February 19, 2025 • 50 mins
On this episode of Off the Cupp, S.E. talks with Bravolebrity, Carl Radke, one of the OG reality stars of Summer House. If you're a fan of the show then you've been with Carl on his journey through sobriety. It's no easy feat, getting and staying sober and then doing so on television. Carl takes S.E. back to his rock bottom and the work he put in to climb out. Carl shares what it's like to realize he's become a role model as well as the unease and responsibility he feels with that new stature. S.E. finds out more about Carl's revolutionary, soon-to-be, bar and cafe for mindful consumption — Soft Bar.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
If I could have edited one thing from the show,
it would have been me getting the phone called it
my brother passed. But at the same time, that's not
what I signed up for.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to Off the Cup my personal anti anxiety antidote.
If you know me, you know I'm a big fan
of all things Bravo. I watch almost every show, and
I watch this network almost exclusively when I'm not watching
news for a number of reasons. The primary reason is
I can't think of anything more counter opposed to the
news than Bravo shows. And that's not a diss it's
(00:32):
a huge compliment because these shows, for the most part,
avoid politics. They don't do what the news does, which
is make you scared and angry and anxious. They invite
you into a world, a community, a family, a friend group,
and these people open up their lives for our enjoyment.
And I can't tell you how vital a service this
(00:53):
has been for me as just an escape that I've
really needed over many years. The other thing they do
that news and politics can't do is justice. The reunions
are justice. You've watched a show like Real Housewives or
Southern Charm for a season, you've watched people, lie, cheat,
and steel all on camera, and finally at the reunion,
(01:14):
all the receipts come out and people have to do
what politicians almost never have to do, which is be
held accountable. So I love that sense of justice. But
the final reason I love the Bravo universe is that
they give their stars a huge platform. Now, some use
it for evil, just like evil, but most use it
for good. They use it to share a challenge or
(01:37):
problem and allow the viewer to go along for the
journey with them. That could be a needing disorder, a divorce,
the loss of a loved one, a substance problem, a
mental health issue. And when they do that, it is
so brave and courageous and it reaches so many people,
and every time someone on one of these shows shares
(01:59):
I know it helps people. One of those people who
was so brave and courageous is Karl Radkey. He's experienced
more than one of the traumas I just listed, and
he's been so candid on Bravo about confronting his demons,
facing his challenges. I don't even know him, but as
(02:22):
someone who's slightly older, I feel very proud of him,
and I'm thrilledies here with me today. Carl Radkey, Welcome
to Off the Cup.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Thank you that was quite the introduction. I appreciate it. Yeah, now,
thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
It's really important that you're here today because we could
do I mean, there are a thousand Bravo podcasts right
where we gossip about the show. But it's really important
that you're here to talk about some of these things.
And not just because I'm interested in you, but a
lot of people listening to this podcast come here to
listen to people talk about mental health. So I just
(03:00):
want to thank you at the outset.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Yeah, and thanks for all that you're doing.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
I mean, obviously it's I feel like there's a big
shift these days in people being more open and also
the appetite for this kind of conversation.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
I think people are seeking this kind of stuff out
more and more.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Yeah, And I mean I'm just a random guy, like
I'm nobody, So like, I think people are wanting to
find stories like that are more relatable than David Goggins
or some like Big Time.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
I'm just using him as an.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Example, but yeah, I think that's why people are they
want to access all sorts of locks of life and
their ups and downs, and I certainly I think bring.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
That to the table, absolutely, and I want to get
into all of it. But just for people who don't
watch your longtime star of Summer House, which follows a
group of friends to their Hampton summer summer house every year,
premiered in twenty seventeen. You've been on every season. I think,
one of only three people who've done the whole run.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Yeah, I'm an original cast member.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
The first oh season premiered in January of Time twenty seventeen,
but we started filming actually in the summer of June
twenty sixteen was when we actually started.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
So you've been in it for a while. When you
first started the show, what did you think you were
getting yourself into.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Just having fun and partying with my friends. I mean
I was already doing that, this kind of thing. I mean,
if you're in your mid twenties or late twenties or
thirties in New York, you got a little bit of money,
you work hard during the week. It was a it's
a thing to rent a house with your best friends
over the summer. You may not go every weekend, but
(04:34):
it's kind of like a next step in your kind
of postgraduate career where make a little bit more money,
you want to do something a little bit more higher
end and also let lose.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
So I just thought it was I'm already doing this.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
It's just going to be on camera.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
They're just going to follow us a little bit, and yeah,
maybe something could come of it. But I never knew
in a million years it would turn into what it
turned into.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Outside of your show. Who are you closest to? Who
have you gotten really close to in the Bravo universe?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
I mean I'm close with Sheena.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
You know, we've just I mean we did briefly date
back in the day a little bit, have remain good friends.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
I love Brock. She and his parents I've gotten to know.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
I love them too.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
He's probably one that stands out just like a real
friend and someone who's been really good to me and
super supportive. Yeah, but I mean outside of that, there's
tons of whether the Southern charm boys.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
You know.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
I met Shep funny enough before I was ever on Bravo,
and he had already had make a season under his belt,
and I remember meeting him at a party and thinking
to myself, well, this guy's on a show. You know,
he was very loud and I do at the time,
and me and him actually got into like a verbal
back and forth. And then a year later I was
(05:46):
on Summerhouse and I hit him up again.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I'm like, yo, buddy, remember me.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
And so I liked the boys down in Charleston. I
know a lot of the men on Bravo certainly bring
a connotation of a lot of different verbs and adjectives
that I won't use here. So you know, I had
a lot of grace for the guys that are in
the same network. Yeah, because I know what it's like.
(06:11):
But I've met a lot of these guys personally, and
I do like them personally.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Well, it's funny you mentioned two people. Shep has done
the podcast, and Shep is a very good friend of
mine and stays at my house when he comes up
to Connecticut. And Sheena is going to do the podcast.
I've done her podcast because we both talk about mental health,
and those are just two of my favorite people. You
happen to mention. Yeah, we'll get into some show drama,
(06:37):
but first I want to talk about you. And I
always like to start by asking what kind of kid
were you?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
What kind of kid was I. I was the kid
at SO.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
I had a brother who's five years older than me,
and he was a really good athlete and based like
baseball soccer. So when my dad coached the teams when
we were growing up, so I would go to the
games with my parents. I'd get let out of the
car my brother. The team would be playing, but I
would spend the entire game rolling around in the dirt
asking total strangers for.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Money, like to get money to.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Go to the concession stand, Yeah, to get nachos or
a hot dog. I was the kid with a Kool
Aid stain. I was just a happy, go lucky kid
with always a big smile on his face. I think
a lot of my childhood pictures were just a big
smile on my face. I was always very outgoing social.
I love talking to people and making friends and just
I was always known for being that kid at the
(07:31):
baseball field who was either in there. In Pittsburgh, we
say creek. It's like a whole river, yeah, but in
Pittsburgh it's called a creek. I used to go to
the creek and just swim and like fuck around as
a kid.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Even it's like I don't even know what's in that water.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
But yeah, probably me as a kid, just a happy,
go lucky kid, always smile and always up for an adventure.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
We've met your mom on the show a lot, but
what was your dad like?
Speaker 1 (07:58):
My dad is very very intelligent, very funny, you know,
very cerebral kind of person. But I get a lot
of my I think, my humor and my wit for
my father, and I get a lot of my work
ethic and you know, just kind of my heart and
kind of soul I think for my mom to a degree.
And yeah, my dad. I mean, listen, my dad and
(08:19):
my mom got divorced about shoot, seven or eight years
ago at this point. Yeah, you know, And I've developed
a really nice relationship my father after a period of
time where we I had a lot of resentment and
anger towards him, and also was in the depths of
my alcoholism and cocaine addiction. So there was a period
of time where my dad and I weren't that close,
but we are very close again. And I have the
(08:41):
perks of sobriety to thank for some of that, and
doing a lot of work on healing and mending relationships
that were a little fractured.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
And We're definitely going to talk talk more about your
sobriety journey. You've shared a lot on the show, including
the devastating news of your brother's passing. How did you
learn of his passing?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
If I can ask, Yeah, I found I found out.
