This Helps with Marlon Morgan

This week, Marlon talks with Edda Collins Coleman, Vice President of Communications at Common Sense Media. Edda's work sits at the intersection of education, media, technology, parenting, digital literacy, and child wellbeing. Together, they talk about helping kids build media awareness, why AI safety matters for families, and how parents can stay connected and approachable in a world where techno...

Dr. Jean Twenge is a psychologist, researcher, and author whose work has helped shape the national conversation around generational difference, technology, and mental health. She's the author of books including iGen and Generations , and her latest, 10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World , turns years of research into a practical guide for parents navigating phones, social media, screen ti...

This week we're sharing a panel from the Future of Mental Healthcare conference. Marlon moderates a conversation featuring friends of the pod, John MacPhee, CEO of The Jed Foundation; Merve Lapus, Vice President of Education Outreach and Engagement at Common Sense Media, and  Dr. Khadijah Booth Watkins, Associate Director for the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Mass General. Together, the e...

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez joins Marlon for a conversation about child safety, online exploitation, and holding Big Tech accountable. A longtime prosecutor whose work has included child abuse, violent crimes, and internet crimes against children, Torrez brings clarity and firsthand experience to New Mexico's landmark case against Meta and the fight to make digital spaces safer for you...

Jennifer Siebel Newsom is the First Partner of California, an award-winning filmmaker, advocate, and founder of the California Partners Project. She has spent years exploring how media, culture, gender norms, and systems shape the lives of women, children, and families. In this episode, Jennifer joins Marlon for a conversation about youth mental health, social media, parenting, boys and masculinit...

Medieval historian Peter Jones joins Marlon to talk about his new book, Self-Help from the Middle Ages: What the Seven Deadly Sins Can Teach Us About Living. We talk pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony, lust, Silicon Valley, ancient manuscripts, and why so much of what makes us human, no matter the century, is our need for connection. Pick up Self-Help from the Middle Ages: What the Seven...

Dr. Lisa Damour is a psychologist, bestselling author, and one of the clearest voices on teenagers, anxiety, and adolescent development. She is the author of  Untangled , Under Pressure , and The Emotional Lives of Teenagers , and served as a scientific consultant on Disney/Pixar's Inside Out 2 . This week, Lisa joins Marlon to talk about teen mental health, healthy coping, anxiety, screen time, e...

In Part 2 of this conversation, Marlon and Noēsis Collaborative Founder & CEO Ron Ivey shift their focus to what comes next. They explore what it means to design AI in service of human flourishing, unpack the difference between knowledge and wisdom, and wrestle with questions about suffering, belonging, and what it actually means to be human. As we close out the season, this episode turns toward a...

Ron Ivey is a researcher and advisor working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, human flourishing, and social connection. He is the founder of Noēsis Collaborative, where he works with policymakers, technologists, and researchers to ask how technology can truly support human well-being. In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Ron joins Marlon to outline the current landscape. Togethe...

In one of our earliest episodes, Chris Gethard and Gary Gulman, two hilarious and talented comedians, actors, and authors, sat down with Marlon to discuss what life has been like since the release of their own critically acclaimed HBO Original Comedy Specials, each of which dives deeply into their personal mental health journeys. We're revisiting this conversation at a moment when the world could...

Chris Duffy is a comedian, the host of TED's How to Be a Better Human podcast, and the author of the brand-new book Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy . Chris joins Marlon for a funny, thoughtful conversation about how humor helps us build genuine human connection, especially in moments of stress, distraction, and uncertainty. Chris shares why laughter...

To close out the year, we're looking back on some of the conversations that shaped This Helps in 2025. This episode is a highlight reel of moments, ideas, and voices that stayed with us: conversations about connection, vulnerability, grief, hope, power, and what actually helps us, day to day. This is not a definitive list, and it's definitely not a ranking. We had so many meaningful conversations...

