Joshua Roman on Long Covid, Cello, Charging Hard, and Brick Walls

Covid hit everybody, either personally or as members of society, and our mental health was damaged. It was trauma and it largely hasn’t been processed. When Joshua Roman became the principal cellist at the prestigious Seattle Symphony at age 22, it wasn’t really a surprise. As he explains, he had been training since the age of 3, desperate to get better, intent on overtaking Yo-Yo Ma and Pablo Casals. He didn’t just run for fun, he targeted a sub-six minute mile. After Seattle, Joshua was a world traveling soloist with no fixed address and yet more striving. Then the pandemic hit and his covid became long covid, taking his energy and, often, his ability to even read a sentence much less sheet music. Joshua tells us about the life change that occurred as a result, his careful parceling out of his remaining energy, and the more focused and content he lives after the brick wall collision. Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun . Check out our I’m Glad You’re Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com ! Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org . Depresh Mode is on BlueSky , Instagram , Substack , and you can join our Preshies Facebook group . Help is available right away. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALK Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741. International suicide hotline numbers available here: Thanks to everyone who participated in this year's MaxFunDrive! Still want to get in on the action? Follow this link to support this show (and get in on our limited-time keychain sale to benefit the Center for Constitutional Rights):

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Joshua Roman on Long Covid, Cello, Charging Hard, and Brick Walls is an episode from Depresh Mode with John Moe by Maximum Fun.

This episode is 01:01:18 long.

This episode was published on Apr 13, 2026.

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