I mean it's on the episode. That's when I got
the call. Is you know it was on It happened
on August. He passed on August tenth. I got a
call on August eleventh. That morning, I was in my
bedroom at the Summerhouse, and yeah, I mean it's it's
on an episode, which you know people people have said
(09:26):
to me a lot like thanking me for everything I shared,
And I never wanted that ever to be on TV.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Trust me.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah, oh did you fight to have it taken off?
Speaker 1 (09:36):
If I could have edited one thing from the show,
it would have been me getting the phone call that
my brother passed. But at the same time, that's not
what I signed up for, you know. I signed up
for a show where you tell all of your life
and all of your story, and as hard and as
tragic as that has been, I also put it through
the lens of like this happened for some crazy reason,
and it happened while I was filming a TV show
(09:58):
that I've been at that point had been on for
I think five seasons.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
So my brother at his core, always wanted to help
other people, you know, and I have learned of stories
after even he had passed away, when he was at
rehabs and different facilities where he'd even administered Narcan to
people overdosing and was trying to help younger kids because
my brother was older. I mean, you don't meet a
lot of heroin addicts in their forties. Yeah, and that's
(10:24):
because they don't make it that long. And it's really sad.
But the heroine epidemic and kind of fentanyl situation a
lot of our cities and you know, suburbs and upper
middle class neighborhoods, rural areas, it's hit everything.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Yeah. So yeah, I mean it's been like it was.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
It was a shock to our entire family. It was
a shock to me, but also like, how the fuck
is this going to be on TV?
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Now?
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (10:49):
You know, so at first really struggled with it big time.
I use that as an excuse to continue to drink
and use cocaine. So even after my brother passed, that's
when I continued just to be very very you know,
just a downward spiral.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yeah, but yeah, it was It was that.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I mean, if there was one thing I could ever
remove from somewhere else, I would have been that. But
you would if you took a poll of all these
people who said that, they would thank me for sharing that.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Oh yeah, it's weird toss up. But like I said,
I think ultimately it's helped. It's helped me get my
life together. It was a massive wake up call for me. Yeah,
and you know, what do I stand for as a person?
As I was evolving and growing from this whole thing
that happened to our family, Like how can I continue
to drink and use cocaine while I'm being celebrated for
(11:40):
how I'm handling the passing of my brother. There was
a lot of things that were going through my head back,
you know, when he passed and that, Yeah, what that
led to was me changing literally I mean hitting rock bottom,
but then really turning my life around me and falling
on my knees, raising my hand and say I'm an alcoholic,
Like I am.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
What happened between you him him passing and you using
that as an excuse to use and then using it
as a reason to get clean.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
I mean, I think I didn't know how to grieve,
and I'm I mean, grief is a weird process, you know.
And I again, remember I'm filming a reality television show
where at that point I was trying to moderate. You know,
I had been I knew in my body that I
had something wrong with me that I knew I couldn't
drink like everybody else. I knew I couldn't just do
a line of cocaine and stop like some other people.
(12:30):
So I knew I had an issue even going into
that summer, but I wasn't ready to fully admit that
I could not drink ever.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Again.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, I thought I could just drink lover boy, drink less,
or just drink a glass of wine, or just moderate
in a way. And then I learned of my brother.
So I just I was deeply sad and depressed. I
was angry. I was I had an opportunity to see
my brother before he had passed, and I declined I
(12:57):
wasn't comfortable at that point.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
There was just something didn't feel right.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
But I had a chance to visit with him, and
I decided not to a couple like a month before
he passed away, and just all of that feeling of like,
you know, just like it really fucked me up. I
tried to, you know, I went to the funeral. I
mean I remember even sneaking off. In between funeral sessions.
(13:20):
There was a break, I'd go to the bar next
door and have a couple of beers. I drank my
way through all of that. Yeah, and I didn't again.
It was becoming detrimental in my own life. Like I
hit rock bottom of January of twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
What was rock bottom? Like?
Speaker 1 (13:38):
I was in my apartment, sitting on my computer, working
doing stuff with lover boy, and then I turned on
CNN and January sixth, twenty twenty one is a day
that will forever live in everybody's minds. Yeah, you know,
I'm not here to get political, but like, it was
a very upsetting thing to watch for me personally. And
I use that as a reason to drink a bunch
of red wine and order a bunch of coke. So
(14:00):
I sat in my apartment watching the news, drinking red wine,
doing coke by myself for I don't even know how long,
but until the wee hours of the morning and did
so much by myself that I like blacked out. I
don't remember, but I called a lot of people and
scared a lot of people by what.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
I was saying. I don't know what I've said, But.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Later woke up in my bed like twelve hours later,
just like in a pool sweat, and just like what
the fuck just happened? And yeah, you know, I felt
like at a moment, like I was going to die.
Like I had done so many drugs and drank so
much that I was like my body was shutting down.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
That's what it felt like in that day.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
And then I you know, had a bunch of people
come to me and say you've got to get help,
man like, and yeah, people say that before, but a
specific person, Kyle, actually came over to my apartment and.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Was Kyle's also on the show. For people who don't know, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Kyle Cook, who's one of my best friends, business partner
or friend, party boy. Like we've done it all together,
We've been through so much. He always has been front
row seat to my drinking and my secret cocaine problem.
You know, I never I always would just say it
was my drinking. But anybody who know me knew that
I was doing other substances, but Kyle always knew, and
(15:14):
he was like, for the first time he actually looked
me in the eye. He was like, you got to stop,
like you're going to die. And it was something about
him saying that to me that like not only fucked
me up, but like woke me up.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Yeah, and I from that point.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
I had had a friend of mine that I had
lost touch with, but we got reconnected because he got
sober and he called me during you know, when my
brother had passed checking in on me, and he's like,
are you going to AA meetings?
Speaker 3 (15:37):
And I said no, and.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
He's like, you're not going to stay sober and I
was like, oh, fuck you, like you don't know what
you're talking and that kind of anti AA feeling. But
that rock bottom day when Kyle talked to me, I
picked up the phone and called and I said, I
need a sponsor.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
I need help. That's when I first went to my
first meeting.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
What was the most daunting part when you're thinking of
getting sober? What was the thing that was like keeping
you from wanting to do that?
Speaker 3 (16:07):
The embarrassment, the shame, you know, the SIGMA people.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Are going to make fun of me. You're you're an alcoholic,
Like that term just sounds.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Really brutal because it's forever.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Yeah, and it sounds like I'm like a bomb on
the street. And this is no offense to anybody who's
homeless or you know, struggles that lives on the street.
But my perception of alcoholics are people that are less
than and sub and that's not a fair, you know, assessment,
but that's just how I.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Was looking at it. Yeah, And you just didn't want
to be that thing forever.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I don't want to be that.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
You're you're laying, You're boring, You're you have a problem,
you're fucked up, you're a loser, you can't handle your booze, like,
there's so many other things. And I also I didn't
know how I was going to operate because alcohol is
such a part of my life, Like how do I
go out and socialize? Now, how do I feel like
people like me? How do I fit in? How do
(17:01):
I get to meet the cute girl like I? You know,
I did a lot of these things throughout my life
under the influence of alcohol.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yeah, So I was.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Just scared about like this whole other world that I
never really operated in I mean, I had pretty been
drinking and doing cocaine every weekend for the last ten years,
and all of a sudden, I'm supposed to turn that
off and like be Karl again.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
No, it was just very I.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Mean, I'm sure a lot of people have different feelings
about it. I was just scared and embarrassed that this
person I have this problem, Like, fuck, yeah, I already
I already flawed beyond belief, I have all these other problems.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Oh and now I'm an alcoholic and a drug addict. Fuck.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
So it was just and it's still like something you
have to wrap your head around. I'm just a lot
more comfortable now. Yeah, because I've had a lot of
other amazing people who describe themselves the same way, and
I actually look up to them and inspired by them,
and that gave me the confidence to realize you can
actually be fucked up and still your shit together.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Yeah. Well, and listen, this is why I talk about
my anxiety disorder too, because there was shame in it
in the beginning for me. You know, everyone sees me
as so capable and with it and together and how
are they going to see me now? But in talking
about it helped me accept it and helped me feel
(18:23):
in a way almost proud, proud of it, Proud that
it's made me who I am, and that I'm challenged
by it, and that it's making me do hard work
that I don't think I would have done without, you know,
having had a nervous breakdown.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Basically, Yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Mean talking out loud is it's scary at first, but
as you continue to share and open more up, it
does something. Whether it's I don't know inside of you
or whatever, but you feel more honest and more free.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
And I know when you connect.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
With others or hear a similar story, that's when you
feel like you're less alone. And you know, if it
wasn't for someone else speaking up, you wouldn't have heard
them say that either. Yeah, totally, that's what it's all about,
is sharing out. Sharing out loud to help those suffering
in silence is kind of a saying that I like
a lot, And there's some truth to that, because even
how I initially got inspired to speak out was like,
(19:15):
I love sports, So like Michael Phelps, Kevin Love Demarta Rosen,
they've all been very public about their health or ADHD
or whatever it is. It took me to go, Wow,
Kevin loves six foot ten, successful NBA player, married do
a beautiful girl, but he has anxiety depression.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Yeah, like what how Like?
