Voices of the Street: Empty Inside — with Angel Gates and Peter Thompson

Content Warning: The stories in this series deal with difficult and sometimes traumatic topics. Please practice self care, stop listening, and seek help if you need to. Scroll down to find links to available supports.

Storyteller, actor and activist Angel Gates invites Megaphone author Peter Thompson into conversation about his poem, “Empty Inside.” Peter’s piece, published in the 2021 Voices of the Street anthology, is a poetic contemplation of loneliness and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They discuss feelings of anxiety and longing for simple connection and interaction during lockdown. Peter also speaks to the devastating wildfire, fueled by climate change, that burned his hometown of Lytton, BC in the summer of 2021.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/series/voices-of-the-street/164-angel-gates-peter-thompson.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/164-angel-gates-peter-thompson.html

Mental Health Support:
Crisis Centre BC: https://crisiscentre.bc.ca/
Indian Residential School Survivors Society: https://www.irsss.ca/services
KUU-US Crisis Line: https://www.kuu-uscrisisline.com/
WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre: https://www.wavaw.ca/
BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services: http://www.bcmhsus.ca/

More Resources:
“Lytton Memories” by Peter Thompson: https://www.megaphonemagazine.com/vendor_voices_august_2021
Megaphone Speakers Bureau: https://speakersbureau.megaphonemagazine.com/

About the series:
The 2021 Voices of the Street anthology, “INSIDE we are all the same,” jumps from the page in this special podcast series.

Featuring interviews with writers and personal reflections on how their lived experiences merge with the themes of the text, this podcast series illuminates Voices of the Street in a new way.

The Voices of the Street podcast is a six-part series for Below the Radar, curated and hosted by participants of Megaphone’s Speakers Bureau.

Read more: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/series/voices-of-the-street.html

Bios:

Angel Gatesl is aboriginal from the Haida Nation. She is the proud mother of three amazing kids and has been a dog owner for five years. She is a passionate human being and activist always fighting for human rights or the environment. When she is not doing work with the Megaphone Speakers Bureau, she is an actress. She has been nominated for Best Actress twice. At night she likes to relax with a glass or two of vodka and smoke crystal methamphetamine.

Peter Thompson (Nlaka'pamux) was born in Lytton, B.C. in the Fraser Canyon and has lived in East Vancouver for more than 46 years. He enjoys trout and salmon fishing in the summer and loves getting out of the city to spend time in nature and with his grandchildren.

Peter has been involved with Megaphone for more than a decade and can be found selling publications outside Whole Foods at West 4th Avenue and Vine Street in Vancouver. He has been published many times in Voices of the Street, has had several winning photographs appear in the Hope in Shadows calendar, and is a frequent contributor to Megaphone magazine. He has built a strong community of supporters, friends, and customers over the years.

Credits:
With additional music:
Flute piece provided by Paul Paul Che oke' ten Wagner: www.sacredbreath.ca

Cite this episode:
Chicago Style

Gates, Angel. “Voices of the Street: Empty Inside — with Angel Gates and Peter Thompson” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, March 15, 2022. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/series/voices-of-the-street/164-angel-gates-peter-thompson.html