So-Called Normal

In a special World Mental Health Day episode, Mark is joined by an inspiration and mentor of his, Steve Lurie, the Executive Director of the Toronto branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association. They discuss how things have changed across the last 100 years of mental health care in Canada and how hospitals and governments can best help people living with mental health issues. 

Mark is joined by Kevin Newman, Canadian journalist, former ABC and Global National anchor, now retired from TV and host of the Attention Control podcast. They look back on his long career in journalism following his retirement, and his new passion of exposing how misinformation works to manipulate our psychology and tell us who to vote for. 

Mark chats with legendary Canadian children's entertainer Sharon Hampson of 'Sharon, Lois and Bram' fame, along with her daughter and now manager of 'Sharon and Bram', Randi Hampson. They discuss Sharon, Lois and Bram's philosophy of respecting and challenging kids with their music and TV programming, and share stories of meeting the children (and adults) who were shaped by their work. Sharon also opens up about her battle with breast cancer and what it was like to make music and live life with Lois Lilienstein, who passed away in 2015.

Mark is joined by fellow podcaster Eric Zimmer, host of the "The One You Feed", a podcast of inspiring conversations. They discuss Eric's personal story of recovering from an addiction to heroin and how he channeled his experience into creating the podcast. 

Mark is joined by Pete Bombaci, the founder of the Genwell Project, a human connection movement that encourages us to take action to bring people together in our communities. They discuss the project, what inspires and motivates Pete, and why it's important for our health and happiness that we hold onto face-to-face, in person connection.  

Mark sits down with the President and CEO of Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Dr. Catherine Zahn. They discuss the changes in how health professionals treat mental health and how we can break stigma surround those who need treatment. Listen as she gets candid about her own life and how she is actively working to bring change. 

Mark talks with Brendan Saye, newly-promoted principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada. Brendan opens up about his life as a ballet dancer from an early age, his rising prominence in the dance world, and the mysterious symptoms and sudden illness that almost cost him everything. After a long recovery, through periods of darkness and intense retraining, Brendan is poised to continue his dramatic comeback during artistic director Karen Kain’s milestone 50th anniversary 2019/20 season with the company.

Mark is joined by Anna Mehler Paperny, a Reuters reporter and author of Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me, a new book speaking to her experience with depression and suicide. She and Mark have a deeply personal conversation about the similarities between their stories, Anna's process in committing her struggles to the page, and the various treatments she's tried for depression. 

Elementary school assistant principal and mental health advocate Al Levin joins Mark to discuss his experience dealing with depression as a leader, a man, and a pillar of his community and family. They discuss how these roles can affect mental health and our awareness own mental health issues.

Check out Al's podcast, The Depression Files, wherever you found this podcast! 

Mark is joined by Rudy Caseres, an award-winning mental health speaker, social media influencer, and host of No Restraints with Rudy Caseres, a weekly Facebook Live interview show. They discuss his life with bipolar disorder, his brief time in the army, and his experience with involuntary commitment to a psychiatric facility and the issues around that practice.