Not As Crazy As You Think Podcast

In the episode, "Are Psychopaths Favored by Natural Selection? Definitions of Mental Illness and the Roots of Suffering (S3, E14)," a team of Canadian researchers explored the possibility that psychopathy lacks certain hallmarks of a mental disorder, and thus may be more of an adaptation associated with fitness. The study was published in Evolutionary Psychology at the end of 2021, entit...

In the episode, "A Heart-to-Heart with Actress Susie K. Taylor:  Creating a Kinder Story Out of the Madness (S3, E13)," Miami-based actor, creator, teacher, performance artist, and mentor, Susie K. Taylor joins the show and shares stories of her career in acting, producing and teaching. She also talks about her SURF method, a compassionate program to help actors get out of character. Sus...

 In the episode, “A Discussion On Psychosis, Lived Experience, and Creativity with Artist John F. Gerrard, Author of "We Make Clocks, Not Time" (S3, E12), John opens the conversation about this largely misunderstood headspace by sharing his personal story and what he learned coming out on the other side of psychosis. We discuss John’s book, We Make Clocks, Not Time: My Lived Experience w...

In the episode, "A Point of View from a Man in Blue with Jeff Gironda: Crisis Intervention Training and a Broken Mental Healthcare System (S3, E11),"  former New York City police officer, Jeff Gironda, who worked 10 years of patrol in Midtown and has experience as a detective specialist, shares his insight on the broken mental healthcare system, as well as present and future actions towa...

In the episode, "A Chat with Emma Hames on Benzo Withdrawal and Recovery in the Film 'Playing with Life: The Soundtrack' (S3, E10)," Emma shares how she was affected by a benzodiazepine psychiatric drug prescription and how she turned to sound healing, nature and creativity to rebuild her life.  As part of her recovery, she decided to produce the film “Playing with Life: The So...

In the episode, "The MAD Twitter Showdown Regarding the #ChemicalImbalance Theory: A Pharmaceutical Lie Upheld By Psychiatry" (S3, E9) I share all the fuss taking place on the Twitter feeds of the psychiatric survivor movement--from patients and therapists alike--within and around this myth and what it means for today's consumers and prescribers, yesterday's psych survivors, an...

In the episode, "The Cannabis Update with Dr. Lynn Parodneck: Moving Forward in Making MJ Medicine Mainstream (S3, E8)," Dr. Lynn returns with more medical information and further anecdotes. With her experience in helping others taper off opioids and psych meds, Lynn believes there's another way regarding harm reduction. But hospitals aren't honoring medical marijuana as legiti...

In the episode, “Straight Talk on Big Pharma, Psychiatry, & the Film ‘Medicating Normal’ with Angie Peacock (S3, E7),”  former U.S. Army Sergeant and subject of the film, “Medicating Normal," Angela Peacock, MSW, was diagnosed with PTSD after one deployment to Iraq in 2003 and was overmedicated for it for over a decade and a half. She is a mental health advocate, writer, and YouTube creat...

In the episode, "Stop, Listen and Breathe  into Mental Wellness with  Senda Baccar (S3, E6),"  spiritual healer and intuitive coach from Tunisia in North Africa, Senda Bacaar, visits the show to discuss her lived experience with Western psychiatry, which has pushed its philosophy into now global influence. As a biologist, Senda was disillusioned with the mental health system when she saw...

In the episode, "An Interview with Vesper Moore, Pt. 2: The Validation of Mad Identities and Sustaining the Movement (S3, E5)," Vesper returns to delve deeper into the conversation on emotional states of distress and society's commercialization of these states.  From crisis alternatives in peer respite to the overdiagnosing of the human experience to the lack of informed consent in...

In the episode, "Mad Liberation, Disability Justice, and Indigenous Reclamation: An Interview with Vesper Moore: Part 1 (S3, E4), " Vesper dives into the discussion on the mental health industrial complex and the social justice movements that are  currently fighting it.  Mad liberation activist, trainer, writer, and psychiatric survivor, Vesper Moore is COO of Kiva Centers, a Peer Suppor...

In the episode "Behind-the-Scenes at Podfest Origins 2021: Mental Health and Podcasting, Hosting Hard Conversations (S3, E3)," while attending Podfest Origins, an annual conference where podcasters connect with their peers about their work, their strategies and their passions, a handful of podcasters and I attended a meetup group hosted by Jessica Silverman and Michael Herst, in which we...

