Depresh Mode with John Moe

The things that happened when you were young, especially the really painful things, can easily and often carry into adulthood. For documentarian, former high-powered executive, and actual Mister Rogers neighbor Benjamin Wagner, an adult life of terrible stress and substance use issues wasn’t really going to be solved until he understood more about the ripple effects of his parents’ divorce and a severe assault that occurred at an early age. To learn more about that connection and similar issues that other people face all the time, Benjamin teamed up with his brother Christopher to create Friends and Neighbors, a documentary now available on PBS, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime. In this conversation, we dig into the trauma, the effects, and how to figure out how you got to where you are and where you’re headed. 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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

You have to eat. We know this. But when depression is flaring, it’s really hard to even get to the kitchen, let alone make something tasty and good for you. Don’t worry. Our Depresh Meals episode has expert ideas for just that situation from Food & Wine’s Kat Kinsman and The Sporkful podcast host Dan Pashman. To hear the full episode, become a member of Maximum Fun for as little as $5 a month. You get access to all the bonus content by all Max Fun shows ever! maximumfun.org/join 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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines   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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

You have to call your friends once in a while and see how they’re doing, especially if they’re undergoing big changes and their city has been rocked with upheaval. Twin Cities-based actor and writer Bill Corbett will always be associated with Crow T. Robot, the wisecracking robotic commentator on bad films on Mystery Science Theater 3000. It’s a part he played for many years and a part he’ll be playing all over again as MST3K is in the process of a reuniting or sort of merger with Rifftrax, the comedy troupe he formed with Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy. He and fellow Minnesotan/host John Moe share thoughts on the ICE surge and the heartening coming together of community that grew out of it. ALSO! It’s the final week of the annual Max Fun Drive, where we offer you all manners of bonus content and thank you gifts for your support of our show. Check out our member-only episode with Neko Case and Gavin Rossdale! Pick up a snazzy keychain or beach bag! Visit maximumfun.org/join or, if you want a shortcut to a $5 a month level, maximumfun.org/joindepresh. 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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

Hi, everyone, John Moe here. “Can I read you what Sunny just posted on Facebook?” asked my wife, Jill. I figured it was something about Tom Petty or her dogs but it was, in fact, a very funny and skillful micro-essay on why she listens to Depresh Mode and why, after years of listening, she became a member. Her argument was one that I would never dare make but enjoyed: if you’re not paying, it’s theft. I passed her post around to Max Fun folks and they got excited. When creative people get excited, they BUILD stuff. Actor Helen Hong, co-host of Max Fun’s Go Fact Yourself, performed a dramatic reading of Sunny’s words in a beautiful/hilarious video by Max Fun’s Laura Swisher. So in this mini-sode, we have the audio of Helen’s reading and an interview with new celebrity Sunny Kase. Please visit maximumfun.org/join to become a member of Depresh Mode and Maximum Fun or just swing by maximumfun.org/joindepresh for a $5/month express lane. And please enjoy the video of Helen’s performance! 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

It's MaxFunDrive. And here, for the first time, we give you an exclusive look (well, listen) at the craft of podcasting: presenting Casters on Casters. In this episode, John Moe (Sleeping with Celebrities & Depresh Mode with John Moe) talks about his double life, as a person who speaks in a normal voice, and the host he becomes for Sleeping with Celebrities. And Brenda Snell (Secret Histories of Nerd Mysteries) tells us about what she's learned from her listeners, including what actor/basketball star Shaquille O'Neal is like in real life. If this glamorous, in-depth journey into what makes your favorite hosts tick inspires you, support them by joining as a member at maximumfun.org/join. Produced by Jesus Ambrosio for Maximum Fun. 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

When our host, John Moe, started doing podcasts about mental health ten years ago, one of his first guests was his friend Andy Richter. Andy, who you know from various Conan shows and tons of other TV shows and movies, talked about having his depression pretty well managed at the time. Since then, his marriage ended in divorce and the Conan show on television ended as well. He returns to talk about the odd experience of dating after 27 years off the market, the joy of remarrying, and the unexpected, unironic, exhilaration of competing on Dancing with the Stars, where he became a fan favorite, lasting deep into the contest. He also talks about how his life has been a little different since that first appearance ten years ago as he became a vocal advocate for mental health awareness. ALSO! It’s the final week of the annual Max Fun Drive, where we offer you all manner of bonus content and thank you gifts for your support of our show. Check out our member-only episode with Neko Case and Gavin Rossdale! Pick up a snazzy keychain or beach bag! Visit maximumfun.org/join or, if you want a shortcut to a $5 a month level, maximumfun.org/joindepresh. 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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

We’re delighted to welcome the actor, writer, web celebrity (celwebrity?) Felicia Day back to the program as part of our ongoing effort to reach out to friends and just ask how they’re doing. You might know her from The Guild, the web series she created, or from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Mystery Science Theater 3000. Felicia has a new graphic novel, Lost Daughter of Sparta, and says she always does a little better when she can break out of the Hollywood idea of how she should be used and steer toward the person she would rather be, making the things she wants to make. It’s a warm, friendly conversation with a delightful guest. OH AND ALSO HEY: The annual Max Fun Drive has begun, which means you can hear extra special BONUS CONTENT like our all-new All-Star Sad Songs That Make You Feel Better, featuring Neko Case, Gavin Rossdale, and more. Plus delightful thank you gifts and the warm feeling of making shows like ours possible. 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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

