Depresh Mode with John Moe

Although he has a huge following on social media now, Jonathan Edward Durham’s life as a writer used to be a lot more low tech. It involved locking himself in a room in Los Angeles, pounding away on screenplays that almost no one ever read, sucking back smokes and liquor, barely sleeping, and finding himself to actually be pretty miserable. He did manage to write and self-publish a novel, Winterset Hollow, that found an audience, which led to getting online to promote it. He started to write more online, finding an audience, effectively keeping a journal to understand himself and the challenges he was facing in his life and in his mental health. Jonathan left Los Angeles, met a guy and got married, and came to a much better understanding of problems he had been dealing with his whole life. The second edition of Winterset Hollow comes out this fall and Jonathan is at work on a new book now.

We also hear from John Moe about getting mad, starting MADD, and how to interview the anger that you’re feeling to see what injustice it’s alerting you to.

Of note, we kept seeing Jonathan’s short writing come up in our Preshies group on Facebook so much that we eventually had to book the guy. Thanks, Preshies, you are all now associate producers.

Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.

Check out our I’m Glad You’re Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!

Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at [email protected].

Depresh Mode is on BlueSky, Instagram, Substack, and you can join our Preshies Facebook group. 

Help is available right away.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALK

Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.

International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines

You might remember Alexandra Paul as one of the stars of Baywatch or the Tom Hanks-Dan Aykroyd Dragnet film. You may not have realized that as a child and on to her long trip through the worlds of modeling and Hollywood, she was bingeing and purging and dealing with severe eating disorders. She tells us about her relationship with sugar and what food meant emotionally. Then we’re joined by Dr. Cynthia Bulik, one of the top experts on eating disorders in the world today, to talk about remarkable progress in understanding the genetic components of eating disorders. Rather than blame family (especially mothers), peer pressure, or fashion culture, Dr. Bulik says some people are much more prone to developing eating disorders due to the genes they happened to get. You can be part of her research by visiting EDGI2.org.

Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.

Check out our I’m Glad You’re Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!

Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at [email protected].

Depresh Mode is on BlueSky, Instagram, Substack, and you can join our Preshies Facebook group. 

Help is available right away.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALK

Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.

International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines

Dating apps and websites are booming right now as people look for ways to leverage to find love or even just companionship. Liesel Sharabi of Arizona State University compiled a meta-analysis of a huge number of studies about the connection between online dating and mental health and the results? Kind of bad news. People who use the apps compulsively, swiping all day long, are much more likely to be depressed and anxious. But were they depressed because they used the apps or did the use the apps because they were depressed? We’ll get into that, plus the terrifying imminent AI dating revolution.
Then we talk to Dr. Sarah Jerstad, the Clinical Director of Psychological Services at Children’s Minnesota about what kids are going through amid the ICE presence, what the short and long term effects of this activity have been and will be, and how parents and other adults can best help them.
Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.
Check out our I’m Glad You’re Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!
Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at [email protected].
Depresh Mode is on BlueSky, Instagram, Substack, and you can join our Preshies Facebook group. 
Help is available right away.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALK
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.
International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines

Niko Stratis knew a couple of things growing up in the Yukon in Canada: that she was, in truth, a woman, despite being regarded by the world as male, and that being trans or different in any way was absolutely not okay. It wasn’t just a matter of identity, it was a matter of safety too, as she worked with guys who vowed that if their child was gay or trans, they would kill that child. Niko discovered some other things, too: the trade of industrial glassworking, the numbing effects of the alcohol she became addicted to, and the redemptive power of music. Niko Stratis’s book, The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman, is a memoir and a playlist, tracing the inspiration of songs loosely tagged as dad rock as Niko battles setbacks and depression and suicidality, lives all over Canada, and finally makes the big, nothing-to-lose move of coming out as a trans. She tells her story and what was behind choosing a name that feels wonderful to say loud and openly.
Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.
Check out our I’m Glad You’re Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!
Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at [email protected].
Depresh Mode is on BlueSky, Instagram, Substack, and you can join our Preshies Facebook group. 
Help is available right away.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALK
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.
International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines

The ICE surge in Minnesota has meant a huge number of arrests, protests, confrontations, deportations, children and adults sent to detention facilities, and deaths. It’s also meant massive anxiety, fear, and trauma around the state. Marcus Schmit of NAMI Minnesota says this is being felt acutely among people already struggling with severe mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and severe anxiety and depression. His organization has received overwhelming demand for help that they are doing their best to meet and trying to help those in need avoid worst case scenarios such as suicide and loss of contact with caregivers. Marcus says it’s time for ICE to get out of the state. He and our Minnesota-based host, John Moe, talk about the urgency of the situation, how the community is becoming stronger in response, and how the trauma of what’s being done to Minnesota will remain long after the last black SUV drives away.
Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun.
Check out our I’m Glad You’re Here and Depresh Mode merchandise at the brand new merch website MaxFunStore.com!
Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at [email protected].
Depresh Mode is on BlueSky, Instagram, Substack, and you can join our Preshies Facebook group. 
Help is available right away.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALK
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.
International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines
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