This Helps with Marlon Morgan

Michael Tubbs is the former mayor of Stockton, California, and founder of End Poverty in California (EPIC). Maryann Santella is a longtime educator and school administrator who has spent more than 30 years supporting students in Stockton, where she now serves as Director of Student Services.

As part of our new "Who Helped You?" series, Michael and Maryann join Marlon to reflect on the relationship that began when Michael was a teenager and Maryann was his school counselor. They discuss the power of having someone in your corner, the importance of believing in young people's potential, and how one supportive adult can help shape the course of a life. .

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health care, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have questions or concerns about your mental health, please consult a qualified healthcare or mental health professional. 🔗 Stay connected with the podcast! Instagram: @thishelpspodcast For business: [email protected]

🔗 Stay connected with the podcast host, Marlon Morgan, Founder & CEO of Wellness Together Instagram: @mrmarlonmorgan LinkedIn: Marlon Morgan

📢 Know someone extraordinary who should be featured on This Helps? Visit https://www.thishelpspodcast.com/joinus and tell us all about it.

📓 FREE online mental health training at our Wellness Education Lab. WELLNESS EDUCATION LAB™ (WEL) is practical and empowering online mental health training. Each module offers three different versions for three unique audiences: students (13+), parents/guardians, and educators/school staff. Parents/guardians modules are also available in Spanish. ⛵️ Wellness Together is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation providing mental health services for students (K-12 and University), families, and educators on campus and online. Our mission is to deliver mental health support & programming to advance mental health awareness, advocacy, and access for everyone.

NOTE: If you or someone you know is experiencing a medical or psychiatric emergency, call 911. If you or someone you know needs to speak with someone immediately, call or text The Lifeline at 988.

This week, Marlon is joined by James Sills, musician, singing leader, and author of DO/SING, for a conversation about the surprising power of singing. Together, they explore what happens in our brains and bodies when we sing, why making music together can help combat loneliness, and how something as simple as singing along to a favorite song can strengthen our sense of connection and belonging. Learn more about James and his work bringing people together through music. https://james-sills.com/ Get DO/SING: Reclaim Your Voice. Find Your Singing Tribe https://thedobook.co/products/do-sing-reclaim-your-voice-find-your-singing-tribe

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health care, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have questions or concerns about your mental health, please consult a qualified healthcare or mental health professional. 🔗 Stay connected with the podcast! Instagram: @thishelpspodcast For business: [email protected]

🔗 Stay connected with the podcast host, Marlon Morgan, Founder & CEO of Wellness Together Instagram: @mrmarlonmorgan LinkedIn: Marlon Morgan

📢 Know someone extraordinary who should be featured on This Helps? Visit https://www.thishelpspodcast.com/joinus and tell us all about it.

📓 FREE online mental health training at our Wellness Education Lab. WELLNESS EDUCATION LAB™ (WEL) is practical and empowering online mental health training. Each module offers three different versions for three unique audiences: students (13+), parents/guardians, and educators/school staff. Parents/guardians modules are also available in Spanish. ⛵️ Wellness Together is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation providing mental health services for students (K-12 and University), families, and educators on campus and online. Our mission is to deliver mental health support & programming to advance mental health awareness, advocacy, and access for everyone.

NOTE: If you or someone you know is experiencing a medical or psychiatric emergency, call 911. If you or someone you know needs to speak with someone immediately, call or text The Lifeline at 988.

We're going back to the early days of This Helps for a special best-of episode! In March 2024, Marlon and his first co-host Jeremiah Aja welcomed Dr. Michael Rich for one of the show's very first conversations. Originally released as episodes two and three, we're bringing you some of our favorite moments from that two-part conversation in one episode.

Dr. Rich is a pediatrician, child health researcher, and Director and Founder of Digital Wellness Lab - Boston Children's Hospital. He joins Marlon and Jeremiah to explore our complicated relationships with technology, how parents can help kids navigate the digital world, and why genuine connection matters more than ever.

Plus, the conversation that gave Marlon one of his favorite reminders: "We lost a lot when friend became a verb."

