Author, artist, and entrepreneur Connor Franta @ConnorFranta sits down with Paul and talks about growing up in a small town, becoming internet famous, and coming out to his mother–along with the rest of the world. Be sure to check out his newest book House Fires.
Paul’s friend from his support group, Alycia Schlesinger, shares her experience with an anomalous psychosis and how she’s made sense of her trauma by helping to heal others.
Artist, teacher, and Ultimate Frisbee Champion Michael Namkung @MichaelNamkung reflects on what it means to love, to find your own voice, and to work through the pain of your past with art. Be sure to Check out his meditation podcast Raking Light.
This episode with @DaveHolmes was voted a listener favorite in 2012. Some people know Dave from MTV’s Wanna Be a VJ contest, where he was runner-up, his podcast Homophilia or his work in Esquire, but few know his calm exterior often masks panic and anxiety. He and Paul bond over being raised Irish Catholic, hosting interstitial t.v. shows and other similarities. Dave talks about the minefield of coming out to a family with mixed views on gays, his oddly easy time with it in high school and difficult time in college. Paul reads survey responses related to the LGBT community, highlighting where America is at in seeing them as equals and how it makes them feel.
Originally aired in 2012 and voted a listener favorite, @anyLaurie16, The NY Times Bestselling author (of Shitty Mom, and Dead People Suck), tv writer (Conan), standup (finalist on Last Comic Standing) and single Mom talks to Paul about the painful event that derailed her swimming aspirations and defined much of her late teens and twenties, before she eventually sought help. They talk about EMDR (Eye Movement De-Sensitization and Reprocessing) and the difficulty in having a trauma that we’re afraid isn’t valid enough.
Voted a listener favorite when it aired in 2012, the comedian, writer and podcaster (The Dollop) talks about being neglected as a child, his self-sabotaging and the out of control anger that almost destroyed his life.
Voted as the listener’s favorite from the second year of our podcast (2012), Dr. Jessica Zucker graces the show as our first mental health expert and she does not disappoint. We learn helpful tips in finding the right therapist, the benefits of it, and common pitfalls. We discuss her upcoming book about porn stars and what sex means to them. We talk about a listener’s harrowing experience with postpartum depression. And finally, Dr. Zucker lends a gentle hand in helping Paul to confront the most painful truth in his life; the lifelong patterns of abuse by his mentally unstable mother. They discuss sexual abuse of boys by female babysitters. Dr. Zucker is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in women’s health, with a focus on reproductive and maternal mental health.
People may know Eddie (@EddiePepitone, @EddiePep), from Old School, Bitter Buddha and his hilarious standup special In Ruins. Paul knows Eddie as a friend and fellow performer able to talk about the darkness he grew up with and the crippling angst that still bothers him. Originally aired in 2011.
Twin sisters and hosts of the Bipolar Bicoastal Podcast Anna & Maria Duke (@rhymeswithanna and @themariaduke) talk about childhood and how they each discovered–a year apart–that they are bipolar. They share what the experience as both the diagnosed and the supportive sister are like.