Episode 45 - Artistic Expression and Mental Illness

The story of the life of Jesus Christ is one of the most quintessential in all of humanity, and is celebrated across many cultures. And yet, many argue that parts of his life are still shrouded in mystery. His complicated relationship with the enigmatic Mary Magdalene, for instance, is one such mystery. Some scholars argue that Mary Magdalene was more than just a follower of Jesus, but a spiritually realized partner who would continue to teach after his death and resurrection. What are the teachings of Mary Magdalene? How was her role in the life of Jesus Christ marginalized in history? How does an acknowledgment of a divine feminine side of the Jesus mythology change-and potentially enrich-the understanding of his teachings? Join Dr. Morelos as he interviews author and fellow transpersonal scholar Lauri Ann Lumby about the secret teachings of Mary Magdalene. This special bonus episode drops Wednesday, January 12th!!! SPOILER ALERT: David and Lauri discuss plot lines from the The Matrix Resurrections movie in this episode! Hopefully we don’t give away too much!

In January of 2002 the Spotlight investigative team for the Boston Globe dropped a bombshell when they revealed a story about sexual abuse within the local archdiocese of the Catholic Church. Boston, a heavily Catholic city, was left reeling as it learned of a total of 87 priests who had been accused of child sexual assault but were never brought to justice. Instead, the church leadership at the time opted to treat the offenders within the church or to simply move them to a different parish. The most egregious perpetrator of these crimes was one Father John Geoghan, who, over the course of his career, was accused of raping over 130 minors. The Boston Globe expose would be a catalyst for the church to finally confront the issue of child sexual abuse within its ranks, and would lead to a number of oversight improvements and operational changes. It would also help put child sexual abuse within religious institutions front and center in an American conversation on spirituality, politics, and power. What was the true scope of these Catholic priests’ crimes against children? What created these men and why did they choose to abuse children? How do we reconcile our deepest held spiritual beliefs in the face of crimes like these? Join Drs. Micono and Morelos this week as they discuss sexual abuse and the Catholic Church.

After his death, Vincent van Gogh’s work became some of the most instantly recognizable paintings ever laid to canvas. While he was alive he was relatively unknown, broke, in poor health, and suffering from what was most likely a severe mental illness. Van Gogh would help create the story of the “tortured artist,” or one whose mental illness blessed his art but destroyed his life. This concept has become so common place in western culture that many have referred to it as a cliché, with countless other famous artists being diagnosed with mental illnesses posthumously. What is the connection between mental illness and creativity? Why does it seem that the most creative artists can also be the most mentally unstable? Can talented artists harness some of this so-called creative madness to create art without losing themselves to it completely? Join Drs. Micono and Morelos as they explore the connection between artistic expression and mental illness.

1980 would change the lives of Robert Shafran, Edward Galland, and David Kellman forever. Each had been living separate lives as young men growing up in New York during the 1970s. When a case of mistaken identity led Shafran to Galland, a beautiful story started to emerge of long-lost twins, each adopted to different parents in their infancy. As news of the remarkable story spread, the mother of David Kellman also noticed. Could it be that the story of long-lost twins was actually one of long-lost triplets? The story was an instant success, and the young brothers enjoyed their new found fame . . . for a while. But secrets, buried for years, threatened their joyful reunion. To date, nothing has captured the imagination of psychological researchers quite like identical siblings. Are we products of our genetics or of our environments and life experiences? How does our DNA and our environment interact together to make up who we are? What are some of the unethical and horrifying ways identical siblings have been used in the name of research? Join Drs. Micono and Morelos as they discuss twin studies.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode describes extreme acts of sexual violence and murder. Listener discretion is advised. Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka met on a balmy summer night in Toronto, Canada, in 1987. They had an instant attraction, as each seemed to indulge the dark psychological longings of the other. Paul, who had already begun building a career as a prolific serial rapist, seemed to find his perfect mate: a dependent, sexually extreme and emotionally unaffected woman who catered and indulged his every twisted whim. Together their relationship created an incredibly toxic and dark collaboration that would see at least three young women brutally sexually assaulted and murdered. How do paraphilias like sexual sadism manifest in people and how does this differ from psychopathy? How does the darkness of two sick personalities come together in a destructive kind of synergy that amplifies the other and creates something horrifically new? Join Drs. Micono and Morelos as they discuss the case of the Ken and Barbie Killers.

