So many tears but what do they say?

Proxy with Yowei Shaw

Yowei Shaw

Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.8 • 589 Ratings

🗓️ 26 September 2024

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

An Emotions Beat episode about why we cry — and what other people are supposed to do about it.

After Yowei got laid off, she cried a lot. In bathrooms, at conferences, at birthday parties, and in moments when she desperately did not want to cry in front of other people.

So what is actually happening in that moment — when your eyes burn, your throat tightens, and your body starts sending a signal you did not approve?

In this episode, Yowei talks with poet Heather Christle, author of The Crying Book, about what emotional tears communicate, why crying in front of one person can feel so different from crying in front of a group, and what to do when someone starts crying in front of you.

From the episode:

— Heather Christle — author of The Crying Bookand In the Rhododendrums: A Memoir with Appearances by Virginia Wolf— @heatherchristle on X and Instagram

— The Thai Life Insurance commercial from our crying experiment

New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy for a classic case, or How to Cope with Now for another emotions beat episode about what happens when your inner experience becomes hard to explain.

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 🍏

Visit — proxypodcast.com

Get in touch — proxythepod@gmail.com

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, it's YoA. I'm here to tell you about a brand new show in the Radiotopia family,
0:06.1	a partnership with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and fellow indie network talkhouse.
0:11.5	It's called Music Makes Us, and it's hosted by literal icon, the legendary Kathleen Hannah,
0:18.1	the frontwoman of Bikini Kill and the Tigra.
0:22.9	In each episode, she sits down with revolutionary musicians like Chaka Khan, Olivia Rodriguez, and Haley Williams of Paramore to talk about
0:29.5	things artists really want to talk about, things like perfect lyrics, unforgettable shows,
0:36.1	treasured artifacts, even snacks. You'll also hear bonus episodes
0:40.8	with rock and roll Hall of Fame curator Shelby Morrison, who tells the backstory of an object
0:46.8	from their incredible archive, such as Prince's guitar and Katie Pearson of the B-52's wig.
0:54.2	Music Makes Us is now out wherever you listen to podcasts.
0:59.2	Hey, everybody. A quick heads up before the show.
1:02.7	Today's episode briefly mentions suicide.
1:05.5	So take care while listening.
1:07.8	And if you're feeling depressed or want to talk to someone,
1:11.9	you can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988. Okay, on to the show.
1:27.1	Welcome to Proxy, a show that investigates emotions.
1:30.6	I'm Yo-Wei Shaw.
1:32.2	So back in spring, I made a three-part series about the emotional and mental health toll of layoffs
1:37.8	that is kind of the prologue to this show.
1:40.8	In the series, I looked at my own layoff from NPR, why it was so traumatic, why layoffs are so personal.
1:46.8	If you haven't listened, you can go back to episode one of this podcast titled, Layoff Girl.
1:51.7	But there was one part of my layoff that didn't make the series that I keep coming back to.
	...

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