Reframing Trauma Through Pop Culture with Jen Sookfong Lee
and a little bit about mushrooms...and creative complaining
Pop culture is supposed to be light — downright breezy. Or, as we discovered in our conversation with celebrated Canadian author Jen Sookfong Lee, it can be something more: a bridge to navigating the complexities of intergenerational trauma, reckoning with one’s place in the world, and, perhaps most poignantly, facing the self. We hope you are able to take Jen’s pop culture wisdom and use it to help you reframe some of your own self-work — we did!
Jen Sookfong Lee describes herself as one who “writes, edits, and sometimes sings badly on a podcast.” She is a familiar voice as a columnist for CBC Radio One on shows like The Next Chapter and is a prolific writer of fiction, children’s literature, poetry, and memoir. For this episode of Reframeables we talked to Jen about her memoir Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart. Jen was born and raised in East Vancouver.
Links:
Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart
For more from Jen Sookfong Lee, check out her website and give her a follow on Twitter and Instagram
On a recent writing retreat in Vermont I went foraging with a group and was introduced to the world of funghi. Turns out funghi talk to one another. In nuanced terms.
I read about creative complaining on
’s Substack and I like it! Go big and creative or keep it to yourself. He suggests this prompt: “Find something to complain about — creatively.” Because sometimes naming the problem is a way to progress. (If you need to vent, drop us a line!)
Author and Giller winner Ian Williams reframes community.
Rebecca and Natalie reframe grief as a duo.
Radio host Caitlin Green reframes the influencer life.
Momfluencer Sara Peterson reframes the representation of motherhood online.
Natasha Nelson aka Supernova Momma reframes neurodiversity and parenting.
If our conversations support you in your own reframing practice, please consider buying our cookbook over on Ko-fi or joining as a regular supporter over on Patreon, where you get access to bonus episodes! Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube too. You can also upgrade your subscription below to receive the same benefits we offer our Patreon supporters. So many ways to join the Reframeables community.
Follow our minds a little further: subscribe to Rebecca at Observables and Natalie at Good Enough.