.png)
The Rest of Us with Dana Tenille Weekes
The Rest of Us podcast explores rest as self-liberation for advocates and professionals who are losing themselves to the demands of work, loved ones, friends, strangers, and this dizzying world. The Rest of Us cultivates a community through honest reflections, conversations, and laughter for people willing to embrace rest differently.
The Rest of Us with Dana Tenille Weekes
Ep 21: Rest in Conversation with Sullivan Summer - Why Rest as Liberation Reaches Far Beyond Self-Care (Part 2 of 2)
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
This episode is Part 2 of Dana Tenille Weekes’ raw and resonant conversation with Sullivan Summer, a poet, essayist, literary critic, and dear friend of Dana's.
Picking up where they left off, Dana and Sullivan's conversation deepens on societal conditioning, particularly how feelings such as guilt can undermine rest as liberation.
Sullivan also holds space for Dana to share the story behind her deep embrace of the question, "Whose mountain am I climbing?" Dana recounts the moment during her year-long journey of rest when she decided to take accountability for her role in her own suffering ... and it involves the phenomenal and beloved poet Patricia Smith.
And before the episode ends, Sullivan asks Dana to focus on her fears.
⭐ About Sullivan Summer
Sullivan Summer is a poet, essayist, and literary critic. Her first poetry chapbook, Performance Anxiety, was published in 2025 through Black Sunflowers Poetry Press.
Sullivan is a host for the New Books Network and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle, as well as the African American Intellectual History Society. Her Substack, Additions to the Archives, is a space for conversation with authors, academics, readers, and thinkers committed to the preservation and expansion of the Black collective archive.
You can find Sullivan's work on her website, sullivansummer.com, on Substack @sullivansummer, and on Instagram @thesullivansummer.
If this episode feels like a message or mirror, feel free to share it with someone who is looking to think about rest differently.
🎙️ Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
⭐ Leave a 5-star review. (We are grateful for you doing so.)
Until next time, rest, my friends.
Connect with Us
Website:
Instagram:
Substack:
LinkedIn: