MIA podcast: science

A specific category for podcast interviews contributed by the news and science team

Global Mental Health: An Old System Wearing New Clothes

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On October 10th, 2018, World Mental Health Day, The Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health and Sustainable Development published a report outlining a proposal to “scale up” mental health care globally. In this podcast series, we discuss the implications.

Dr. Joseph Firth: The Role of Exercise and Nutrition in Early Psychosis

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Dr. Joseph Firth of Western Sydney University talks about his research into the role of exercise and nutrition in supporting young people in the early stages of psychotic illness.

No Link Between Serotonin and Depression: What Does That Mean for Antidepressants?

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Peter Simons covers in detail a new systematic review that debunks the widely popularized myth of low serotonin in depression, the “chemical imbalance theory.”

The Radical Politics of Madness: An Interview with Micha Frazer-Carroll

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MIA's Justin Karter interviews Micha Frazer-Carroll about her new book, "Mad World: The Politics of Mental Health."

“All Real Living Is Meeting”: Brent Robbins on Love, Death, and the Possibilities of...

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Psychologist and existential thinker Brent Robbins reflects on a lifetime of work, the limits of psychiatric diagnosis, and what facing mortality has taught him about joy and human connection.

Questioning the Moral Panic Around Teletherapy: An Interview with Hannah Zeavin

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MIA's Emaline Friedman interviews Hannah Zeavin about what the history of teletherapy reveals about its limitations and radical potential.

Tensions in Mental Health Care in China: An Interview with Zhiying Ma

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Anthropologist Zhiying Ma explores mental health care in China, including tensions between Western psychiatry and socially-oriented local frameworks.

Mental Health and Emotion in the Digital Age: An Interview with Ian Tucker

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MIA's Tim Beck interviews psychologist Ian Tucker about the relationships between digital technologies, emotion, and mental health.

Psychosocial Disability Rights and Digital Mental Health: An Interview with Piers Gooding

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MIA's Emaline Friedman interviews legal scholar Piers Gooding on his work on disability rights and digital mental health technologies.

“Making a Silk Purse Out of a Sow’s Ear”: Erick Turner on How Publication...

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Ayurdhi Dhar interviews Erick Turner about publication bias in antidepressant trials, compromised psychotherapeutic research, and a culture of journal worship.
Laysha Ostrow

Live and Learn: An Interview with Laysha Ostrow

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MIA’s Peter Simons interviews Laysha Ostrow about her mental health research and consulting company, the inclusion of peer specialists in mental health care, and her personal experience with the mental health system.

Discourse, Drug Use, and Psychiatry: An Interview with Critical Psychologist Ilana Mountian

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Richard Sears interviews Ilana Mountian on drug use, marginalization, the disease model of addiction, and problems with prohibition.

Unscientific Diagnoses Medicalize Normal Human Experiences

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In this 30-minute podcast, Peter Simons reports on the latest scientific articles in psychiatry.

Exercise for Youth Mental Health in the Lockdown: Interview with Psychologist Scott Greenspan

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School Psychologist Scott Greenspan discusses how to promote exercise and mental wellbeing for adolescents stuck indoors during the pandemic.

Can Psychosocial Disability Transform Mental Health? A Conversation with Luis Arroyo and Justin Karter

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Mad in Mexico's Luis Arroyo interviews MIA's Justin Karter about how psychosocial disability inclusion can transform Global Mental Health.

Psychotherapy and Social Change: Mick Cooper on Counseling, Pluralism, and Progressive Politics

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Javier Rizo interviews Mick Cooper on the intersection of psychotherapy and social transformation, the pluralistic approach to counseling, and the role of psychology in building a more just society.

Lithium, Antidepressants, Esketamine—All No Better Than Placebo?

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Peter Simons covers a clinical trial that found lithium ineffective at preventing suicide attempts, an essay by Allen Frances on the overdiagnosis of depression and overprescription of antidepressants, a review of the ineffectiveness and dangers of antidepressants, and an analysis that revealed that esketamine failed five of its six clinical trials.

Rights Based Global Mental Health and Social Exclusion: An Interview with Ursula Read

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MIA interviews the anthropologist Ursula Read about her research on mental illness, human rights, and social exclusion in Ghana.

Psychology: Flawed as a Science and as Evidence-Based Medicine

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Peter Simons covers a paper arguing that “psychology is fundamentally incompatible with hypothesis-driven theoretical science,” another paper finding that evidence-based medicine is more corporate gimmick than reliable science, a study that found psychiatrists deliver the worst-quality healthcare of any medical specialty, and more!

How Effective Are Therapy and Medication, and What Do They Treat?

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In our science news podcast, Peter Simons covers a study that found both therapy and medication to have very limited effectiveness.

Peer Support and Resistance: Becky Brasfield’s Vision for Mental Health Justice

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In this interview with Ayurdhi Dhar, Becky Brasfield calls for radical truth-telling in the mental health system.

Pharma Corruption, Dangers of Antidepressants, And More

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Peter Simons covers news on mental health app Cerebral and pharma companies Biogen and Cassava; how social media influencers are the new pharma marketers; studies that found antidepressants don't improve quality of life and are harmful to the fetus when pregnant women take them; benzo withdrawal; and more!

Racial Justice and Lived Experience in Mental Health Advocacy: An Interview with Pata Suyemoto

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MIA's Julia Lejeune interviews scholar, activist, and educator Pata Suyemoto about lived experience activism and racial justice in the mental health field.

The Poetics and Politics of Our Mental Health Metaphors: An Interview with Laurence Kirmayer

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Ayurdhi Dhar interviews influential cultural psychiatrist Laurence Kirmayer on how metaphors, histories, and social structures contour our experiences of suffering and healing.

Psychology’s Small Stories and the Call of the Other: An Interview with David Goodman

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Ayurdhi Dhar interviews David Goodman about his vision for a psychology grounded in care for the other, the risks of psychotherapeutic standardization, and why humility—and even embarrassment—may be vital to human flourishing.