Bill Gates Talks 'Alzheimer's, Comedy and Even Cannabis' With Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller in His New Podcast

"People just don't like talking or thinking about Alzheimer's because it scares them," Seth Rogen says in the first episode of Bill Gates's New Podcast "Unconfuse Me"

The first episode of Bill Gates’s new podcast, released Thursday, explores how Seth Rogen and his wife Lauren Miller use humor and celebrity status to raise awareness of Alzheimer's.

Unconfuse Me with Bill Gates digs into topics Gates wants to learn more about, even if he feels confused, he said in the opening of the first episode. Rogen and Miller, who founded Hilarity for Charity, joined him to discuss all things brain health, starting with the topic of Alzheimer's Disease, which took the lives of Miller’s mother and Gates’s father.

“Alzheimer's and comedy aren't the most obvious combination, so therefore it was like, well we want people to have fun and we want them to give us their money, but also it's about Alzheimer's,” Miller said about creating the Hilarity for Charity. “So you know, that was sort of a delicate walk just figuring out how to do it.”

Hilarity for Charity aims to support families and caregivers of people with Alzheimer's, fostering research on the disease and educating people about how to care for their brain health — while also creating space for people to laugh about their experiences.

“The stigma has put us in the place we’re in today instead of further along,” Miller said, with Rogen noting that people avoid talking about Alzheimer's because the idea of being “out of control” of your mental health is uncomfortable.

“I think it's all up against this massive societal shift that needs to happen as far as how Alzheimer's is spoken about, how it is dealt with, and like the amount of money it receives in comparison to like cancer and things like that, which are less costly, more treatable and exactly as deadly,” Rogen explained. “I think the only logical answer is that people just don't like talking or thinking about Alzheimer's because it scares them.”

Related: Seth Rogen and Wife Lauren Host Star-Studded Carnival for Alzheimer's Awareness

The importance of professional caregiving was also a topic Gates explored with his guests. Rogen shared that when Miller’s dad was caring for her mom, his own health was “completely deprioritized.”

“Often the caretaker dies before the person they're taking care of with Alzheimer's, and that was something we were seeing play out in real-time,” he said.

The couple said that hiring a caregiver “made everything easier,” and Rogen emphasized that it “saved her father’s life.” And without having to worry so much about both her parents at the same time, Miller and Rogen said they were also able to have a better relationship with one another.

“Caregiving shouldn't be a personal responsibility, it should be a societal one,” Miller added.

Gates said he had read research that showed preventative treatments could be approved in the next five to 10 years.

“We have to stay healthy for another at least five to 10 years,” he joked.

Rogen and Miller's “coursework,” which the couple has taught to high school and college students alongside neurologists, focuses on ways to preserve brain health.

“You can care for your brain and perhaps delay — maybe prevent altogether — but delay until perhaps, as you say, 10 years from now when there is a drug,” Miller said.

Most people think they can care for their mind through things like crossword puzzles, the actor laughed, but that is actually “not even helpful.” Because “the average person” is unsure how to strengthen their mind, the comedian sees Hilarity for Charity as crucial to younger generations.

“Young people, they love nothing more than to hear where previous generations have failed them,” Rogen said. “To to see them perk up when they hear like, ‘oh there's a whole — maybe the most important part of your body — you were never told how to take care of,’ that they completely neglected, that conceptually really engages people.”

With studies showing that “40% of cases” are preventable, according to Rogen, the “five brain healthy habits” in their framework are important: sleep, exercise, nutrition, mental fitness and emotional well-being. He even confessed that his being a celebrity encourages people to better care for themselves.

“I taught this coursework of brain health, and we've also had a neurologist teach the coursework, and we scientifically proved that people retain information better from celebrities than doctors, which is it's a heavy burden,” he joked, adding that this information “was published.”

On the topic of cannabis, which Rogen is very open about — he owns a marijuana-inspired home goods company called Houseplant — the three shared their experiences with the drug.

“The impression of every stoner was that they're like a lazy loser, and I was anything but a lazy loser — I was like creating a prolific career at the time when all I would do was smoke weed all day every day, which is all I still do,” Rogen clarified.

Related: Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller Rogen's Relationship Timeline

Miller also shared that she goes to a neurologist and the pair are both “open” with their doctors about their habits, and “no one” in the medical world has told them that smoking weed is bad for their brain health. They even believe its benefits of boosting hunger and relieving stress might be good for preventing Alzheimer's.

“It's not federally legal, so there isn't money to fund research,” Miller said.

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Gates later concluded the podcast with his own funny anecdote, laughing about his first time he ever smoked weed — back when it was a “rebellious” thing to do.

“In school out of the, say 105 people in my class I think, there were three or four who didn't smoke,” he said. “Because it was kind of a, ‘Hey, I'm an adult! Hey I can break the rules!’ But I will say, sometimes it's like, I guess I'm doing this to be cool. It wasn't so much smoking for pot's sake.”

Unconfuse Me with Bill Gates is now available for streaming on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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