The second episode of The Best of Us: Being Human in Sarasota aired March 2 2025. The hour-long show explores the mental health risks that can arise in the pursuit of excellence. While Ingram will discuss how the well-being of academics, professionals, and visionaries permeate every aspect of our world, two-star Major General Martin will share how his bipolar disorder was his greatest strength until it became the most dangerous thing in his life.

The local guest is Dr. Wendy Ingram, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Dragonfly Mental Health, a nonprofit with a mission to cultivate excellent mental health among academics worldwide. She is also a research scientist at Geisinger Health, where she works on biomedical informatics projects aimed at improving healthcare outcomes following surgery and at better understanding patients’ responses to electroconvulsive therapy. She serves as chair of the American Medical Informatics Association’s Mental Health Informatics Working Group and is a consultant to biomedical technology companies that focus on advancing mental health care.

The topic guest of the episode is Dr. Major General Gregg F. Martin, US Army (Retired), a 36-year combat veteran who is a bipolar survivor, thriver, and warrior. An Airborne-Ranger-Engineer qualified soldier and Strategist, he commanded a combat engineer company, battalion, and brigade, and was commanding general of Fort Leonard Wood, commandant of the Army War College, and president of the National Defense University. A graduate of West Point, he holds a PhD and two master’s degrees from MIT, and master’s degrees from both the Army and Naval war colleges. He has lived on the bipolar spectrum his whole life, which mostly helped him, until it went too high, and then it nearly destroyed him. His life’s mission and purpose is sharing his bipolar story to help stop stigma, promote recovery, and save lives. His wife Maggie is an Army brat, Army wife, and Army mom to three sons, two of whom are Army Special Forces veterans, and one an artist. Martin is the author of “BIPOLAR GENERAL: My Forever War with Mental Illness.” For more, see his website at bipolargeneral.com.