Todd Hanson is an American writer and voice actor, notable for his work as a writer and editor at the parody newspaper The Onion. He also voices the character Dan Halen on the Adult Swim program Squidbillies.

Biography

Hanson has lived in Wisconsin and New York City, New York. During a storytelling segment on Public Radio International's The Moth, Hanson credited his mother for him being "a douchebag".


Depression and suicide attempt
On the July 7, 2011 episode of WTF with Marc Maron, Hanson spoke about his long history of depression, as well as a suicide attempt he made in January 2009. Though he had been in counseling and on medication for the condition, he checked into a hotel room near his home in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, wrote two notes (one to his family, another to whoever found his body), consumed a bottle of Scotch whisky and over 60 Xanax pills, and lost consciousness for more than 24 hours.

He survived the attempt and was awakened the following day by a hotel maid. In a blacked-out state, he returned home, where he was discovered, still highly intoxicated, by his roommate. Hanson was then checked into a hospital for detoxification and placed on suicide observation. He now considers this day his "second birthday," and has since been in more intensive treatment and has a better grip on his depressive states.