There is actual science that says listening to sad songs - about heartache, heartbreak, grief, worry, whatever it is - can make you feel better. The brain seeks that kind of stuff out and you feel less alone, more understood. It’s a paradox but there it is. We asked some friends of the show what worked for them and you’ll hear from Neko Case, Gavin Rossdale, Rhett Miller, Open Mike Eagle, Emma Swift, Jeremy Messersmith, Niko Stratis, Craig Jenkins, Ted Leo, and Josh Ritter. It all makes for a very moving playlist available exclusively to Max Fun members. 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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines   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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

When Jimmy Pardo joined us for a hilarious and revealing interview, he had just conducted a Never Not Funny anniversary show that exceeded nine hours in length. Not all that shocking if you’ve been listening to the show, which routinely exceeds two hours of jokes, interviews, and rapid-fire conversation. All those years of talking (and Jimmy talks fast) have meant a lot of self-reflection on a life that has had some ups and downs in terms of mental health. He tells us about the foundational jolt of his parents’ divorce when he was young, the development of depression and anxiety in the aftermath, and how a life in standup comedy made it pretty easy to fall into a substance use disorder. He also talks about the work he did to try to live up to the person he wanted to be. OH AND ALSO HEY: The annual Max Fun Drive has begun, which means you can hear extra special BONUS CONTENT like our all-new All-Star Sad Songs That Make You Feel Better, featuring Neko Case, Gavin Rossdale, and more. Plus delightful thank you gifts and the warm feeling of making shows like ours possible.   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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

Today, I want to share an episode from a podcast I think you’ll enjoy called Proxy. It’s hosted by Yowei Shaw, who you might know from the NPR show Invisibilia. After getting laid off in 2023, she found herself stuck with a question she couldn’t shake: why did she feel so ashamed… like it was her fault… even when she knew it wasn’t?   The question became the seed of her new show. Proxy is built on a simple idea: no one is ever completely alone with their problem. Because somewhere out there is someone who’s lived something close enough to help you feel a little less stuck. In today’s episode, Yowei talks with a pair of bandmates and best friends… who can’t figure out why they haven’t been able to finish their record for years. It’s a story about friendship, loyalty, and the quiet heartbreak of letting go of something that once held you together. Follow Proxy here: https://www.proxypodcast.com/ 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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

Covid was already rough for the very funny and personable Annabelle Gurwitch, as it was for everyone, and that was before her car broke down on an LA freeway just as she was getting a call with a terminal cancer diagnosis. Stage four. Annabelle has dealt with anxiety and depression for a long time and the cancer news certainly didn’t help, especially as Annabelle found strong connections between mental and physical health, culminating, perhaps, in Annabelle crab-walking down the sidewalk. It’s all detailed in her new memoir, The End of My Life Is Killing Me: The Unexpected Joys of a Cancer Slacker, in which she tells of going on medications that have worked for years, but which she knows will eventually stop working. And eventually, as with us all, she will die. For now, she’s alive and here to talk, enlighten, and share more than a few laughs.  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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

At age 24, Eric Zimmer was in rough shape. He was addicted to heroin, weighed maybe a hundred pounds, and was facing the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence. So he gave rehab another try and he had some success and started getting his life back together, diving into just about any book or teaching he could find that could help him get healthy and stay healthy. This led to conversations, the podcast The One You Feed, a career as a personal coach, and his new book, How a Little Becomes a Lot. Eric explains his philosophy of taking small actions toward better mental and physical health, concentrating on what can be achieved and repeated, and choosing actions that gradually move you toward where and who you want to be. He offers advice on how to determine those actions and how to stick with them. It’s not a long jump, it’s a series of small, manageable, and repeatable steps. 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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

We are proud to present a very special episode of In This Family as a bonus for Depresh Mode with John Moe listeners. In This Family is produced by John Moe in conjunction with Nexus Family Healing and it’s about the connection between family and mental health. It’s a fascinating and moving look at the Hmong culture, their relocation to the United States, and the generational trauma that has been activated by recent events involving ICE. It’s a story you haven’t heard told by a member of community you might not have heard much about. Newspaper columnist and community business leader Ka Vang was born on a CIA base in Thailand 50 years ago. She remembers eating from the garbage when there was no food to be had, witnessing rape and murder, and fleeing with her family to the United States after the Vietnam War and the Secret War. Ka is Hmong-American, part of a large community of people who aided the American effort and were relocated, largely to Minnesota. The trauma of the war and displacement had severe mental health effects on Ka’s family, including depression, anxiety, and hyper-vigilance. Today, the Twin Cities region is seeing tremendous upheaval due to the ICE surge, which has seen thousands of people arrested, sent to detention facilities, and deported, even people who have a legal right to be in the United States. Ka says Hmong people who lived through the war in Asia are terrified and having flashbacks. Their children, having had trauma handed down, are rehearsing best practices for staying safe. And as for Ka, she doesn’t feel like an American amid the ICE presence and feels more a matter of when rather than if she’ll get taken. 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

