Detoxicity: By Men, About Men, For Everyone

DetoxPod 85: Swingset Takes Desire! Crossover Episode

As some of you know, I occasionally co-host a podcast called Life on the Swingset, which is about progressive sexuality and alternative relationships. Several of the podcast regulars, including Dylan Thomas and Ryan Bentham, have appeared on Detoxicity multiple times. 
 
Each year, the Life on the Swingset crew ventures down to Mexico to spend a week in paradise at the Desire resort. The Swingset takeover is an inclusive environment in which sex-positivity is encouraged, but also where intellectual, emotional and sexual curiosity is explored and growth in all of those facets can be gained. When I was invited to take part in this year's festivities, I knew that I'd get a lot of food for thought when it came to masculinity. The episode of Detoxicity I recorded on the resort does not disappoint at all.
 
This episode is co-hosted by Dylan Thomas, was recorded live at Desire, and features several voices outside of the two of us. For the sake of discretion, the men that participate will not be named, but during this discussion names are tertiary to the greater conversation about manhood and personal growth, and how this week in paradise led to further discussions about racism and ethnic stereotypes, the undoing of decades of conditioning regarding relationship structures and sexuality, and we collectively try to figure out how to bring the spirit of curiosity and inclusion that's fostered during this week into our regular lives.
 

DetoxPod 84 : John Callas (Author, Film Producer)

For this episode, I had the privilege of talking to writer, director and author John Callas. Over four decades in the entertainment business, John has worked with "A" list actors, directed over 80 episodes of "Bobby's World", the classic animated series, and won a VMA for Best Concept Video for Glenn Frey's "Smuggler's Blues".
 
John recently published a memoir called "When The Rain Stops", in which he discusses his hard scrabble childhood, the loss of his father at a very young age, and the circumstances that ultimately led to a stint in military school. This forms the basis of our conversation, and we travel from past to present with John, tracing his career in the entertainment industry, his relationship with a higher power, the secret to a long-lasting marriage, the power of forgiveness, and so much more.

DetoxPod 83 : Ron Doyle (Podcast Producer, Web Developer)

For this episode, we’re gonna travel out to Colorado to meet up with Ron Doyle. Ron is the creative director of Waterday Media, a multimedia production and communications company that specializes in everything from web development to podcast production. 
Ron and I came into contact with one another via podcasting. He’s the producer of The Grawlix Saves the World, one of my favorite podcasts these days, and during our conversation, we touch on how he got tied in with the three fantastic comedians that the podcast is focused on.
But podcasting is just a teeny tiny bit of what Ron and I discuss. Among the many things I found out was that Ron was something of an academic prodigy and graduated from high school before most people can legally drive. That might be a factor in his perfectionist tendencies, which he is still learning to reign in. We also cover the highs and uncertainties of parenting, we compare notes on hitting our forties, and Ron, somewhat sheepishly, admits to being a bit of a hoarder. Everything from emotional maturity to the five-second rule is here; enjoy the conversation!

DetoxPod 82 : Mitchell Leonard (Producer, Composer)

My guest for this episode of  is Mitchell Leonard, a composer and producer originally from Arizona now making his home in Brooklyn. We actually started our conversation before he got the chance to properly introduce himself, which hopefully you consider a good sign for your listening experience. From an artistic perspective, Mitch and I talk about the fallacy of it being too late to start over and what events transpired to move him East to the Big Apple. Mitchell also explores his addictive personality and the unusual methods he undertook to mitigate his substance use. We also talk about developing a look for yourself, why it's important to be your truest self, and we get a vibe for why Mitchell created his latest project, Mainframe. 

DetoxPod 81 : Marcus Mims (Producer/Songwriter)

Marcus Mims is a songwriter, producer and vocal coach originally from the Detroit suburbs, now based in the...New York City suburbs? What are we calling North Jersey now? He's also known as Journal. Anyway, there's a big difference between the Big D and the Big Apple, and Marcus learned a lot about that difference when he made his move to the NY area. That adjustment isn't the only challenge that Marcus has experienced. We also talk about how to deal with loss at a very young age, we talk about how Marcus recovered from a major medical scare, and we discuss self-care methods and why Marcus doesn't shy away from treating himself well.

DetoxPod 80 : Luke Nielsen (Educator, Coach)

This episode is going to deviate a bit from Detoxicity's normal format. Most episodes so far have featured me interviewing someone (or, on rare occasion, someone interviewing me). When I started talking to Luke Nielsen, who makes his living as an art teacher and football coach in Iowa, we ended up structuring this episode more as a mutual interview. So I quiz Luke about what it's like to grow up in small-town Midwest with over a hundred family members, and he grills me about the music I grew up listening to. We share stories about personal evolution, social and emotional learning, authenticity and the lessons we've learned over the course of our lives. 

DetoxPod 79 : Jason Hare

Some of you might now that Detoxicity is not the only podcast I host and produce. Along with my music loving friends Jeff Giles and Jason Hare, I host a podcast called FM to MTV, which focuses on the pop music that the three of us grew up with, albeit in very different environments. In addition to being music nerds and great comic foils, I have been friends with Jeff and Jason now for over a decade. Jeff and I collaborated for a Detox episode a few weeks ago, and now it's Jason's turn. Our conversation takes quite a few turns as it covers Jason's career as a child actor in commercials, his relationships with his parents, his children and his partner, his activism on behalf of the trans community, and the ups and downs of our own relationship, which has weathered some turbulence over the years. I hope you appreciate listening to this conversation as much as I enjoyed having it. 

DetoxPod78 : Mike Rublin

Mike Rublin is a "recovering" musician, a social worker and a mental health advocate. He is also a proud Jersey native. Our interview covers a lot of ground; with special attention given to various forms of self-care and mental health. We talk about the pressure of having your actions live up to your words, why he finds fulfillment working with other men, what it's like to be bullied in school and to ultimately forgive those who did wrong against you, Mike explains the concept of "taking space" and "making space", and we'll see if I can convince him to get that piano stitched together to play music again. 
You can find Mike on IG at "avictoryrose".