The Story Behind Brain Stories
Frank and Janet met at a training to lead family education classes for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). They taught that class together and began hearing one riveting account after another of real, sometimes funny, always deeply moving stories about people who live with mental illness and those who support them. But almost no one was telling them outside of closed doors.
Janet and Frank decided to produce a podcast series and that’s how Brain Stories was born. By now, they have heard countless tales of wonder, generosity and ingeniousness. But also about the walls of fear, alienation, and discrimination that those with mental health conditions face daily. They are committed to dismantling those walls in the only way that will keep them from being rebuilt: by creating awareness and caring in the mainstream culture.
Meet the Team
Frank Kosa
Executive Producer
Frank Kosa is an award-winning documentary producer-writer-director, and a journalist.
He produced National Geographic’s The Story of God with Morgan Freeman, wrote the inaugural season of Travel Channel’s hit show Booze Traveler, produced the award-winning The Revolutionary War, a mini-series for A&E, Christianity: The Second Millennium and multiple shows of TV’s most engaging documentary series including Life Without People, The Universe and Game Changers.
His shows have aired on The Science Channel, The History Channel, Discovery, A&E, TLC, Animal Planet, The Travel Channel, The Weather Channel, Lifetime, Bloomberg TV, HGTV, and National Geographic. His print journalism has appeared in The LA Times, USA Today, Sacramento Bee, The Christian Science Monitor and numerous magazines. He has also worked for films and TV shows produced by Universal, Warner Bros., & Sony.
He is Emmy-nominated, has won a Cable Ace and other awards, and strives to tell stories that deeply connect with audiences.
An Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning Hollywood producer, Janet Yang is currently the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and has been named one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Hollywood” by the Hollywood Reporter.
Yang’s extensive film and television credits include The Joy Luck Club, The People vs. Larry Flynt, The Weight of Water, Shanghai Calling, High Crimes, Zero Effect, and Over the Moon.
Yang began her career by running the first distribution company to market Chinese films into North America. She also brokered the reintroduction of American studio films to the Chinese marketplace after a decades-long hiatus. This in turn led to joining Steven Spielberg on the historic production of Empire of the Sun. This was followed by long-term partnership with multiple Academy-Award winning writer/director, Oliver Stone.
Janet Yang
Executive Producer
Karen Given
Story Editor
Karen Given is an award-winning podcast showrunner, story editor and coach. A veteran of public radio, Karen is the former executive producer and host of NPR’s Only A Game. She has won the national Edward R. Murrow award twice, in 2007 and 2017. Since leaving public radio, Given has focused on the podcast space, most notably working as the showrunner, co-writer and sound designer for Believable: The Coco Berthmann Story, produced by Dear Media. Believable was named one of The Atlantic’s top 25 podcasts of 2023.
Given also served as executive producer for The Afghan Impasse, a special season of The Negotiators, from Foreign Policy and Doha Debates. She was the executive producer of The Long Game, shortlisted for 2023 Sports Podcast Awards and nominated for 2022 Ambie Awards. She was also the writer/reporter for Summer of Gold, from Dear Media and TOGETHXR, which is slated to become a limited series produced by Emmy winner Uzo Aduba and CBS studios. Given teaches narrative storytelling workshops and writes Narrative Beat, a free newsletter for journalists and podcast makers who want to tell better stories.
Dr. Ruth Shim is a psychiatrist, educator, and advocate. She is the Luke & Grace Kim Professor of Cultural Psychiatry at the University of California, Davis. Her academic work focuses on exposing and eliminating structural racism and social injustice that lead to inequities in outcomes for people with serious brain disorders and substance use disorders. She is the co-editor of two books, The Social Determinants of Mental Health and Social (In)Justice and Mental Health.
She is a leading voice on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the health professions and is committed to creating a more inclusive field of psychiatry – one comprised of clinicians who are members of oppressed and marginalized communities and return to serve these communities after completing medical education and training. She is a member of the board of trustees of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health.
Dr. Ruth Shim
Advisor & Episode Producer
Dr. Xavier Amador
Advisor & Episode Subject
Dr. Xavier Amador is an internationally renowned clinical psychologist, and leader in the field. His books, authoritative clinical research, worldwide speaking tours and extensive work in schizophrenia, bipolar and other disorders have been translated into 30 languages. He has worked in multiple capacities, including professor of psychology, author, therapist, and board member at NAMI. He is the pioneer in the modern identification of anosognosia in brain illness, and possesses a peerless knowledge of its history. His book on the subject I’m Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help has sold nearly 2 million copies. Dr. Amador was born in Cuba and moved to the U.S. with his family as a child. He is also a family caregiver of two close relatives with schizophrenia and another with bipolar disorder. He is the CEO of the LEAP Institute.
Paul Swartzel is a composer, pianist, and educator living with schizoaffective disorder known for his unconventional, comedic approach to music and teaching. His music has been described as “incredibly awesome and super disturbing.” His love for music began with pro wrestling entrance themes and the Jaws soundtrack, leading him to write/arrange across genres from classical to rap. Despite facing challenges in his teaching career, Paul has found success with his distinct piano style, developed after relearning to play with limited hand mobility due to psychosomatic inflammation.
Paul’s honors include two ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. His doctoral dissertation at Duke University was a pro wrestling ballet/piano concerto filmed with action figures. An advocate for mental health in music, he writes for The Me2/Orchestra and created works like Music for Mental Health; His current project is a spoken word concerto, Schizophrenia in a Time of Bullshit, with the chamber orchestra Alarm Will Sound in 2026. Paul's music can be found on streaming sites and his website.
Paul Swartzel
Composer
Boen Wang
Episode Producer
Boen Wang is a writer, audio producer, and adjunct instructor at the University of Pittsburgh. His written work has appeared in The Sunday Long Read, The New Republic, and elsewhere. His audio work has appeared in This American Life, Radiolab, and elsewhere. Visit his website at boen.cool.
Sarah Haufrect is a writer and mental health advocate based in Los Angeles, whose work you can find at her website. Her essays, stories, interviews and other creative work have appeared in publications such as Salon, Psychology Today, Westtrade Review, Documentary Magazine and many others. Since 2021, she has served on the Board of Directors of NAMI Westside Los Angeles, which offers 100% free peer and family support groups and education courses for those experiencing a mental health condition, their families and loved ones.
Sarah Haufrect
Episode Producer
Mark Ragins
Episode Producer
Mark Ragins, MD has been a psychiatrist for 40 years, working in community mental health centers, as the Medical Director for 27 years at the Mental Health America Village in Long Beach, California, an award-winning model of recovery based mental health services, as the students’ psychiatrist at Cal State Long Beach, and on street medicine teams working with homeless people on the streets throughout LA county. Since 2024, he has retired from clinical work, though he is still active in mental health advocacy, training, and mentoring.
His book, Journeys Beyond the Frontier: A Rebellious Guide to Psychosis and Other Extraordinary Experiences, is based on true stories working with some of the most underserved and difficult to engage people in our community. Mark has given hundreds of presentations and lectures to wide-ranging audiences nationally and internationally. He is one of the true pioneers and leaders of person-centered, recovery-based psychiatry. Many of his writings are posted online at markragins.com, including his short book A Road to Recovery. He was also featured in Steve Lopez’ book The Soloist. Mark has won a number of awards including from the American Psychiatric Association, the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association, NAMI, and Mental Health Advocacy Services.
Kate Rusk-Kosa is the Associate Producer and Audio Editor for Brain Stories. She was a two time Fulbright scholar in Mexico, where she taught English at two local Teachers’ Colleges. She currently works in the field of adult sexuality education.
