2023 – today

The emergence of a podcast by en for the unmakeables

So often I got involved in beautiful conversations with friends, acquaintances and even complete strangers about mental/physical vulnerability and strength. Those are the moments in which you can feel that something essential is happening between you and the other person. Something magical that cannot be described with a pen (or keyboard). On those many moments in which I lay awake in the middle of the night, I thought back to those conversations and I would wish I could rewind and replay those conversations. Not only because I did not want to forget these moments, but also to be able to share the stories and lessons that emerged during these conversations with others. We can draw hope, comfort and lessons from each other’s experiences and stories. Whatever the world wants us to believe, we are not makeable. You cannot become everything you want. Not everyone gets the same opportunities in life or is as lucky as another. You can change your entire appearance or travel all over the world: your essence, that what makes you you, remains the same. Running away from yourself is impossible.

I am convinced that we need each other. To be able to mirror, to reflect and to come to innovative insights. To help us stop running. The reason I’m learning to live with my chronic depression and traumas is because I have people around me who challenge me to look beyond the depression. People who offer me tenderness and daily remind me of who I am. And that’s okay. These are people who often, just like me, live with a certain vulnerability. A dent here and there. I wanted the opportunity to let these beautiful people speak for once. To have their story told. Someone asked me a while ago, ‘Why don’t you start a podcast?’ I thought about it for several months and talked about it with my boyfriend Nathan. As a sound engineer and a human being with a vulnerability, he was immediately very enthusiastic. This is how the podcast ‘The Unmakebles’ was created on a rainy day in March 2023. A series by and for the unmakeables: Stories by ordinary people for ordinary people.

Hosts are journalist and writer Laura van Meijeren & musician and sound engineer Nathan Barnacle.