Speaker 1 (19:34):
So that helped me real Like, if Kevin's speaking out
about it, yeah, that inspired me to speak out about it,
then I can maybe help someone who looks at me
in maybe a similar way. Like I'm still surprised and
shocked that people look at someone on reality TV or
whatever look to them as like inspiration, because I would
never personally watch a reality show and.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Be like, oh, I want to be like that guy.
Like I'd rather.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Watch sports or like an entrepreneurial thing. I connect more
with business and for some reason, sure, but I realize
over time that even though mine, maybe in my own
personal eye, is very minor and meaningless, it does connect
with people that access our show and you know, download
it in a different way. And I didn't realize that
(20:16):
at first, but now I understand fully.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Oh yeah, I mean it's so relatable to hear someone
who is perceived as you're just a normal person, but
we get to watch your life, so it's really relatable
and I think, in a way hugely impactful when people
like you talk about this, or Jackie on New Jersey
talks about her eating disorder. I mean, these are it's
(20:40):
not we're looking up to, it's we were relating to.
And that I think is such an important tool when
it comes to, you know, explaining and talking about mental health,
being able to relate to someone definitely, And it's so funny.
The universe works in crazy ways. You just reminded me
of this. I had been covering, you know, in the news,
(21:04):
Naomi Osaka coming out, Simone Biles coming out, Megan Markle
coming out, all within like a couple months, and I'd
been covering them and defending them against trolls who were
calling them entitled or whatever. And then I had a
mental breakdown of my own, and I thought, well, I
don't really want to share this, you know, but what
(21:27):
a hypocrite I would be if I didn't. After defending
these people coming out and commending their bravery and their
courage and their honesty, and then I'm hiding mine. So
I mean, the timing of it, all I think was,
you know, I don't know that I believe in destiny
or fate, but like it, it all worked at the
(21:49):
same time to get me out of it, sure, and
to talk.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Yeah, I mean I've loved seeing you know, Naomi.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
And I actually was at an event for the Women's
Mental Health Summit with Kate Spade earlier this month. My
new company Softbar did a pop up there and I
was asked because they had a men's portion, I'll be
at a small one. And I know I got a
lot of shit for this on social media. Why is
a guy at the women's mental health panel? Harry's, the
(22:18):
shaving brand, does every purchase at Harry's they donate one
percent to men's mental health.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Harry's does a lot of work with Kate's Baide.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Believe it or not, women's mental health and men's mental
health kind of go hand in hand. If they could
they do together. I'm being kind of making a dig
at all the comments on social about it I Simone Viles.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Because that's ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Yeah, I know it's insane, but I was gonna say,
Simone Viles spoke and she's just so powerful beyond belief
and having someone like herself, you know, share and she's
probably the greatest of all time, and you know, just
so important to not only women's mental health, but I
think just in general. I mean, yeah, we're all walks
(23:03):
of life. So I was really proud to be a
part of that and hear those stories. But yeah, like
it's amazing to see like those level of women that
are you know, you similar to yourself. You mean you
she must have it all figured out, she's got it all,
she's confident, she's good. You know. It's like, yeah, surprisingly
a lot of us. There is more underneath the hood
than you think. And I love getting the peak under
(23:25):
the hood with a lot of people because it's we're
a lot more alike.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Than you think.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Totally, totally and believe me, success, money, these do not
inoculate you from mental health. My anxiety does not care
about how much money I make or how successful I am.
It does not care at all. Neither does depression. This
can happen to anyone, and people still don't seem to
get that.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Well, it's like, I think, what's hard And Simone actually
said this when she spoke at the Women's Mental Health Summit,
which is if I had like a head injury, I
could wear a helmet and everybody would understand. Yeah, like
if I have a bruise or like a patch or
a brace or some sort of contraption around my body.
You'd be like, oh, she's injured. He's like with your
head and what's inside. Unfortunately, there's really no way to
(24:11):
like visually see on someone. And that goes with Yeah,
I think life. I mean, you just really never know
what someone's going through no matter what. But yeah, like
I think she hit that home really well, which is
like mental health and are what's going on inside. It's
it's hard to really understand without like that like a
brace or something around your head. Yeah, it's like kind
(24:33):
of absurd, Like you have to wear like the mental
health helmet this week.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
At work to let people know you're not having a
good week.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Ye, But yeah, I'm just it's nice to see, especially
people speaking out and trying to share their perspective because
I hope. I mean, I know Simone inspires me, and
she certainly inspires young girls and young women and women
down especially I think men too, because they look at
her and the like, she's just tremendous athlete.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
So what do you do now to stay healthy, mindful,
(25:17):
plugged into your mental health.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
I meditate, not every single day, let's be honest, I
try to pretty much every day.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
I use Calm, the app that for me has.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Been a really big secret to like just staying grounded
and kind of balanced. I do feel like it helps
just feeling a little bit less stressed or anxious at times.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Meditation is a big part. I mean, I go to
AA meetings.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
It's not necessarily it's not like a mental health thing,
but yeah, I mean I feel better when I'm helping
other people and when I'm getting out of my own body.
Like I'm going to a meeting tonight in Brooklyn, which
is a meeting I attend frequently, and I sometimes don't
want to go because I'm not feeling good just for
I got some other shit.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
But I'm like, no, this isn't about you. This is
about other people.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So it's good to get out of your body and
go connect with other individuals. I always hear one or
two things that I needed to hear that day. What
else working out, I'd say is probably should start with
working out on the top of the list for me
mental health and sobriety and working out go hand in hand.
I do a lot of hot yoga, I do a
(26:25):
lot of berries, I do a lot of running. I
do city bike, which I pretend is a workout, getting
back to work from place to place. But yeah, I
think those working out, meditation, therapy, A beings, you know.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
And I think.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Service is another element which I mentioned, which is AA,
but donating your time to other people, getting out of
your body, like when you realize it's not all Like
a lot of us me in recovery are very selfish
and self centered, and I it's important to get out.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Of your body, and so I try to do some
of those things. But I live a perfect.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Of recovery or mental health. I am the opposite of
anyone anybody should ever aspire to do or be. That's ridiculous, No,
I mean it's just like I feel like what who
I would follow would be like a lot more serious
fitness people are like.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
But is it working for you?
Speaker 3 (27:18):
What works for me works great, that's it. But I
guess that's it works for me.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
But like if I was someone like I look at
other like people that I'm aspired inspired by, and it's
not someone like myself. I'm just what I'm getting at,
is I actually like Doc Amen or like Ja Shetty,
Like yeah, like high high level people that that's who
I look to. And I'm like, oh, like that they
(27:44):
actually are literally living and breathing this lifestyle. I think
there's a lot of phony people out there, and I'll
say I get a lot more credit than I probably deserve,
just because of the way social media is, like when
you raise your hand and say you're doing this that
the other great, But like I could do more. I
could probably post more about my story or journey or
help more people. Like there's always I feel like there's
(28:05):
a disconnect on what people give me credit for and
then what's actually going on. So I just want to
highlight that, Like I'm not like some Buddha zen like person.
