What happens when science meets the firehouse?

In Episode 14 of Kitchen Table Talk, Michael Long and Nick Robben sit down with Brittany Hollerbach, Associate Scientist and Deputy Director with the Center for Fire, Rescue, and EMS Health Research, to talk about the research shaping what we know about first responder health—and why that research needs to make its way out of academic journals and into the station.

Brittany shares her journey from firefighter to researcher and discusses the work being done to better understand firefighter and EMS health, including sleep, cardiovascular health, occupational exposures, reproductive health, and mental wellness.

The conversation also tackles a bigger question: How do we get first responders to actually listen to and use the information researchers are discovering?

Together, they explore why firefighters often trust lived experience over credentials, the importance of combining firefighter stories with evidence-based research, and how organizations like Science to the Station are working to translate complex research into information that departments and individual first responders can actually understand and apply.

The conversation goes beyond research, touching on mental health, family relationships, sleep deprivation, organizational policies, return-to-duty decisions, employee assistance programs, and the need to treat mental injuries with the same seriousness as physical injuries.

This episode is a reminder that there isn't always a simple black-and-white answer when it comes to first responder wellness. Better outcomes require research, lived experience, education, supportive policies, families, clinicians, and departments working together.

Because the research doesn't matter if it never reaches the people who need it.

Grab a cup, take a seat, and join us at the table.

It's Men's Mental Health Month — and Mike and Nick finally sat down for a morning session to talk about it. Real talk: men are 4x more likely to die by suicide than women, and most of us are still out here pretending everything's fine.

In this episode of Kitchen Table Talk, Mike and Nick break down what actually helps — and it's not as complicated as we make it:

🔹 Why having ONE real conversation a day changes everything 🔹 The two questions every peer supporter needs to ask 🔹 How to use movement, sunlight, and active meditation to process stress 🔹 Gratitude vs. expectations — and why we lose one when we set the other too high 🔹 Substance use as a stress response: what you're actually running from 🔹 Mike opens up about navigating personal grief and what pulled him back from old habits

Whether you're a first responder or not, this one's for every man (and woman) who's ever buried what they were carrying to look strong for everyone else.

Nick's closer: Summer of Gratitude. Mike's closer: Find the beauty.

📩 Reach us: breakthestigmainc@gmail.com 📲 Follow us on all socials: @BreakTheStigmaInc

Kitchen Table Talk is a podcast by Break the Stigma, Inc. — real, unfiltered conversations about first responder mental health and wellness.

Episode Description

In this powerful episode of Kitchen Table Talk, Michael Long and Nick Robben sit down with longtime friend and fellow first responder advocate Mark Hanek for an honest conversation about PTSD, vulnerability, healing, and the reality of mental health in the first responder community.

Mark shares his journey through trauma, the lessons he learned through the Warrior’s Ascent program, and why being “raw, authentic, and genuine” has become the foundation of his healing. The conversation dives into self-care, faith, resilience, mentorship, and the importance of planting seeds for others who may still be struggling in silence.

This episode is real, unfiltered, emotional, and filled with the kind of conversations first responders need more of.

Topics include:

• PTSD and cumulative trauma
• First responder mental health
• Warrior’s Ascent program
• Vulnerability and openness
• Self-care without guilt
• Brotherhood, healing, and mentorship
• Breaking the stigma surrounding mental health

If you’re a firefighter, paramedic, police officer, dispatcher, veteran, corrections officer, healthcare worker—or someone who loves one—this conversation is for you.