A Better Pill To Swallow

There’s a moment in this conversation where Emily says she doesn’t recognize herself anymore—and somehow, it opens the door to something more honest.

Emily Walton—Broadway actress (Come From Away) turned mental health counselor—joins me for a conversation that moves between humor, identity, and what it means to stop performing in your own life.

We talk about growing up in a world where performance and self blur together, the strange safety of playing someone else, and the pull toward something more authentic.

And then parenthood enters—and everything shifts.

Emily shares what it’s been like to become a mother while navigating postpartum depression, panic, and the disorienting experience of losing access to yourself while being responsible for someone else’s life.

This is a conversation about transition—about letting go, showing up, and finding meaning on the other side of who you thought you had to be.

And somehow, through all of it, we keep laughing.

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A healthy baby. A seizure in the middle of the night. And a reality no parent is prepared to face. Susan Weissman shares the story of losing her son Nathan just weeks before his second birthday — what it was like to bring him home knowing he would die, the silence and discomfort that followed, and the long, uneven path of learning to live again.

We talk about denial, marriage under strain, faith, anger, ritual, and the myth that grief has a timeline. About what actually helps when someone you love is gone — and what absolutely doesn’t.

This is a conversation about integration. About carrying loss without being defined by it. And about why the only way forward is through.

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At the heart of A Better Pill to Swallow is the belief that mental health in the modern era demands new modalities—approaches that go beyond insight alone and actually meet the body and brain where change happens. That’s what makes a conversation like this so important. Biofeedback therapy speaks directly to the subconscious, where most of our patterns, reactions, and choices are formed. Using subtle frequencies delivered through the hand, the technology communicates with the nervous system to help identify and release long-held blocks that traditional talk therapy often can’t reach. Deepak Chari has worked with people who’ve spent decades in therapy without lasting progress and watched them finally let go of what’s been keeping them stuck—often finding themselves naturally attracting healthier partners, friendships, and relationships once their internal environment is brought back into balance.

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On this week’s episode, I share my conversation with Karl Mauks-Kopke — eighth grade math teacher and not-so-secret philosopher. Karl is a dear friend and one of the most thoughtful people I know. (Some call him heaven.)

We talk about Karl’s work inside the middle school classroom, including how he motivates kids who don’t always see the point of school, or math, and why learning math is a lot like weightlifting. Karl explains his reverence for his students and how he fuels his own sense of purpose in his work. 

From there, we zoom out into some of the bigger things kids and adults are dealing with right now, including screen time, AI, and how automation continues to shift our cultural views of education and work. We zoom even further out to discuss his fundamentally optimistic outlook on where we might be headed as a culture. And our shared sense of humor does not take a back seat throughout. 

Podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Today’s episode cuts to the origin tale of how this very podcast was created. I’m interviewing my mother, Laine Neiman, about parenting a child with mental illness, handling the grief of losing him, and opening up to the community for support. Lainie (a.k.a. Mom Neiman) is an executive and leadership coach, as a family business consultant. More importantly, she spent the last 30 years in the trenches of loving someone with bipolar disorder. We tragically lost my brother, her son, Andy Neiman, 4 years ago last June. My mother saw him through his initial diagnosis and treatment, the chaotic first ten years of medication adjustments and hospital stays, his last ten years of marriage, fatherhood, and relative stability, up until his final descent during COVID. 

We talk about the role of the pandemic in Andy’s demise, her bravery in choosing to speak out about his illness from the beginning, how she spiritually coped with the uncertainty of his life path, and how she’s handling the monumental grief since his untimely departure. If you’ve ever cared for someone struggling with mental health issues or know someone who has, you’re going to want to check this episode out. My momela is a warrior and an inspiration. 

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On this week’s episode, I share my conversation with Jennifer Stevens, Holistic Nutrition Practitioner and Thyroid Cancer Survivor. We talk all about Jen’s experiences with anxiety pre-cancer, leading to a very unexpected diagnosis in her late 30s. Jen shares her decision to forgo radiation in favor of surgery and holistic healing, and how that led her into her new career helping others. 

In addition to her healing journey, Jen brings us into what life is like off the grid in Costa Rica, sharing her wisdom on low-tox living and her perspective on Western excess. We even touch on how ADHD brains thrive in purpose driven settings, how the MTHFR gene mutation interferes with alcohol metabolism, and how high-stress lifestyles fuel anxiety disorders.

Podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts. If you enjoy it, please like/subscribe/share with anyone who might be interested! Your support means the world. 

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Our first episode of season three kicks off with a very special, long-awaited guest…a woman who needs no introduction, but I’m giving her one anyway because she’s ‘a my wife—Amanda Neiman. We explain the reason for our truncated 2nd season and our exceptionally long hiatus: we had a baby! In new-parent fashion, our conversation is a wild, sleep-deprived reflection on how we’re adjusting to the love bomb that just exploded in the epicenter of our lives: our five-month-old little boy, Asher Andy Neiman. 

But wait! There’s more! In addition to being the mother of my child, Amanda is also an integrative nutrition coach, writer, and licensed attorney. She deals with ADHD and General Anxiety Disorder, for which she has been living medication-free for six years. Discussing her Herculean transition into motherhood, Amanda shares a bit about how her relationship to mental health is shifting as she adjusts to our radically new reality. She also dusts off her nutrition coach hat, offering her wisdom on the dietary protocol that keeps her sane. We even touch on current health trends, including the protein craze, Ozempic, and the anti-diet-culture movement. Somewhere along the way, it will probably become pretty clear why I chose to spend my life with this woman. Not that I’m biased. 

Podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts. If you enjoy it, please like/subscribe/share with anyone who might be interested. And get ready for new episodes every Sunday night for season three! 

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This week, I’m joined by nurse practitioner Margaret Decker for a conversation about the role of love and community in modern medicine. We talk about what it means to show up for people—not just as professionals, but as humans—especially in moments of illness, aging, and death. We explore how belief, religion, and ideology intersect with science in clinical settings, and how the fear of liability can quietly distort what care is meant to be. Margaret shares how she approaches her work as something more than a job—as a kind of communal presence that extends beyond any single patient interaction.

Episode available wherever you get your podcasts.

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This week, we’re joined by Betsy Capes—founder of Capes Coaching and a powerhouse guide for artists, creatives, and performers looking to build sustainable careers in an unpredictable industry. Betsy shares her wealth of wisdom on how to thrive in a high-risk, high-reward profession, touching on the pressures of hustle culture and social media that often feel at odds with the artistic spirit. This conversation is full of real talk about what it means to live a creative life today—whether you're all-in on your craft or nurturing it alongside another path. Tune in for grounded insights, practical strategies, and a powerful reminder that your creative work matters. 

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  Today’s episode features my illuminating conversation with Jason Gold, personal coach and psychedelics expert. We explore the therapeutic potential of psilocybin—not just as a healing modality, but as a meaningful alternative to more addictive recreational substances like cannabis and alcohol. Jason offers grounded wisdom on the importance of integration, intention, and nervous system regulation, emphasizing how set and setting shape our experiences. 

We also dive into the misunderstood value of a “bad trip,” reframing it as an invitation to confront what’s rising to be healed. Jason shares his perspective on microdosing and gentler dosing as sustainable pathways to transformation, challenging the cultural overemphasis on macro doses. Our conversation also touches on ayahuasca, including Jason’s belief that this powerful plant medicine must “call” you—and that the real healing happens not during the ceremony, but in the long-term follow-through. 

Whether you’re psychedelic-curious or well-traveled, this episode is a reminder that struggle, when approached with intention and support, can be a portal to profound growth. 

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