I just knowed for me those little tools. That's what's
helped me kind of become a more balanced person. But
I still have my angry days. I still have my
emotional days. I cry all the time, I pick at
my face, I eat sugar like I do all this stuff.
(28:26):
It's not like, you know, I live this kind of
perfect life.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
So I think you're holding yourself to a really high
standard and trying to convince people you're not perfect when
no one thinks you're perfect or well, they just need
you to be perfect.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
I think the perception of it is I think you
get more praise than this. I'm not good at receiving
any of that kind of.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
You are not You are not and listen, you're not
a doctor. No one's asking you to prescribe. This is
how you beat this. But sharing what you do is
is more than most and can help if it helps
one person say well, I'm going to try meditating or
I'm going to try calm. I mean, these are this
(29:08):
is service. This is good enough. Yeah, what you are
doing is good enough. Do you believe that?
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
I don't, deep down, It's just it's it's my own
character flaws, like nothing will ever be good enough or
you know, there's always more work to be done.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Oh listen, I relate to this too, I really do.
But sometimes you need someone outside who also and.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Are just being pretty honest and candid. I think you know,
I've had a lot of very very nice compliments and
praise a lot of people have reached out, and I'm overwhelmed,
truthfully by it. And that's where that feeling comes from.
Is I mean thousands that you don't deserve it?
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Zero, Like thousands and thousands of messages I get you've
helped me.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
I told this story.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Recently, I was stopped in the subway by a girl
who was coming down the stairs and she like it
was like so uncomfortably shaking. I was like hi, and
she's like, you you're the reason I got sober. I'm
like and I gave her a hug, and what I
said to her was, you got yourself sober. But now
what you need to do is pass this along to
someone else, because someone is just going to see you
(30:15):
living your life this way and they're going to be inspired.
And that's all I did was just I am now
living more purposely and sharing that out loud, and you're
watching it, and that's what helped.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Like it was just it was a beautiful thing to see.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
But what I challenge anybody who tells me that I've
inspired them, go inspire someone else and pass the gift along.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
That's how this works.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
I agree, And that's a wonderful thing to say, But
you have to start with accepting that you've inspired people.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Yeah, I mean, it's just you have Like I I'll
give you an example, like on you know, you go
to social media and I'm not saying that's the best barometer,
but you get your your narcissist piece of shit asshole,
and then you say up, yeah you're Yeah, you're the
worst guy that seen on Bravo.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
You should kill yourself too. Yeah, you save my life.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Like that's that's the world I'm in, and I don't
I think for the psyche. For me, that's where that
comes from. It's like, well, this person says I'm a
complete piece of shit, yeah, and then this person says
I saved their life.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Probably somewhere in the middle, I listen.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
In my world, I get that too. I get death
threats and awful things, but also a lot of praise
and you. I mean, I learned I was way too
like living way too online and way too in the
comments and way too much on Twitter, and that was
fucking with my head, as it would fuck with anyone's
(31:38):
head for sure. So some of that is reinforcing bad
thoughts that you have that you don't need. You don't
need that noise.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
I got a lot better at sifting through and I
you know, I don't look as much as I used to.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
But it makes me sad, because.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
You know, there's it is sad. I'm all I'm trying
to do is just live a better life. I'm not
you know, I'm not doing this for a storyline. I
don't do it or anything other reason than to stay alive.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
But it's authentic, I know.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Yeah, the only way I can stay alive is to
not drink alcohol. If I don't drink alcohol, I don't
do hard drugs. I don't do crazy things.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
Now, yes I have shit, but I don't know.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
It's an interesting complex and I just I more or
less share it because I I'm surprised with how many
people genuinely are inspired by what I've done.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
And I'm just like, I'm done, Like I've.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Just turned off, just been able to like turn my
Like what I could be doing is a lot more
like actual work, Like I could be hosting one hundred
person sober community things and pitching and doing like.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
That's none of this is required of you. You getting
yourself sober is a miracle. It is a miracle and
a blessing. Yeah, and that alone should be celebrated. Now,
the fact that you're talking about it and helping other people,
You're doing enough, Carl. I'm here to tell you you're
doing enough.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Well.
Speaker 3 (32:56):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
And you also managed to turn this into an incredible
business opportunity. Your softbars, talk about what you're doing in
that space. I think it's so cool.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Yeah, I mean over the last well, I mean with
Kyle and Amanda and I. You know, back in twenty eighteen,
Kyle was like, I want to do this. I want
to start a beverage company. And you know, I was
still drinking at that time.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Lover Boy was born. I invested.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
I became, you know, one of the first employee, not
the first, but one of like maybe employee number three
or four. But during that journey was realizing that I actually.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Needed to get some help.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
So we launched a lover Boy no alcoholic product last year.
Kyle was very awesome, like wanting to support me and
come up with that. So during this like non alcoholic
I don't want to call it revolution, but I've been
living and breathing at shopping at stores that only sell
non drinks. It's a place called Wassan here in New York.
(33:56):
There's other stores like it. We launched our non alcoholic
lover Bok. I'm like, where do we where are we
going to have this product sold? Like where can we
get it on the shelf? And a lot a lot
of the stores were these non alcoholic bottle shops. I
was shopping at one of them last year in Brooklyn
and I walked in and lover boys on the shelf
the non alcoholic and other cool non alcoholic and I'm like,
this is.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Great, but like, where do I go to enjoy it? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (34:19):
I go home to enjoy it. I'm like, this is insane.
Why can't I go sit down at a bar? And
I've had this dream of really like pioneering and like
changing the way you socialize in a way, and like,
I believe after living and breathing it for almost four years,
that you can have fun without drinking. They'll be social
and have a good time. You could still do all
these things. And I wanted to like really lean in
(34:40):
on that. So for the last year I've been working
on a new concept called soft Bar. And really what
the idea is a bar and cafe for mindful consumption.
And this is not a sober bar, because I believe
if we are just framing it as a sober bar,
you're only going to attract so people. I want everybody
(35:02):
to come because I want everybody to feel comfortable walking
in that door, regardless of how you describe your lifestyle,
not everybody's like me and raises their hand. There are
people that don't drink any.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
Alcohol at all. That's just how they live.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Yeah, they're not going to go to a sober bar
because they don't even think about it. It's just like
they live life without alcohol. There's people that are taking
a break the press. Yeah they're post metapausal, they have
lime disease, they've got an autoimmune issue.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Tons of people are wanting alternatives.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
So I've been really looking in on this kind of
non olc revolution and I'm starting a bar in cafe
here in Brooklyn for mindful consumption, so it's called soft Bar. Then,
you know, raising money, building the team, all that good stuff.
So not only am I living and breathing this lifestyle,
I'm trying to like make a business out of it
and love it.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
You know.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
I just think there's we're just at the beginning of
all these cool non out drinks, but we still need
places to go drink them.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
It's so important. And one group of people you left
out of who wouldn't go to a sober bar, or
people who might have a problem and not know it.
They might avoid a sober bar, but going and seeing
other people having fun. Not drinking might just be the
thing that tells them, oh, I could do that totally.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
It's yeah, I think just creating, Like I hate saying
safe space, it just sounds like overused marketing jargon, but
an inclusive environment where no matter where you're at in
your journey, you've got a beer in the parking lot
and come inside. We'll walking in with open arms. We've
got alternatives. We just don't have alcohols.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
So yeah, trying.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
You know, kind of what they call is it's a
third space, is how they describe kind of what we're doing.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
You know, it's a cafe, it's a bar.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
I mean really the only places they socialize our cafes
and bars. We wanted to kind of create something in
the middle. We are going to be coffee and we're
also going to have non alcoholic drinks.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Well, I wish you all the success with it. I
think it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
You'll be welcome to visit anytime once we get our
doors officially open.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
We're not open yet.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Well, this is a good segue to talk about a
little show stuff. Was it hard to protect your sobriety
within your personal relationships that we saw on the show?
