Since the launch of his show, Patriot Act, Hasan Minhaj has been tackling topics head on that many would shy away from: Amazon’s questionable business practices, our obsession with streetwear brand Supreme, police brutality, Islamophobia. He even managed to have an episode about the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, which Netflix ultimately banned in Saudi Arabia due to backlash.

Hasan has been a fresh and welcome voice in a space (late night and stand-up) historically dominated by white men. His is an innovative type of show—monologues delivered straight to camera, standing and in front of a live audience—or as he has called it, a “woke TED talk.” On the show, he mixes personal experience, data, reporting, and humor to drill down on specific issues. It can get heavy but in 20 minutes, it’s just enough to carry you through without crushing your soul too much.

Patriot Act is back with the final season of the year and the opening episode is an issue important to all of us: Mental health. It was important to Hasan to do an episode on this because it’s an epidemic (he starts the show with some gripping stats: 1 in 5 Americans experience some form of mental illness each year, teen depression rates are up 60%, overall suicide rates are increasing), but also because of his personal experiences dealing with anxiety and depression.

The episode focuses on how insufficient health insurance coverage is for mental health related needs. Why is it so hard to find a therapist? What are the loopholes insurers use to deny coverage? How exactly do you prove a mental health ailment?

I sat down with Hasan to talk about the show, how mental health can be especially difficult to talk about in the Asian community, how he takes care of his own mental health and what you can do if you are looking for mental health related resources.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Samhita Mukhopadhyay: Hi friend — It’s been a year since we last talked! And in the last year your show has seen huge success. What would you say has been your biggest personal learning for the year?

Hasan Minhaj: The episodes that scared me the most ended up being the most fulfilling. Stories that were really tough to crack that we had been working on for months and months just to get it perfect, episodes like Saudi Arabia, Indian elections, student loans, Amazon. These were big stories to cover and some of them very much had to do with my identity. Some of them just didn't. A lot of them were huge generational topics that affect our entire generation. Those were some of the most meaningful and exciting ones to do. I guess that was my biggest takeaway. Things that feel artistically scary are still worth doing and pursuing. Because they're third rail issues, they can sometimes be the most meaningful for me as a performer and for the audience.

SM: Yeah, I mean, that's what I've really appreciated about it is like both the topics that you choose and the idea of the third rail. I mean there are these moments where I'm holding my breath like, "Oh my god, he went there." Then to add to that, you're an American Muslim, South Asian man, and I think that that identity is both an opportunity for you, and I think it's exciting to me that it's not always centered around your identity. So, season five is coming up and the first episode is about mental health?