Dominic Bracco II is a photographer, journalist, author, educator, social practice artist, playwright, occasional actor, and co-owner of Uvas y Hojas — a bookstore, cultural center, and small publisher in Baja California Sur, Mexico. He was just diagnosed with ADHD and autism a week before this conversation, and he's still processing what it means. Recorded at the National Geographic Storyteller Summit in LA, this is a wide-ranging conversation between two photojournalists trying to figure out how their brains work. Dominic grew up near the Texas-Mexico border, fell into photography at 13 after his grandfather's advice about the 10,000-hour rule, covered a decade of violence in Ciudad Juarez, nearly got himself killed several times, had a profound spiritual experience at a Maori sacred site in New Zealand, went broke in Baja painting houses and selling tortas on the beach, started a bookstore with two friends, and was recently put on Ritalin. He also has a manuscript he's written 20 different ways and still hasn't finished — but he has a pineapple plant that's been growing for five years and hasn't made a pineapple yet, and he finds that very clarifying. They talk about the grief and relief of a late dual ADHD and autism diagnosis, what it means to finally understand why you've been struggling, masking, medication, depression mistaken for personality, addiction as coping, and why ADHD brains might actually thrive in conflict zones and chaotic creative lives. And whether structure and stability actually solve anything — or just create new problems. 📝 Episode description generated with AI assistance. Send us Fan Mail Watch episode videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram: @allmyfriendshaveadhd Follow Laurel on Instagram: @laurelchor New episodes every other Monday.
