295/500
Thanks for liking me, now some more of you should like me
Max Fun Drive update
Here is some stuff you should know about the Max Fun Drive, the primary vehicle to fund Depresh Mode and other Maximum Fun podcasts:
1. We have set a goal of 500 members. Those are people joining Max Fun to support the show, current members adding DepMo to the list of shows they support, and people bumping up their current level of support. As I type this, we are at 295. I know we can do it. If you have joined, THANK YOU. If you haven’t yet, now is the time.
1A. I had no idea what to set a goal at for this drive but I thought maybe 200 people? It’s a lot more and I am happy about that.
2. There are dog reasons to support Depresh Mode. If you join at the $20 a month level or higher, I can tell my dogs Sally and Maisy about you. Simply screenshot your receipt or other indicator of your membership and use the hashtag #DepreshDogs on Twitter or Instagram. And I will fill in the dogs on you.
4. As I’ve said before, you can also get the Depresh Mode pin and bonus content with me being thoughtful with Rachel Bloom and silly with John Hodgman.
NYT: Moe Wrong
Not really but sort of! If you’ve been following me, you know that I’ve been loudly ringing the bell of “covid gonna mess up your mind” for quite a while. I look at what I know about trauma, what history tells us about large scale deadly disasters, and at the current survey numbers and it looks bleak as hell.
Dr. Richard Friedman, writing in the NYT, sees it differently.
Studies suggest that up to about 90 percent of Americans have experienced a traumatic event, yet the prevalence of PTSD is estimated to be 6.8 percent. So while exposure to traumatic events is common, only a small minority of people develop PTSD as a result. Follow-up studies of trauma victims with PTSD in the general population show that the symptoms decrease significantly within three months after trauma and that about 66 percent of those with PTSD eventually recover.
He’s a doctor, I’m a conversationalist. I respect his experience and credentials. He knows more than I do.
But. His thesis seems to be “not everyone gets messed up after trauma”. Which is true and the stats might give people hope that they won’t be messed up. But Friedman’s data also tells us “some people get messed up after trauma”, which is kind of my point. And in something as huge as covid, which is affecting everyone to some extent, even single digit percentages make for a lot of people.
To me, Friedman’s conclusion is sort of like saying, “Great news about cancer! Most people won’t get it!”
Coming up on the pod
We have an exciting few weeks ahead on the Depresh Mode podcast. These are all slugline titles, snazzier headlines to come. And subject to change.
Next week, we have Zach Kornfeld of the Try Guys to talk about depresh, OCD, and chronic pain. And about how Ira Glass inspired him. And we have Ira Glass talking about being inspirational and about sucking really bad.
May 17 - Mental Health Apps, Telehealth, and Security
May 24 - Jarrett Hill of the FANTI podcast & Dr. Ksera Dyette
May 31 - Allison Raskin
June 7 - Bipolar 101 - what is it, what isn’t it
June 14 - Stephanie Wittels Wachs
What is it about this?
A confession, and a bit of a dangerous one for a Minnesotan: I like Prince’s music. But I don’t live in obsessive adoration of his music. I mean, I understand it to be great, I would never fault anyone’s deep love of it. His music brings great joy to so many people and I am in the PRO great joy camp. But for me? Yeah, it’s nice.
Kind of feel the same about guitar solos, actually.
But sometimes a bit of music will transcend that which we thought we knew. It will become godlike. And such is the case with Prince’s solo during a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame performance to honor George Harrison. Jeff Lynne of ELO and Tom Petty are up there, along with Harrison’s son Dhani. And then Prince comes out. A video of this made the rounds after Prince died and it was amazing then but now there’s a longer and better version of it.
It’s brilliant and beyond brilliant and I don’t know why. How? Wha? Mrrghh?
It’s a guy playing a guitar like a million guys and guitars have done before. But something just… happens. I’m not a religious guy but this could convert people.
This is included in a mental health newsletter because it touches on the infinite possibility of joy in our universe.
Things to note:
Prince is having a lot of fun with Tom Petty in particular. They speak no words to each other but it’s an extraordinary conversation.
Some people thought Petty was mad at Prince for showboating here but it’s not the case. For one, he’s talked about this before. But for another, this is what you do in music of the jam variety. When someone is touched by the divine, the rest of the band knows to back away and support them. The musicians here understand the pocket into which they need to go.
If anyone knows where the guitar goes that he throws into the air at the end, please never tell me. I believe it goes up to heaven to wait for Prince there. I do not wish to be told otherwise.
Preshies are talking
If you haven’t joined the Preshies Facebook group yet, you might consider doing so. They’re having some wonderful mutually supportive conversations, sharing resources, hanging out. Kind of the ideal of a Facebook group but so rarely executed? Plus we’re doing shout-outs there to get some voices for the show. It’s neat.