Episodi

  • Wide Girls of Lothian
    Jul 29 2026

    A few years ago I felt pulled to start writing songs about my teenage years. I have always been nostalgic for that time but something about the last few years, COVID and other events, made me yearn even more to return to where we cannot go. I ended up creating an EP, Day Dreamer, that allowed me to explore my formative years and pay homage to my best friends, the places we grew up in, and the experiences that shaped us.

    Nothing Ever Happens Here is the first song on the EP, capturing the spirit of teenage restlessness and setting the sonic foundation for the rest of the record; a strange kind of love letter to growing up in the middle of nowhere.

    ✨

    Thank you for listening. If you’d like to support me to continue making music, podcasts, and everything else I do, you can buy me a kofi <3



    Get full access to Ashley Valensteïn at ashleyvalenstein.substack.com/subscribe
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    15 min
  • Why I write
    Mar 1 2026

    When I was 23 I read Patti Smith's memoir, Just Kids. Her evocative writing pulled me in, but it was a shared childhood experience that tethered me to her forever.

    ✨Thank you for listening 🙏🏻



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    9 min
  • Adult Diagnosis
    May 14 2025

    In 2019 I went to see a psychiatrist to discuss my OCD, and I walked away with a diagnosis for the last thing in the world that I thought I had; ADHD.

    One for all the late diagnosis girlies. I see you <3

    Support the show

    ✨

    Thank you for listening 🙏🏻

    If you enjoy the podcast and want to support my work, you can:

    💜 Connect with me on Insta and let me know what you think of the show
    💜 Become a subscriber
    💜 Listen to my music



    Get full access to Waking Hours at wakinghours.substack.com/subscribe

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    24 min
  • Fighting My Winter
    Mar 16 2025

    What is your current relationship with your creative process?

    "I'm terrified it will leave me. I don't know how to make it grow. I'm desperate to make music my career, but I also want to remain true to my art. I'm supposed to be wintering; gathering spells and letters, trinkets and treasure, bathing in monnlight and song...soaking it in, art... but frustration and desperation are getting in the way. Forever keeping me urgent.

    I am fighting my winter."

    Support the show

    Support the show

    ✨

    Thank you for listening 🙏🏻

    If you enjoy the podcast and want to support my work, you can:

    💜 Connect with me on Insta and let me know what you think of the show
    💜 Become a subscriber
    💜 Listen to my music



    Get full access to Waking Hours at wakinghours.substack.com/subscribe

    Get full access to Ashley Valensteïn at ashleyvalenstein.substack.com/subscribe
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    22 min
  • My 35th Year
    Nov 24 2024

    In this moment, are you letting yourself be lead by fear, or by love?

    I was supposed to release an album this month, on my birthday, November 14th. I wasn't ready, but after a year of family health scares I let the burden of comparison and the fear of time slipping away push me to try.

    It all fell apart of course, being lead by fear never turns out well. When I realised I had to cancel the album launch, I was forced to reflect on how I had got to this point. Why did I feel so desperate to put out this body of work? Why did I insist on pushing myself to complete an impossible task?

    Birthdays can do funny things to the mind. I keep telling myself that ageing is a privildge, but I'm not sure I can hear it.

    Support the show

    ✨

    Thank you for listening 🙏🏻

    If you enjoy the podcast and want to support my work, you can:

    💜 Connect with me on Insta and let me know what you think of the show
    💜 Become a subscriber
    💜 Listen to my music



    Get full access to Waking Hours at wakinghours.substack.com/subscribe

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    15 min
  • I Wanna Make It
    Jun 30 2024

    On my 18th birthday, my parents gave me a black terracotta jar adorned with red and white love hearts. It came with a small piece of paper upon which I was supposed to write a wish, a hope, a dream.

    Once you have filled the jar with money, you smash it and voila, your wish has come true. My wish, hope, dream?

    I wanna make it.

    I've had that jar for almost 18 years. Did I make it?

    Support the show

    ✨

    Thank you for listening 🙏🏻

    If you enjoy the podcast and want to support my work, you can:

    💜 Connect with me on Insta and let me know what you think of the show
    💜 Become a subscriber
    💜 Listen to my music



    Get full access to Waking Hours at wakinghours.substack.com/subscribe

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    21 min
  • Hold Me Now (actually don't though)
    Jun 16 2024

    How can I hold this for you
    If I can't hold you?


    Like a lot of people with sensory issues, I struggle with physical contact. I don't want anyone to touch me, but I feel so left out and alone when I see others doing it. Teenage girls walking down the street arm in arm, friends casually leaning on one another, toddlers being carried by their parents.

    So, when a public speaking workshop turned out to be a highly physical affair, I was pushed to consider why I am so averse to being touched, being held, by others.

    Support the show

    ✨

    Thank you for listening 🙏🏻

    If you enjoy the podcast and want to support my work, you can:

    💜 Connect with me on Insta and let me know what you think of the show
    💜 Become a subscriber
    💜 Listen to my music



    Get full access to Waking Hours at wakinghours.substack.com/subscribe

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    38 min
  • Supermarket Blues
    Jun 1 2024

    Ticking all off my problems off of the shopping list

    They’re all out of hope but I don’t even know if I need it

    Yeah, I’m, oh,

    Forgot myself better go back for it

    Why do I spend so much time in the supermarket? What do I get out of wandering through the aisles, buying ugly decor and kitchen tat, blankets, and cheapy candles.

    Consumerism or post-pandemic mental health coping strategy? Perhaps it's both. Let's find out.

    Support the show

    ✨

    Thank you for listening 🙏🏻

    If you enjoy the podcast and want to support my work, you can:

    💜 Connect with me on Insta and let me know what you think of the show
    💜 Become a subscriber
    💜 Listen to my music



    Get full access to Waking Hours at wakinghours.substack.com/subscribe

    Get full access to Ashley Valensteïn at ashleyvalenstein.substack.com/subscribe
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    23 min