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health care, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have questions or concerns about your mental health, please consult a qualified healthcare or mental health professional. 🔗 Stay connected with the podcast! Instagram: @thishelpspodcast For business: [email protected]

🔗 Stay connected with the podcast host, Marlon Morgan, Founder & CEO of Wellness Together Instagram: @mrmarlonmorgan LinkedIn: Marlon Morgan

📢 Know someone extraordinary who should be featured on This Helps? Visit https://www.thishelpspodcast.com/joinus and tell us all about it.

📓 FREE online mental health training at our Wellness Education Lab. WELLNESS EDUCATION LAB™ (WEL) is practical and empowering online mental health training. Each module offers three different versions for three unique audiences: students (13+), parents/guardians, and educators/school staff. Parents/guardians modules are also available in Spanish. ⛵️ Wellness Together is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation providing mental health services for students (K-12 and University), families, and educators on campus and online. Our mission is to deliver mental health support & programming to advance mental health awareness, advocacy, and access for everyone.

NOTE: If you or someone you know is experiencing a medical or psychiatric emergency, call 911. If you or someone you know needs to speak with someone immediately, call or text The Lifeline at 988.

Joe Gidjunis and Josh Kagi, the team behind PBS's Grown Up Dad, join Marlon for an candid, heartfelt, and very funny conversation about modern fatherhood: the pressure to get it right, the lack of good role models for dads, and why men need spaces where they can actually talk about what they're going through.

Common Sense Media's Merve Lapus joins Marlon as guest co-host, bringing his own perspective on parenting, fatherhood, and friendship. Watch Grown Up Dad and learn more about the community at grownup.dad Catch Joe at HomeDadCon, October 1 – 3 in Chicago. Learn more at athomedad.org/homedadcon.

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health care, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have questions or concerns about your mental health, please consult a qualified healthcare or mental health professional. 🔗 Stay connected with the podcast! Instagram: @thishelpspodcast For business: [email protected]

🔗 Stay connected with the podcast host, Marlon Morgan, Founder & CEO of Wellness Together Instagram: @mrmarlonmorgan LinkedIn: Marlon Morgan

📢 Know someone extraordinary who should be featured on This Helps? Visit https://www.thishelpspodcast.com/joinus and tell us all about it.

📓 FREE online mental health training at our Wellness Education Lab. WELLNESS EDUCATION LAB™ (WEL) is practical and empowering online mental health training. Each module offers three different versions for three unique audiences: students (13+), parents/guardians, and educators/school staff. Parents/guardians modules are also available in Spanish. ⛵️ Wellness Together is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation providing mental health services for students (K-12 and University), families, and educators on campus and online. Our mission is to deliver mental health support & programming to advance mental health awareness, advocacy, and access for everyone.

NOTE: If you or someone you know is experiencing a medical or psychiatric emergency, call 911. If you or someone you know needs to speak with someone immediately, call or text The Lifeline at 988.

Kaitlin Tiches is the Knowledge and Research Strategy Manager at the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children's Hospital, where she tracks research on children, social media, screen time, and digital wellbeing and translates it into practical guidance for parents and educators.

Kaitlin joins Marlon to discuss how parents can help kids and teenagers use social media in healthier, safer ways. Together, they explore how algorithms influence what young people see, why "digital natives" still need digital literacy skills, and how strict screen-time rules and social media bans can sometimes backfire. They also share practical advice for setting parental controls, modeling healthy technology habits, talking to kids about online safety, and creating an open relationship where children feel comfortable asking for help. Keep up with the Digital Wellness Lab: https://digitalwellnesslab.org Read foundry10's white paper: The State of Social Media Literacy Education in the United States: Insights from a Nationally Representative Survey of U.S. High School Students

Head to thishelpspodcast.com/ask Record your "Marlon Helps" question, and you might be featured in an episode of This Helps This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health care, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have questions or concerns about your mental health, please consult a qualified healthcare or mental health professional. 🔗 Stay connected with the podcast! Instagram: @thishelpspodcast For business: [email protected]

🔗 Stay connected with the podcast host, Marlon Morgan, Founder & CEO of Wellness Together Instagram: @mrmarlonmorgan LinkedIn: Marlon Morgan

📢 Know someone extraordinary who should be featured on This Helps? Visit https://www.thishelpspodcast.com/joinus and tell us all about it.

