Back by popular demand Paul does a listener-survey-only episode. From bleak and dark to touching and funny, listeners share their best and worst moments in vulnerable detail. Plus two servings of Spam.
Comedian and writer DeAnne Smith shares their story of dealing with gender identity, sexuality, and anxiety. Look for their stand-up featured in Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda on Netflix.
Dr. Heather Sandison is a naturopathic doctor focused on dementia care. She is the founder of Solcere Health Clinic, San Diego’s premier brain optimization clinic. She shares her research with Paul and provides hope for dementia prevention and care through lifestyle changes you can make right now. Watch for her new book, Reversing Alzheimer’s: The New Toolkit to Improve Cognition and Protect Brain Health.
Sierra Katow is a comedian, writer, and actress (The Sex Lives of College Girls). She shares her journey to becoming a comedian, dealing with depression, and how she survived Harvard. Be sure to check out her debut stand-up special, Funt, streaming online.
Bruce W. Brackett (@BWB.Positivity) is an author and artist who, along with his sisters, was taken away from his mother and put into foster care when he was a child. He shares his story of his early childhood pain, his addiction, and the surprising love that he found in his foster parents and his life as a theater kid. Look for his new book How To Breathe While Suffocating: A Story of Overcoming Addiction, Recovering From Trauma, and Healing my Soul.
Dr Samuel Wilkinson is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and the Associate Director of the Depression Research Program at Yale University. Much of his research has involved the use of ketamine and other psychedelic therapies as well as the power of purpose and altruism in mental health care.
Johnny Crowder (@JohnnyCrowderLovesYou) is the lead singer of a death metal band and a suicide survivor who shares his story, which includes battles with schizophrenia and depression and how he spreads care for humankind through his music. Check out his TED Talk “Why I don’t want to die anymore”.
Valerie is one of Paul’s friends from his support group. She shares stories from her childhood in Rome, which included a philandering and deceptive father. She also digs deep into her own relationship patterns and how she’s trying to break them.
Dr. Arash Javanbakht @Arash_Javanbakht is a psychiatrist and serves as the director of the Stress, Trauma, and Anxiety Research Clinic (STARC) at Wayne State School of Medicine. He shares his work studying PTSD and other trauma, in particular the wild success that has been achieved via Augmented reality tech treatments. Check out his book Afraid: Understanding the Purpose of Fear and Harnessing the Power of Anxiety