Eyes Wide Open with Nick Thompson

Today on Eyes Wide Open, we're joined by Rushi Kota. Rushi is an actor who you may recognize from his recurring appearance on Grey's Anatomy and Never Have I Ever, as well as his recent Hallmark Original Movie, Make Me a Match.   As a member of SAG, I wanted to talk to Rushi a little bit about the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. We go in-depth on what actually is being fought for, where the strike is c...

Today on Eyes Wide Open, we're joined by Josh Green, an IndyNXT race car driver, for a fascinating conversation about racing and the high-pressure world of professional athletics.   One of the things that is super interesting to me about Josh is the fact that he is already so successful at such a young age. Josh started go-kart racing at age 9, and by the time he was 12 years old was racing compet...

Today, I'm joined by Brittany Corinne Hatch, who was a cast member on America's Next Top Model Season 8 back in 2007.    Ms. Hatch has been through a lot and come out a strong survivor. We recently connected through my work with the UCAN Foundation, and she shared with me some of the experiences that she had as a reality TV cast member and the physical and mental trauma that the show has inflicted...

Today our guest is Keila Dolle, an actress, filmmaker, and comedian who hosts the "Crying Behind Sunglasses" podcast, which I was recently a guest on. After hearing a little bit about her story and her background, I learned about her advocacy for mental health and wanted to have her on the podcast to discuss it.   Keila grew up with a younger brother who was autistic, and seeing the challenges tha...

This week, Dr. Elizabeth Fedrick returns to Eyes Wide Open for a rousing discussion on the toxic cycle, toxic traits in relationships, and how we can recognize and avoid patterns of toxicity.   I met Dr. Elizabeth through her podcast, Relatable | Relationships Unfiltered, before inviting her onto my show. We hit it off well, and are now friends. Dr. Elizabeth is a licensed therapist, relationship...

On today's episode, we're featuring Kendra Allen, better known by her nickname "The Break Up Bestie."   We're going to talk through her journey to becoming a breakup coach and content creator, her 10-years sobriety, and why she's produced some of her content. We're also gonna talk about timelines on breakups, dating again, and where to start when you're going through a breakup.    If you or someon...

This is a bonus episode, and I'm not gonna lie, this one is a little self-indulgent: I sit down with Sara Fruman to go over my astrological birth chart.    Sara is an astrologer, publicist, coach, and brand strategist who I recently connected with. Full disclosure, we have a business relationship that led to this recording. During one of our discussions, she began explaining to me what she's seen...

Today's episode is all about holistic health. Macy Schuchart is an herbalist and the founder of Ancient Bliss supplement company, specializing in herbal remedies and Eastern medicine. Macy's work uses traditional Eastern herbs to help others get minerals and vitamins that are sorely missing in modern diets.    When she was in college studying herbs and nutritional philosophy, Macy spent six months...

Today's special guest on Eyes Wide Open is Alyssa Barmonde. Alyssa rose into the public eye through her role on season 10 of Married at First Sight Australia.    Alyssa and I recently connected through my advocacy with the UCAN Foundation and our shared desire to bring change and regulation to the reality TV industry. Her experience on MAFS ended with her being completely misrepresented, manipulat...

Today on Eyes Wide Open, we are going to be talking about the real, dirty behind-the-scenes of reality TV. I'll be sharing some of the experiences that I had on Love Is Blind with Jeremy Hartwell and Dr. Isabelle Morley, who (along with me) are co-founding members of the UCAN Foundation, or the Unscripted Cast Advocacy Network Foundation. We'll talk today about some of the psychological warfare th...

On this very special episode of Eyes Wide Open I'm joined by Danielle Ruhl, who you may know from Love is Blind and as my ex-wife.    This episode is part one of a two-part series where we're going to discuss our entire experience before, during, and after Love is Blind filmed all the way through when the show came out and what it was like for us going through our public divorce. At the end, we wi...

On this very special episode of Eyes Wide Open I'm joined by Danielle Ruhl, who you may know from Love is Blind and as my ex-wife.    This episode is part one of a two-part series where we're going to discuss our entire experience before, during, and after Love is Blind filmed all the way through when the show came out and what it was like for us going through our public divorce. At the end, we wi...

