Real Feels

Joe Rogan has one major blindspot - his own toxic masculinity. While his open-mindedness on politics, relationships, drugs, hunting, and other social subjects is part of why he's amassed millions of subscribers (and a new $100 million Spotify contract), Rogan rejects the idea that men are conditioned in a way that is harmful to women and themselves. Brad Gage looks at the Joe Rogan Experience podcast as a whole, showing why Rogan would be even more successful if he embraced his emotional, empathetic, and cooperative side.

Hosted and Produced by Brad Gage

Written by Brad Gage and Allison Mandell

Like the women in her documentaries, director Sarah Moshman is on a mission. Her work is centered firmly around female empowerment - not just because she recognizes the injustices around her, but also to give her daughter a future with equity, integrity, and real possibility. Sarah’s ability to turn her message into her career makes her one of my personal role models, and her passion for communicating the female experience is infectious - as you’ll hear in our chat. Sarah and I talk about the tough gender subjects - sexual assault, conditioning, and how to talk with our future children about sex. 

Anyone can host a screening of Sarah's film at www.neverthelessfilm.com

Hosted and Produced by Brad Gage

My friend Miguel Ferrer works internationally as a writer and director for feature films, music videos, and commercials. An exciting life as a storyteller, he could only have realized because his parents emigrated him from Venezuela to Miami when he was a young boy. His heritage is his pride, though Miguel is not afraid to critique the types of toxic male traits that permeate Latino culture. We break down ways to curb macho bullying, how being handsome doesn’t have as much of an effect on women as you think, and a bunch more in today’s episode. 

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Dustin Milligan is a man very in touch with his masculinity, and if you caught him recently as one of the winners on RuPaul’s Celebrity Drag Race - you’d see he’s clearly in touch with his femininity just as much. You might know Dustin from TV shows like Schitt’s Creek or Silicon Valley, but the guy I know above all is one who genuinely looks at the impact his life is making...and a dude who is just filled to the brim with puns. You can see the proof on his hilarious instagram account. Dustin sat down with me several months ago, right after he had shot Drag Race, to talk about why he had to cut out cannabis after 15 years, how he sees our society’s relationship to social media, and why listening is the best thing men can do right now in the wake of #MeToo. I’m so grateful he took some time to be with me, in THIS moment.

Hosted and Produced by Brad Gage

What does it mean to be a man? In his own particular way, Mister Rogers represented traits that traditionally masculine men pride themselves in - power, strength, confidence, and success. And his tactics are just what the modern man needs to maneuver personal relationships in the 21st century.

Special thanks to everyone who had a part in the making of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor”, and “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”

Caron Clancey is a writer, director, and eco-conscious hero. And I say “hero” because she wields her power in the way that every one of us can - with our wallets. She makes choices every day, no matter how small, to lower her carbon footprint and help heal the environment. And I think it’s about time that we recognize how exciting it is to make big changes every day. Caron and I talk here about her love for dirt, the helpful earth-nerd tricks she shares online, and how disconnected masculinity bleeds into every area of environmental politics. Above all, this episode will inspire you to make even the smallest baby steps toward your health and the world’s. Because we do what we can with the choices we are brought. And I’m so glad to bring you Caron Clancey in this moment….right now….

Caron's favorite video about composting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWKxFWstoCA

Evan Watkins is an actor, guitarist, and guy who has made enough mistakes in his romantic life to know how important listening is. And it shows. What is lovely about this episode is that Evan was down to attack some big questions about masculinity with humility, and an awareness that while there are a lot of external pressures to be a certain type of guy, real manliness comes from having empathy for women and not pushing your own expectations on a situation. Listening, learning and striving to be better is what evolving is all about. I’m so glad Evan took some time to be here with me right now...

Lisa Schwartz is an actress, producer, and personality who built a career on being herself for an audience of 2 million subscribers on YouTube. And being herself is about asking people to be empowered by the imperfect, and leaning into the quirks of being your age - which she did with her 2019 memoir “Thirty Life Crisis”. After going through a very public breakup a few years ago, she has finally found herself in a relationship that gives her peace, balance, and someone to lay on the bathroom floor with her when she’s hungover. I’m so lucky to have Lisa on the show today, where she taught me that there’s always hard stuff, you’re always evolving and that’s the beauty of life.

Steve Levy is a guy who doesn’t completely feel like he’s grown up yet, and he’s okay with that. As an associate producer of the hit Adult Swim show “Rick and Morty”, he’s worked hard as hell to succeed in an environment where he can immerse himself in the world of the movies and TV his father showed him as a young boy. And sometimes that immersion has affected his dating like, as you’ll hear. Today - we talk about what it was like growing up as a sensitive kid, the frat-like climate at his high school, and some life lessons he gleaned from his dad.

