She Persisted

Sadie Sutton started She Persisted from a place a lot of Gen Z women will recognize: she struggled with severe depression and anxiety, looked for help online, and found that most mental health content was either incomplete, unproven, or impractical. So the University of Pennsylvania psychology graduate decided to make the show she wished existed. Now at 273 episodes with a 4.8 star rating, she's clearly filled a gap that needed filling. The podcast turns evidence-based psychology into advice you can actually use. Sadie covers DBT skills, panic attack management, emotional regulation, habit formation, loneliness, and the messy process of mental health recovery. She releases longer weekly episodes alongside shorter Monday mini segments, so you can go deep on a topic or just grab a quick insight depending on your week. A recent episode on what to do during a panic attack when nothing else works runs just 12 minutes — no filler, just practical help. Sadie is 22, which means she's speaking from inside the Gen Z experience rather than observing it from the outside. She's done the research and she's lived the struggle, and that combination gives her a credibility that older mental health podcasters sometimes lack with this audience. The show avoids the toxic positivity trap entirely — Sadie acknowledges that mental health work is hard, that setbacks are normal, and that sometimes the best you can do is just get through the day. It's refreshing in a podcast space that often oversimplifies wellness into morning routines and gratitude journals.