Detoxicity: By Men, About Men, For Everyone

DetoxPod04: Louie Pearlman

Louie Pearlman is a renaissance man. He has taught comedy and public speaking, and has worked as a comedian, improvisational performer and writer. His creation "Joey And Ron: The Sugar-Sweet Bubblegum Musical!" finished its first run last November. He also co-hosts and produces the pop culture podcast XOXO Riverdale, and the live streaming radio show Kick The Jukebox. His pieces have appeared on Gizmodo, Rebeat Magazine and Tough Pigs.
In this episode of Detoxicity. Louie discusses his "creative ADD"; i.e. how he is able to juggle his many pursuits. He also talks about growing up in Canada, the bullying he endured as a child, the non-traditional gender roles he was exposed to while growing up, and discovering his queerness.

DetoxPod03: Will McKinney-Raphelt

Will McKinney-Raphelt is the associate director of R&B and hip-hop catalog for Sony Music. In that realm, he has worked with legends like Nas, Wu-Tang Clan and Wyclef Jean. Will is also an out and proud gay man who is also a newlywed. In this episode, Mike Joseph and Will talk about being an unapologetic queer POC in corporate America. Also discussed: when Will first discovered he might be gay (in addition to his coming out story), what drew him to hip-hop, how he benefits from privilege as a "straight-passing" gay man, how other gay men can be exclusionist (and often racist) due to his demeanor and the color of his skin, his Texas upbringing, how he met the love of his life on a dating app, and how he and his husband maintain a (for now) trans-continental relationship.

Detoxpod02: Garrett Gonzales

The interview subject on this episode is Garrett Gonzales, who co-founded the neighborhood discovery site nextdoor.com and runs Fight Game Media, a platform for wrestling and MMA-related blogs and podcasts. Despite being a multi-hyphenate, Garrett defines himself primarily as a dad. In addition to discussing what it's like to be a divorced father of two kids by the age of 30, Mike Joseph and Garrett talk about the need for mentors, the dangers of celebrity worship, and giving marriage another try.
 
They also discuss how important recognizing "your people is", and how that's allowed them to maintain and cultivate a friendship for the last 20 years despite living across the country from one another.

DetoxPod01A: Dr. Mike Friedman

Clinical psychologist Dr. Michael Friedman is the first guest on the Detoxicity podcast. He discusses his "hardcore humanism" approach to psychology, and discusses the factors that led him to work in the mental health field. He also talks about getting along with patients that have ideological differences with him, warns against reductive thinking, explains a few best practices to deal with urban living, and offers up a "Breaking Bad" spoiler alert for those of us who are 2000-late.

Detoxpod01: What Is The Detoxicity Podcast?

This episode is an introduction to the Detoxicity podcast: an interview series designed to shine a light on what it means to be a man in the 21st century. It's a quick monologue in which host Mike Joseph discusses the conversation around toxic masculinity, unsettling mental health stats for men, and the need for more communication and better conversation beyond the standard small talk about sports and cars. The Man Show this is not! It's also stressed that while the creator and guests on the show will be male or male-identified, the hope is that the conversation includes all genders and gender presentations, as well as all races, ethnicities, ages and sexual/romantic orientations.