Our new bromance podcast: We Can Do Better
How therapist John Kim and myself got to creating a new podcast about masculinity, sexuality, and doing better while helping others. Funny, candid, and real.
Last month, I visited LA and had the most productive and fun-filled trip I’ve had in a long time. In five days, I appeared on KTLA’s weekend morning news show on how to Spring Clean Your Love Life, visited countless friends, met with producers about pitching a new TV show (stay tuned for more on this), and reconnected with John Kim and Vanessa Bennett, a powerhouse therapist couple that I got to spend time with at this years In Bloom Summit on love and relationships.
I’ll be honest: having lived in the SF Bay Area for twenty years (1996-2016), I’ve been skeptical and judgmental about LA. I’m sure it’s a one-way rivalry. People from the Bay Area like to hate on LA, but people in LA could give two shits about the Bay Area. I thought LA was full of superficial people with big boobs and fake lips or the other way around, but what I found was a sprawling metropolis offering everything under the sun and some of the friendliest people I’d encountered in a while and lots of people with bobs and fake lips!
Sure, some of the stereotypes are true. Traffic can be gnarly if you need to be driving when everyone else does, and it does seem like everyone is trying to make it in entertainment or, at the very least, talking about movies and TV. And it did seem a bit peacocky, but not in a bad way.
But I just loved my time there. It helped that I was staying at a friend's house in Highland Park, so I got a bit of an insider’s view of LA. They showed me the best restaurants, told me when I could drive without getting snarled up, and made my time there pretty delightful.
KTLA TV Appearance
The main reason for the trip was to appear on the KTLA morning news show (click the link and scroll to the bottom!) and do a seven-minute segment on how to spring-clean your love life, and the whole thing was delightful. I was treated like royalty, quizzed on my thoughts on love and dating, and asked to return the next time I was in LA. Thanks, KTLA!
Then, I got to spend time with John Kim and Vanessa Bennet. We started by them dragging me to a CrossFit workout, something I hadn’t done in years, and I loved it. I forgot how fun it is to work out in groups! This little outing 100% spurred my love of CrossFit, and I joined a gym when I got to Montreal.
John and I met a few months prior at In Bloom, a love and relationship summit hosted by the lovely folks at Real Love Ready. He and Vanessa were doing a panel on how to have the best relationship ever, and all I got from it was that to ensure a perfect relationship, you both had to be therapists. Dene Logan hosted a workshop on sovereign love, and I hosted one on being more emotionally available. And we just had the best time together. We were an inseparable five-pack (the fifth club member was Christen Poole, my lovely friend, retreat co-facilitator, and the brains behind my more fun IG posts, who was assisting me that weekend.)
A bromance was brewing, and there was nothing either of us could do to stop it.
When I got to LA, John and I recorded an IG live. And the response to our chemistry was overwhelming.
Honest to god you guys are freaking hilarious 🤣 you need to make this a regular thing!!! 😂
Me thinks a new podcast team is being born! 🎧❤️🎙️❤️👏👏👏
I love whatever this dynamic is 😅 the dance between John’s nerves and Shaun’s excitement. I’m here for all of it.
Please make the podcast happen. I love this chemistry, banter, and your different takes and approaches to advice. Also, just happy to see two men in a new, exciting friendship ❤️
this podcast worked for me cos your relationship led to both authentic flow of conversation & the natural, low-key, unforced humour. so many thanks for the energy & time put into this
Really enjoyed this, it feels like hanging out with friends. Thanks guys!
After this pilot podcast episode, John said, “we should talk about doing something together.”
So we did.
We talked over coffee and decided to record a podcast together. We agreed to twelve episodes since we’re both busy and scared of commitment. John wanted to call it “Mommy Issues,” and I said, “we could do better.” We both looked at each other and agreed it was gold, so we called it “We Can Do Better.”
John and I both grew up listening to Loveline, a call in sex and relationship show hosted by comedian Adam Corrola and Dr Drew. Adam provided the comic relief, and Drew gave the medically sound advice. Both John and I loved the show and wanted to create something close to it.
We wanted banter, a couple dudes shooting the shit, and answering your most pressing questions about love, relationships, dating, and sex.
So, I present to you We Can Do Better.
The cover image (for now):
The description:
Love coach Shaun Galanos (@thelovedrive) and licensed therapist John Kim (@theangrytherapist) team up to tackle your pressing questions about love, sex, and relationships. They share raw and funny parts of their stories and bring a refreshing mix of humor, psychology, and healthy masculinity to shed light on today's pressing matters of the heart. We Can Do Better is two men trying to do better while helping others.
We’ve recorded five episodes, and I’m having a blast. After every episode, I tell John, “that was a really great episode,” and he replies, “there’s all great.”
Since the show is new, we’re still finding our footing, but we’ve developed something fun, authentic, and approachable. We talk about it all. Sex, penis size, our insecurities, what it mean sot be a man, being envious of others, you know, real life stuff. And we answer questions. John and I love Q&A, so the last half is about tackling listener questions we grab from our Instagram accounts.
We record each Monday at 8:30 AM Pacific / 11:30 AM Eastern and release episodes on Thursdays. Here’s what we have so far:
EP 1 The Importance of Sexual Compatibility
EP 2 Stop Interrupting Me, Height Differences in Dating, and Dealing with Infidelity
EP 3 Why We Date A**holes, Disclosing STIs, and Why Does My Ex Watch My Stories?
EP 4 Threesomes, Deleting Your Ex, and Ankle Socks Are For Old People
Where to listen and watch
You can listen to our podcast where you listen to podcasts or use the links below to find it.
Spotify
Apple Podcast
Most other Podcast players
Click here to find it on other podcast players.
YouTube
You can also watch the full episodes on Youtube.
Watch the episodes on YouTube here.
Weekly episode discussion on Instagram
We also post a discussion post on Instagram each Thursday for people who want to chime in and discuss, ask questions, or leave comments and feedback about that weeks episode. Find it on both my and John’s Instagram accounts. Here’s the discussion for EP3 and EP 4.
Do me a favor and leave us a review
So, I want to let you in on a little secret. John and I have big plans for this podcast. I want us to meet every week in a studio in LA. I want high-end editors and producers, amazing sound quality, great callers, and for this podcast to be the next version of Loveline. And I want it to support both John and I financially. We want to retire doing this podcast. That’s one of my big dreams (along with creating an amazing TV show.
And for that, to find a home for this podcast. Which means we need downloads, subscribers, and reviews. So, if you’ve listened and you love the show, then please subscribe, tell your friends, and ;leave a review.
Leaving a review really helps, but it only really helps on Apple podcast. So, if you’re an Apple user, click here to leave us a review. Make sure to scroll down, leave a star rating, and drop a sentence of two about what you love. It means the world to us.
Looking for callers
So far, we’ve struck out on getting anyone to join us during the episodes to ask questions because I think we’ve wanted our callers to be on video with us, so we’re going to try asking for callers only to preserve people’s anonymity. We’re still finalizing that process and once I have more information, we’ll make an announcement on our Instagram.
And, thank you
Thank you for listening, for giving us a try, for supporting me, for subscribing, for leaving a review, and just for being here. I’m grateful for you.
I’m here for all of it. Just started watching it on you tube instead of just listening. It’s fun to see your friendship develop and to hear about all the experiences Shaun has had. 🤔
Love all of this. You have my complete support.