Depresh Mode with John Moe

It's the Max Fun Drive and we are so glad to have your support! In this special mini-episode, host John Moe talks about how important you are to the show we make and the work we do. Hear about the events that led to John's deeper understanding of how exactly mental health works and why mutual support matters so very much. Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Ma...

This special network wide event is a celebration of The MaxFunDrive! If you’d like to support podcasts you love for just $5 a month and get bonus gifts in the process, go to maximumfun.org/join .  We’re kicking off the most exciting time of the year for the MaxFun Network with a trivia game show featuring hosts from tons of great podcasts. J. Keith van Straaten and Helen Hong from “ Go Fact Yourse...

Our 2021 interview with Joel Kim Booster was easily one of our most talked about episodes we’ve ever made. Joel was deeply depressed at the time of the interview and was brutally honest about it, sharing his belief that his creativity was dead forever and that this was just who he was now, forever. A lot of people expressed great concern for Joel and his mental health and well being when that epis...

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,...

Kari Faux is an acclaimed rapper originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, which is a place she returned to after several years of not loving life in Los Angeles. She later judged her situation and decided things would be better living in Houston so she moved there. These decisions are examples of the thoughtful approach she takes to a lot of issues in her life, including how to deal with a family me...

It was 2003 and Paul Gilmartin, one time host of TV’s Dinner and a Movie , was presented with an ultimatum by his psychiatrist: either do something to address your alcohol and drug addiction or I can’t really work with you anymore. Besides substance use issues, Paul had been dealing with intense suicidal ideation, major depressive disorder and the trauma of an alcoholic father and a mother engaged...

The issue of money is packed with shame, anxiety, and a lot of psychological mess that you might have to unpack in order to get to a comfortable place. Fortunately, there’s therapy for that. Celia Roberts Hughes is a Nashville, Tennessee professional financial therapist, merging the overlapping world of personal psychology and money to try to strike some peace and harmony between the two. Celia sa...

During a decades long career in the United States Army, Gregg Martin just kept on succeeding. Star cadet at West Point, getting promoted up to two-start General, earning PhD degrees along the way, and receiving glowing evaluations all the while for his boundless energy and enthusiasm. He now knows that he was operating under a condition called hyperthymia, being in a constant state of near mania....

The numbers are daunting. 60% of college students meet the criteria for a mental health disorder. 44% report depression symptoms, 37% for anxiety, and 15% in a recent survey were considering suicide. Dr. Jessi Gold, Chief Wellness Officer for the University of Tennessee System, says these bleak figures come at a time when there is more awareness and openness about mental health than ever before, e...

There is a lot to grieve in the world right now. We can look to the horrific events in the Middle East. We can look to other hot spots around the world where there is no shortage of death and suffering. We can look closer to home at the pandemic that took over a million American lives. Do we take it on with full deep empathy? Do we get overwhelmed by the magnitude and tune out entirely? Megan Devi...

Devendra Banhart thinks it would be easier if the nagging, negative, self-critical voice he keeps hearing in his mind was actually angry, actually yelled at him. Then he could dismiss it easier. As it is, the voice is gentle and calm, telling Devendra that he sucks and always will, which makes it more persuasive and harder to shake off. In this far-ranging interview, Devendra talks about that voic...

If you’ve ever been in a therapist’s office, you may have had the thought, “What if it was me sitting in that other chair? What if I was the therapist?” And then you might have wondered what that would actually involve and what it would feel like to be that other person with the sympathetic expression. Well, we’ve wondered that too and we decided to do something about it. We called up Lori Gottlie...

Introverts around the world celebrated, quietly, when Susan Cain’s book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, became a #1 best-seller back in 2012. Her next book, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, also went to #1. Now Cain is back with an audio series, A Quiet Life in Seven Steps, about how to reach a quieter mindset. In this interview, we talk throug...

Samantha Irby has visualized a lot of scenarios that get more than a little unnerving. The driver behind her gets so impatient with her driving that he runs her off the road, drags her out of her car, and then beats the crap out of her. In another imagining, she’s at an author event and someone has gone to the trouble of buying a ticket just to run up on stage and yell obscenities at her. I mean,...

You don’t have to listen all that deeply into the song catalog of singer-songwriter Noah Kahan to hear mention of mental health themes. It’s an important topic for Noah in his own life, which has involved struggles with depression, anxiety, and body dysmorphia. And because mental health is important in Noah’s life, it shows up a lot in his intensely personal, vulnerable, and revealing music. Growi...

When we went looking for information on the condition known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, one of the first things we noticed was that some people aren’t even calling it that anymore. The website for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), for instance, uses the term “major depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern”, which means an acronym of MDDWASP. Here at Depresh Mode, we’re...

There is no shortage of sad music in the world. Just reference most love songs, a substantial chunk of country music, and the entire genre known as “the blues”. But there’s sad and then there’s DEPRESSING and that’s the bit we seek to dive into with this episode. We talked to three top music critics: Steven Hyden of Uproxx, Craig Jenkins of Vulture, and Ann Powers of NPR and asked them to provide...

Josh Ritter is best known for his music, with eleven albums released over the past 24 years and concerts all over the world. He’s also an accomplished novelist and painter. In this wide-ranging interview, Josh goes into great depth about his mental health and his evolving understanding of it. He discusses the religious and spiritual crisis of his adolescence and the depression that followed it. Jo...

In preparing for our interview with Roxane Gay, we noticed that she had been talking a lot about the shared traumas we have been experiencing as a society in recent years, both epidemiologically and politically. She shares some insight on that with us. We also talk about her own personal trauma, how she manages the depression that she has carried since, and what she’s learned about boundaries. Rox...

We all have voices inside ourselves that give us advice on what to do in a given situation. Not talking about literal voices that you genuinely hear, just thoughts that you have when a decision needs to be made or something needs to be navigated. And those voices sometimes contradict each other so you need to know which one has your best interests at heart. Author Cheryl Strayed refers to her nega...

Originally, Kevin Drew set out to put together some songs, maybe even an album, of children’s music, featuring songs about stuff like not being afraid of the dark. As he worked on the songs, however, he found that they pointed to some heavier issues, including love, loss, and the deterioration of his mother’s body and mind. In this interview - and it is an interview despite Kevin wondering if it’s...

At 30, comedian Gabe Mollica realized he didn’t have friends. He only had bros, dudes with whom he could hang out in a kind of shallow way. He hadn’t had a close friend since Tim in his young adulthood. It wasn’t a romantic love, it was a brotherly platonic love but nonetheless Gabe was in love with Tim. They met in college, moved in together, volunteered at the same places, and even spent summers...

It’s not that Dr. Pooja Lakshmin has something against scented candles. In fact, she thinks they can be quite pleasant. It’s just that purchasing candles or bubble baths or winery tours are not really self-care, they’re just consumerism. This is indicated in the title of her book, Real Self Care: A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness (Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble Baths Not Included) ....

Listeners to the podcast The Dream know that the show’s creator and host, Jane Marie, has a knack for exploring and explaining complicated worlds. Previous seasons have explored the multi-level marketing and wellness industries and in the current third season, Jane takes on the industry - and let’s call it an industry - of life coaching. She finds more in common with the multi-level marketing busi...

You know that feeling when you wake up knowing that you slept through your alarm? Or you forgot to set your alarm? So you’re in a state of panic and self-hatred right as your day begins? Jason Pargin wakes up like that every day, whether the alarm went off or not. Jason is the author of seven novels, including John Dies at the End , which was adapted into a movie, and the forthcoming Zoey Is Too D...