Our guest this week is singer/songwriter Margaret Glaspy. She was addicted to Instagram and felt like she was being gut-punched over and over. So she quit, tuned into *herself* instead, and created a beautiful new album. What would happen if you quit social media? maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Also on the show this week, we check in with our pal @mikedoughty.bsky.social. He talks about making amends with the Soul Coughing audience after too much time spent sneering through songs. Plus, the enormous symbolic weight of an unplugged satellite dish. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Our latest free newsletter has interesting stories about codependence, the damage of religious abuse, and heat anxiety. IT ALSO HAS A STORY ABOUT ORCAS WHO EXPLODE FISH AGAINST ONE ANOTHER AS PART OF A WEIRD GAME. johnmoe.substack.com/p/ocean-thre...

After a severe trauma, she accepted a boyfriend's invite for a 4000-mile sailboat trip. Then covid hit and they couldn't dock anywhere. Then their crew left with all the provisions. Her book is called Worst Tits Ever. An episode about codependency and endless oceans. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Good news! Psychedelic drugs are now clearly on the way to being legal, which is great because they can help a lot with chronic depression and PTSD The bad news? Looks like Big Pharma will control them. Our latest FREE newsletter has this and more stories! johnmoe.substack.com/p/i-am-screa...

AI bots like ChatGPT are pushing people to suicide, sending them into spirals of psychosis, and ruining marriages and families. Neither the free market nor litigation nor regulation are capable of stopping them. Unnerving update from Maggie Harrison Dupré. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Lively new episode with country music star Jo Dee Messina! We talk about music, hard times, Jesus, and why she would rather talk about Jesus than hard times. The faith-based approach to mental health and the secular approach have more in common than folks realize. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

This week is a best-of. One of our favorite episodes with one of our favorite writers in the world, Hanif Abdurraqib. It's ultimately about building a support network and, more loosely, connecting with other humans while carrying a mind that wants to get you down. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

John here. First I was rattled by the title of Elizabeth Roberts' book. Then I thought, well, let's interview her. She says reflexing shaming of some compulsive substance use in American culture drives people further apart. Bold complex arguments found here: maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Wonderful trip to the Anxietyland amuse(?)ment park with @gemmacorrell.bsky.social this week. Walking booze bottles! Elevator avoidance! The inherent anxiety-deflating qualities of pugs! Her book is very funny and painfully honest and so is our chat. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

We'll keep this simple. RFK Jr., the highest ranking public health official in the country, wants to take away Americans' SSRIs. So we asked a Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-OR) how much of this is rhetoric, how much is actual policy, and what her party is doing to stop it. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

New and FREE newsletter talks about things that may help your mental health (fruit juice, watching sports, talking to Jalen Brunson) and stuff that might not (diagnostic interviews). Plus Robyn Hitchcock and Talking Heads! johnmoe.substack.com/p/music-fund...

The iconic and surrealistic musician @robynhitchcock.bsky.social this week on creativity, neurodivergence, and being comfortably and fundamentally delusional. Among other topics covered: Syd Barrett, groovers, polka dots. A fascinating glimpse inside the artist's mind. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Blake Mycoskie founded TOMS Shoes. That was where you bought a pair and then a second pair got donated. It was a hit, helped people, he sold it, made a mountain of money, and then spiraled into a suicidal depression. Doing better now and we talk to him. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Society tells you to work hard AND to always work harder than THAT. Makes you compare yourself to others, to always reach, to never be satisfied and to never have work boundaries. Thing is, that shit will KILL YOU. Zayna Youssef of the band Sweet Pill is our guest. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Just before our interview started, Zayna Youssef of the band Sweet Pill told us it actually came at a perfect time. We didn’t know what that meant so we just hit record and asked her. The interview was heartfelt, healthy, moving, and totally unexpected. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Amid a political hate campaign and an ICE surge, immigrant mental health is crashing hard. Depression, anxiety, traumatic stress all spiking. Learn why events in Minnesota make a leading immigrant advocate more hopeful than ever. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

New episode this week with Claude Steele on the subject of Churn. It's all about those groups at work or school you get in, the worry about how you're perceived in them, and what that long-term stress does to you. And how to make it better! maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

New NON-MAXFUNDRIVE episode is up, featuring Benjamin Wagner, documentarian, musician, actual Mister Rogers neighbor, and former high powered executive who crashed hard then set out to find out why. Faulkner said "The past is never dead. It's not even past." CORRECT. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Something we think is important in mental health is just checking in with your friends. So we do that on our show. As a special Max Fun Drive @maximumfun.org bonus episode, we touch base with our pal, the always brilliant and delightful @felicia.day. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Wonderful new episode up with the always funny host of Never Not Funny, Jimmy Pardo. He's been making that show for 20 years! We talk about comedy plus what divorce does to a kid, depresh, anxiety, booze, and getting healthy. Constantly striving and then BEING CONTENT. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Really proud of this episode w/ Joshua Roman, one of the top cellists in the world. Hard charging guy w/ TON of accomplishments but never enough for HIM. Then covid hit, then long covid. Irresistible force meets unmovable object. Object wins. He's never been happier. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Annabelle Gurwitch got a terminal cancer diagnosis while broken down on an LA freeway during covid with her kid in the car. Five years later, she's surprised to still be here. We talk death, anxiety, certainty, uncertainty, and REO Speedwagon while having many laughs. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Great interview this week with Eric Zimmer, host of the pod The One You Feed. It's about making small focused actions, repeatedly, mindfully, rather than try to solve everything all at once. In mental health or in overall life direction. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Zebra is chased by a lion. STRESSFUL. But then they escape & complete the stress cycle. For humans, the lion is your job, relationships, and life. We CAN'T complete the cycle so we feel chased by the lion ALL THE TIME. And that's burnout. Learn what to do about that. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

The star of the new improvisation-heavy movie GROUP has never acted before but he's been preparing for the role for decades. A talk with group therapy expert Dr. Elliot Zeisel on how group works and how therapy and acting have a lot in common. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

New episode with the novelist Jonathan Edward Durham about his surprisingly positive and life-changing experience with writing online. And the not surprising experience of it being better than isolating, smoking, drinking, and writing in a tiny apartment. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

This week, Alexandra Paul (from Baywatch!) tells her story of modeling, Hollywood, and eating disorders plus Dr. Cynthia Bulik an update on the newly discovered *genetic component* that takes shame and blame off people with those disorders (and their moms). maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

Big show today! First, we look at the high rates of depression and anxiety among dating app users, which might be explained by HOW they're looking for love. Then: the short and long-term mental health impact of the ICE surge on MN children and how we can improve it. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...

. @nikostratis.com found a path to her true self with the aid of dad rock. This after years of despair, glasswork, close contact w/ violent transphobes, alcoholism, cheap cars, time in the Yukon and, yep, depression. She's a brilliant writer. This is a great episode. maximumfun.org/episodes/dep...