Allison Beth Raskin (born June 20, 1989) is an American writer, director, comedian, YouTuber, podcaster, and mental health advocate. She previously worked as a writer at

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...

Video, but left in 2015 with fellow writer and friend

Gabe Dunn Gabe Dunn (born June 1, 1988) is an American writer, actor, pop journalist, comedian, LGBTQ activist, and podcaster. They were a writer and director for BuzzFeed Video, before leaving to focus on their YouTube comedy show and podcast ''Just Betwe ...

to pursue work on their comedy

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel, "Just Between Us." Raskin has written for

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

Think, and

Splinter News Splinter was an American left-leaning news and opinion website owned by G/O Media. It launched in July 2017 and ceased publication in November 2019. Content The site was a news and opinion website. According to direct owner Fusion Media Group, t ...

. On September 5, 2017, she and Dunn released a joint novel, ''I Hate Everyone but You'', which reached the top ten on ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' best sellers list.

Early life and education

Raskin was born on June 20, 1989 in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. She attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

and received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree. In 2020, she began a clinical psychology program with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy at

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...

. Raskin is outspoken about her struggles with mental health. When she was 4 years old she was diagnosed with

obsessive–compulsive disorder Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental and behavioral disorder in which an individual has intrusive thoughts and/or feels the need to perform certain routines repeatedly to the extent where it induces distress or impairs general ...

(OCD), and continued to experience anxiety and depression. She took medication until she was 21, then took a seven-year break, which included therapy. When she was 28 she went back on medication and experienced backlash regarding weight gain due to side effects.

Career

BuzzFeed

Raskin was a writer at BuzzFeed video where she was featured in a number of videos, both by herself and with Dunn. She and Dunn left in 2015 to commit to the JBU YouTube channel. They cited the difficulties of working with Buzzfeed, who wanted to limit their time on JBU. They stated it was the scariest decision they'd had to make.

Just Between Us

Raskin and Dunn co-created the "Just Between Us" YouTube channel in 2014. A self-described odd couple, they play versions of themselves in sketch comedy videos and discuss relevant topics such as mental health, friendships, and relationships in their show of the same name, ''Just Between Us''. They also started a podcast under the same name in March 2019, where they have guests discuss topics and answer prompts. This includes a section entitled "Hypotheticals", where Raskin asks Dunn and guests questions such as, "Would you stay with this cheater?"

''Gossip''

With the help of

Stitcher Stitcher is a media company that specializes in the creation, distribution, and monetization of podcasts. Stitcher creates original shows through networks such as Earwolf and Witness Docs. Stitcher provides ad sales and distribution services to ...

, Raskin created ''Gossip,'' a 12-episode scripted podcast, which chronicles three female friends as they meet each week to discuss gossip surrounding their suburban town. The podcast ran from June 2018 to August 2018.

Books

Raskin's first novel, ''I Hate Everyone But You'', co-written with Gabe Dunn, was published on September 5, 2017. The sequel, ''Please Send Help'', was released on July 16, 2019.

References

External links

"Just Between Us"
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Raskin, Allison 1989 births Living people American writers University of Southern California alumni American directors American women comedians Writers from Manhattan BuzzFeed people Jewish American female comedians Jewish American writers American YouTubers 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women