Marlon sits down with Dr. Nina Vasan and Dr. Darja Djordjevic from Stanford's Brainstorm Lab to talk about the experiences that shaped their careers and the research they're doing now. We talk about how AI is reshaping mental health, relationships, and daily life. They walk us through their recent Common Sense Media study on how young people turn to chatbots for support, and they share clear, prac...

In this live episode, Marlon is joined on stage at the Wellness Together Conference by Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY) and 10th U.S. Secretary of Education, Dr. John B. King Jr. for part two of the conversation they started earlier this year. Dr. King shares the story of the teacher who helped save his life, and what it was like to reconnect with the family who enslaved his a...

This week, Marlon sits down with digital wellness pioneer Larissa May, AKA Larz, founder of #HalfTheStory and co-founder of Ginko. Together they explore how social media shapes our sense of self, why fear never creates lasting change, and how hope, integrity, and connection can. From the loneliness of early internet adolescence to her work shaping policy and curriculum for students around the worl...

This week, Marlon sits down with actor, author, and  Soul Boom host Rainn Wilson for a live conversation about spirituality, purpose, and the search for meaning in a culture obsessed with fame. They get into what The Office has taught people about connection and comfort, why consumer spirituality can't fill a spiritual void, and how community, humility, and humor help us build lives that matter. R...

Annie Slease is the Cofounder and CEO of the Mental Health Literacy Collaborative. She joins This Helps to share her journey from teaching English and directing musicals to becoming a national advocate for mental health education. She opens up about her family's experiences, her own late-in-life diagnosis, and how writing helped her move through stigma toward connection. Together, we talk about ma...

This week Marlon sits down with Dr. Jeff Hall and Dr. Andy Merolla, authors of The Social Biome . Jeff is a professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas, and Andy is a professor of communication at UC Santa Barbara. Together, they explore what it takes to build and sustain the connections that keep us thriving. They talk about why relationships are as essential to our health as f...

In this episode of This Helps, we're sharing something truly memorable, highlights from a conversation between our host Marlon Morgan and bestselling author, activist, and host of We Can Do Hard Things, Glennon Doyle. Glennon joins Marlon for a powerful conversation about vulnerability, recovery, and what it takes to feel at home in your own skin. She opens up about stepping away from public life,...

San Diego Unified School District Board Vice President, Senior Policy Advisor to California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and candidate for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Richard Barrera, joins Marlon for a wide-ranging, hopeful conversation about education, democracy, and the power of community. They talk about cell-phone-free classrooms and the return of the...

Houston Kraft, educator, speaker, and co-founder of CharacterStrong, joins us to talk about what it really takes to build a kinder world. Author of  Deep Kindness , Houston has worked with hundreds of schools helping students and educators move beyond "random acts" toward systems of belonging, empathy, and purpose. We dig into why kindness is a skill that must be taught, how culture shapes connect...

This week we're joined by Dr. Smita Malhotra, Chief Medical Director of Los Angeles Unified, pediatrician, author, and TEDx speaker. Dr. Malhotra helped led LAUSD's health response through the pandemic and brings a deeply holistic lens to student wellbeing. We talk about what resilience really looks like, why joy doesn't have to be complicated, and how showing up as fully human, both in medicine a...

This week we're joined by author, activist, and theologian Brian McLaren for a conversation about collapse, connection, and finding courage in uncertain times. Brian is the author of Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart and a longtime voice at the intersection of spirituality, justice, and social change. We talk about ecological grief, capitalism, and the stories we've inh...

This week, we're joined by Augustus Mays, Vice President of Partnerships and Engagement at The Education Trust, for a powerful conversation about equity, opportunity, and the systems that shape young people's lives. A longtime leader in education policy, Augustus draws from both personal experience and professional expertise to advocate for students who have been historically underserved. We talk...

In this episode, we talk with Vicki Shabo about what it means to build a more inclusive, care-centered economy. One that actually supports families and reflects real lives. A leading voice on paid leave and workplace equity, Vicki serves as Senior Fellow for Gender Equity, Paid Leave & Care Policy and Strategy at New America's Better Life Lab. She also leads Re-Scripting Gender, Work, Family, and...