📓 FREE online mental health training at our Wellness Education Lab. WELLNESS EDUCATION LAB™ (WEL) is practical and empowering online mental health training. Each module offers three different versions for three unique audiences: students (13+), parents/guardians, and educators/school staff. Parents/guardians modules are also available in Spanish. ⛵️ Wellness Together is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation providing mental health services for students (K-12 and University), families, and educators on campus and online. Our mission is to deliver mental health support & programming to advance mental health awareness, advocacy, and access for everyone.

NOTE: If you or someone you know is experiencing a medical or psychiatric emergency, call 911. If you or someone you know needs to speak with someone immediately, call or text The Lifeline at 988.

Actor, comedian, podcaster, and author Paul Scheer joins Marlon for a conversation inspired by his memoir, Joyful Recollections of Trauma. Paul talks about revisiting a childhood he once thought was "normal," realizing that shutting something down isn't always the same as dealing with it, and how therapy, parenting, and writing his memoir helped him understand old patterns in new ways.

Plus: bald representation, some truly terrible celebrity encounters, and a passionate case for the minivan.

Keep up with Paul PaulScheer.com

Joyful Recollections of Trauma

How Did This Get Made?

Unspooled

Follow Paul on Instagram

See Paul live in San Diego, this Wednesday, September 9th Paul Scheer and Dinosaur Improv join Chris Gethard for Laughing Together Comedy Night at This Helps Day. Your $25 Comedy Night ticket gets you the comedy show AND the full day of conversations, activities, a book exchange, and real-world connection at the San Diego Convention Center.

Get Your Tickets

🔗 Stay connected with the podcast! Instagram: @thishelpspodcast For business: [email protected]

🔗 Stay connected with the podcast host, Marlon Morgan, Founder & CEO of Wellness Together Instagram: @mrmarlonmorgan LinkedIn: Marlon Morgan

📢 Know someone extraordinary who should be featured on This Helps? Visit https://www.thishelpspodcast.com/joinus and tell us all about it.

📓 FREE online mental health training at our Wellness Education Lab. WELLNESS EDUCATION LAB™ (WEL) is practical and empowering online mental health training. Each module offers three different versions for three unique audiences: students (13+), parents/guardians, and educators/school staff. Parents/guardians modules are also available in Spanish. ⛵️ Wellness Together is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation providing mental health services for students (K-12 and University), families, and educators on campus and online. Our mission is to deliver mental health support & programming to advance mental health awareness, advocacy, and access for everyone.

NOTE: If you or someone you know is experiencing a medical or psychiatric emergency, call 911. If you or someone you know needs to speak with someone immediately, call or text The Lifeline at 988.

We're getting offline. Together.

On September 9th, join us in San Diego for the first-ever This Helps Day, a distraction-free day built around trading pixels for presence. Your $25 ticket to Laughing Together Comedy Night, featuring Chris Gethard and Dinosaur Improv, also gets you access to the entire day: a book exchange, conversations with Mychal Threets, Chris Duffy, Dr. Jean Twenge and more, plus plenty of time to actually connect with the people around you.

Come spend the day with us at the San Diego Convention Center.

Tickets + details: thishelpspodcast.com/thishelpsday

Comedian and mental health advocate Craig Shoemaker has spent decades making people laugh. But somewhere along the way, he started asking a bigger question: if laughter really is medicine, how do we actually use it?

Craig joins Marlon to talk about developing your "seventh sense" and walks us through h his LAUGHTER framework, starting with L for Love, all the way through checking your capital E-Ego. They talk about intentional laughter, why humor can help us connect instead of divide, and how practicing laughter can make it easier to reach for joy instead of anger. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health care, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have questions or concerns about your mental health, please consult a qualified healthcare or mental health professional. Learn more about Craig Shoemaker and his LAUGHTER framework: https://www.craigshoemaker.com/ Keep up with Craig: https://www.instagram.com/officialcraigshoemaker

🔗 Stay connected with the podcast! Instagram: @thishelpspodcast For business: [email protected]

🔗 Stay connected with the podcast host, Marlon Morgan, Founder & CEO of Wellness Together Instagram: @mrmarlonmorgan LinkedIn: Marlon Morgan

📢 Know someone extraordinary who should be featured on This Helps? Visit https://www.thishelpspodcast.com/joinus and tell us all about it.

