I love when a plan comes together
Plus: Love, mammoths, grammar, autopsies, cat litter
This week, I am up to my neck parts in getting the new podcast ready. I cannot yet tell you the name of the show, which network it is a part of, or a launch date, but even those parts will be announced soon.
I’ve talked with a lot of famous people. One of the top comics around, one of the top radio hosts going, my favorite rapper, many others. I’ve had psychiatrists and psychologists and top researchers. And I talk to people who don’t get interviewed much.
Today, I talked to a forensic psychologist, a person who does a lot of autopsies. She trained for many years to do this job and she’s one of really a small handful of people who do this for a living. Over the last few years, drug overdoses have become more common as a result of the opioid crisis and other crises. Crime has been on the rise and so more homicides. And suicides are up, as has been the case for way too long.
She says there’s been a bump on top of that from covid but not a dramatic one since you don’t always need autopsies. She had a good perspective on her job, says it’s her role to identify causes of death and that helps the family. She can also gather evidence to catch someone breaking the law and exonerate someone innocent caught up in it. Still, burnout has become an increasing problem and she has a hard time getting to the right mindset to make the job work for her.
And she has a history of depression that goes back way before medical school.
“Have you ever thought,” I asked, “that given your depression, maybe working on dead bodies who are there because of overdoses, homicides, and suicides, might not be the best thing to be doing all day?”
You can hear how she answers that when that episode runs.
Oh, and she says her job is nothing like CSI.
When the new show is finally announced, I will change “Do You Mind” to the name of that show. The name of the show will not be Do You Mind.
One reason: we have a better name. Two reason: Do You Mind reminds me of these old Johnny Cat cat litter commercials from the seventies and I don’t want my mental health efforts to be associated with cats who are shitting.
Why is the cat British? And is he implanting thoughts psychically? I am troubled by this shitting commercial cat.
Kevin Love is being recognized and honored for his work in mental health advocacy. It’s a big deal for an active athlete to talk about his struggles with mental health. An athlete’s entire career depends on reaching peak performance while being at the pinnacle of health and admitting a vulnerability could have a real effect on his contracts and earning potential if a less enlightened person gets the wrong idea of how mental health works. He could have kept quiet and chose not to.
I am glad Meghan Markle is speaking up about issues related to mental health. But here’s something that irritates me.
Meghan Markle is set to make shocking claims about her battle with mental health during her time in Britain — and just what dangerous depths it led her to, Page Six is told.
She doesn’t battle WITH mental health. Mental health is not her opponent. She has battled mental illness. EVERYONE has mental health. That mental health might be in good shape or poor shape or, as with most of us, complicated shape, but she doesn’t need to defeat mental health. That’s like saying she needs to overcome health.
This is more a grammar gripe than anything.
Here’s a picture of an ostrich wearing people clothes for no reason at all.
If you have the right very specific qualifications, maybe you could go help build a real alive mammoth.
I did not recall the Johnny Cat commercial, but yes, seems appropriate to avoid the association. Also, thinking that perhaps Kevin Love having a number other than zero might be better for his mental health. Any hoo, can't wait for the new podcast. The anticipation is killing me (and not good for my mental health :-P ).