want answers from HR.

Months after Elliot was laid off, he and his husband Miles were still angry — not just about the layoff, but about the way it happened. The smiling HR rep. The severance paperwork no one explained. The desk he wasn’t allowed to pack up. The coffee spilled all over his belongings.

They had questions they couldn’t ask the actual HR person without risking Miles’s job. So Yowei found them a proxy: Catie Maillard, a veteran People Operations professional who has conducted hundreds of layoffs and been laid off herself.

In Proxy’s first-ever proxy conversation, Miles and Elliot ask Catie everything they’ve been carrying about HR, severance, corporate policy, layoff lists, the WARN Act, and why companies can make people feel so disposable. And Catie helps them understand what may have happened behind the scenes — while also giving Elliot something he never got from the company: a real apology.

From the episode:

— Catie Maillard — on LinkedIn — more about her work: www.somehowimanagehr.com

— Yowei's unhinged Gold Star music video

New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy for a classic case, or Yowei Can’t Speak Bro for a lighter story about male friendship, bro-speak, and emotional translation. 

For episode liner notes, show gossip, and dispatches from the emotions beat, get our free newsletter File Under Feelings at proxyhq.org.

Proxy is an independent show, supported mostly by listeners. Paid members get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, live Proxy hangs, and the satisfaction of keeping emotional investigative journalism alive 🍏

Follow us on Instagram — @proxypodcast @yoweishaw

Visit — proxypodcast.com

Get in touch — proxythepod@gmail.com

Please note: This story contains brief mention of suicidal ideation. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 9-8-8, or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

 After Elliot was suddenly laid off, his husband Miles kept working at the same company — in the same office, with the same HR rep, under the same threat that he might be next.

Then Miles heard a rumor: more layoffs were coming on the third Thursday of the month. Danger Day.

In this episode, Yowei follows Miles and Elliot through the horror-movie logic of layoff anxiety: calendar clues, changed meeting rooms, suspicious boss behavior, financial panic, phantom work limbs, and the feeling that one bad meeting can make your whole life disappear. With help from sociologist Ofer Sharone, they investigate why layoffs can feel so devastating — especially when you believed that working hard and following the rules would keep you safe.

From the episode:

— Ofer Sharone — sociologist at UMass Amherst, and author of The Stigma Trap: College-Educated, Experienced, and Long-Term Unemployed

New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy for a classic case, or.HR by Proxy for the first full proxy conversation, where Miles and Elliot get to ask an HR rep the questions they've been carrying. 

For episode liner notes, show gossip, and dispatches from the emotions beat, get our free newsletter File Under Feelings at proxyhq.org.

Proxy is an independent show, supported mostly by listeners. Paid members get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, live Proxy hangs, and the satisfaction of keeping emotional investigative journalism alive 🍏

Follow us on Instagram — @proxypodcast @yoweishaw

Visit — proxypodcast.com

Get in touch — proxythepod@gmail.com

When Yowei got laid off from NPR, she knew all the rational things. It was a business decision. It wasn’t about her performance. She had savings, severance, and support.

So why did it still feel like getting rejected by the entire life she’d built?

In the first episode of Proxy, Yowei investigates why layoffs can feel so emotionally devastating — even when you know, intellectually, that it’s not your fault. Along the way, she talks with experts about the history of layoffs, unemployment stigma, the American hiring process, and why losing a job can make you feel like you’ve lost your worth. And she begins the story that eventually became Proxy itself.

From the episode:

— Ofer Sharone — sociologist at UMass Amherst, and author of The Stigma Trap: College-Educated, Experienced, and Long-Term Unemployed

New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy for a classic Proxy case, or.HR by Proxy, for the first full proxy converstion we ever recorded. 

For episode liner notes, show gossip, and dispatches from the emotions beat, get our free newsletter File Under Feelings at proxyhq.org.

Proxy is an independent show, supported mostly by listeners. Paid members get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, live Proxy hangs, and the satisfaction of keeping emotional investigative journalism alive 🍏

Follow us on Instagram — @proxypodcast @yoweishaw

Visit — proxypodcast.com

Get in touch — proxythepod@gmail.com

It’s the knot you can’t untangle — a problem so specific, it makes you feel alone. But what if you could talk to someone who gets it? 

On Proxy, we find someone with the closest possible experience to your problem — and follow the conversation that unfolds. It’s not therapy. It’s emotional investigative journalism.

Hosted by Yowei Shaw, former co-host of Invisibilia.

New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy, one of the clearest examples of what this show does, or Yowei Can't Speak Bro for a funny investigation into male friendship, bro-speak, and emotional translation.

An Emotions Beat episode about why we suffer alone — and what happens when we don’t.

For years, Jason Yu struggled with skin picking in secret. He didn’t have a name for what was happening. He didn’t know other people dealt with it too. And he felt like if he just had more willpower, he should be able to stop.

Then, after eight years of shame and isolation, Jason found a support group.

In this episode, Yowei talks with Jason about body-focused repetitive behaviors, the strange magic of being understood by strangers, and why support groups can help when friends, family, and even therapy don’t quite reach the lonely center of a problem. Together, they investigate shame, peer support, support group etiquette, red flags, and the radical idea that there may be no one thing that fixes you — but many things that help.

From the episode: 

— Jason Yu — host of the podcast Fidget — on Instagram @fidgetpodcast

— The TLC Foundation —  a resource for body-focused repetitive behaviors

— Jason's book recommendations on. building community — The Art of Gathering and How We Show Up

New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy for a classic case, or Sandy and the Silence for another emotions beat episode about shame, silence, and what changes when people finally say the thing out loud.

For episode liner notes, show gossip, and dispatches from the emotions beat, get our free newsletter File Under Feelings at proxyhq.org.

Proxy is an independent show, supported mostly by listeners. Paid members get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, live Proxy hangs, and the satisfaction of keeping emotional investigative journalism alive 🍏

Follow us on Instagram — @proxypodcast @yoweishaw

Visit — proxypodcast.com

Get in touch — proxythepod@gmail.com