Approximately one in five American children have a mental health condition, with many more at risk for developing one. In this episode, Halle Tecco and Michael Esquivel dive deep into the youth mental health crisis with Naomi Allen, co-founder and CEO of Brightline. 

In this episode, Dr. Jon Cohen, CEO of Talkspace, discusses his unconventional journey from vascular surgeon to leading a publicly traded digital health company.

We cover:
- The glass ceiling for physicians, and why people wrongly think physicians can’t run businesses
- His run for Lieutenant Governor of New York, and why more physicians should get involved with politics
- The role of online therapy in making mental healthcare more accessible and affordable
- How Talkspace is leveraging AI to detect suicide risk, support therapists, and enhance patient care
- The challenges and opportunities of running a public company, especially one that went public via SPAC
- His insights on the future of healthcare and the importance of physician leadership in driving change

In this episode, former Facebook product manager and internationally recognized whistleblower, Frances Haugen offers invaluable insights into how tech giants prioritizes profits over public safety, and the profound implications this has on mental health of young people.

We explore her brave journey, which took her from the inner workings of Meta to testifying before the world's parliaments, sparking a global conversation about the role and regulation of social media. Listen in as we shed light on the pressing issues of our digital era, and the steps we can take to safeguard vulnerable populations from social media's impacts.

As you probably know by now, May Mental Health Awareness Month. But what you might not know is that entrepreneurs are 50% more likely to report having a mental health condition, including being:

2X more likely to suffer from depression

2X more likely to have suicidal thoughts

3X more likely to suffer from substance abuse

6X more likely to have ADHD

10X more likely to suffer from bi-polar disorder

In this episode, successful founder and angel investor Andy Dunn talks about living with Bipolar I disorder.

Andy Dunn is an entrepreneur, author, investor, and father. Andy co-founded the menswear brand Bonobos, which sold for $310 million. Last year, he published a memoir called Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind, which detailed his up-until-then private journey with bipolar disorder.

Listen to this important episode as we normalize talking about mental health disorders in the startup community.

In 2008, disillusioned by the medical system, Dr. Lakshmin left her residency to join an extreme wellness commune that turned out to be a cult. She was seeking something outside of mainstream medicine that could help with the anguish she was feeling. She yearned for community, and for something outside of the hierarchical structure of medicine. But what she found was that the industrial wellness complex is just as flawed.

Every day, we’re bombarded with pressure to be positive. From “good vibes only” and “life is good” memes, to “look on the bright side,” we’re constantly told that the key to happiness is silencing negativity. Even when faced with illness, infertility, and other challenges, there’s little space for talking about our real feelings—and processing them so that we can feel better and move forward.

In this episode, Whitney Goodman, psychotherapist and author of the book Toxic Positivity, shares the latest research along with everyday examples and stories that reveal how damaging toxic positivity is to ourselves and our relationships.

Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death in 18-45 year olds in the US, claiming more lives than car crashes and gun violence combined. After Dr. Beth Weinstock lost her son last year to what she calls “the most devastating health crisis this generation has ever seen,” she decided to do something about it. In this episode, we discuss a harm-reduction approach to protecting young people from accidental fentanyl poisoning.

Born Lenard McKelvey, Charlamagne Tha God is a multimedia mogul, Radio Hall of Fame inductee, bestselling author, and one of the most influential thought leaders in modern culture.

He is the outspoken, well-informed, and charismatic co-host of the radio show. The Breakfast Club, heard by over 4.5 million listeners daily. Charlamagne also hosts Tha God’s Honest Truth, a late night show on Comedy Central co-created with Stephen Colbert, where he takes on social issues and topics permeating politics and culture.

Charlamagne is also the author of The New York Times bestseller Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It and Shook One: Anxiety Playing Tricks on Me, which launched him to become one of the world’s leading voices in the mental health discussion.

With a deeply personal vision to help address the unmet and underserved emotional needs of Black people worldwide, Charlamagne founded the Mental Wealth Alliance (MWA), his forward-thinking foundation created to destigmatize, accelerate, and center state-of-the-art mental health outreach and care across the U.S. while building an unprecedented long-term system of generational support for Black communities.

Substance Use (Not Abuse) Disorder