Please welcome Mayim Bialik.
(crowd cheering)
Hi.
Oh my gosh, I think there is no one on earth
I'd rather speak to this morning.
I was listening to your podcast.
We have a new program here where we're shining a spotlight
on our podcasts that are the new frontier.
And so we would like to put a spotlight on yours.
Mayim Bialik's Breakdown it's the download.
(soft music) (crowd cheering)
In your podcast I was listening to with Glennon Doyle,
you really are willing to go there,
(Mayim laughs)
about marriage and divorce and co-parenting,
and therapy and eating disorders and everything in life.
And I just was wondering how you have the bravery
and the wherewithal to look within, and yet also put it out.
Well, I mean, I really appreciate the question
especially from you knowing that, you know,
we both grew up in the public eye
and also in complicated and dynamic creative families,
you know, for me growing up surrounded by mental illness,
we didn't talk about it, you know?
It was just like, oh, this person acts like this,
or, oh, you don't know what to expect
if you hang out with this person,
or this person, you know behaves in a way that's hurtful.
And we didn't really talk about it.
But you know, in the years, since I was a child,
I did I grew up in the public eye.
I went to graduate school.
I got my degree in neuroscience,
and a huge emphasis of my thesis
and also just sort of my life post child celebrity
has been about learning about the world around me
and about my place in it.
And it really wasn't until this last year
that my partner Jonathan Cohen and I
decided to sort of like put our time
and energy where our heads are.
And that's in the world of mental health you know?
I've benefited from therapy,
there've been times when I've been on medication.
There've been times when I haven't been on medication
but we started a podcast that is all things mental health.
And it's not like, here's how to fix your life.
Like, I'm the celebrity who's gonna tell you how to do this.
It's like, I'm still figuring it out.
He's still figuring it out.
And we're speaking to people
who are also still trying to figure it out.
So in terms of the Glennon Doyle episode
I'm a huge, huge, I mean, fan is not the right word.
Like I feel intimately connected with her,
even though, you know like I just met her recently,
but she goes there, you know?
She talks so bravely about her eating disorder history,
her mental health history.
And it's something that I finally decided,
like if I'm not gonna talk about it,
why am I here you know, touting other people who do?
So it was actually not an impulsive decision,
but that's kind of what the podcast does.
Every episode people are sharing things
that many of them say I've never shared this with anyone.
People are talking addiction, suicide attempts,
like things that we didn't even anticipate
when we just said, let's talk to people
who are open about mental health.
So that's kind of where we're at.
Apparently I've put it all out there.
And that episode in particular I shared a lot of things
I've literally never shared before.
I was so grateful to hear it.
And you just said something that rang,
ugh I'm probably gonna burst into tears
cause I'm so that guy and I just had one of those days,
but when you're a celebrity
you don't feel like you have the right to complain.
Correct.
You just don't, you have it too good.
And it's hard,
like that's not a human experience.
Well, and I think also that's, you know,
as a woman sometimes we're not allowed to say something
or as a mom it's like, well you had kids,
what do you expect, right?
Or, well, you got married what did you expect?
And I think like, that's part of what I'm trying to do
and not being this like shiny celebrity person
who's like here's how to meditate,
which look if people want that from celebrities
there are definitely you know podcasts and outlets.
That's not what I'm doing.
I'm doing like, let's try this.
I went to a shaman, is chiropractic real?
Like, what do we do?
What's the science behind all these things?
What works and what doesn't
and honestly that comes from speaking
to people who've lived it.
Look without social media
without this access to our public people,
yeah I wouldn't be having this conversation
but this is what,
and this is the beautiful work that you're doing also
is using this presence to say, we're still human.
My kids still thinks I'm the stupidest person in the world.
And I can't friggin' walk up the stairs right
without him saying what do you want?
What's your problem?
Why are you being mean to me?
It's like, I'm literally walking up the stairs.
(Drew laughs) Most stuff that happens,
it happens no matter what.
And yes, there's absolutely differential resources.
They're systemic racism, there's systemic injustice,
but we're still all human and I'm a scientist,
and this is still what it's like.
And what I love is that you did study science
because since we have had this blessing
with a lot of effort work and energy and a board vision
and we've been able to maintain longevity,
which is just again it's where I feel like
I should never complain,
because I managed to still be here.
And I'm so grateful for that journey.
And I wanna keep it real.
I wanna be like, I am flawed.
I am struggling.
I will not stay stuck.
I will figure this out.
It takes longer than I want it to.
I'm divorced.
I'm co-parenting, I have problems.
I struggled blah!
You know, but at the same time I am an optimist
and that is my truth but I want to figure things out.
I wanna, look within
I don't wanna point the finger outward.
How do you, how did you, when did you,
was it a part of getting the science degree?
Did you know not to look without but to work within?
I mean, look, it's really been a journey.
You know, I've been in therapy since I'm,
I don't know 17 years old,
so it it's been a very long journey.
But as they say in the 12 Step Rooms,
figure it out is not a slogan.
So the notion that I will be able to kind of figure it out
is something that I get to kind of set aside,
as I just put one foot in front of the other, you know?
And I have a real like one day at a time philosophy,
like I'm gonna do today.
I've never parents did my kids today, right?
This is the first today that there ever has been
and tomorrow is gonna be a whole new one.
So what I get to do is today I wake up with gratitude.
I wake up and say, hey, I woke up,
my breath was returned to me, you know?
And then I go about my day one step at a time,
you know I'm super honored that I get to speak to you
cause also connecting with other people who are like-minded
is a thing that's missing in a culture
where we're all connected you know, like this.
Absolutely.
So it's actually nice to have this connection
You really saved my soul this morning driving to work.
My kid was on the street corner kicking me in the shins.
Like it was just and, you know,
it was just, it was, I was crying.
It was just DEFCON 5.
And I got in the car and I put your podcast back in.
And you said just what you said.
I've never been this age
with children this age today before in my life.
This is my first day doing it.
So I will take this day as a newcomer to this moment
with all the wisdom I've learned
and the wisdom I will learn.
And it was revelatory.
I've never thought of life in that context.
Thank you.
I'm your new best friend (laughs)
I know! I know,
and also you have brought so much joy to our lives.
(upbeat music)