Detoxicity: By Men, About Men, For Everyone

DetoxPod30: Julian Velard

Julian Velard is a singer, songwriter and pianist from New York City. His latest project, Please Don’t Make Me Play Piano Man, is a recorded attempt at a Broadway musical that’s filled with as much humor as it is with melody. In the past, you may have heard him on the Howard Stern show or on NPR’s Ask Me Another. Julian also currently records the podcast Real Gentlemen of Queens with Brian “B-Ski” Collazo, whose name you might remember from an earlier episode of Detoxicity.
In our conversation, Julian wrestles with the idea of defining success on one’s own terms. He also talks about his anti-authoritarian childhood, generational trauma and being a product of your upbringing, not smoothing out his rough edges to be more palatable for the masses, becoming a husband and father himself, and much much more.

DetoxPod29: Steven LaFond

This episode is a meeting of the podcasting minds. I am joined by Steven LaFond, who co-hosts a podcast called Witchever Path with his partner Jas. The Witchever Path podcast is a horror-based anthology series in which the listener gets to vote on how to determine the outcome. Our conversation begins by discussing how the podcast came to be and continues into Steven’s difficult childhood, which included two years of being a ward of the state. We also discuss a series of “only”s, such as being a politically progressive person in a red state and being the only white person in his household. You can find Steven on Twitter.

DetoxPod28: Eddie Moses

Eddie Moses is a music industry executive based in New York City. In this episode, Eddie dives back into his Detroit childhood and discusses growing up gay and biracial. Eddie also discusses his journey from musician to music businessman, brings up code switching for the first time on a Detox podcast, role models and mentorship, and much much more. We also find out what "organizational communication" is. You can find Eddie on Twitter and IG at "eddiejaymoses".

DetoxPod Bonus Episode: Chris Calabrese Interviews Mike Joseph

This episode was supposed to be an interview with Chris Calabrese, who is studying at Montclair State University in New Jersey in the hopes of becoming a therapist. What it became turned out to be way more of a dialogue between Chris and I, in which I reveal much more about myself than I have in previous episodes. Since the show really isn't about me, I felt like it made more sense to release this episode out of sequence.
I discuss my upbringing in Brooklyn, constantly feeling "othered", why I'd feel uncomfortable accepting reparations, cultural identity, white privilege and more.
I sincerely hope you enjoy this episode.

DetoxPod27: Andrew Grossman

Andrew Grossman is a writer and a lawyer, originally from Kentucky but now based, like many of my guests, in NYC. Andrew is also a part of the reason Detoxicity exists, as he is a co-creator of the Facebook group Detoxifying Masculinity NYC. This group, like this podcast, aims to amplify the conversation around being better men and ridding ourselves of the toxicity often imposed on us by social constructs and conditioning.
Andrew and I have a typically wide-ranging discussion that covers subjective wokeness and premature work syndrome, the “Jewish” vs. “white” conundrum, and what makes one decide to become an attorney to begin with.

DetoxPod26: Bryan Carter

Bryan Carter is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, activist and educator originally from Illinois, now based in New York City. In this episode, Bryan shares his life experience, which includes growing up in the Baptist church, with a family of well-known religious educators and leaders. He also grew up with a keen interest in music, which led him to Juilliard School of Music and to eventually pursue a career as a musician. Bryan also discuss his experience growing up proud and Black in a majority White community (you might cringe when Brian discusses “slave day”), we talk about the experience with police brutality that informed the creation of his latest single "Dear Blue", and we talk about coming to terms with queerness as an adult and the positive and negative consequences that he’s faced for being out and educating others.

DetoxPod25: Eric Durkin

Eric Durkin is a director, producer and video editor based in New York City. In this episode, Eric discusses his bipolar diagnosis and the manic episodes that led to his diagnosis. Eric also talks about the trouble with "toxic positivity", being a "beta male" in a society that seems to promote "alpha male" characteristics, and the film he's working on in which he and his twin brother travel out West to spend time with their birth relatives. 

DetoxPod24: Ralph Jaccodine

Ralph Jaccodine has 4 decades of working in the music business working with artists as diverse as Bruce Springsteen, Rush, Kiss to Livingston Taylor, Martin Sexton and Ellis Paul. He started promoting concerts in Allentown, Pa. and at the University of Notre Dame. Then after a career in commercial real estate, he started an indie record label and artist management company. He is the founder of the Boston Managers Group, a 150+ professional organization. Ralph teaches full time on the faculty of Berklee College of Music in the Music Business/Management department. 
 
This episode finds me and Ralph exploring teaching and mentorship, the things Ralph learned from the church, Mother Teresa and Bruce Springsteen, and the things that he tries to pass along to his students and his children. We also talk about the stresses involved with managing artists’ careers and how to keep the faith in uncertain times.