103. The Break Down: Saudi Arabia, Hopelessness & Activism

103. The Break Down: Saudi Arabia, Hopelessness & Activism

From Things Musicians Don't Talk About by Hattie Butterworth & Rebecca Toal

October 17, 2025 · 57 min

About this episode

The episode discusses activism, mental health, and a collaboration between The Met and Saudi Arabia.

Welcome to our rebranded 'chatty episodes' - now, with middling irony and an exaggerated sense of self-awareness, called The Break Down. Hattie brings our Classical Strife newsletter segment to the podcast, we chat about The Met x Saudi Arabia's hot new #collab, we dis/agree on activism, and come to the usual conclusion that mental health is difficult. Like, subscribe, review (if it's nice), and share with both friends and enemies. Watch this episode on Youtube here. ------------------------------------------------------------- A big thank you to our sponsors for this episode, ABRSM . Check out their new woodwind syllabus here . ------------------------------------------------------------- Things Musicians Don't Talk About is supported by the  Royal Society of Musicians ! Follow RSM on  Instagram ,  X  and  Facebook . ------------------------------------------------------------- Support TMDTA Want to support us on a regular basis? Consider joining our Patreon from £1 a month:  https://www.patreon.com/tmdta Feeling generous? Help us raise funds for the podcast:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/v9jgf-things-musicians-dont-talk-about Find TMDTA on all…

People in this episode

Hosts: Hattie Butterworth, Rebecca Toal

Topics covered

  • activism
  • mental health
  • Saudi Arabia
  • collaboration
  • music industry

Keywords

  • activism
  • mental health
  • Saudi Arabia
  • music collaboration
  • Classical Strife

Sponsors

ABRSM

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Royal Society of Musicians

Books & works: Classical Strife

Places: Saudi Arabia

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