📓 FREE online mental health training at our Wellness Education Lab. WELLNESS EDUCATION LAB™ (WEL) is practical and empowering online mental health training. Each module offers three different versions for three unique audiences: students (13+), parents/guardians, and educators/school staff. Parents/guardians modules are also available in Spanish. ⛵️ Wellness Together is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation providing mental health services for students (K-12 and University), families, and educators on campus and online. Our mission is to deliver mental health support & programming to advance mental health awareness, advocacy, and access for everyone.

NOTE: If you or someone you know is experiencing a medical or psychiatric emergency, call 911. If you or someone you know needs to speak with someone immediately, call or text The Lifeline at 988.

Jessica Joelle Alexander is a bestselling author, researcher, and expert on Danish parenting, education, and child wellbeing. She is the author of The Danish Way of Parenting and The Danish Way of Education.

Jessica joins Marlon to explore what Denmark gets right about raising happier, healthier kids: from protecting free play and respecting children's perspectives to making wellbeing an essential part of education. Together, they look at how pressure, competition, and narrow definitions of success can shape childhood, and what parents and educators can learn from the Danish emphasis on trust, empathy, belonging, and letting kids be kids. Keep up with Jessica Joelle Alexander at jessicajoellealexander.com and on instagram @jessicajoellealexander Learn more about Raising Digital Citizens: at raisingdigitalcitizens.com Pick up The Danish Way of Education and learn more about The Danish Way: thedanishway.com

🔗 Stay connected with the podcast! Instagram: @thishelpspodcast For business: [email protected]

🔗 Stay connected with the podcast host, Marlon Morgan, Founder & CEO of Wellness Together Instagram: @mrmarlonmorgan LinkedIn: Marlon Morgan

📢 Know someone extraordinary who should be featured on This Helps? Visit https://www.thishelpspodcast.com/joinus and tell us all about it.

📓 FREE online mental health training at our Wellness Education Lab. WELLNESS EDUCATION LAB™ (WEL) is practical and empowering online mental health training. Each module offers three different versions for three unique audiences: students (13+), parents/guardians, and educators/school staff. Parents/guardians modules are also available in Spanish. ⛵️ Wellness Together is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation providing mental health services for students (K-12 and University), families, and educators on campus and online. Our mission is to deliver mental health support & programming to advance mental health awareness, advocacy, and access for everyone.

NOTE: If you or someone you know is experiencing a medical or psychiatric emergency, call 911. If you or someone you know needs to speak with someone immediately, call or text The Lifeline at 988.

Dr. Jenny Radesky is a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, researcher, and leading expert on children and digital media. She is the David G. Dickinson Legacy Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School, co-Medical Director of the AAP Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health, and a Senior Advisor to the Common Sense Media Youth AI Safety Institute. Her book Connecting: Raising Kids in a Digital World is availavble for pre-order now. Dr. Radesky joins Marlon to explore how technology is shaping childhood: from platforms designed to keep kids scrolling to the ways screens can interfere with play, connection, and emotional development. Together, they look at what parents are up against and offer practical, shame-free ways caregivers can help children build healthier relationships with technology without feeling like they have to get everything exactly right.

🔗 Stay connected with the podcast! Instagram: @thishelpspodcast For business: [email protected]

🔗 Stay connected with the podcast host, Marlon Morgan, Founder & CEO of Wellness Together Instagram: @mrmarlonmorgan LinkedIn: Marlon Morgan

📢 Know someone extraordinary who should be featured on This Helps? Visit https://www.thishelpspodcast.com/joinus and tell us all about it.

📓 FREE online mental health training at our Wellness Education Lab. WELLNESS EDUCATION LAB™ (WEL) is practical and empowering online mental health training. Each module offers three different versions for three unique audiences: students (13+), parents/guardians, and educators/school staff. Parents/guardians modules are also available in Spanish. ⛵️ Wellness Together is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation providing mental health services for students (K-12 and University), families, and educators on campus and online. Our mission is to deliver mental health support & programming to advance mental health awareness, advocacy, and access for everyone.

NOTE: If you or someone you know is experiencing a medical or psychiatric emergency, call 911. If you or someone you know needs to speak with someone immediately, call or text The Lifeline at 988.