Speaker 3 (37:29):
I mean I would never blame anybody for you know,
it's on me.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
I mean, it's really I firmly if I feel like
a lot of my friends who you've seen some on
the show, some you don't see on the show, but
without a lot of support from fronts, you know, I
don't think some of those friends fully understand the levels
of what I go through. But I've never felt intentionally
(37:55):
tested by my sobriety by any friend, like throwing a
drink in my face or making me feel weird. It's
really all up to me, Like what am I I
need to decide what I'm comfortable and not comfortable with,
and my friends people then follow suit. But I needed
to kind of be in charge of my own way
and then you know, guys like I can't drink like
(38:16):
this is the life I'm living and just be very stern.
But once I said that, people were very accepting and welcoming.
You know, I think as it comes into like a
serious relationship sobriety and the other person doesn't understand that
or still drinks, yeah, that's a very difficult situation to
be in. And I, you know, I for me personally,
(38:40):
you know, that was a more of a big challenge
for my sobriety being in a relationship with someone that
still drank. Yeah, but I think that's all an individual basis.
You know, it's really up to that individual how they feel,
what they need or what they want to be surrounded by.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
But yeah, no one tests my sobriety.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
I mean, it's all I got to take ownership of that, Like,
no one's responsible for me staying sober, only I am.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
In a future relationship. Do you think you'd prefer to
be with someone who's sober.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
I've thought about this a few times. I don't think
I'm going to have like a you know, like a
wall up if they're not. I've met sober people who
are in the community. I've met sober people who just
don't drink and they don't think about it.
Speaker 3 (39:27):
It's not a thing.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
I've met people that are just have a healthy relationship
with alcohol, don't drink a lot. I've met people that
drink a lot. I probably shouldn't necessarily be with someone
that drinks a ton where it's like a big part
of their lifestyle. Yeah, but I've often thought I could
be with someone that still drank and had a healthy relationship.
But I don't have like a like a rule. Let's
say about you know who, what lifestyle they should live.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
I mean, I'd like.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
To think I could still be with someone that maybe
does drink a little bit, but it has a healthy relationship.
Speaker 2 (39:59):
Okay, I get to a lightning round. Are you game
for a lightning round?
Speaker 3 (40:03):
I'm game for a lightning round?
Speaker 2 (40:04):
Okay, send it or more life, More life, favorite mocktail.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
It's called the Soft Sprits. And we don't say mocktail,
we say soft cocktail.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
We're not okay, what's your favorite soft cocktail? This is good.
You're educating me.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
The Soft Sprits and then there's another one called the
high Road.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
What do they taste like?
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Soft Sprits is like our kind of take on an
apparol sprits, So think like a little bit of that
canpari kind of tart sweetness with a little bit of
bubble from We use a non alcoholic champagne, so it
still has that bubbly kind of fun mouthfeel. We also
(40:53):
use some ingredients in our beverages that provide functional so
like electrolytes, vitamin B, fie, inning lions Maine. We're using
some additional ingredients which provide, whether it's focus or energy hydration.
So The Soft Sprits and The High Road are my two.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Favorite Summerhouse spinoff that needs to happen. For example, I
think Page and Craig need their own show because there's
so much like unintentional and intentional comedy there.
Speaker 1 (41:26):
I'm not saying no to that. I think they're great. Yes,
I don't know if a whole.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Show for no.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
I love Page and Craig. I'm I don't know. If
I'm that, it wouldn't be the first that comes to
my mind.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
I'm just okay.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
I want to see Brock and Sheena on a like
a home development remodeling show.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
Oh my god, he is so amazing. I don't understand.
He's like making driveways and walls a law and he's.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Like, I need to get a table saw it. I'm like,
get the table saw man, that's what you need.
Speaker 3 (41:58):
Yes, I know them, that's what comes to mind.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
That's a good.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
One, And I feel like there's got to be like
I'm surprised this hasn't happened yet, but like a cooking
show with someone from the Bravo world, I feel like
there's plenty of people that view themselves.
Speaker 3 (42:13):
As cooks or yeah, like you know, some of the
housewives have their recipes. Oh yeah, I feel.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
All of them be a competition Teresa.
Speaker 3 (42:22):
Yeah, okay, fishing cooking show with the Housewives.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
That's fine. I like it. Let's pitch that to Bravo.
Speaker 1 (42:27):
At the end of the reunion when they can't decide
who's coming back for the next season, they do a
competition cooking show and then rever Wins gets to come
back next season.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
It's great, Okay, workshop it.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
We'll solve all the toxicity on all the shows. Yeah right,
I hope you're listening to New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Yeah right, exactly. What's your favorite movie?
Speaker 3 (42:50):
My favorite movie of all time is What's Two?
Speaker 1 (42:54):
Casablanca Humphrey bogart Oasik one of the most amazing scripts
ever written. But my other favorite film arguably is either
Trading Places or Caddy Shack.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
So we go really high and low, high and low.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
High and low.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
But I still would argue, like the low of Trading
Places is still like super smart.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
Yeah, very different.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
You know, I'm thirty nine years old, so my dad
got me into some of those you know, eighties comedies
coming to America. Caddy shack trading places. It was always
a big comedy guy. But I did go to Syracuse
University and study television and film, so I started learning
about you know, the Citizen Kanes, the Casablanca is the
(43:40):
Gone with the Winds, those like kind of cannon. Yeah,
the best films. Yeah, but those are probably my favorites
right now. To come to think, I've.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
You can bring back one Summer House castmate. Who would
it be?
Speaker 3 (43:58):
Andrea Denver?
Speaker 2 (44:01):
Who would say no to that?
Speaker 1 (44:02):
But I know all the women and men that like
that are very wanting to have Andrea back. I love Andrea.
We're very close. We're still really good friends. I was
texting with him this morning.
Speaker 2 (44:13):
What's not to love? Coffee in bed every morning?
Speaker 1 (44:16):
Come on, such a great guys, and you know we
were out He got married in May, Yeah, in Italy,
so a few of us were out there watching him
get married, which was really special.
Speaker 2 (44:26):
So whatever happened, mine would be Christina Gibson. What happened
to her?
Speaker 1 (44:31):
Christina, as far as I know, is in Florida. She
got I think, married.
Speaker 3 (44:34):
Had a kid. I still follow her.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
She still occasionally we'll comment on some pictures and stuff.
Speaker 3 (44:43):
I'm going to say this. I I didn't know Christina
that well before the first summer.
Speaker 1 (44:48):
But yeah, I don't think she's as bad as everybody
thought she was.
Speaker 2 (44:51):
I mean she definitely No, I think she was misunderstood.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
Yeah, some moments, but no, I mean I feel bad.
You know, when it's all said and done. We had
no idea what the hell is going on back season one,
none of us did.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
Yeah, that was a wild That was a wild season. Okay.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
Last meal, last meal either steak and potatoes or pizza.
Speaker 3 (45:16):
But a steak meaning a filet. I'm a filet guy.
Speaker 2 (45:19):
Oh interesting, Okay, so would.
Speaker 1 (45:21):
Probably my two Yeah, a steak, a file and mashed
potatoes and asparagus, and or a pizza.
Speaker 2 (45:30):
Where do you get your favorite steak in the city?
Speaker 1 (45:33):
Favorite steak? I mean Wolfgangs. I feel like it's probably
my favorite steak.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
Oh Okay.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
There's a new place that everybody keeps talking about, but
I haven't been. Kyle went and another friend of mine.
It's called Beef Bar. It's in Tribeca Bar. Okay, it's
a very new, trendy, popular spot that they have amazing
steak apparently, as as the name would suggest.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
Sure, I mean there's so many good places in New
York like Keynes and Homestead and Sparks. I love Del
Frisco's is great.
Speaker 3 (46:05):
I mean there is another broke.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
I mean I got an email, actually another an email
inviting me into Brooklyn chop House. Oh so I might
take them up on that email and go get a
stick do it?
Speaker 2 (46:16):
Yeah? Yeah, Okay. Last question, This question is the most
important to me culturally, spiritually, all the reasons. When is
iced coffee season.
Speaker 3 (46:26):
All year round?
Speaker 2 (46:27):
That's the right answer. That is the correct answer you have.
Speaker 3 (46:31):
I knew. I feel like you were setting me off,
so I'm glad I was ready for that.