Actress, singer, and director Lola Blanc is currently breaking out of her persona. After spending much of her adult life focused on pop music stardom, she’s now honing in on being more the version of herself that is...herself. And part of that is publicly sharing her perspectives on subjects like Mormonism, (which took up much of her childhood), sexism (which took up much of her music career), and allowing people space to make mistakes and grow (which is part of her mission now). Her coming on the show was actually prompted by an instagram post she shared about how conflicted she is playing into the algorithms of social media that are so entrenched in the male gaze. 

Philip Wang feels like he’s graduating into the next phase of his life, and it’s easy to agree with him. Along with his team at Wong Fu Productions, Philip built a YouTube channel with a fanbase of over 3 million people. Also - within the past year, he realized his dreams of opening a restaurant (bopomofo cafe), AND proposing to his girlfriend Helen. It all seems perfect, but, of course, it took a TON of inner work to get here. As you’ll see, Philip still feels impatient for what he can see is a future of opportunity - not just for him, but for the entire Asian American community. He’s a very busy guy and a great friend and I’m so grateful he took a little time to be here with me right now.

Iain McDonald is a guy who Brad recently met and instantly wanted on the podcast. Not only is his energy calming and empathetic, but he also is very clearly hungry for knowledge and connection in a way that's contagious. He’s an actor and photographer, but as you’ll hear in the show, he is above all a curious guy, unafraid of questioning the reality we live in. I wade into the deep end with him about spirituality, metaphysics, technology, and the importance of asking “why”.

Actor Andree Vermeulen is accomplishing a bunch of major life shifts in a very short time. Within the past 5 months she’s gotten pregnant, engaged, and moved into a new house. That’s...a lot. And she faces the challenges of her transitioning life through the practices of shifting her perspective to empowerment and connecting with who she really is on a daily basis. Today, she sat down with me to talk about how releasing her grip on the idea of "plans" helped get her role on the TV show "Angie Tribeca" (and even her baby). I’m so grateful she decided to be here with me right now in this moment.

Actor/writer/funny person Lee Newton is having a challenging moment. It’s one of heartbreak as well as new beginnings. After almost two years working with her comedy group - the Valleyfolk - on a vibrant and funny YouTube channel (as well as the NBC comedy TV show “Bring the Funny”) Lee was surprised to learn she had been terminated from the company she helped create. On this episode, Brad and Lee chat about empowerment, loss, resilience, comedy, and lessons she has learned being a woman in the entertainment industry. Thank you so much for listening.

Janine Oda is an actor, host, and friend, who in this moment is navigating her tendency to say "yes" to everything as well as publicly representing her faith in a community that's not always as accepting of it. She also has a loving boyfriend of 15 years, and you know what - she IS tired of people asking her if she’s getting married. She almost didn’t want to do my podcast because she was sick of talking about it. But, what resists persists, and we luckily got her on the show to get a little vulnerable. Thank you so much for listening.

On a slightly different episode of the podcast, animation writer and longtime friend Amalia Levari, tells a wonderfully non-spooky ghost story, AND takes the opportunity to ask a question that no one has posed to Brad yet. Why is he doing this show and why isn’t it...funny? Together, the look at Brad's recent spiritual pivot, plus how she deals with wanting to fix everyone’s problems, and why she’s rooting for the survival of humanity. Thank you for listening.

Performer, artist, and one of the stars of Disney’s upcoming live-action “Mulan”, Chen Tang is here to speak his truth. Originally born in China, Chen talks about finding his many selves through the duel life of bouncing back and forth from China to America. Chen talks about spirit, truth, philosophy, and how easy Transcendental Meditation can really be when you just relax and let your brain do the work.

Jenny Lorenzo is a hard worker, totally hilarious, and thoroughly filled with anxiety. And she’s not shy about it. Whether it’s her Cuban upbringing in Miami, the drive to support the people around her, or the unending call to feed the content machines of the internet - Jenny is always on the grind. But is work all there is? And how does she handle the pressures of being an internet personality? Thank you for listening to this podcast. Genuinely.

Shaun Brown and Brad are old friends. They've worked together, drank together, and lived together. Today, they spent some time together talking about the important stuff - the brutality of the animal kingdom as seen through instagram videos, true love, and the challenge of being a sensitive guy in the modern age. Thank you for listening!

Comedian, actor and writer Beth Rowe is getting married. Well, was about to get married when we recorded this. She’s since then actually done it (congrats Beth) but here she talks about the anxieties, the politics and the utter joy of committing to her life with her best friend. We also talked about how living near Columbine High School affected her view on guns, and how her version of meditation is getting her nails done. We balance the dark with the light here on Real Feels...