Keeping It Real: Conversations with Jillian Michaels

Episode Title: Kelsi Sheren EXPOSES the System Profiting From EUTHANASIA: Inside the MAiD Crisis Horrors!
Date: October 29, 2025

Brief Overview

In this powerful and unflinching episode, host Jillian Michaels sits down with Canadian combat veteran, author, and advocate Kelsi Sheren. Their conversation delves into Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) crisis, exposing the harrowing realities of how the system is being misused and the vulnerable populations it targets. Sheren shares deeply personal stories about her military service, struggles with PTSD and brain injury, her journey to recovery through entrepreneurship and psychedelics, and her tireless fight against government policies that, she argues, dehumanize and discard those in need. The episode is a raw, eye-opening account that connects veterans' issues, societal apathy, and the expanding reach of euthanasia legislation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Kelsi’s Background and Becoming “Banned” in Canada

• Sheren describes experiencing government retaliation after speaking out against Canadian policies affecting veterans.
  • Quote: "You’ve told me you’re banned in Canada. What does that even mean, Kelsi? And why?" (01:52, Jillian)
  • Kelsi details social media blocks, cease and desists, and being ostracized for exposing incompetence and harmful Veteran Affairs policies.
  • She emphasizes her expectation for leaders: “I look to my leaders for genuine ability to do the job… That's not what we have in Canada. We haven't had since 2015.” (03:16, Kelsi)

2. Military Service, Trauma, and the System's Failures

• Joining the Canadian Armed Forces at 18, serving as an artillery gunner in Afghanistan, Kelsi reports deep personal trauma: PTSD and traumatic brain injury.
  • Quote: "After I got injured in Afghanistan... When I came home... my major said, 'It would have been easier if you died. Less paperwork.'" (06:20, Kelsi)
• On returning: Lack of adequate support, hyper suicidality, and being declared unemployable at 19.
• Emphasizes how common these outcomes are but how rarely they’re openly admitted due to stigma and the risk of losing one’s career.

3. Healing Journey: From Rock Bottom to Advocacy

• Recovery began through a creative outlet—making jewelry from spent bullet casings, leading to the founding of Brass & Unity.
  • Quote: “If we can give somebody a moment of pause, we can save their damn life.” (15:22, Kelsi)
• Kelsi shares the central irony of transforming instruments of harm into symbols of survival and support.
  • She’s donated close to $750,000 to veteran organizations through her company (11:02, Kelsi).

4. Veterans, Mental Health, and the Suicide Crisis

• Discussion of why so many veterans struggle: lack of practical support, isolation after military life, the culture of suppressing mental health issues.
  • Quote: "We’re not given the tools... and we don't allow the military to acknowledge mental health issues or traumatic brain injuries, because if you do, you're a liability..." (17:58, Kelsi)
• Kelsi underscores the inadequacy of the mental healthcare system, both in Canada and abroad.

5. Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: Promise and Obstacles

• Kelsi shares her experience with various psychedelics as a tool for trauma recovery, including ayahuasca and psilocybin, and the importance of integration therapy.
  • Warns not everyone is a candidate for psychedelics; careful screening is vital.
• Outlines how government policy still lags far behind research and personal accounts:
  • “They put you on 11 different drugs... You're now recommended electroshock therapy. But plant-based medicine is a hard no.” (32:23, Jillian)

6. Introduction to MAID and the Moral Dilemma

• Kelsi explains what MAID is: once intended for the terminally ill, now increasingly applied to non-terminal cases, the disabled, the mentally ill, and, soon, mature minors.
  • Quote: "You think professionals are immune to killing people? No doctor is taught how to kill someone." (39:32, Kelsi)
• Vividly describes the MAID procedure and refutes the claim that it’s painless and dignified using medical evidence.
  • Quote: "You’re paralyzed, and you drown to death. It’s akin to waterboarding." (41:01, Kelsi)

