The Hingham 'Cast

Ally Donnelly

The Hingham ‘Cast is a hyper local, weekly podcast that looks at the pandemic through the lens of one small town: Hingham, Massachusetts. Hosted by award-winning broadcast journalist Ally Donnelly, The Hingham 'Cast explores how to build better communities through meaningful conversations. We talk about our health, our kids, our schools, our money, our jobs, our relationships, joys and struggles. Even as the pandemic keeps us apart, there is a real opportunity to come together. Through intimacy and empathy, we get to know our neighbors and what drives them. Nothing is off the table. We'll explore everything from race, religion, sexuality and politics, to eating, drinking, binging and how to leave that puppy you swore you'd never get. Join us! read less
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Episodes

Back-to-School Mental Health Tips
Sep 6 2022
Back-to-School Mental Health Tips
Ally Donnelly  Hi and welcome to the Hingham ‘Cast. I'm your host Ally Donnelly. This episode is brought to you by Derby Street Shops. The Hingham ‘Cast is hyper local, we look at the world through the lens of one small town. My town here on Boston’s, South Shore, but the issues we explore are unfolding in communities across the country. Like Back to School. It’s an exciting time of hope and promise, but for some kids it can also be a time riddled with anxiety.According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 5 kids aged 6 to 17 experience a mental disorder in a given year. Some experts, including our guest today, say it may now be as high as one in four.  With an estimated $247 billion dollars spent each year to manage and treat those issues.As we start another school year in a pandemic that just won't quit. I wanted to learn what we can do as families, as a community to meet kids where they’re at and help as best we can.My guest today is Dr. Khadijah Booth Watkins. She's a child psychiatrist and Associate Director for the Clay Center for Young and Healthy minds at Mass General Hospital. She specializes in anxiety disorders, ADHD, and overall student mental health and suicide prevention. Dr. Booth Watkins, thank you so much for joining us.Dr. Khadijah Booth Watkins/MGH Clay Center Thank you for having me. I'm excited to talk with you today about our kids and what's going on with them. Ally Donnelly Yeah, so much. Right? Give us a sense of the state of child mental health right now.Dr. Khadijah Booth Watkins/MGH Clay Center Our kids are facing a mental health crisis, there has been alarms rang by the Academy of Pediatrics and of child and adolescent psychiatrists and children's hospitals. And then shortly thereafter, the Surgeon General also put out this morning saying that we're in the middle of a mental health crisis for our for our children and adolescents. They are really struggling with we're seeing an increase in depression and anxiety, suicidal thinking, loneliness. And the even scarier part is that much of this started well before the COVID-19 global pandemic.Ally Donnelly  Yeah, yeah. You know, there's data all over the place, right. But one, data point from the CDC said 44% of high school students said they experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness with girls and the LGBTQ plus community reporting the highest levels of poor mental health and suicide attempts. You know, as kids think about going back to school on top of what they've already experienced, you know, from the pandemic, from pre pandemic, think about bullying, peer pressure, school violence, fears, relationship building anxiety, you know, what's going on for kids as they think about heading back.Dr. Khadijah Booth Watkins/MGH Clay Center  So they are, they probably have a lot of thoughts going on. And many kids are excited to go back and they're looking forward to going back and then their kids who are dreading going back their kids who actually never liked school. So there are some kids who are more vulnerable. They they struggled with attending school for various reasons, whether it's learning issues, whether it's anxiety, whether it's social, social challenges, but they're worried about, you know, how they're going to perform, are they going to be accepted? Are people going to like them? Are they going to be able to make friends depending on whether your kid is going from a major transition from elementary to middle or middle to high school or even from high school to college, really just finding their place and and making sure that they feel secure and welcomed. They're worried about those things. And they're still many kids still worried about being healthy and staying...
Two Carnivores Walk Into a Plant Bar...
Nov 16 2021
Two Carnivores Walk Into a Plant Bar...
We bring two of Hingham's biggest meat-eaters to Cambridge to check out Plant Pub. The concept restaurant is a new eatery from Hingham native Pat McAuley and celebrated chef Mary Dumont. Along with a thoughtful list of craft beers and seltzers, Plant Pub serves up traditional "bar food," but with a "vegan twist." The burgers, "chicken," pulled "pork," even the queso on the nachos is plant-based. Nothing is made with animal-sourced products of any kind: no meat, seafood, eggs or dairy. The concept is to try and bridge the gap, make plant-based food accessible and attractive to more traditional meat-eaters. We ask Ben Cutler of XR BBQ and Morrell Presley of Morrell's BBQ in Hingham to test the theory. The two hungry carnivores hunker down for Impossible burgers, "chicken" wings, BBQ "chicken" pizza and much more. Their reviews are candid and their questions–and concerns–are genuine. McAuley and Chef Dumont talk through their objections, share their own journeys to a plant-based lifestyle. Dumont is an award-winning chef with an impressive resume. She headed the kitchen at Cultivar in Boston and Harvest in Cambridge for many years. She’s an Iron Chef and Top Chef alum and in 2014 was named Food & Wine’s hottest new Chef. She says her years of experience cooking meat, helped her hone the plant-based foods on the menu to appeal to a broader audience. McAuley also tells the back story behind Plant Pub and how a Covid pivot saved the business.
Nature's Great Escape
Sep 21 2021
Nature's Great Escape
This episode was absolutely selfish. I've been in a really funky space lately. I'm not depressed, but I'm not exactly happy. I'm meh. I feel like I'm in this weird in-between. It doesn't feel like the height of Covid, but it still feels lousy. I'm vaccinated, but my 9-year-old isn't. We're wearing masks again. I worry about the kids having to quarantine or getting Covid. Damn you, Delta (and whatever else is coming!). I was looking forward to a fall and winter of unfettered indoor dining, the movies, museums. I didn't want to worry if I'd get Covid and pass it on to my kids or vulnerable friends or anyone else. I didn't want to worry school could go remote again. I didn't want to worry about traveling to see my mom at Christmas. But I do. Hitting my 50s, Covid, losing my job–has helped me narrow my focus in so many ways. I want a job I love. I want friends I can depend on, who build me up, not tear me down. I want time with my husband and family and I want to spend more time outside. I've always known nature was a healer for me. Some of my best and most peaceful memories are hikes with my mom in the White Mountains or our trip to Alaska or an ill-advised/prepared "trek" on part of the Appalachian Trail. That meal of Wheat Thins and summer sausage, cross-legged on a crest was one of the best I've eaten. So this episode celebrates people who have focused their lives to be outdoors and explores the spots they reccommend to unplug, walk, climb, breathe and be. www.thehinghamcast.com