Episode Details

📝 Episode Synopsis

Every classroom is filled with stories that students haven't yet found the words to tell.

In this episode, Joey speaks with filmmaker, advocate, and Align33 Media founder Morgan DiPrimo to explore what educators can learn from hundreds of conversations with survivors, clinicians, families, and researchers navigating eating disorders and recovery.

Drawing from her own lived experience, Morgan challenges one of our strongest instincts as educators: the desire to fix students. Instead, she argues that healing often begins when someone simply feels seen, heard, and believed.

Together, Joey and Morgan discuss identity beyond diagnosis, why students often hide their struggles, the difference between helping and rescuing, and how teachers can approach difficult conversations with curiosity rather than fear. Their conversation serves as a powerful reminder that while educators cannot solve every problem their students carry, they can create classrooms where students know their stories matter.

Whether you're supporting students through mental health challenges, navigating your own desire to "save" everyone, or simply hoping to become a better listener, this episode offers practical wisdom grounded in compassion, resilience, and human connection.

📋 Show Notes

👉 In this episode, we discuss:

• Morgan's personal journey through eating disorder recovery and how it inspired the creation of Align33 Media.
• Why more than 400 interviews convinced her that society doesn't have a lack of stories—it has a lack of microphones.
• Common misconceptions surrounding eating disorders and why they affect far more people than stereotypes suggest.
• The powerful relationship between identity, recovery, and rebuilding a life after illness.
• Why people often don't need someone to fix them—they need someone willing to truly listen.
• How educators can check in with struggling students without making assumptions or causing additional shame.
• The difference between supporting, rescuing, and empowering students toward resilience.
• Joey's reflections on trying to "save" every student after Parkland and the lesson that simply showing up can be enough.
• How resilience develops when we help people discover their own strength rather than solving every problem for them.
• Why every classroom should become a place where students know their stories will be heard when they're ready to share them.

🔗 Show Links and Resources

📌 Align 33 Media (Morgan DiPrimo)

📌 Morgan DiPrimo's substack

📌 Social Media handles: Instagram @ morgan_maxwell_diprimo

📌 CLASSROOM NARRATIVES PODCAST SEGMENT: Beyond the Plate: Helping Students Build Healthy Relationships with Food, Body, and Mind with Lauren Dorman (Joey's conduit for Morgan. Thank you, Lauren!)