Prioritizing Mental Health for the Olympics and the Emmy-Nominated “The Morning Show” | Guest Spotlight
18:54 Share

Welcome to the Cooper residence. Cooper McAllister. I'm surprised you put my name first. Come on in. From the brains behind the Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon, CBS is excited to welcome back some beloved, familiar folks. I am so glad that you and Cece are here. And Georgie. Atta girl. It's a whole new chapter. Georgie and Mandy's first marriage premieres CBS Thursday, 8, 7 central and streaming on Paramount+.

Listen to On Fire, the official Survivor podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Just returned from the Paris Olympics after winning three gold medals for Team USA. Congratulations. You must be over the moon. Good Lord. Three gold medals. One gold in the 200 meter sprint. Another gold in the 4x100 relay. Another gold in the 4x400 relay. I feel

Just getting through all of your accolades. This is amazing. Congratulations. Thank you. I'm honestly very relieved to be back in America. I was overseas for about a month and just so grateful. I really am. This is years in the making. I've been training for this moment for five years. And so to have it all turn out this way is truly incredible for me. Oh,

You two, congrats. We just saw you win the 200-meter race. You were so far ahead, everyone else. Like, what was the moment that you realized, oh, my God, I'm going to win the gold? So, truthfully, I had been envisioning myself winning that race over and over again the entire time that I was in Paris. And so, in my head, when I got into the starting blocks, I had already won the race. I believed that I was an Olympic champion. But

The true moment that I realized I had won was coming off the curve. Anyone who watches my track career knows that I finish my races really strongly, and the last 100 meters is my bread and butter. And so if I can come off the first 100 meters ahead, I kind of, I know I've won the race. Thank you. Thank you.

You essentially manifested this for yourself. Is there anything you can do about the upcoming election? Acting for a friend. One of my favorite moments in all of this was getting to see your mom's reaction, the moment that you won. Can you talk about how instrumental she's been throughout your journey? Oh, my goodness. I can go on and on about my mom and her support. So I grew up with them. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, give it up for mom. Give it up for mom. I mean, my mom has believed in me since I've been born. I grew up with a single mom. I grew up with her and my twin brother. And she has done everything for us from, you know, she started as a waitress and then worked her way and now is a professor of an endowed chairman professorship at the University of Michigan. And so I watched her. Thank you.

I've watched her my entire life work really hard for something and to make her dream happen.

And she's always instilled in me the importance of not only education, but going after your dreams and giving back to your community. And so she was the best role model that I could have ever imagined having. And she told me I will never forget when I was nine, maybe 10 years old, that I had a light in me and that I was going to shine very brightly and that it was my purpose to do so and give it back to the world. And I will never forget that conversation, but just couldn't

constantly having that type of validation, having that type of a role model to look up to, it got me to where I am. - Mm-hmm. - Well, she was not. She was not. - She was not.

Training for the Olympics is clearly an enormous amount of physical training and exertion, but what about the mental aspect of it? All of the pressure of feeling like you have to perform in this moment, in this moment in time. How do you, do you have coping mechanisms that you deal with? Because I pretty much have a mental breakdown within the first four minutes of hot yoga.

How do you manage all of that? - Oh gosh, yeah, a lot of people don't realize that our sport, half of it is mental. You can prepare physically every day and be so physically prepared, but if you're mentally not there, you just, you're not going to be great. You know, you can be good, but you can't be great. And I remember telling all of my loved ones before I competed at the Olympics,

I don't know how I could have prepared for this moment because there is nothing like walking out into that stadium and seeing 80,000 people on top of you, millions of people watching at home. And in track and field, it's just you out there. You don't have a team to rely on. There are no do-overs. There's no next play. This is it, and this is your moment, and if you don't do it,

in that moment, then it's over. And gosh, for me, that was a lot of pressure to take on. But I was as prepared as I could have been. I do a lot of meditation exercises. I did my visualizations of the race. I did all of my positive self-talk. And I just have a healthy relationship with the sport and myself and the sport. So while I did believe that I could win the gold medal, I also knew that it was OK if I didn't. All I had to do was put my best self forward and be the best athlete that I could be.

So you're saying no bourbon. No bourbon. No bourbon. No bourbon. Well, as though it's not enough to be a three-time gold medalist, you also graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's in neurobiology. You have a master's in public health.

Do you use your neurobiology education to help inform the way that you train? I think so. So I think I actually had a bit of an advantage studying neurobiology when I was an undergrad because I grew to have a very deep understanding of how the brain could actually help you athletically and what was important. For example, recovery is huge in our sport. It is...

almost as important as the actual racing and the actual practicing. And understanding neuroplasticity and the neural pathways and how they change when you're doing certain things for your recovery was really important. Understanding how sleep was very important. If you're not getting enough sleep every day, how that can detrimentally affect your training, how can it affect how you compete, and just really having that understanding for it. Understanding how going through training and the repetition, the muscle memory, all of that is...

integral to being successful in track and field. So actually understanding that and appreciating it, I think really helped me. It's different from your coach just telling you, you know, go get eight hours of sleep. You really need it. But I really appreciated it.

