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Can I Have a Word?

Can I Have a Word?

De : Carl James
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Welcome to the brand-new podcast, “Can I Have a Word?”


The “Can I Have a Word?” podcast explores the complex intersection between language and self-identity. Through a nuanced exploration of the words we use, this podcast examines how words inform who we are and how we subsequently navigate through the world as a result. By understanding our individual relationship to language, we will gain more insight into the depths of the human experience and simultaneously create more opportunities to better understand one another.


Hosted by cultural advisor and communications strategist Carl James, this podcast will help you unlock the deeper meaning that lies in the words we use every day. If you are open to exploring the power that language can have in our lives, then this podcast is for you!


This podcast will provide the context and rationale for important questions like:

*How do the words we use shape our personal and cultural identity?

*How does language connect or disconnect us from our cultural roots or communities?

*How do the words we use intersect with specific identity markers, including race, gender, and class?

*How does language influence power dynamics in society?

*What emotional and psychological impact does language have on identity?

*How does a deeper exploration of language allow for a greater sense of freedom, control, and power?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carl James
Sciences sociales
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    Épisodes
    • Imposter: The Spaces That Make Us Doubt Ourselves
      Feb 23 2026

      In this episode, I’m joined by my friend Adam Lucas, a screenwriter who specializes in adaptations, to explore the word imposter — not as a diagnosis, but as a question.


      Why do so many of us feel like frauds in spaces we’ve earned the right to occupy? Whether pitching creative work to powerful decision-makers or stepping into parenthood for the first time, the doubt can feel immediate and disorienting.


      Adam reflects on navigating high-stakes creative rooms while still questioning his legitimacy. He also speaks candidly about early parenthood — and the subtle pressure to feel joy instantly, even in the midst of uncertainty and adjustment.


      But what if the doubt isn’t internal at all?

      What if it’s environmental?


      From pitch rooms to parenting, we examine how expectation, masculinity, and cultural conditioning shape our sense of legitimacy — and whether “imposter syndrome” is less about lacking skill and more about navigating other people’s egos, judgments, insecurities, and fears in spaces that quietly question our value.


      Production Team

      Host/Creator - Carl James

      Lead Engineer - Josh Wilcox

      Editor - Walter Nordquist

      Logo Design - Stephanie Cardenas

      Music - Yennaedo Balloo

      Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

      Afficher plus Afficher moins
      48 min
    • Witness: Rwanda - Part 2 of 2
      Feb 9 2026

      "Witness" is a continuation of "Reckoning"—but this time, the work moves from accounting to presence.

      In this episode, I take you to Rwanda, a country forever shaped by the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Walking through memorials, listening to survivors’ stories, and sitting with the weight of what happened here demands a different kind of attention—one that cannot rush, explain away, or turn suffering into abstraction.


      To witness history is not simply to learn it. It is to allow the truth of what happened to stand—without flinching, without turning away, and without placing distance between “then” and “now.”


      As I try to navigate Rwanda's history with both care and honesty, I’m confronted with the ways I’ve avoided being a full witness to my own story—the parts I’ve minimized, softened, or left unnamed. This episode explores what it means to stay present with truth, even when it’s uncomfortable, and how bearing witness—collectively and personally—becomes an act of responsibility rather than observation.


      This is not a travelogue.

      It’s about the moment witnessing history makes avoiding your own impossible.


      Production Team

      Host/Creator - Carl James

      Lead Engineer - Josh Wilcox

      Editor - Walter Nordquist

      Logo Design - Stephanie Cardenas

      Music - Yennaedo Balloo

      Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

      Afficher plus Afficher moins
      15 min
    • Reckoning: Uganda - Part 1 of 2
      Jan 26 2026

      I used to believe you could control what parts of yourself were allowed to change. That growth could be selective, strategic, and contained. For most of my life, I knew how to keep things separate and still succeed. But then it stopped working.


      When you begin to explore yourself - your beliefs, your norms, what you inherited versus what you're choosing - eventually everything becomes fair game. There comes a moment when avoiding parts of yourself is no longer a viable way to live.


      This is Part 1 of a two-part story - two episodes, two words - tracking what happens when the life you've carefully separated starts demanding to be integrated. The realization that compartmentalization isn't protection - it's postponement. Unfortunately, you rarely get the luxury of feeling "ready" before the walls come down.


      Sometimes you have to cross borders - literally and figuratively - to learn it's time to settle the accounts within your own life. And in Part 2, a second word takes the story somewhere I didn't expect.


      Production Team

      Host/Creator - Carl James

      Lead Engineer - Josh Wilcox

      Editor - Walter Nordquist

      Logo Design - Stephanie Cardenas

      Music - Yennaedo Balloo

      Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

      Afficher plus Afficher moins
      15 min
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