🎙️ Suck It Up, Buttercup? When Healthcare Hurts the Healers

TW: We discuss suicide.

What happens when the people we trust to heal us are being harmed by the very system they work in?

In this powerful episode of The FEMCAST, Anita Whyte Moran and returning guest Dr. Jennifer Fraser sit down with US family physician, Navy veteran and filmmaker Dr. Todd Otten to expose the hidden cost of bullying, trauma and burnout in medicine.

From childhood trauma and the brutal culture of medical training to physician suicide, toxic leadership and a healthcare system where profit can come before people, Todd asks a question we can no longer afford to ignore:

What happens when we tell the people holding everyone else together to simply suck it up?

But this isn't just a story about what's broken. It's about finding the courage to speak out, reclaiming your voice and building a better way forward.

💥 Discover why silence protects harmful systems, how trauma follows us into the workplace, and why real change begins when we stop normalising abuse.

🌱 Hear how Todd is reclaiming medicine through a more compassionate model of care — and why his upcoming documentary, Suck It Up, Buttercup, challenges us all to unlearn helplessness and put people before profits.

Because nobody should have to sacrifice their wellbeing to serve others.

🎧 Listen, reflect and join the conversation. It's time to stop crushing the buttercups — and start changing the system.

🌐 Learn more about the documentary: https://siubfilm.com

The FEMCAST — Amplifying voices. Challenging power. Building safer futures for everyone.

#TheFEMCAST #ToddROtten #Healthcare #Bullying #PsychologicalSafety #Neuroscience #MentalHealth #JenFraser #TheBulliedBrain #TheGaslitBrain #SafeBrains

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In this episode of The FEMCAST, Silvia Adlesic Holmgren takes us beyond traditional ideas of leadership and asks a bigger question: what kind of workplace are we creating through the way we lead?

We explore the connection between leadership, brain science and organisational culture, and why trust, vulnerability, accountability and authenticity aren't soft skills — they're essential ingredients of healthy, high-performing workplaces.

Silvia shares fascinating insights into how toxic leadership can impact our health and wellbeing, how our brains can begin to normalise behaviours that should never be acceptable, and why speaking up matters when workplace cultures become harmful.

From gaslighting and destructive leadership to neuroplasticity, self-awareness and the future of management, this conversation challenges leaders, boards and employees alike to look at their own role in creating healthier organisations.

Because culture isn't something you write on a wall.

Culture is what we experience.

And changing it starts with having the courage to see it, challenge it and lead differently.

🎙️ Listen, learn and ask yourself: what kind of culture are you creating?

#TheFEMCAST #Leadership #WorkplaceCulture #BrainScience #HealthyWorkplaces #ToxicLeadership #Accountability #Management #OrganisationalCulture

Three years ago, Dr Jen Fraser and I sat down to talk about the adolescent brain — and the devastating number of young people losing their lives on our roads.

Today, after five young men were killed on Irish roads over the weekend, the conversation feels painfully relevant.

What happens inside a teenage brain when it encounters speed, risk, peer approval and the freedom of being behind the wheel?

Dr Fraser explains that the adolescent brain is undergoing enormous change from roughly 12 or 13 through the mid-twenties. The systems associated with reward, novelty and social connection become highly active, while the prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain involved in considering consequences and regulating impulses — is still developing.

We explore why having friends in the car can increase risky driving, why a young person can know the rules perfectly in one moment and struggle to follow them in another, and why “cold cognition” and “hot cognition” matter when we talk about adolescent decision-making.

But this isn't about blaming young people.

It is about understanding them.

If we know that adolescent brains are still developing, then surely we have a responsibility to give young people theknowledge and tools they need to navigate that development safely.

We also talk about adolescent mental health, suicide, social media, emotional intensity and the role adults need to play increating safety around young people. Dr Fraser makes an important point: adolescents can sometimes look like adults, but neurologically they are still developing — and they need adults to be the “prefrontal cortex” until their own develops.

This episode was recorded three years ago.

Today, it feels like a conversation we desperately need to have again.

Please listen. And please share it with a parent, teenager, teacher, coach or young driver.

Because understanding the adolescent brain could be part of preventing the next tragedy.