Speaker 2 (46:34):
It's a trick question because some people will say, oh,
you know in summer or the only right answer is year.
Speaker 3 (46:41):
Round, year round.
Speaker 1 (46:41):
Well, I can I say something in fear of you
potentially throwing something at me.
Speaker 3 (46:46):
I don't drink coffee.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
It hurts my heart. But listen, listen. Everyone's on their
own journey, and I don't judge a journey. I'm just saying,
as a man ashole, someone who grew up in Massachusetts
with dunkin Donuts. I had a dunk in my high school.
This is my religion. Coffee is a huge part of
who I am. But you it doesn't matter. You still
have the right answer.
Speaker 3 (47:12):
That's all that matters. But now I like espresso, but
coffee makes me.
Speaker 1 (47:16):
I already have anxiety depression, so the coffee only exacerbates
those things.
Speaker 3 (47:21):
Whatever it may.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
Got to know, got to know what works for you
and what doesn't. You gotta Yeah, Carl rad Key, thank
you so much again for opening up, talking candidly with me,
sharing your story for an audience that may or may
not know about it. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (47:35):
No, thank you. I mean, I'm sorry for being so.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
I don't know, I guess I'm sometimes I appreciate it again,
the opportunity to talk. And obviously I love love hearing
what you're doing and everything you stand for. So I'm
honored to be a part of this. I truly am.
I appreciate you kind of checking me a little bit too,
you know. I just as far as how I sometimes
feel about.
Speaker 3 (47:56):
How I am with certain.
Speaker 2 (47:57):
Things, Yeah, I think they're doing enough.
Speaker 1 (48:00):
I talk to tons of people that feel the way
I do at times, so I'm glad that I can
be open about how that feeling is.
Speaker 3 (48:06):
But also you can.
Speaker 2 (48:08):
You can, but you are doing enough. I want you
to know that thanks, thanks, and look forward to watching
you again and maybe running into you at a Bravo con. Yeah,
with Dave Kaplan, I love Dave Well, thanks not only
for this, but thanks for everything you do on Bravo.
I mean when, like I say, for a lot of people,
it's just an outlet, it's an escape that like we
(48:31):
really love and need. No.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
I mean, I will say, the Bravo fan base and
just the audience I mean, I would argue is the best.
Speaker 3 (48:38):
Fan base on television, hands down.
Speaker 1 (48:41):
I mean engaged and super just supportive of whether it's
your personal story or your Brandon's or your companies. I mean,
Bravo fans show up and they oil out and they're
very loyal.
Speaker 2 (48:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (48:53):
So I'm very lucky to be where I'm at. Honestly.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
I mean, if you would have asked me back in
twenty sixteen when I signed up for Summerhouse that I
talking to you about sobriety right now, I would have said,
you're fucking crazy.
Speaker 3 (49:04):
So it's really cool to have it evolve into where
it is now.
Speaker 1 (49:07):
And you know, Season nine of Summer House is coming
out and you'll see me in a different light hopefully
this summer than last.
Speaker 2 (49:13):
So well, you're doing great and keep doing good stuff.
Speaker 3 (49:18):
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (49:21):
Next week on Off the Cup, I talked to my
friend Luke Russert, author of Look for Me There.
Speaker 3 (49:27):
They said, sorry, we have to bump you.
Speaker 2 (49:30):
We're going to take Donald Trump's reaction to the shooting
death of Harambe.
Speaker 3 (49:34):
The Gorilla live. Oh my, and I just said, you know,
I think it's time. I think it's time. I'm out.
Speaker 2 (49:43):
Off the Cup is a production of iHeart Podcasts as
part of the Recent Choice Network. I'm your Hostess Cupp
editing and sound designed by Derek Clements. Our executive producers
are Messie Cup, Lauren Hanson, and Lindsay Hoffman. If you
like Off the Cup, please rate and review wherever you
get your podcasts. Follow up subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday.
If I could have edited one thing from the show,
it would have been me getting the phone called it
my brother passed. But at the same time, that's not
what I signed up for.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to Off the Cup my personal anti anxiety antidote.
If you know me, you know I'm a big fan
of all things Bravo. I watch almost every show, and
I watch this network almost exclusively when I'm not watching
news for a number of reasons. The primary reason is
I can't think of anything more counter opposed to the
news than Bravo shows. And that's not a diss it's
(00:32):
a huge compliment because these shows, for the most part,
avoid politics. They don't do what the news does, which
is make you scared and angry and anxious. They invite
you into a world, a community, a family, a friend group,
and these people open up their lives for our enjoyment.
And I can't tell you how vital a service this
(00:53):
has been for me as just an escape that I've
really needed over many years. The other thing they do
that news and politics can't do is justice. The reunions
are justice. You've watched a show like Real Housewives or
Southern Charm for a season, you've watched people, lie, cheat,
and steel all on camera, and finally at the reunion,
(01:14):
all the receipts come out and people have to do
what politicians almost never have to do, which is be
held accountable. So I love that sense of justice. But
the final reason I love the Bravo universe is that
they give their stars a huge platform. Now, some use
it for evil, just like evil, but most use it
for good. They use it to share a challenge or
(01:37):
problem and allow the viewer to go along for the
journey with them. That could be a needing disorder, a divorce,
the loss of a loved one, a substance problem, a
mental health issue. And when they do that, it is
so brave and courageous and it reaches so many people,
and every time someone on one of these shows shares
(01:59):
I know it helps people. One of those people who
was so brave and courageous is Karl Radkey. He's experienced
more than one of the traumas I just listed, and
he's been so candid on Bravo about confronting his demons,
facing his challenges. I don't even know him, but as
(02:22):
someone who's slightly older, I feel very proud of him,
and I'm thrilledies here with me today. Carl Radkey, Welcome
to Off the Cup.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Thank you that was quite the introduction. I appreciate it. Yeah, now,
thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
It's really important that you're here today because we could
do I mean, there are a thousand Bravo podcasts right
where we gossip about the show. But it's really important
that you're here to talk about some of these things.
And not just because I'm interested in you, but a
lot of people listening to this podcast come here to
listen to people talk about mental health. So I just
(03:00):
want to thank you at the outset.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Yeah, and thanks for all that you're doing.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
I mean, obviously it's I feel like there's a big
shift these days in people being more open and also
the appetite for this kind of conversation.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
I think people are seeking this kind of stuff out
more and more.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Yeah, And I mean I'm just a random guy, like
I'm nobody, So like, I think people are wanting to
find stories like that are more relatable than David Goggins
or some like Big Time.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
I'm just using him as an.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Example, but yeah, I think that's why people are they
want to access all sorts of locks of life and
their ups and downs, and I certainly I think bring.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
That to the table, absolutely, and I want to get
into all of it. But just for people who don't
watch your longtime star of Summer House, which follows a
group of friends to their Hampton summer summer house every year,
premiered in twenty seventeen. You've been on every season. I think,
one of only three people who've done the whole run.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Yeah, I'm an original cast member.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
The first oh season premiered in January of Time twenty seventeen,
but we started filming actually in the summer of June
twenty sixteen was when we actually started.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
So you've been in it for a while. When you
first started the show, what did you think you were
getting yourself into.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Just having fun and partying with my friends. I mean
I was already doing that, this kind of thing. I mean,
if you're in your mid twenties or late twenties or
thirties in New York, you got a little bit of money,
you work hard during the week. It was a it's
a thing to rent a house with your best friends
over the summer. You may not go every weekend, but
(04:34):
it's kind of like a next step in your kind
of postgraduate career where make a little bit more money,
you want to do something a little bit more higher
end and also let lose.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
So I just thought it was I'm already doing this.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
It's just going to be on camera.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
They're just going to follow us a little bit, and yeah,
maybe something could come of it. But I never knew
in a million years it would turn into what it
turned into.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Outside of your show. Who are you closest to? Who
have you gotten really close to in the Bravo universe?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
I mean I'm close with Sheena.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
You know, we've just I mean we did briefly date
back in the day a little bit, have remain good friends.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
I love Brock. She and his parents I've gotten to know.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
I love them too.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
He's probably one that stands out just like a real
friend and someone who's been really good to me and
super supportive. Yeah, but I mean outside of that, there's
tons of whether the Southern charm boys.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
You know.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
I met Shep funny enough before I was ever on Bravo,
and he had already had make a season under his belt,
and I remember meeting him at a party and thinking
to myself, well, this guy's on a show. You know,
he was very loud and I do at the time,
and me and him actually got into like a verbal
back and forth. And then a year later I was
(05:46):
on Summerhouse and I hit him up again.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I'm like, yo, buddy, remember me.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
And so I liked the boys down in Charleston. I
know a lot of the men on Bravo certainly bring
a connotation of a lot of different verbs and adjectives
that I won't use here. So you know, I had
a lot of grace for the guys that are in
the same network. Yeah, because I know what it's like.
