Educate, Speak, Act: https://blacklivesmatter.com 

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On this week's episode, we spoke to the wonderful Dominic Penna over a lovely coffee on a Sunday afternoon pre-lockdown. Dom is an Editorial Graduate at the Telegraph, fellow and previous Sheffield student alongside Becki and an all round wonderful person. To name a few, we discussed topics such as mental health in the media, finding great stories and relocating for work, plus much more. 

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Our guest this week is Dominic Penna; journalist, mental health activist and brilliant storyteller. Studying at the University of Sheffield in International Relations and Politics, Dom decided to continue his learning and dive into a masters degree in Journalism. During university and beyond, Dom accumulated a breadth of experiences in journalism and discusses how important it is to be inquisitive, ask connections and grab any experience you can. As a result, Dom managed to garner internships and roles at The Tab, The Times, The Guardian, RightsInfo and finally moving to London to work as an Editorial Graduate at The Independent. Alongside volunteering for the (somewhat famous) Tab Sheffield, Dom is an astounding advocate and campaigner for mental health; operating as Sheffield SU's Mental Health Matters Society as Web and Publicity Officer. Dom highlights the mental health issues that exist in the media and journalism. In continuation, Dom reflects nothing but wonderful, open and authentic stories in his journalism and uses social media, especially Twitter, to engage with trends and core topics in society. As someone who feels that the person is the centre of journalism, Dom discusses how he has fallen in love with bringing out others' stories and providing a trusted news source for readers and consumers. Having said this, we discussed with Dom about the issues surrounding 'trusted' news and how social media plays a part in this - creating reactive mindsets. With graduates, this manifests as a reason to create unhealthy comparisons and to often be exposed to things that are product not process, and Dom breaks down how to manage this and being proud of what you achieve mindfully. We absolutely loved speaking to Dom, and he even featured in Part 2 of our Takeover 'How to Grad Life by the Horns in the World Today' (episode 17). Although this was recorded before coronavirus restrictions came in, Dom bring great insight into news, social media and society which resonates with all things current. 

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Grad Life by the Horns is a podcast covering every element of graduate life. From the existential dread that accompanies the last few months of university, to entering the post-education world jobless and £30,000 in debt, this fortnightly show is dedicated to helping and celebrating those navigating the 'graduate wasteland'.

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Social Media:

Co-host: Becki Hills @beckihills

Co-host: Sophie Scully @sophsculz

Instagram: @gradlifebythehorns

Twitter: @gradlifebth

Guest: Dominic Penna @pennadominic

Artwork: Livi Arnold @livcreatively_

Producer: Pulama Kaufman @pulam.a

Music composer: Julian Schoming @brotherjuju

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Want to get in touch? Email us here: [email protected]