Image: DJ Pinky in the Wellington Access Radio studio. Sunday night melancholia – we all know the feeling. The weekend is over, another week of work and school looms ahead, and you can’t help feeling just a little bit despondent. DJ Pinky has named this emotion the ‘Sunday Sads’ and has turned this weekend depression into a radio show that aims to both counteract and embrace the ennui and loneliness that often comes with the end of the weekend. ‘My inspiration for starting Sunday Sads was needing something productive to do on a Sunday night’, says Pinky. ‘It’s there to help you mourn the end of the weekend and prepare yourself to head into the next one.’ Despite the name, the show is designed to elevate your mental state in a friendly and fun atmosphere. The show structure is a combination of chat and music, with a featured guest each week. These guests are often in the music or art scene and Pinky asks them to pick three sad songs to add to the playlist – known on the show as ‘Sangers’, aka ‘Sad Bangers’. There are also a number of regular segments, such as Community Bulletin, which rounds up the viral posts from local Facebook community pages, and Curiosity Corner, where Pinky shares her hastily compiled research about something she’s been recently pondering. Sunday Sads started its life on Rotten Radio in Lyttleton, moving to Wellington Access Radio when Pinky came back to the capital less than a year ago. ‘I’m really keen to make it more interactive. I already have a few loyal listeners who text in during the show but I’d love to get more running feedback from the community to make it feel more like a cosy shared Sunday ritual. Once I get confident with the phone-in feature who knows what could happen!’ Pinky says that the Sunday Sads are nothing to be scared of. ‘I’m interested in changing the narrative around sadness and people’s tendency to try and push it away or hide from it. I think sadness is an emotion like any other that needs to be felt and embraced for what it is. There’s a reason that so many sad songs exist!’ You can embrace the Sundays Sads with DJ Pinky on Sunday nights from 6-7pm on Wellington Access Radio, or join the livestream via @djpinky_ on Instagram.