(06:11):
But I've met a lot of these guys personally, and
I do like them personally.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Well, it's funny you mentioned two people. Shep has done
the podcast, and Shep is a very good friend of
mine and stays at my house when he comes up
to Connecticut. And Sheena is going to do the podcast.
I've done her podcast because we both talk about mental health,
and those are just two of my favorite people. You
happen to mention. Yeah, we'll get into some show drama,
(06:37):
but first I want to talk about you. And I
always like to start by asking what kind of kid
were you?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
What kind of kid was I. I was the kid
at SO.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
I had a brother who's five years older than me,
and he was a really good athlete and based like
baseball soccer. So when my dad coached the teams when
we were growing up, so I would go to the
games with my parents. I'd get let out of the
car my brother. The team would be playing, but I
would spend the entire game rolling around in the dirt
asking total strangers for.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Money, like to get money to.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Go to the concession stand, Yeah, to get nachos or
a hot dog. I was the kid with a Kool
Aid stain. I was just a happy, go lucky kid
with always a big smile on his face. I think
a lot of my childhood pictures were just a big
smile on my face. I was always very outgoing social.
I love talking to people and making friends and just
I was always known for being that kid at the
(07:31):
baseball field who was either in there. In Pittsburgh, we
say creek. It's like a whole river, yeah, but in
Pittsburgh it's called a creek. I used to go to
the creek and just swim and like fuck around as
a kid.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Even it's like I don't even know what's in that water.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
But yeah, probably me as a kid, just a happy,
go lucky kid, always smile and always up for an adventure.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
We've met your mom on the show a lot, but
what was your dad like?
Speaker 1 (07:58):
My dad is very very intelligent, very funny, you know,
very cerebral kind of person. But I get a lot
of my I think, my humor and my wit for
my father, and I get a lot of my work
ethic and you know, just kind of my heart and
kind of soul I think for my mom to a degree.
And yeah, my dad. I mean, listen, my dad and
(08:19):
my mom got divorced about shoot, seven or eight years
ago at this point. Yeah, you know, And I've developed
a really nice relationship my father after a period of
time where we I had a lot of resentment and
anger towards him, and also was in the depths of
my alcoholism and cocaine addiction. So there was a period
of time where my dad and I weren't that close,
but we are very close again. And I have the
(08:41):
perks of sobriety to thank for some of that, and
doing a lot of work on healing and mending relationships
that were a little fractured.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
And We're definitely going to talk talk more about your
sobriety journey. You've shared a lot on the show, including
the devastating news of your brother's passing. How did you
learn of his passing?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
If I can ask, Yeah, I found I found out.
I mean it's on the episode. That's when I got
the call. Is you know it was on It happened
on August. He passed on August tenth. I got a
call on August eleventh. That morning, I was in my
bedroom at the Summerhouse, and yeah, I mean it's it's
on an episode, which you know people people have said
(09:26):
to me a lot like thanking me for everything I shared,
And I never wanted that ever to be on TV.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Trust me.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah, oh did you fight to have it taken off?
Speaker 1 (09:36):
If I could have edited one thing from the show,
it would have been me getting the phone call that
my brother passed. But at the same time, that's not
what I signed up for, you know. I signed up
for a show where you tell all of your life
and all of your story, and as hard and as
tragic as that has been, I also put it through
the lens of like this happened for some crazy reason,
and it happened while I was filming a TV show
(09:58):
that I've been at that point had been on for
I think five seasons.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
So my brother at his core, always wanted to help
other people, you know, and I have learned of stories
after even he had passed away, when he was at
rehabs and different facilities where he'd even administered Narcan to
people overdosing and was trying to help younger kids because
my brother was older. I mean, you don't meet a
lot of heroin addicts in their forties. Yeah, and that's
(10:24):
because they don't make it that long. And it's really sad.
But the heroine epidemic and kind of fentanyl situation a
lot of our cities and you know, suburbs and upper
middle class neighborhoods, rural areas, it's hit everything.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Yeah. So yeah, I mean it's been like it was.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
It was a shock to our entire family. It was
a shock to me, but also like, how the fuck
is this going to be on TV?
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Now?
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (10:49):
You know, so at first really struggled with it big time.
I use that as an excuse to continue to drink
and use cocaine. So even after my brother passed, that's
when I continued just to be very very you know,
just a downward spiral.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yeah, but yeah, it was It was that.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I mean, if there was one thing I could ever
remove from somewhere else, I would have been that. But
you would if you took a poll of all these
people who said that, they would thank me for sharing that.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Oh yeah, it's weird toss up. But like I said,
I think ultimately it's helped. It's helped me get my
life together. It was a massive wake up call for me. Yeah,
and you know, what do I stand for as a person?
As I was evolving and growing from this whole thing
that happened to our family, Like how can I continue
to drink and use cocaine while I'm being celebrated for
(11:40):
how I'm handling the passing of my brother. There was
a lot of things that were going through my head back,
you know, when he passed and that, Yeah, what that
led to was me changing literally I mean hitting rock bottom,
but then really turning my life around me and falling
on my knees, raising my hand and say I'm an alcoholic,
Like I am.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
What happened between you him him passing and you using
that as an excuse to use and then using it
as a reason to get clean.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
I mean, I think I didn't know how to grieve,
and I'm I mean, grief is a weird process, you know.
And I again, remember I'm filming a reality television show
where at that point I was trying to moderate. You know,
I had been I knew in my body that I
had something wrong with me that I knew I couldn't
drink like everybody else. I knew I couldn't just do
a line of cocaine and stop like some other people.
(12:30):
So I knew I had an issue even going into
that summer, but I wasn't ready to fully admit that
I could not drink ever.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Again.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, I thought I could just drink lover boy, drink less,
or just drink a glass of wine, or just moderate
in a way. And then I learned of my brother.
So I just I was deeply sad and depressed. I
was angry. I was I had an opportunity to see
my brother before he had passed, and I declined I
(12:57):
wasn't comfortable at that point.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
There was just something didn't feel right.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
But I had a chance to visit with him, and
I decided not to a couple like a month before
he passed away, and just all of that feeling of like,
you know, just like it really fucked me up. I
tried to, you know, I went to the funeral. I
mean I remember even sneaking off. In between funeral sessions.
(13:20):
There was a break, I'd go to the bar next
door and have a couple of beers. I drank my
way through all of that. Yeah, and I didn't again.
It was becoming detrimental in my own life. Like I
hit rock bottom of January of twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
What was rock bottom? Like?
Speaker 1 (13:38):
I was in my apartment, sitting on my computer, working
doing stuff with lover boy, and then I turned on
CNN and January sixth, twenty twenty one is a day
that will forever live in everybody's minds. Yeah, you know,
I'm not here to get political, but like, it was
a very upsetting thing to watch for me personally. And
I use that as a reason to drink a bunch
of red wine and order a bunch of coke. So
(14:00):
I sat in my apartment watching the news, drinking red wine,
doing coke by myself for I don't even know how long,
but until the wee hours of the morning and did
so much by myself that I like blacked out. I
don't remember, but I called a lot of people and
scared a lot of people by what.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
I was saying. I don't know what I've said, But.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Later woke up in my bed like twelve hours later,
just like in a pool sweat, and just like what
the fuck just happened? And yeah, you know, I felt
like at a moment, like I was going to die.
