The Connection with Marty Moss-Coane

The teenage years are always difficult to navigate, but lately they’ve become even harder for young people facing pressure at school, on social media and living with the threat of gun violence. Adolescents are reporting record rates of anxiety, depression and thoughts of suicide. So how can adults help young people through this painful and awkward time?

Psychologist Lisa Damour has written a book to help parents understand the emotional journey of adolescents, that negative emotions are normal, and how to best support the young people in their lives. It’s called The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connect, Capable, Compassionate Adolescents.

Earth Day is supposed to prompt us to pay attention to our planet and think about how to protect it, and it’s just a week away. But many people can’t stop worrying about the future of the Earth.

Climate anxiety is growing, particularly younger generations, as they watch forests disappear, species vanish, and glaciers melt. The American Psychological Association defines eco-anxiety as a “chronic fear of environmental doom,” and is harmful to mental health.

Today, a conversation about climate anxiety, strategies for coping with it, and how to turn those feelings of hopelessness into action.

Thomas Doherty, a clinical psychologist practicing in Portland, Oregon who specializes in climate psychology.

Sarah Ray, Environmental Studies Professor at Cal Poly Humboldt and the author of A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet.

You’d think that by the time we reach adulthood, saying you are sorry would be second nature. But many people struggle with apologies and end up sounding insincere. Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy have been tracking apologies from celebrities, politicians, and others in the public eye since 2012 for their website SorryWatch. They have analyzed what makes a good apology and have boiled it down to six essential steps, which they share in their book, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry. They join us today to talk about saying sorry, the mistakes people make, why some of us apologize too much, and the benefits of a good apology.

Clint Smith began writing the poems in his new collection, Above Ground, when his wife was pregnant with their first child. The poems reflect the joy and fear that accompanies fatherhood. Some are fun and full of wonder, like “Ode to a double stroller” or “What sound a giraffe makes.” Others wrestle with the world children inherit, our racist past and the violence in everyday life.

This is Smith’s second poetry collection and follows his widely acclaimed book, How the Word Is Passed, which looked at how the legacy of slavery is enmeshed in our history and landscape. Clint Smith joins us to read his poems and talk about Black fatherhood and America’s history.

Philosopher KIERAN SETIYA says that instead of pursuing happiness, our goal in life should be to live as well as we can even when faced with hardship and uncertainty. Most of us have grappled with loss, loneliness, failure, injustice and the absurdities of living. Setiya has lived with chronic pain for most of his adult life, a condition that he says has made him a more compassionate person.

His new book, Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way, draws on the writing of great thinkers like Plato, Socrates, Kant, Woolf, Didion, Dickinson and others. Setiya says philosophy, at its root, is about the question “How to Live?”

Do you ever feel like a fraud at work or in your daily life? That people overestimate your talent or intelligence? Imposter phenomenon can be a heavy burden for people constantly battling self-doubt, questioning their achievements, and fearing that their perceived inadequacy could be revealed at any time.

Close to 70% of people report feeling like an imposter at some point in their lives, but some are pushing back on what’s popularly known as “imposter syndrome.” In this episode of The Connection, we dig into the imposter phenomenon — is it real, who experiences it and why, and how can we restore our confidence?

Our guests are MIT professor BASIMA TEWFIK. who says there can be an upside to imposter thinking, and University of Michigan professor KEVIN COKELY, who studies the phenomenon in minoritized groups.

All the bad news and stories of bad, even horrific, human behavior can overwhelm us, leading to a very pessimistic outlook on humanity. It overshadows the examples of people doing the right thing, acting generously, with kindness and empathy.

Social scientist and physician Nicholas Christakis says its actually our tendency toward goodness that has been a big driver in our evolution. Christakis runs the Human Nature Lab at Yale and was once a hospice physician, work that has informed his research.

He says our need for human connection is one of our most defining characteristics and he’s seen it expressed at the bedside of people at the end of life, holding onto loved ones in their final moments. Christakis joins us to talk about our social evolution, why friendship and love are vital to our species’ survival, and how he maintains his optimism for humankind.

There’s been a lot of fighting lately over how to teach the history of America – and it’s turned classroom curriculums into political battlefields. Perhaps it’s not surprising that we get emotional confronting our past, with so many painful chapters.

How do we get people to face the ugly truths of the American story? Can we feel sorrow, shame and anger while still taking pride in the things that make this country great? We’ll talk with a social psychologist and a history professor about why we need to teach “hard history” and how to develop the mental toolkit to reckon honestly with our past.

Dolly Chugh, Psychologist and Professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University, author of A More Just Future and the newsletter, Dear Good People

Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Associate Professor of History at The Ohio State University and the editor of editor of Understanding and Teaching the Civil Rights Movement

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman checked himself into a hospital last week for treatment for depression. Many people praised his openness and courage to voluntarily seek inpatient treatment. Fetterman’s experience is not unique. A third of recovering stroke victims – and more than 8% of all Americans—will struggle with depression. Many more of us have experienced depressive symptoms or have watched a loved one battle the disease. 

But so much stigma still surrounds mental illness, including depression, with its symptoms often hidden and misunderstood. Barriers to mental health care access like provider shortages, affordability, and cultural competency continue to prevent more than half of people from getting the help they need. 

Today, we’ll discuss how our understanding of depression has evolved and look at the root causes of the disease and the stigma that persists. We’ll also talk about how families can help a loved one who is battling mental illness – and how those families also need support.

Nii Addy, Albert E. Kent Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Scientist Diversity and Inclusion at Yale School of Medicine. Host of the Addy Hour podcast.

Ashley Clayton, Mental Health Advocate and Research Associate at the Family Violence Research Program at Yale School of Medicine

Andrew Nierenberg, Director of the Dauten Family Center for Bipolar Treatment Innovation, Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Options for Deaf and Hard of Hearing)

National Alliance for Mental Illness : call or text the NAMI Helpline at 800-950-6264,

Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance: (800) 826-3632

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline

Veterans Crisis Line

Philadelphia crisis line: 215-685-6440

Montgomery County Mobile Crisis Support: 1-855-634-HOPE (4673)

Delaware County Crisis Connections Team: 1-855-889-7827

New Jersey Hope Line: 855-654-6735

The number of victims killed in the Turkey-Syria earthquake continues to climb…tens of thousands of people and counting. From afar, we see city blocks flattened and desperate families and rescue workers digging, listening and searching for survivors with fading hope.

What kind of mark does a natural disaster of this scale leave on survivors who have lost everything so suddenly? Is recovery for them even possible? And is there something unique about the trauma endured from an earthquake, hurricane or wildfire that is different from that of mass shootings, a terrorist attack or the daily threat of gun violence that is sadly commonplace in many U.S. cities?

APRIL NATURALE, a traumatic stress specialist who directed the New York State response to the 9/11, helped launch the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and the National Disaster Distress Helpline.

ROBIN GURWITCH, a professor of psychology at Duke University School of Medicine and a senior advisor at the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress in the Terrorism and Disaster Program.  She is currently in Moldova working with Ukrainian refugees.