7. Slippery Slope: The Expansion of State-Sanctioned Euthanasia

• Track 1: Terminal illness. Track 2: Non-foreseeable death (e.g., disabilities, diabetes, homelessness, PTSD).
  • Cites chilling examples: Veterans offered MAID instead of support, the homeless, disabled, and even children being targeted.
  • "In 2027, if you have depression, you can walk into an ER and say, 'I want MAID.'" (45:15, Kelsi)

8. Financial Incentives and the Erosion of the Social Safety Net

• Kelsi highlights disturbing economic motivations: Canada is projected to save $1.2 trillion over 20 years by expanding MAID to more populations (51:31, Kelsi).
  • Quote: “Once you open the door to killing, you don’t get to decide what walks through.” (50:31, Kelsi)

9. Policy Export: The MAID Playbook Spreads

• Warns that state-sanctioned euthanasia models are being exported to the US and elsewhere.
  • Points to states already adopting similar laws and the normalization of the discourse around euthanasia.

10. Wider Social & Political Context

• Veterans, mentally ill, and the disabled are being systemically devalued—linked to North American societal pressures, cost of living, and political apathy.
• Kelsi draws parallels to historical eugenics movements, warning of the dangers of commodifying life and death.

11. Broader Global Issues: War, Ideology, and Candid Reflections

• Sheren’s nuanced view on war: “Bad dudes will always exist and need to be taken off the face of the earth.” (61:41, Kelsi)
• On today’s warfare, media, desensitization, and ideological conflicts.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On MAID’s Dangers:
  “Medical assistance in dying... it’s not as peaceful or dignified as they say. We know people have woken up halfway through the procedure and had to go through the rest of it to be killed again.” (59:23, Kelsi)
• On Systemic Gaps:
  “You have always had the right to end your life, but you don’t have the right to make a law in the government to say that if you’re weak, tired, financially struggling, homeless, mentally ill, a veteran, that we’re gonna kill you.” (60:13, Kelsi)
• On Advocacy:
  “I don’t get paid to do any of what I do. It costs money, it incurs death threats... I fly on my own dime. I just want in the room so people are aware.” (59:14, Kelsi)
• On Humanity:
  “Nobody deserves to die. Everybody deserves to live. We don’t have a healthcare system that treats life. We have a healthcare system that treats death.” (60:42, Kelsi)
• On Communication:
  “We’re not all supposed to be alike. We’re just supposed to talk. And when we stop talking, violence happens. It’s that simple.” (77:58, Kelsi)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:52 – Kelsi discusses backlash for her advocacy ("banned" in Canada).
• 06:20 – Returning from Afghanistan disabled, shunned by military command.
• 11:02 – Founding Brass & Unity: transforming pain to purpose.
• 14:29 – The role of trauma in forging one’s path.
• 17:58 – Why veterans’ mental health is often ignored or suppressed.
• 22:06 – Psychedelic healing: promise and prohibitive policy.
• 32:23 – Blocked from plant medicine, pushed toward electroshock and MAID instead.
• 39:32 – 46:36 – The reality of MAID, its expansion, and moral repercussions.
• 51:31 – The trillion-dollar savings driving euthanasia expansion.
• 59:23 – 61:24 – Advocacy despite cost, toll, and threats.
• 77:58 – Why dialogue is vital: division versus understanding.

Further Resources

• Kelsi Sheren’s Podcast: "The Kelsi Sheren Perspective"—check out the MAID series.
• Book: Brass & Unity (available via Simon & Schuster or direct, including signed copies).
• Jewelry and Advocacy: brassinunity.com – Suicide prevention "buddy check" bracelets.
• Substack Writings: Weekly articles with source receipts on lived experience, policy, and advocacy.

Closing Tone

Throughout, both Jillian Michaels and Kelsi Sheren maintain a direct, candid, and deeply personal tone. Michaels acts as a catalyst—curious, occasionally shocked, empathetic, and open to having her mind changed. Sheren is raw, passionate, unfiltered, and armed with evidence and lived experience. The result is a gripping, humanizing episode that forces listeners to confront uncomfortable truths about policy, medicine, and what it means to value life.

For anyone not yet familiar with the Canadian MAID debate, or the realities faced by veterans post-service, this episode is essential listening—both to be informed and empowered.