Race and Mental Health Representation in Picard Season 2

In this episode of TrekWars@OSU, Joseph Orosco, co director of the Anarres Project for Alternative Futures, and Dr. Jason Scully (Urban and Regional Planning, Eastern Washington University) discuss the ways in which race and mental health are represented in Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard.  They talk about how the show depicts Black and Latinx characters through the story arcs of Raffi and Rios and in particular, the way mental health crises are represented in the story of Picard's mother.  Would the Federation ever allow mental health issues to go unaddressed in the way the Season illustrates, or is the story really a representation of the way in which we, the audience, have to manage mental issue issues in a society that fails to create adequate support services for people in crisis? 

CW:  In addition to spoilers for Season 2, this episode also involves discussion of mental health crises and suicide.

Track: Sphere — KV [Audio Library Release] Music provided by Audio Library Plus Watch: https://youtu.be/ysnjlSicPVEFree Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/sphere––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––