Speak Our Minds

About Speak Our Minds

The current youth mental health crisis continues to result in catastrophic outcomes. With suicide as a leading cause of death for our youth, record numbers of mental health providers closing up shop, and entire systems of care collapsing something drastic has to be done. Speak Our Minds host Heidi Baskfield helped organize a major classaction lawsuit against the state of Colorado for failing to provide a working system of youth mental health and won. Now the real work to build a working system begins. Learn more about the lawsuit, on-going efforts to work with Colorado state leaders, lessons learned from other states, how to get involved in Colorado and even advance a similar effort in your own state.

Publisher

Heidi Baskfield

Category

education · government · health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

15 Aug 2024

Latest episode

18 Feb 2026

Latest episodes

29 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   18 Feb 2026

   Breaking the Silence: Changing the Narrative on Youth Mental Health

   Too often, stigma keeps families from seeking mental health support for their children until a crisis forces action. At the same time, insurers and policymakers have sometimes viewed mental health as a “black hole” for resources — questioning whether meaningful progress is even possible. In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Bob Batterson of Children’s Mercy Kansas City to explore how that narrative is shifting. Hear how their team is confronting stigma head-on, demonstrating measurable impa...

2. 

   11 Feb 2026

   The Waitlist Wake-Up Call: Why Early Intervention Can’t Wait

   In this week's episode we talk with Brooke Briscoe at Children's Wisconsin about how the pandemic dramatically intensified youth mental health needs while simultaneously disrupting access to care, leading to longer waitlists and more young people reaching crisis before receiving support. In this six-minute conversation, we explore how identifying and addressing concerns early, we can improve outcomes, reduce the need for high-acuity services, and ultimately eliminate the bottlenecks that crea...

3. 

   4 Feb 2026

   Keeping Kids Where Kids Belong

   In this 6-minute episode, national psychiatric leader Dr Justine Larson with National Children's Hospital in Washington D.C., makes the case for a simple but powerful shift in youth mental health care: bring care to kids, instead of pulling kids out of their lives to get care. From schools and primary care settings to community spaces families already trust, this conversation explores why meeting kids where they are leads to earlier support, better outcomes, and stronger communities—and why o...

Who has been a guest on Speak Our Minds

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Matthew Cook
• Dr Dan Hyman
• Dr Peter Margolis
• Dr Sandy Fritsch
• Jocelyn Guyer

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

5,129

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 65 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

71

Social presence

91

YouTube

68

Engagement

32

Contact Speak Our Minds

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.