Hello and welcome to the political orphanage, a home for plucky misfits and problem solvers.

I'm your host, Andrew Heaton, and I am increasingly interested in mental health. Not so much for me. I am routinely described

as frighteningly sane and overwhelmingly, unyieldingly, emotionally, emotionally, emotionally,

emotionally balanced. No, my curiosity is in general. For example, I would like to know more about

what happened to American insane

asan asylums. Where did they go? Why did we defund them? What happened as a result of that?

One of the most interesting voices on mental health on the stage today is that of Freddie

DeBore. He is a prominent voice on Substack and regularly comments about mental health issues, specifically

the gentrification of disabilities, a topic we will discuss later in today's episode.

So I was delighted to learn that Freddie just published a novel about going crazy.

In fact, a novel about going crazy set at the University of Oklahoma, which just happens to be my alma mater.

It was sort of tailor-made to bring him on the program to talk about mental health issues.

Now, we're still going to hit up the policy side of all of this later, how the government helps or hinders mental health and what sorts of structural changes society ought to make

to improve things. But on today's episode, we're going to go less wonky and considerably more

personal. I'm going to talk to Freddie about what it's like to suffer from bipolar disorder,

what it's like to have a mental breakdown, and what all is involved in picking

up the pieces and reassembling your life, all using his new novel as a touchstone.

It's a very interesting chat about mental health, insanity, and the incredible dangers

of romanticizing it, right here on The Political Orphanage.

My guest today is Freddie DeBoer.

He is a writer, academic, and cultural critic.

He is a widely read author on Substack.

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