When Emily’s twin, Amelia, ended up in the hospital twice, she knew that stress wasn’t something to be dismissed as “all in your head”. First of all, the head is connected to the body (by the neck), so stress is a physical issue that you can feel and be hurt by in all sorts of ways. Too much stress, at work, at home, in life, and you can run up against a real burnout situation. And it can wreak havoc on you mental health and physical health. The Nagoski twins are the authors of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle and Emily joins us to talk about how our stress response instincts aren’t that different than a zebra’s when faced with a lion. The difference? A zebra knows how to complete a stress cycle and return to normal, whereas we’re likely to hold on to work worries, relationship concerns, or other stresses around the clock, pursued by the lion constantly. Emily has advice on how to complete those cycles, get to a better place, and fight burnout. A big part of that is what she calls “bubbles of love”. Not a sex thing. 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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

The patients in the therapy sessions in the new film GROUP: The Schopenhauer Effect are actors, but it’s not a scripted film. The actors were given characters and circumstances and then they improvised dialogue with each other and with the group leader, who is also acting. Kind of. Dr. Elliott Zeisel is one of the most important figures in group therapy in America since the 1970s. With all that knowledge and experience powering him along, he also improvised his dialogue, based on what he was being said. The result is a remarkably honest and moving portrayal of group therapy. We talk with Dr. Zeisel about the film and about how group therapy works, what to expect, who’s a good candidate for it, and which myths need to be dispelled. Trailer: GROUP: The Schopenhauer Effect 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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines   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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

Although he has a huge following on social media now, Jonathan Edward Durham’s life as a writer used to be a lot more low tech. It involved locking himself in a room in Los Angeles, pounding away on screenplays that almost no one ever read, sucking back smokes and liquor, barely sleeping, and finding himself to actually be pretty miserable. He did manage to write and self-publish a novel, Winterset Hollow, that found an audience, which led to getting online to promote it. He started to write more online, finding an audience, effectively keeping a journal to understand himself and the challenges he was facing in his life and in his mental health. Jonathan left Los Angeles, met a guy and got married, and came to a much better understanding of problems he had been dealing with his whole life. The second edition of Winterset Hollow comes out this fall and Jonathan is at work on a new book now. We also hear from John Moe about getting mad, starting MADD, and how to interview the anger that you’re feeling to see what injustice it’s alerting you to. Of note, we kept seeing Jonathan’s short writing come up in our Preshies group on Facebook so much that we eventually had to book the guy. Thanks, Preshies, you are all now associate producers. 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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

You might remember Alexandra Paul as one of the stars of Baywatch or the Tom Hanks-Dan Aykroyd Dragnet film. You may not have realized that as a child and on to her long trip through the worlds of modeling and Hollywood, she was bingeing and purging and dealing with severe eating disorders. She tells us about her relationship with sugar and what food meant emotionally. Then we’re joined by Dr. Cynthia Bulik, one of the top experts on eating disorders in the world today, to talk about remarkable progress in understanding the genetic components of eating disorders. Rather than blame family (especially mothers), peer pressure, or fashion culture, Dr. Bulik says some people are much more prone to developing eating disorders due to the genes they happened to get. You can be part of her research by visiting EDGI2.org. 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: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines   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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

Dating apps and websites are booming right now as people look for ways to leverage to find love or even just companionship. Liesel Sharabi of Arizona State University compiled a meta-analysis of a huge number of studies about the connection between online dating and mental health and the results? Kind of bad news. People who use the apps compulsively, swiping all day long, are much more likely to be depressed and anxious. But were they depressed because they used the apps or did the use the apps because they were depressed? We’ll get into that, plus the terrifying imminent AI dating revolution.Then we talk to Dr. Sarah Jerstad, the Clinical Director of Psychological Services at Children’s Minnesota about what kids are going through amid the ICE presence, what the short and long term effects of this activity have been and will be, and how parents and other adults can best help them.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-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh

Niko Stratis knew a couple of things growing up in the Yukon in Canada: that she was, in truth, a woman, despite being regarded by the world as male, and that being trans or different in any way was absolutely not okay. It wasn’t just a matter of identity, it was a matter of safety too, as she worked with guys who vowed that if their child was gay or trans, they would kill that child. Niko discovered some other things, too: the trade of industrial glassworking, the numbing effects of the alcohol she became addicted to, and the redemptive power of music. Niko Stratis’s book, The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman, is a memoir and a playlist, tracing the inspiration of songs loosely tagged as dad rock as Niko battles setbacks and depression and suicidality, lives all over Canada, and finally makes the big, nothing-to-lose move of coming out as a trans. She tells her story and what was behind choosing a name that feels wonderful to say loud and openly.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-TALKCrisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines 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): https://maximumfun.org/joindepresh