You, as though it's not enough, all that you do, you're endlessly impressive. You dedicate a lot of your time towards volunteer work with a health clinic in Texas providing medical care for people who don't have health insurance. Why is this kind of work so important to you? Mainly because I believe everybody deserves equal access to health care. Thank you.

Simply put, but when I was in school studying neurobiology, I started taking a few sociology courses as well to complement it. And I realized that there were a lot of things we don't learn about the healthcare system in our regular curriculum. And I was being exposed to it. And I drew a passion for it.

studying and gaining a foundation in racial disparities in healthcare. And it just really struck me to my core, especially being a black woman in America. And now that I'm actually seeing it in real time in Austin at the volunteer healthcare clinic, there are just so many things that we can do better. I mean, these are people who really don't have access to healthcare otherwise. I don't know where they would turn to. And we are people-- it's a volunteer-based

So these are people who are dedicating time out of their day to give just primary care, preventive care, education. And it's...

It's unfathomable to me that these people would have nowhere else to turn to if this clinic didn't exist. And it's just so simple. It's a simple concept, right? We could increase funding for it and people can have access to health care so easily. And that's what we do with the clinic. And it's really just near and dear to my heart because everybody deserves that. So inspiring.

I refuse to ask the question, what will you do next? Because for the love of God, you just won three gold medals. You should celebrate it and enjoy it. So what I'm curious about is how are you celebrating this incredible moment?

Well, I'm just really excited to go back home to Austin, Texas to be honest and spend time with my puppy Rico. Get back into my morning routine of going to my local coffee shop go see my friends and family and get to celebrate with them just in our home setting and then maybe plan a vacation after that but I just can't wait to get back to my normal life. I think you're in a pretty nice.

It's time for a brand new season of Survivor. And you know what that means. It means it's also a brand new season of the only official Survivor podcast on fire. Here's our goal with this podcast. We bring you inside the how and the why.

of what we do on the show. And we do it from three different points of view. You have the producer in me. You have the fan in Jay, who also happens to be our executive producer of this podcast. And then we bring you the insight from a former player. And this season, it is Survivor 46 runner-up, Charlie Davis. Welcome to the team, Charlie. Well, Jeff, I know firsthand that playing from the couch and playing on the island...

completely different. So I hope you tune in every single week. We're going to dissect the strategy, the misfires and mistakes that change the game. If you want more Survivor than just 90 minutes, this is where you get it. On Fire, the only official Survivor podcast. Listen to On Fire, the official Survivor podcast wherever you get your podcasts. He was currently nominated for an Emmy for his work on the Apple TV Plus series The Morning Show. Please welcome Mark Duplass! Woo!

They love ya. How much did you pay for that? That was expensive. Not a dime, not a dime, baby. Congratulations. Emmy nominated. This is your second nomination for "The Morning Show." It is. And this time, you're alongside other-- your co-stars, Billy Crudup and Jon Hamm. Tell us why you feel you deserve the award more than them. Well, there's a couple of things.

The first is a smaller thing, but it's just my talent. Sure. Yes. Obviously. Obviously. That's generally it. Yeah. Then, this is like a Hollywood thing. Oh. We like to talk about it a lot. Do go on. But there's a penis size issue as well. So. Hands down. You know, like. So to speak. They do these, you know, these aren't their real names. You know, it's like John Hamm. Like, oh, maybe that insinuates, like Billy crewed up.

You know? I see. And I'm just like, I'll just go duplass. Like, I don't need to brag, you know? Yes, I love it. This is you-- it is well-deserved. Very well-deserved. Thanks, bud. Congratulations. I imagine being on "The Morning Show," you have to do a lot of research by watching all the other morning shows. Do you have a favorite? And keep in mind, Gayle King does watch "The Daily Show." So careful what you say.

I like Gayle King's show. That's it. That's it. I like Gayle King's show. Yes.

We love you, Gail. We love you, Gail King. It's the best of all the shows. You know what? I'm not like a big research actor. Like, I'm kind of, I would say Chip is like a 20 to 30% more stressed out version of me and how I am. But what I did discover when I was talking to people about this show is how freaking stressful the live news thing is. Because I produce an

independent films and I'm like I know what it's like to work on time constraints and budget constraints but the live thing. Right. I really kind of got a sense of that. I was like oh

Oh, that's real, like, shit-your-pants material. Oh, yeah. That's where it goes down. Oh, for sure. Like, I'm sure right now you're sitting in a hole. Oh, there's a whole shit-your-pants situation happening under here. I thought I smelled it. Yeah. I mean, I can't avoid it. It's what happens. I got a whole stock of diapers down here. Listen, I'm right there with you.

