Real Feels - Modern Masculinity with Brad Gage

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is arguably the biggest movie star in the world, and if you pay close enough attention, he's also the biggest feminist in Hollywood. Brad dives into The Rock's life, love, children, TV show, and more to unravel why Johnson is one of those unique famous men who believes in real equality (which is also why he's probably running for president). Written and Hosted and Edited...

Sonya Shah is someone Brad has admired from her appearances on other podcasts for her deep expertise around restorative justice, and all forms of healing justice that represent an alternative to the punitive, and many times racially insensitive systems of justice that currently preside in this country. Sonya is the Co-Executive Director of Ahimsa Collective is an organization that works to address...

Is age just a number? Using celebrities, TV, and pop culture, Brad Gage digs into the psychology of age-gap relationships, why older men and younger women are attracted to each other, how it can sometimes result in an unequal power dynamic, and what can be done to help these relationships thrive. Includes analysis of age-gap May-December romances, Evolution Theory, Gender Roles, "Daddy Issues", pl...

What should come after the #MeToo era? Restorative Justice is a process that hands the power to the victim after harm is done, while still working in collaboration with the person who did the harm. This way all those involved can release some of the shame, anger, or secrecy surrounding the incident. Because sometimes victims need something more than what law and order can provide. Written, Edited,...

Cam Fraser is Australia's leading men's sex coach who you can find through his engaging, thoughtful, and frequently funny Instagram videos. He speaks to men about everything from masturbation, to porn, to myths about male sex organs. Luckily, we have become friends, and today's episode is where I get to ask him all my juicy questions about taboos, if porn is energetically cheating on your partner,...

Pickup Artists might seem old, corny, and pretty ridiculous to most people, but since their mid-2000's rise in popularity, the philosophy of THE GAME has influenced a generation of young men to manipulate their way to sex. With pickup gurus like Ross Jeffries, Neil Strauss, and Mystery teaching men for decades how to cut the female experience out of dating, they've made a lasting influence on the...

Amanda Crew (HBO's Silicon Valley) and Brad have been friends a long time, but recently bonded over each of them finding movements they are truly passionate about. For Brad, it's reframing toxic masculinity, and for her, it's re-educating people around eating disorders. She's been vocal about it in her work with Project Heal, but in this conversation, we get to the genesis of her journey through a...

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 podc...

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 communica...

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 br...

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 M...

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 he...

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 f...

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 f...

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. Tod...

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...

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...

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 ab...

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 t...

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...

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...

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'...

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 th...

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? T...

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!