Thursday February 13 – Mental Health Speaker | Founder of #SickNotWeak
Former Off the Record host Michael Landsberg is a charismatic icon of the Canadian sports community. He’s also one of the country’s most vocal mental health advocates, the founder of the #SickNotWeak non-profit organization, and is dedicated to eradicating stigma and building community. In his presentations, he shows how the road to healing begins with non-judgemental conversation.
Landsberg has talked about his own struggle with depression for decades. In his 2013 documentary, Darkness and Hope: Depression, Sports, and Me, Landsberg opened up about his own struggles with mental illness, as well as interviewing famous guests about their own battles. Darkness and Hope was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award, and Landsberg was personally honored with the organization’s Humanitarian Award. The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health also named Landsberg one of its Champions of Mental Health.
He went on to join the Bell Let’s Talk mental health initiative and continues to be an ambassador for the campaign. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Landsberg has extended his efforts with #SickNotWeak to create Isolation Nation: a digital program dedicated to mitigating the dangerous effects of social isolation on mental health.
One of the best-known personalities in Canadian broadcasting, Landsberg has been with TSN since the network’s inception in 1984. He hosted the highly acclaimed Off the Record from its debut in 1997 to its finale in 2015 and is currently the co-host of TSN’s First Up. Twice nominated for the Gemini Award for Best Host or Interviewer in a Sports Program or Sportscast, Landsberg was the Whistler Host for Olympic Daytime on CTV during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. During the London 2012 Olympic Games, he anchored TSN’s Olympic Daytime.
Darkness and Hope: Depression, Sports, and Me
Michael Landsberg made a name for himself as the charismatic host of TSN’s Off the Record—and from watching his show, you’d never guess that he has been battling mental illness and depression for most of his life. Lifting the stigma from this topic, Landsberg delivers a powerful and personal keynote on the dangerously misunderstood issues of depression, anxiety, and stress. Landsberg shares the story of his own battle with mental illness, as well as the unexplored stories of some of the world’s most recognizable sports figures, to show us that recovery, strength, and hope are possible in some of our darkest times.