#TheFEMCAST #AdolescentBrain #RoadSafety#YoungDrivers #Neuroscience #TeenMentalHealth #YouthMentalHealth #RoadDeaths #SafeBrains

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The Red Phone: When Your Biggest Success Becomes Your Biggest Threat

What happens when you're a high performer, a respected executive and at the top of your game — but your workplace is slowly destroying you?

Andy Regal knows.

A veteran media executive who worked at CNBC, MSNBC, Court TV and The Wall Street Journal, Andy spent decades inside some of the world's most high-pressure newsrooms.

He was successful. He was promoted. He led teams. He created programmes that made millions.

And he was bullied.

Not always loudly. Not always obviously. Sometimes it was the red phone that made his heart race. Sometimes it was humiliation. Sometimes it was being ostracised. Sometimes it was gaslighting that left him questioning his own competence.

And sometimes the most damaging part was the shame.

The shame that makes you think: What did I do wrong?

In this powerful episode of The FEMCAST podcast, Andy joins us to talk about Surviving Bully Culture, what workplace bullying does to the brain and body, why high performers can become targets, and why the shame belongs with the perpetrator — not the person being harmed.

We talk ....

🚩Gaslighting

🚩Mobbing

🚩Psychological safety

🚩The “brilliant jerk”

🚩Bystanders becoming enablers.

🚩... and what businesses could actually do to change the culture.

Because a workplace should never cost you your dignity, your health or your sense of who you are.

This isn't just a conversation about bullying. It's a conversation about power, culture and what happens when we finally stop normalising abuse at work.

🎙️ Listen to the full episode of The FEMCAST.

And if you've ever thought, “Maybe it's me…” — this conversation is for you.

You can get Andy's book here 👉 https://lnkd.in/ehdgNN2q💡 Listen now and learn how to spot the signs, protect yourself, and become part of the movement for change.

The FEMCAST website – https://thefemcast.com/

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#TheFEMCAST #WorkplaceBullying #PsychologicalSafety #Gaslighting #BullyCulture #WorkplaceCulture #Leadership #MentalHealthAtWork #HighPerformers #SurvivingBullyCulture #JenFraser #AndyRegal #AnitaWhyteMoran

⚠️ Content warning: Sexual violence, workplace harassment, trauma🎙️

What happens when the place you’re supposed to feel safe becomes the place that breaks you?

In this powerful episode of The FEMCAST, Jan Cruickshank shares her deeply personal story of workplace sexual harassment and assault — and the devastating aftermath of trying to speak up. From shock and self-blame to facing disbelief from those meant to protect her, Jan exposes the brutal reality many survivors face when systems prioritise reputation over safety.

This conversation goes beyond one woman’s story. It shines a light on workplace cultures that enable abuse, the silencing power of NDAs, and why accountability for perpetrators remains dangerously rare.

This episode is raw, honest, and necessary listening for anyone who believes safe workplaces are a basic human right.

If we want change, we have to start by listening.

#TheFEMCAST #Gaslighting #Whistleblower #Justice #SexualViolenceAwareness #TheFEMCASTPodcast #GaslightingAwareness #PsychologicalAbuse #ToxicLeadership #WorkplaceBullying #EducateToEmpower

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🎧 GASLIT BRAIN SERIES | THE FEMCAST PODCAST

What if workplace bullying isn’t just damaging confidence… but changing how your brain functions? 🧠

In this powerful episode, we expose the hidden neurological, emotional, and physical toll of toxic work environments — particularly on women and those navigating power imbalances at work.

Featuring the lived experience of mental health expert Dr Krystal Culler, this conversation explores how workplace gaslighting, institutional bullying, and unchecked toxic leadership can trigger anxiety, cognitive burnout, physical health crises, and long-term trauma.

We unpack:
• How workplace stress rewires the brain
• Why women are disproportionately targeted through subtle and relational bullying
• The warning signs your body is under psychological threat
• How gaslighting erodes confidence and professional identity
• Practical strategies to protect your brain health and plan safe career transitions
• Why organisations must move beyond wellbeing talk to real accountability

If work has ever made you question your worth, your memory, or your resilience — this episode will validate what you’ve experienced and help you understand why it happens.

Because surviving work should never come at the cost of your health.

🎙 Listen now and join the conversation redefining workplace safety.

#WorkplaceBullying #GaslightingAtWork #PsychologicalSafety #WomenInLeadership #WorkplaceTrauma #TheFEMCAST