The podcast version of my Deuzevlog, featuring inspiring conversations with prominent media scholars and professionals from around the world - hosted by Mark Deuze, Professor of Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Logo designed by Martin Gleissner, music by Skinflower.
Well-Being and Creative Careers: Interview with Johanna Weststar (IGDA/Western University)
As part of a series of conversations with professionals and scholars in the field of mental health and well-being in media industries and professions, in this episode I sit down with Johanna Weststar (https://dan.uwo.ca/people/faculty/johanna_weststar.html), Associate Professor at the DAN Department of Management & Organization Studies (https://dan.uwo.ca/) of Western University in Ontario, Canada.
In our interview, we focus on her decades long research on and among professionals in the global games industry, working closely with the International Game Developers Association on its benchmark Developer Satisfaction and quality of life surveys (https://igda.org/dss/). All this work culminated in the open access (https://press.library.concordia.ca/projects/not-all-fun-and-games) book Not All Fun and Games: Videogame Labour, Project-based Workplaces, and the New Citizenship at Work (https://www.concordia.ca/press/notallfunandgames.html) (out with Concordia University Press in 2024), co-authored with Marie-Josée Legault.
Applying the notion of citizenship at work, the book covers different ways in which professionals experience, navigate and resist such structural issues in the workplace such as precarity, lack of diversity, unpredictable schedules, unpaid overtime, low unionization rates, stress and burnout, and significant pay inequality.
These interviews in part support the publication of my book (titled: Well-Being and Creative Careers: What Makes You Happy Can Also Make You Sick (https://www.intellectbooks.com/well-being-and-creative-careers), out now with Intellect Books) on health, well-being and happiness in media work, and to showcase and celebrate the work so many people around the world are doing to advocate and promote these issues in media workplaces.
For more information and context, including many more interviews, please check markdeuze.substack.com.
8 Dec 2025
Well-Being and Creative Careers: Interview with Tonic Music (UK)
As part of a series of conversations with professionals and scholars in the field of mental health and well-being in media industries and professions, in this episode I sit down with Jeordie Shenton (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeordieshenton/), programmes lead of UK-based Tonic Music for Mental Health (https://www.tonicmusic.co.uk/), and PhD reseacher on Substance Use Amongst Working Musicians at the University of Portsmouth.
In our interview, we focus on musicians and music workers as people with agency and occupational resilience, rather than as victims of either their own passion or the exploitative nature of the cultural and creative industries. We discuss the ‘stress bucket’ of professionals in the music industry, managing your public and private self, and the perfect storm that the industry faces between rising costs, the role of streamers and AI, closing down of (smaller) venues and record stores, and so on. Still, we end on a positive note! And we’re geeking out on (our) research...
FYI: all the interviews in this ongoing series are also available as a YouTube playlist (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH1JNmxwU0h8hjlLGiHDYXerYMCiqmwX_). Please have a look, leave a comment, and get in touch!
These interviews in part support the publication of my book (titled: Well-Being and Creative Careers: What Makes You Happy Can Also Make You Sick (https://www.intellectbooks.com/well-being-and-creative-careers), out now with Intellect Books) on health, well-being and happiness in media work, and to showcase and celebrate the work so many people around the world are doing to advocate and promote these issues in media workplaces.
10 Nov 2025
Well-Being and Creative Careers: Interview with The Film + TV Charity
FYI: all the interviews in this ongoing series are also available as a YouTube playlist (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH1JNmxwU0h8hjlLGiHDYXerYMCiqmwX_). Please have a look, leave a comment, and get in touch!
As part of a series of conversations (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH1JNmxwU0h8hjlLGiHDYXerYMCiqmwX_) with professionals and scholars in the field of mental health and well-being in media industries and professions, in this episode I sit down with Marcus Ryder (https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcus-ryder-journalist/?originalSubdomain=uk) (CEO) and Rupert Jones-Lee (https://www.counterculturellp.com/people/rupert-jones-lee/) (Head of Research/Impact) of the UK-based Film & TV Charity (https://filmtvcharity.org.uk/), known for the regular Looking Glass surveys, special reports and deep dives (https://filmtvcharity.org.uk/research-impact/reports/) documenting the health and well-being of behind the scenes workers in TV, cinema, and documentary film.
In our interview, we discuss the results and impact of the various Looking Glass surveys among professionals in the TV, documentary and cinema industry, and about the value of reframing systemic issues in these industries as health concerns (and thereby broadening the ways in which we can tackle such problems).
We address the particular phenomenon of ‘synthetic proximity’ whereby creative practitioners working together often expect this to be (and feel like) a family, while at the same time often feeling inauthentic, lonely and lost in the otherwise quite competitive nature of the business.
We also focus on the industry’s ‘3C’ problem: challenging and often damaging working conditions (C1), a workplace culture (C2) of bullying and stigma around mental health as well as an industry- wide lack of capabilities (C3) to provide support for those who need it.
These interviews in part support the publication of my book (titled: Well-Being and Creative Careers: What Makes You Happy Can Also Make You Sick (https://www.intellectbooks.com/well-being-and-creative-careers), out September 2025 with Intellect) on health, well-being and happiness in media work, and to showcase and celebrate the work so many people around the world are doing to advocate and promote these issues in media workplaces.
Who has been a guest on Deuzevlog
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Dave Seglins
Susan Raeburn
Amantha Perera
Anna de Beus
Rosan Boersma
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Podcast Authority Score: 28 / 100
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Quality
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YouTube
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Engagement
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