Family & Relationships

Actor Paul Scheer reflects on his childhood with an abusive stepfather and how those experiences shaped his relationship with anger, conflict, and identity. Through therapy and conversations with his wife, he began to understand the lasting impact of that trauma and how it showed up in his adult life. He shares how he’s working to break those patterns and build a healthier relationship with himself and his family.

Actor and writer Joel Kim Booster shares his journey growing up in a deeply religious adoptive household where his sexuality and mental health struggles were not accepted. After his parents discovered he was gay by reading his journal, Joel left home at 17 and began building a life on his own while later navigating a diagnosis of bipolar II disorder. In this candid conversation, he reflects on self-acceptance, boundaries with family, and the path toward reconciliation and stability.

At just 22, Frank Cobbe has already done significant work to understand his mental health and support others. After being diagnosed with bipolar II disorder and later discovering he is on the autism spectrum, Frank and his mom began a journey that helped them both better understand their mental health. In this episode, Frank shares how family support, education, and self-discovery helped him make sense of experiences like hypomania and psychosis, and why he now advocates for young adult mental health.

Growing up as the only person of color in her adoptive family, Kris Jamieson always knew she was different, but understanding her identity proved far more complicated. From reconnecting with her birth mother to navigating painful family estrangement, Kris shares how race, belonging, and loss have shaped her mental health journey. It’s a powerful conversation about complicated families, clarity around who “Mom” is, and learning to live with depression and anxiety while holding onto your sense of self.

Newspaper columnist and community leader Ka Vang reflects on surviving war and displacement as a Hmong refugee and the lasting mental health impacts on her family. She shares how generational trauma continues to echo today, as immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota trigger fear and flashbacks within the Hmong community.

After the loss of both her parents, author and artist Tracey Yokas found herself supporting her daughter through grief that developed into an eating disorder and self-harm, all while navigating her own mental health challenges. In this episode, Tracey reflects on parenting through crisis, examining how her own childhood experiences shaped her family dynamics, and the long, complex path toward healing and understanding across generations.

Comedian, writer, and podcast host Ophira Eisenberg joins us to explore generational trauma, hypervigilance, and resilience. Reflecting on her upbringing in a family shaped by unaddressed war-related trauma, she shares how anxiety and anger carried into her own life and parenting — and how she’s learning to face difficult emotions with honesty, humor, and a commitment to keep moving forward.

Acclaimed writer and university professor Jason Tougaw finds time to reflect on a chaotic childhood marked by instability, inherited family myths, and the search for identity in a time when being gay felt unsafe. In conversation, he shares how paying close attention to the patterns he didn’t want to repeat—and finding unexpected sources of healing—helped him build a calmer, more intentional life as an adult.

NPR’s Peter Sagal joins Dr. Michelle K. Murray for a candid conversation about mental health, family history, and personal growth. Known for his humor on Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me, Peter shares his experience with undiagnosed ADHD, anxiety, and depression, and how reflection and therapy helped him break unhealthy patterns and build stronger family connections.