Content Warning: This episode discusses violence, rape, and hate crimes. Long before he won the Kirkus and Pushcart Prizes for his memoir writing, before he started teaching creative writing at Harvard Medical School and hosting the popular podcast Vibe Check, Saeed Jones was a kid growing up in Texas and realizing he was different than most people around him. He was raised Buddhist, for one thing, and when the other boys were lusting after a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, Saeed just thought she looked nice. His mom loved him very much and was pretty progressive but really struggled to accept that part of him, leaving Saeed pretty much alone to understand his identity and chart his own course. Which he did.

Content Warning: This episode discusses homelessness, child abuse, neglect, and sexual assault.

David Ambroz does not remember a time before being homeless with his mom and two siblings in New York City, cobbling together sleeps in train stations and emergency room lobbies, grabbing pizza crusts out of trash cans. It was an exciting life but not an easy one, especially given his mother’s schizoaffective disorder and physically abusive behavior. Eventually, he helped get himself and his siblings into foster care, which was often traumatic and abusive as well, especially when the state diagnosed his homosexuality as a disorder and tried to cure it. David learned from all of it, became resourceful, worked hard to make a better life for himself and even forgive his mother. Today, David is the author of the memoir A Place Called Home, a top executive at Amazon, recognized as an American Champion of Change by President Obama, a father, and a tireless advocate for kids in the foster care system.

Content Warning: This episode discusses substance abuse, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and sexual assault.

Book club members who knock back a few bottles of wine are in for some soul searching if Jessica Guerrieri’s novels are picked for the group discussion. That’s because her books, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and the newly released Both Can Be True, both feature characters struggling with alcoholism. It’s a topic Jessica has done her research on. She’s been sober for 12 years and tells us about the drinking, the family intervention that she didn’t even understand was an intervention, and the frank discussion her husband had with her about their future and the idea of having kids. Jessica also talks about her struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder, her multiple experiences as a victim of sexual assault (no graphic language included), and a relapse with THC. It’s an honest discussion of the inter-connectedness of mental health conditions and how clear-eyed determination and honesty can go a long way.