In the episode, "A Talk with Brian Bogert on Embracing Pain to Avoid Suffering (S3, E2)," human behavior and performance coach, Brian considers himself a husband and father first, but his high-impact inspirational vision is infectious to the many thousands he coaches. Brian shares his truth about radical authenticity and embracing pain to avoid suffering.  After overcoming the trauma of...

In the episode: "News On Cannabis with Dr. Lynn Parodneck: NYS Regulations, Dispensaries, Licenses and Medical Cards", which was recorded on September 9th 2021, Dr. Lynn offers information on New York State regulations for all things cannabis-related from licensing  recreational dispensaries to how the medical dispensary expansions are moving forward. Lynn also goes over how to get a doc...

In the episode, "Special Edition On Location: SannaOhana's Cannabis Wellness Day: Yoga, Education, and Community (S2, E25)", I take it on location to South Hackensack, New Jersey, where the power duo Estefania Valencia and Salam Diri hold their unique Cannabis Wellness Day, an event with the mission to educate people about the incredible health benefits the cannabis plant  and yoga...

Not As Crazy As You Think Podcast (S2, E24), Special Edition On Location: 2021 Essential Music and Art Show in Bushwick with Jen Gaita Siciliano and Todd D. Goldfinger (S2, E24)     In the first "On Location" episode of Not as Crazy As You Think Podcast, Jen Gaita Siciliano and guest co-host Todd D. Goldfinger head down to Wyckoff Ave in  Bushwick, Brooklyn to the yearly Essential Music...

In the episode, A Reading From My Memoir: Chapter 6, "Mahander" (S2, E23), with my physical illness worsening, my new cabbie, Mahander rushes me to the Delta airline agency so I can purchase an emergency flight ticket home, then ushers me back to the Grand Western Regionale Hotel, where in fear and overwhelm I make deals with God on my knees in broken-hearted cries. Just as I’m about to...

In the episode, A Candid Interview with Todd D. Goldfinger on Mental Health, Mental Illness, and Psychedelic Medicine (S2, E22), musician, podcaster, and talk show host on mental health, Todd Goldfinger, openly shares his own personal journey with mental illness, suicide, and psychosis, as well as his road to recovery. An advocate of psychedelic medicine in the field of psychiatry, Todd's sto...

In the episode, "The Medicine of Cannabis: An Overview for Medical Professionals and Policymakers, with Dr. Lynn Parodneck (S2, E21)," Dr. Lynn shares the whitepaper she and her colleagues worked on that was presented to Washington and published by the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) and the NCIA Policy Council. She reviews the history behind criminalization, which has raci...

In the episode, "#FreeBritney Means Freedom From Psychiatry, The Uncredited Conservator" (S2, E20),  I review the deepest problem about Britney Spears' abusive conservatorship, which is how the psychiatric institution has set-up a system where this kind of exploitation can thrive. In its ability to convince others, and even the court, that they are the medical experts on human behav...

In the episode, Alternatives to Psychiatry: Healing from Mental Distress with Chaya Grossberg (S2, E19), intuitive healer, author, and psych meds withdrawal counselor, Chaya  Grossberg joins the conversation and shares her personal story of dropping out of the psychiatric system and choosing a new way. Driven by her own disabling experience as a young person forced to take psych meds, she made it...

In the episode, "American Eugenics, the Immigrant Degenerate, and Systemic Racism (S2, E18)," I share more of the ideology of Eugenics, or the practice of selectively breeding humans to achieve a better race, which has been taught in America since the early 20th century. Is it superior genes that excludes poverty from someone’s experience? Or the ability to afford an education? In the be...

In the episode "Creating a Fit Lifestyle: Exercise and Nutrition for Maintaining Mental Health with Eric Krawetz (S2, E17)," Eric and I discuss how exercise is not only beneficial for physical strength and flexibility, but also mental health, especially in dealing with depression.  Steadfastly committed to his workout regimen and nutritional choices, Eric offers keen insight on how to ge...

In the episode "Dogmas of Science Part 2: Gene-centered Inheritance or Sheldrake's Morphic Resonance? (S2, E16)" I share Genome-wide Association Studies (GWAS) that are analyzing genomes of the bipolars and the "genetically depressed." I ask the question, where is this science taking us if one doesn't subscribe to the materialist worldview?  This research only support...

In the episode "Dogmas of Science Part 1: Rupert Sheldrake, Consciousness and the Mechanistic Biomedical Model (S2, E15)," I share what materialist scientists believe is true about human consciousness, and how it relates to the biomedical model in psychiatry.  Scientist Rupert Sheldrake in his book The Science Delusion , presents an alternative perspective about the human mind and consci...