Episodes: 2017

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Mike BrownMike Brown

Mike Brown Trains as an Engineer to Prepare for Comedy

December 26, 2017
New York comedian Mike Brown is a big fan of objective cause-and-effect scenarios. This drew him into playing video games, studying math and engineering, and ultimately getting on stage to tell jokes and get laughs. The thing is, sometimes you have to face events that are completely senseless.
Janelle JamesJanelle James

Janelle James Discovers She’s a Comedian and Not a Gardener

December 18, 2017
New York comic Janelle James never even imagined being a comedian. She had grown up in the Virgin Islands, worked in fashion PR, had two kids, and was living in Illinois when she first walked on stage at an open mic night. She was 30 years old. But as soon as she hit the stage, […]
Jenny LawsonJenny Lawson

Jenny Lawson is Very Fond of Creepy Smiling Dead Animals and Worries Quite a Bit

December 11, 2017
She’s the author of bestselling books and an incredibly popular blog, but Jenny Lawson showed up to our interview wondering, at least a little, if her appearance on this show and her whole career, really, was part of some delusion. It’s not. She’s the real thing: an incredibly funny and honest writer with a legion […]
The Holiday Coping Mechanism Spectacular

The Holiday Coping Mechanism Spectacular

December 4, 2017
We’ve gathered up a whole lot of tips, tricks, ideas, and stories to help you get through this time of year when merriness and jolliness aren’t always in abundant supply. Hear holiday thoughts from Wil Wheaton, Margaret Cho, Jenny Lawson, John Green, Aimee Mann, and more. Plus, a story about a slobbering zebra.
Ana Marie CoxAna Marie Cox

Ana Marie Cox Is Not Really Edited Much At All

November 27, 2017
You know those things that happened but that you don’t talk about very much? Or even at all? Because they’re too upsetting? In this episode, host John Moe and guest Ana Marie Cox put those things on the table. Ana is a journalist, pundit, and podcaster; she talks about the lowest point in her mental […]
Julie KlausnerJulie Klausner

Julie Klausner Builds a More Confident and Dumber Version of Herself For Our Amusement

November 20, 2017
Growing up, actor and writer Julie Klausner was too busy battling depression and daydreaming about an imagined Merlot-sipping cosmopolitan adulthood to really engage in the world itself. It wasn’t until she entered the world of comedy and improv as an adult that things really started to click into place. That led to creating Difficult People, […]
Jeff TweedyJeff Tweedy

Jeff Tweedy Didn’t Want to Take His Doctor On Tour Because the Doctor Was Terrible

November 13, 2017
Long before Jeff Tweedy was the founder and leader of the enormously popular band Wilco, he was a kid in Illinois with severe migraines and a tendency toward anxiety and depression. He cycled through alcohol, marijuana, and, finally, opioids to try to get to the point of feeling normal and okay, even relying on a […]
Patti HarrisonPatti Harrison

Patti Harrison Figures Out Who She Is and She’s a Woman Who Likes Gross Jokes

November 6, 2017
With one recent appearance on The Tonight Show, Patti Harrison went from being a well-regarded alternative comedian in New York to being a de facto spokesperson for transgender people. She’s proud of who she is and proud to give a voice to that community. But she wants to make it clear that her sense of […]
Gary GulmanGary Gulman

Gary Gulman Is a Brilliant Comedian and an Ineffective Offensive Lineman

October 30, 2017
Although Gary Gulman has been a successful stand-up comedian for decades – with acclaimed specials, a loyal fan base, and appearances on all major late night shows – this was not his original plan. Gary is 6’6” and athletically gifted, he loved basketball, and had a full ride athletic scholarship to a Division 1 program. […]
Aimee MannAimee Mann

Aimee Mann Discovers That Having Feelings About Terrible Things Is Perfectly Fine

October 23, 2017
Singer/songwriter Aimee Mann has a reputation for making music that is raw, emotional, and sometimes not all that cheerful. In real life, she’s perfectly cheerful – thank you very much – and has traveled a long road of depression, anxiety, a difficult childhood, and writer’s block. Through it all, she’s taken a calm, considered, and […]
John GreenJohn Green

John Green Falls Victim to Some Bad Fiction While Writing His New Book

October 16, 2017
Author John Green had one of the best-selling books of the last 10 years with The Fault In Our Stars. The problem is, when you write an acclaimed smash hit, everyone wants you to somehow do it again. In attempting to write that follow-up, Green went off the meds he’d been taking for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, […]
Neal BrennanNeal Brennan

Neal Brennan Gives Ketamine and Magnetic Impulses a Try

October 9, 2017
If you’ve enjoyed any comedy in the last 20 years, there’s a good chance Neal Brennan helped make it. He’s a veteran comic, writer, director, and co-creator, with Dave Chappelle, of the acclaimed Chappelle’s Show. Over the past 20-plus years, he’s also tried everything he could think of to tame his depression. Hear Neal’s epic […]
Margaret ChoMargaret Cho

Margaret Cho Works Out A Lot And Makes People Upset In New Jersey

October 2, 2017
She’s one of the most influential and innovative comedians of the last few decades, but before all that, Margaret Cho was a Korean-American girl growing up in the 1970s in San Francisco. We hear about the sometimes very darkly humorous ways her family and culture dealt with depression and suicide, and how she harnessed her […]
Wil WheatonWil Wheaton

Wil Wheaton Is Really Hoping It’s All Worth It

September 25, 2017
Wil Wheaton was a child star in Stand By Me, a regular on Star Trek: The Next Generation as a teenager, and has been trying to figure out his role in show business for a long time since then. He was dealing with the pressures of fame and the fickle tastes of Hollywood, all while […]
Episode #PREVIEW: Season 2 starts Sept. 25!

Episode #PREVIEW: Season 2 starts Sept. 25!

September 18, 2017
Season 2 of The Hilarious World of Depression starts on September 25, 2017. Get a jump on it by hearing from some of the comics, actors, authors, and musicians you’ll get to know this season.
Episode #PLACEBO: Imagine Depression as a Person and Describe Them

Episode #PLACEBO: Imagine Depression as a Person and Describe Them

August 28, 2017
What if clinical depression was not just a thing in someone’s brain but an actual other person entirely? What would they look like? Act like? Who would they be? And how would you interact with such a person? It’s a mental exercise that many find helpful in isolating the disease from the self to better […]
Episode #PLACEBO: How to Get Help

Episode #PLACEBO: How to Get Help

August 15, 2017
If you are having problems with your mental health, please get help. You’ve heard that before on this show and probably plenty of other places as well. But how do you actually do that? How do you go about finding professional help to get things on a better track? It’s a process that can be […]
Episode #PLACEBO: Hitting the Nail on the Head

Episode #PLACEBO: Hitting the Nail on the Head

July 31, 2017
Depression can be really hard to define, making it difficult for anyone who doesn’t have it to be understand it. And that can make the people who do have it feel that much more alone. We asked our listeners what movie, TV show, artwork, or other piece of culture gets depression right. The answers range […]
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