Attorney and psychiatric survivor Jim Gottstein joins us to discuss his decades-long fight against forced treatment and psychiatric abuse. As the founder of the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights), Jim has worked to expose the legal and ethical violations at the heart of the mental health system. In this episode, he shares the inside story of The Zyprexa Papers—a landmark case in which he released internal documents from Eli Lilly revealing the company’s efforts to conceal the dangers of its antipsychotic drug, Zyprexa. From legal resistance to pharmaceutical accountability, this conversation traces what it means to challenge psychiatric power from within the system.

https://psychrights.org

https://thezyprexapapers.com

https://jimgottstein.com

This episode of Mad Tea explores the deeply complicated 1922 book Artistry of the Mentally Ill by Hans Prinzhorn—a psychiatrist who gathered over 5,000 works of art made by institutionalized psychiatric patients. In this episode, Matt and Megan examine how the book influenced modern art movements like Surrealism and Art Brut, while also reinforcing psychiatric narratives that erased the humanity and agency of its creators. Focusing on the ten artists Prinzhorn called “schizophrenic masters,” the episode gives voice to those who were institutionalized, silenced, and often killed—yet left behind vivid, astonishing works. The hosts question who gets to be called an artist, how madness is aestheticized, and what it means to reclaim these stories today.

In this episode we visit the works and lives of: August Natterer, Karl Genzel, August Klett, Clemens von Ortzen, Hermann Behle, Hyacinth Freiherr von Wieser, Peter Moog, Johann Knopf, Joseph Schneller, and Franz Pohl.

Written and hosted by Matt Bodett and Megan Sterling

Produced by Press Here and a a project of the Center for Mad Culture

Music produced and provided by Had Matter

Ever heard of Mad Pride? If not, this is your invitation.

Before the hashtags, before the awareness ribbons, there was a bed pushed through the streets of Toronto. Survivors in hospital gowns. It wasn’t a plea for better treatment—it was a celebration. A refusal. A revolution.

In this episode of Mad Tea, we bring you the story of Mad Pride—from its protest beginnings to its global evolution. It’s political, it’s poetic, and it’s proudly mad. We talk empty beds, Bastille Day protests, visionary artists, and the birth of a movement that said: we’re not broken—we’re building something new.

This is more than a history lesson. It’s a celebration of mad culture, mad resistance, and mad futures.

Whether you’ve been marching for years or just hearing about Mad Pride for the first time, this is the episode that brings it all together.

Hosted by Megan Sterling and Matt Bodett

Produced by Press Here

Music by Had Matter