Bonus: This Is Stupid, But I'm Going to Do It with Casey Muze

Ode (@thatsod.e / @thatsod_e) and Mo "Kid" Licorish (@licorishislegit) welcome author, speaker, and Brace No More founder Casey Muze for a bonus conversation built around a phrase Casey Muze repeats after being told a music therapy idea was "stupid": this is stupid, but I'm going to do it. Casey Muze traces a path from a depressive episode in a Dallas, Texas apartment through discovering box breathing and the drum rudiment known as a paradiddle, to founding the community nonprofit Star Avenue Co in Nacogdoches, Texas, and later being co-signed by a California-based organization called Trap.

Casey Muze also details the structure of the book Cadence and Clarity and explains Avenue Speak, a music therapy program built for neurodivergent, special needs, and dementia care populations, including partnerships with Alzheimer's alliances and associations. Ode and Mo press Casey Muze on the difference between resilience and endurance, and on outdated mental health ideas that prioritize diagnosis over symptoms instead of treating the whole person.

The cultural lens portion of the interview turns to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with Casey Muze using Splinter's kidnapping by the Foot Clan and the near-death of Raphael in the film versus Leonardo in the comics to talk through boundaries and bouncing back from hardship. Casey Muze also breaks down turning an overwhelming dream into a written goal, advice Mo connects to his own early stand-up comedy attempts in Washington, D.C.

The Mental Health Check-In includes Ode discussing travel exhaustion and Mo discussing an ongoing period of mania and new access to medication, alongside a lighter debate over anime-themed glasses versus a One Piece Halloween costume of Dracule Mihawk. A DMX tribute opens the We're Big Mad segment, where Casey Muze addresses assumptions about drum circles, before the episode closes with Freakazoid's return to Tubi, a nod to Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Road Rovers, Waynehead, and Histeria!.

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