From a humble beginning in Littlefield, Texas, to Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Dr. Richard Nisbett has lived an extraordinary life as a widely influential social psychologist, the key points of which he explores in his new book, Thinking: A Memoir. In this interview, Dr. Nisbett talks about his contributions to psychological research including common thinking errors people make as it pertains to thinking rationally, and teaching people how to correct them; how Asian cultures think differently than Westerners; how Americans from the South think differently than those from the North, the importance of understanding base rates and statistics in psychology, to what and how we attribute our decision making processes, and how to pick a good graduate program. Along the way, Dr. Nisbett affectionately reflects on some well-known intellectuals and researchers whom he has worked with, encounters with vastly different cultures and the implications for western psychology, and being one of the architects of a “golden age” in psychological research. Join Drs. Micono and Morelos as they interview researcher, author, and Professor Emeritus Richard E. Nisbett.

According to legend, President Abraham Lincoln once had a dream that foreshadowed his death at the hands of an assassin. In the dream, he even saw the exact location his body would be laid to rest. Legend also had it that Lincoln was a known follower of the spiritualist movement, and that there were many instances where he seemed to predict the future. Is time a linear construct or something more fluid? Why do we sometimes feel as if we can foretell events that have yet to pass? How does the wisdom of our body give us information in which to make sometimes fateful decisions? Join Drs. Micono and Morelos as they discuss the lesser-known history of President Abraham Lincoln and the concept of precognition.

On June 20, 2001, a woman named Andrea Yates called her local police dispatch and requested the presence of officers to her home, refusing to give any specific reason for the request. When officers arrived, they found that Andrea had killed all five of her young children by drowning them in the family bathtub. In the spectacular trial that followed, America became fixated on Andrea’s religious motivations, her comprehension of the wrongfulness of her actions, and the issue of postpartum psychosis, a serious mental illness that can afflict 1 to 2 women out of every 1,000 who give birth. How do we understand the nature of insanity in the contemporary legal system? Is there a deeper meaning behind experiences that we would normally label as psychotic episodes? Can we start to expand our definition of psychosis so as to more compassionately treat people having these experiences? Join Drs. Micono and Morelos as they look at the case of Andrea Yates.

In the 1970s, the CIA, motivated by intelligence about Soviet espionage experiments, developed a program to create so-called “psychic spies.” Using first-person accounts of astral projection popularized by the New Age movement of the 1960s, the military began experimenting with protocols meant to create conditions in the brain that would, theoretically, allow a person’s consciousness to leave the physical body. It was hoped that this “remote viewing” practice would allow spies to then obtain useful and actionable information about enemies of the United States. It was reported that before the program was officially ended in 1995, the US Army would spend a total of 20 million dollars on the project and return with no useful military information. How does our consciousness dance with the physical limitations of our bodies? Can our brains be trained to experience supernatural occurrences? Just how “real” are these experiences? Join Drs. Micono and Morelos as they discuss Project Stargate.

Molly Maeve Eagan met Lizzy Hershberger when Lizzy was working on a book about her experiences growing up as a daughter in a devout Amish family. Molly, working as a memoir coach and ghost writer, eagerly agreed to help. Something interesting happened as Lizzy and Molly talked more about the project, however, and a larger and darker narrative started to emerge. Eventually, Molly convinced Lizzy to tell a much more personal and powerful story; one of abuse, trauma, escape, and vindication. This seemed to be a natural fit for Molly as she had also experienced abuse and trauma at a young age, and was able to use her own experiences to help Lizzy find her own unique voice. Together, they crafted a moving portrait of growing up Amish, including some of the dark secrets that lay behind the blue curtains. Join Drs. Micono and Morelos as they interview trauma-informed writer Molly Maeve Eagan about her contributions to the book, Behind Blue Curtains: A True Crime Memoir of an Amish Woman’s Survival, Escape, and Pursuit of Justice.