Bourbon. I got all the tools. It's so funny because in season one, your character Chip goes in and it feels like he's

kind of the audience in a way. Like, we see ourselves in Chip. He has great journalistic integrity. He's level-headed. He's the everyman. And throughout season three, we get to watch your character unravel completely. And Chip gets messy. He does. He gets a little messy. Sloppy. A little sloppy. Yes. Well, here's the great thing about Chip, in my opinion, and why he's so fun to play. Because you're right. He was essentially the moral center of the show. He was--

the bastion of journalistic integrity, but he's got this wonderful Achilles heel, which is that he is completely codependent upon and obsessed with Alex Levy.

which is also easy to play because I'm completely obsessed with Jennifer Aniston, you know? Who isn't? Who isn't? So, like, yeah, really hard getting into character on that one. But that's the great thing about Chip is he's got it all right until it comes to his relationship with Alex. And that really is kind of his downfall. Yeah.

You you're getting ready to start up in season 4. Yeah, we're a few weeks into shooting. I know some stuff about plot. What can you tell us I feel like if I said something I can't really try to say it and I feel like Apple is like inside of that camera that yeah, they're all I think we might both get zapped that's probably true. So you have zappers that have apples zappers. Yeah, once you find those terms and conditions that go straight to zapping you guys have the new eyes that it isn't.

Thanks that you need a new charger for it. I know but you can kill people from the street. It is really really some. We'll edit this part out. Oh my God, you're not only such a talented actor, but you're an insanely talented writer and producer and director you and your brother Jay essentially defined an entire sub genre of indie film.

And that's really important to you still. It is, yeah. So why is championing those projects, indie film and TV, so important, even with that sweet Apple cash? Well, here it comes. I'm going to be like Chip on the morning show. I'm going to get up on my high horse now because, like, that stuff is going away, okay? Like, our business model is failing. The streamers are reducing. And when that happens, all they're going to do is make the big stuff, like the Game of Thrones, that they know can work. And the really exciting things, like...

I May Destroy You and Baby Reindeer. They're just cutting that stuff away. So what I'm doing right now is like taking the money I make from the morning show and I'm just gonna go and invest and make my own TV series independently. I made a show recently called Penelope that's really close to my heart 'cause it's about a 16-year-old girl who leaves behind sort of the trappings of her modern life to go live in the woods. And I did it 'cause I have teenage daughters who deal with mental health issues and I deal with mental health issues.

Like our technology and the way we're living is kind of destroying us right now I don't know if you guys have read the anxious generation. It's an incredible book. You should read it. We had him on yeah, it's an it's incredible and so I really wanted to make something that could contribute to that story and the only way I can do it now is like get rich on the morning show and go blow it on my stuff

You mentioned that you you've talked very openly about struggling with anxiety and depression How did that feel to share that did that were you surprised by the reaction that you got 100%? Surprised and here's the thing it didn't feel weird to share because I live in Los Angeles Amongst a group of artists where this is just dinner table conversation. We're all anxious and depressed and we're always talking about all the time We're trading therapists. Yeah, what medication?

- The therapist is right under the desk right now. She's just waiting on call. - Yeah, and so it's like, what medication are you on? Well, I'm switching over to Celexa now. These are our conversations. But what I didn't realize is that, as you well know, because I don't know if you guys know, Desi was with me on "The League" like 10 years ago as a guest star.

-I was. -Like, it was amazing. -But... -Favorite job. It's a great show, and a lot of the men who watch that show are not the men who are comfortable with talking about their mental health because they're football dudes and whatnot. And so, when I started going on my social media, I got this outpouring, particularly from men, just being like, "I can't believe you're saying this out loud." And...

It makes me feel really good to know that someone that I view as somewhat successful is still on their feet despite this, and it offers hope in that way. So I never really planned on being some sort of mouthpiece for it. I was just sort of whining on social media. And then it kind of had this effect. So I'm like, oh, well, this is something.

So not only brave, it's a generous thing for you to do to help support others. So it's really meaningful that you did that. I have one final question. Yes. The morning show. Is there any thought about spinning it off into doing a behind-the-scenes late-night show? I'm just curious. So...

There's this one little thing that we've been pitching, okay? It's about a woman who... Fine, I'll do it. I'll do it. Yes, yes, yes. Okay. The only thing is the title. It's called Diarrhea, Diarrhea, Diarrhea. Say no more. Good? Contract's already signed. Okay, great. I'm in. Mark Duplass, D.D. Pluss, and from now on, the team,

Explore more shows from the Daily Show Podcast universe by searching The Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch The Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount+. Paramount Podcasts.

Welcome to the Cooper residence. Cooper McAllister. I'm surprised you put my name first. Come on in. From the brains behind the Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon, CBS is excited to welcome back some beloved, familiar folks. I am so glad that you and Cece are here. And Georgie. Atta girl. It's a whole new chapter. Georgie and Mandy's first marriage premieres CBS Thursday, 8, 7 central and streaming on Paramount+.

Listen to On Fire, the official Survivor podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.