Our guest today is Dr. Kirk Honda, a licensed therapist, professor, and the host of Psychology in Seattle. He is a new friend that I've recently connected with over my work in reality TV and the UCAN Foundation. One of the reasons I like Dr. Kirk is his compassionate, empathetic, and non-judgmental approach to content, which is very rare for someone who is commenting on culture or reality TV.    A...

Hello, and welcome to a very special episode of Conversations with Nick Thompson.   Over the first season's 32 episodes, I had the opportunity to sit down with many great guests and hear their stories. I wanted to highlight a few of my favorite moments from the series, and so we've created this unique "Best of" bonus episode to share their stories.    We have clips from Stephanie Sarazin, Saagar E...

Coming out of my divorce, I have been thinking about the impacts that divorce has on individuals, on couples, and on families. I've been working through my own process to rediscover myself, and there have been additional challenges from having my relationship be public. What I've really been thinking about is, how do I put myself back together? How do I rebuild myself?    I've been journaling and...

Amira Mansour is a communication expert and coach who specializes in helping others communicate more effectively in their personal and business relationships.   I first connected with Amira over Instagram. I was truly impressed by her understanding and expertise in communication, and was amazed by her story of how her entire life led her to find that her passion and her superpower was helping othe...

Our guest today, Linda Steele, is a really incredible human being with a very relatable story. Linda reached out to me on LinkedIn asking if she could come on the show after listening to the podcast. Linda is a personal trainer, wellness advisor, bestselling author of the book "Nerves of Steele," and an international speaker.    Linda is very open about how trauma from her younger years has impact...

Personally, 2023 has been all about connecting better with myself, connecting better with others, and building connections among people in my network that I think would be of value to one another. One of the most important things that I've learned in life, both personally and professionally, is that our connections begin with ourselves. When you have a good connection with yourself, you can show u...

Today's guest, Samantha Joy, is a writing coach and the bestselling author of "The Less Effect: Design Your Life for Happiness & Purpose.   I recently connected with Samantha and bonded over our shared interest in authenticity and vulnerability on social media. At the time we met, we were both going through a similar situation, and we decided to hop on a call together to talk through it. I enjoy h...

Today's episode features Tj Power, a neuroscientist whose work focuses on mental health.    I wanted to have Tj on because the way that he speaks about mental health come from a scientific perspective. He shares a lot about the neurochemical reactions that happen in our bodies that result in changes in our mental health, such as dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and more. He shares how each one of...

Today's guest is Kyle Stanger, who is the founder of the brand Boys Get Sad Too. I first learned about Boys Get Sad Too in the summer of 2022 when I was trying to hone in on what my podcast was going to be. As I was going through subject matter, format, and themes I wanted to cover my show, I was inspired by what Kyle had done with his brand. The purpose of Boys Get Sad Too is to raise mental heal...

Our guest today is Dr. Rachel Green (and for you "Friends" fans out there, it is in fact her real name).   Dr. Green is a chiropractor and wellness coach, who we are having on to talk about wellness, holistic health, and the vagus nerve. If you're wondering what the vagus nerve is, you're in for a treat. When Dr. Green and I first connected on Instagram, I had never heard of the vagus nerve. I did...

Today we have an amazing guest, Leeor Gal, better known as "The Therapy Gal." I've recently become acquainted with Leeor through social media and listening to her podcast  "Therapists Out of Office." They had a conversation recently called "Therapy 101," which I related to heavily.    I've been open about my mental health journey, and I've really had to get back to a lot of the foundational work....

I've been thinking about mental health a lot recently. Especially around the holidays, I found myself thinking about my own personal experiences. I've been really trying to understand the stigma around mental health and wellness as I dive into my own mental health journey, but I've also been thinking about the larger impacts that mental health has on our society. Being in the public eye and having...

I've been thinking a lot about the world, as well as the simplicity of how I live my life and spend my money. At the time of this recording, we are right in the middle of the holidays, and I feel like this is the pivotal moment in the world for consumerism. Everywhere you look, we see advertising, excessive amounts of consumerism, and more products than you ever see at any other time of the year,...