Depresh Mode with John Moe

In terms of achievement, Gracie Gold had it all: Olympic medal, world championships, beloved celebrity at the pinnacle of an incredibly competitive and difficult field. She even became friends with Taylor Swift. Unfortunately, in terms of mental health problems, she also had it all: eating disorders, body dysmorphia, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, ADHD, and OCD. Despite those challenges, her career required dressing up in glamorous outfits and perfect hair and makeup and going out to skate under the spotlights and be judged. It all got to be too much and Gracie fell apart, finally got treatment, and began a long road to recovery. Gracie has a new book, titled OutOfShapeWorthlessLoser: A Memoir of Figure Skating, F*cking Up, and Figuring It Out.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.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-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on X @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on X @johnmoe. 

The Decemberists have been making memorable, popular, and critically acclaimed music for over twenty years and for that entire time, lead singer and songwriter Colin Meloy has battled the feeling that he’s secretly a fraud. And the more success he’s had with his career, the more he’s been at the head of a large organization upon which people earn their livelihood, the more that feeling grew. Colin hasn’t gone into much detail about this interviews over the years but he does so in this honest and vulnerable conversation that also touches on his long-standing issues with anxiety and the formative challenge of a parent who discouraged him from pursuing the arts as a profession.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.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-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on X @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on X @johnmoe.

Trauma and comedy wouldn’t seem to have a lot in common but they do have one thing: Paul Scheer. You may know Paul from TV shows like the comedy The League or from his podcasts like How Did This Get Made. In this deeply personal, vulnerable, and - yes - funny interview and in his new memoir, Joyful Recollections of Trauma, Paul Scheer recounts tales of the repeated physical and mental abuse he and his mom received from his stepfather. He also recounts how he has learned to process these and other traumatic events, draw strength from them, and become a better and stronger father, husband, and guy.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.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-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on X @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on X @johnmoe. 

Liz Miele has headlined on comedy stages around the world and produced numerous stand-up specials. It’s an impressive career that began at Manhattan open mics when she was 16 years old. We have a wide-ranging conversation with Liz about her recent depressive episode, the panic attacks that have been going on for years including in the middle of her sets, and her family history. Both of Liz’s grandmothers died by suicide before she was born and her home growing up featured a lot of stress, intensity, and some violence. Liz’s latest special, available on YouTube, is titled Murder Sheets.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.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-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on X @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on X @johnmoe. 

Just because someone’s depressed, doesn’t mean they can’t achieve great things. Just because someone can achieve great things, doesn’t mean they aren’t depressed. You may already know these facts, especially if you’ve been listening to our show doe a while, but they bear repeating because they can be easy to forget. Sierra Katow has a new standup special, her first, called Funt (referring to the Fun Aunt she hopes to be) and she joins us to talk about the depression that has been there since she was a kid and which she’s had to work to manage ever since. It’s an honest and very funny conversation.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.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-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on X @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on X @johnmoe.

When you’ve had an HBO comedy special, starred in an off-Broadway show, made a million TV appearances, and headlined comedy clubs all over the country, the next move is not generally to apply to grad school to become a therapist or social worker. But that’s what Chris Gethard found himself doing after his incredibly stressful career hit some hard stumbling blocks and he was faced with the issue of how best to take care of his young family (including himself) and provide things like health insurance. Before he could enroll, Chris got an opportunity to work with a non-profit to build a program promoting mental health through comedy and improv. Chris made radical changes and says he’s in a better place.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.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-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on X @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on X @johnmoe.

Ernesto Londoño, a veteran journalist with the New York Times, was suicidally depressed, living in Brazil, and curious. He had heard from a psychiatrist at a party about the remarkable and barely studied benefits of ayahuasca, a psychedelic herbal brew that has been popular among tribes in South America for a long time. Being a reporter, he wanted to learn more. Being an incredibly depressed person, he wanted to try it. His experience led to a dramatic change in his mental health and an interest in studying psychedelic treatments in many locations and an interest in studying the organizations and individuals who administer them. He writes about all of it in his new book, Trippy:The Peril and Promise of Medicinal Psychedelics.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.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-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on X @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on X @johnmoe.  

Judah & the Lion’s new album, The Process, is divided into five different stages, one for each stage of grief as described by Swiss psychiatrist Elizabeth Kübler-Ross. So there are songs about denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Judah Akers was moved to create the album after a series of incidents in his life, including suicides in his family, the collapse of his marriage, and the development of an unwelcome alcohol habit. We talk with Judah about his recording but also about positive experiences with talk therapy, with neurofeedback therapy, and his relationship with God.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.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-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on X @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on X @johnmoe.

Shannon Shaw was on her way to check out an alternate venue for her upcoming wedding and then to her bachelorette party one August day in 2022 when she got word that Joe Haener, Shannon’s fiancé, had been killed. His pickup had collided with another pickup and he died right outside the fields of his family farm. Shannon joins us to talk about the pain, the loss, the grief.and the joy of knowing and loving Joe in the first place. One of the ways she processed all this was to do what she does best: create music. We hear about all that went into the intensely personal album The Moon Is In The Wrong Place by Shannon & the Clams.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.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-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on X @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on X @johnmoe. 

As a big player in the recording industry, Shanti Das provided a lot of help in bringing artists like Usher, OutKast, and TLC to national audiences. Ultimately, she needed a lot of help herself and left her high profile career behind to work on her own mental health. Shanti went through a dark time in the early to mid-2010s, with the loss of her sister and the death by suicide of her best friend, and she was considering suicide. Then some things went her way, including a chance encounter with a friend at home goods store, some sage advice from Rev. Raphael Warnock, and good therapy. Today, Shanti Das runs Silence the Shame, a nonprofit advocating for mental health.You can read more about Silence the Shame at https://silencetheshame.comThank 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.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-hotlinesThe Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is now available in paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepressionFind the show on X @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.John is on X @johnmoe.