Like I had done so many drugs and drank so
much that I was like my body was shutting down.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
That's what it felt like in that day.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
And then I you know, had a bunch of people
come to me and say you've got to get help,
man like, and yeah, people say that before, but a
specific person, Kyle, actually came over to my apartment and.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Was Kyle's also on the show. For people who don't know, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Kyle Cook, who's one of my best friends, business partner
or friend, party boy. Like we've done it all together,
We've been through so much. He always has been front
row seat to my drinking and my secret cocaine problem.
You know, I never I always would just say it
was my drinking. But anybody who know me knew that
I was doing other substances, but Kyle always knew, and
(15:14):
he was like, for the first time he actually looked
me in the eye. He was like, you got to stop,
like you're going to die. And it was something about
him saying that to me that like not only fucked
me up, but like woke me up.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Yeah, and I from that point.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
I had had a friend of mine that I had
lost touch with, but we got reconnected because he got
sober and he called me during you know, when my
brother had passed checking in on me, and he's like,
are you going to AA meetings?
Speaker 3 (15:37):
And I said no, and.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
He's like, you're not going to stay sober and I
was like, oh, fuck you, like you don't know what
you're talking and that kind of anti AA feeling. But
that rock bottom day when Kyle talked to me, I
picked up the phone and called and I said, I
need a sponsor.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
I need help. That's when I first went to my
first meeting.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
What was the most daunting part when you're thinking of
getting sober? What was the thing that was like keeping
you from wanting to do that?
Speaker 3 (16:07):
The embarrassment, the shame, you know, the SIGMA people.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Are going to make fun of me. You're you're an alcoholic,
Like that term just sounds.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Really brutal because it's forever.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Yeah, and it sounds like I'm like a bomb on
the street. And this is no offense to anybody who's
homeless or you know, struggles that lives on the street.
But my perception of alcoholics are people that are less
than and sub and that's not a fair, you know, assessment,
but that's just how I.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Was looking at it. Yeah, And you just didn't want
to be that thing forever.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I don't want to be that.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
You're you're laying, You're boring, You're you have a problem,
you're fucked up, you're a loser, you can't handle your booze, like,
there's so many other things. And I also I didn't
know how I was going to operate because alcohol is
such a part of my life, Like how do I
go out and socialize? Now, how do I feel like
people like me? How do I fit in? How do
(17:01):
I get to meet the cute girl like I? You know,
I did a lot of these things throughout my life
under the influence of alcohol.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yeah, So I was.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Just scared about like this whole other world that I
never really operated in I mean, I had pretty been
drinking and doing cocaine every weekend for the last ten years,
and all of a sudden, I'm supposed to turn that
off and like be Karl again.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
No, it was just very I.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Mean, I'm sure a lot of people have different feelings
about it. I was just scared and embarrassed that this
person I have this problem, Like, fuck, yeah, I already
I already flawed beyond belief, I have all these other problems.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Oh and now I'm an alcoholic and a drug addict. Fuck.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
So it was just and it's still like something you
have to wrap your head around. I'm just a lot
more comfortable now. Yeah, because I've had a lot of
other amazing people who describe themselves the same way, and
I actually look up to them and inspired by them,
and that gave me the confidence to realize you can
actually be fucked up and still your shit together.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Yeah. Well, and listen, this is why I talk about
my anxiety disorder too, because there was shame in it
in the beginning for me. You know, everyone sees me
as so capable and with it and together and how
are they going to see me now? But in talking
about it helped me accept it and helped me feel
(18:23):
in a way almost proud, proud of it, Proud that
it's made me who I am, and that I'm challenged
by it, and that it's making me do hard work
that I don't think I would have done without, you know,
having had a nervous breakdown.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Basically, Yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Mean talking out loud is it's scary at first, but
as you continue to share and open more up, it
does something. Whether it's I don't know inside of you
or whatever, but you feel more honest and more free.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
And I know when you connect.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
With others or hear a similar story, that's when you
feel like you're less alone. And you know, if it
wasn't for someone else speaking up, you wouldn't have heard
them say that either. Yeah, totally, that's what it's all about,
is sharing out. Sharing out loud to help those suffering
in silence is kind of a saying that I like
a lot, And there's some truth to that, because even
how I initially got inspired to speak out was like,
(19:15):
I love sports, So like Michael Phelps, Kevin Love Demarta Rosen,
they've all been very public about their health or ADHD
or whatever it is. It took me to go, Wow,
Kevin loves six foot ten, successful NBA player, married do
a beautiful girl, but he has anxiety depression.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Yeah, like what how Like?
Speaker 1 (19:34):
So that helped me real Like, if Kevin's speaking out
about it, yeah, that inspired me to speak out about it,
then I can maybe help someone who looks at me
in maybe a similar way. Like I'm still surprised and
shocked that people look at someone on reality TV or
whatever look to them as like inspiration, because I would
never personally watch a reality show and.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Be like, oh, I want to be like that guy.
Like I'd rather.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Watch sports or like an entrepreneurial thing. I connect more
with business and for some reason, sure, but I realize
over time that even though mine, maybe in my own
personal eye, is very minor and meaningless, it does connect
with people that access our show and you know, download
it in a different way. And I didn't realize that
(20:16):
at first, but now I understand fully.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Oh yeah, I mean it's so relatable to hear someone
who is perceived as you're just a normal person, but
we get to watch your life, so it's really relatable
and I think, in a way hugely impactful when people
like you talk about this, or Jackie on New Jersey
talks about her eating disorder. I mean, these are it's
(20:40):
not we're looking up to, it's we were relating to.
And that I think is such an important tool when
it comes to, you know, explaining and talking about mental health,
being able to relate to someone definitely, And it's so funny.
The universe works in crazy ways. You just reminded me
of this. I had been covering, you know, in the news,
(21:04):
Naomi Osaka coming out, Simone Biles coming out, Megan Markle
coming out, all within like a couple months, and I'd
been covering them and defending them against trolls who were
calling them entitled or whatever. And then I had a
mental breakdown of my own, and I thought, well, I
don't really want to share this, you know, but what
(21:27):
a hypocrite I would be if I didn't. After defending
these people coming out and commending their bravery and their
courage and their honesty, and then I'm hiding mine. So
I mean, the timing of it, all I think was,
you know, I don't know that I believe in destiny
or fate, but like it, it all worked at the
(21:49):
same time to get me out of it, sure, and
to talk.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Yeah, I mean I've loved seeing you know, Naomi.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
And I actually was at an event for the Women's
Mental Health Summit with Kate Spade earlier this month. My
new company Softbar did a pop up there and I
was asked because they had a men's portion, I'll be
at a small one. And I know I got a
lot of shit for this on social media. Why is
a guy at the women's mental health panel? Harry's, the
(22:18):
shaving brand, does every purchase at Harry's they donate one
percent to men's mental health.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Harry's does a lot of work with Kate's Baide.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Believe it or not, women's mental health and men's mental
health kind of go hand in hand. If they could
they do together. I'm being kind of making a dig
at all the comments on social about it I Simone Viles.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Because that's ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Yeah, I know it's insane, but I was gonna say,
Simone Viles spoke and she's just so powerful beyond belief
and having someone like herself, you know, share and she's
probably the greatest of all time, and you know, just
so important to not only women's mental health, but I
think just in general. I mean, yeah, we're all walks
(23:03):
of life. So I was really proud to be a
part of that and hear those stories. But yeah, like
it's amazing to see like those level of women that
are you know, you similar to yourself. You mean you
she must have it all figured out, she's got it all,
she's confident, she's good. You know. It's like, yeah, surprisingly
a lot of us. There is more underneath the hood
than you think. And I love getting the peak under
(23:25):
the hood with a lot of people because it's we're
a lot more alike.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Than you think.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Totally, totally and believe me, success, money, these do not
inoculate you from mental health. My anxiety does not care
about how much money I make or how successful I am.
It does not care at all. Neither does depression. This
can happen to anyone, and people still don't seem to
get that.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Well, it's like, I think, what's hard And Simone actually
said this when she spoke at the Women's Mental Health Summit,
which is if I had like a head injury, I
could wear a helmet and everybody would understand. Yeah, like
if I have a bruise or like a patch or
a brace or some sort of contraption around my body.
You'd be like, oh, she's injured. He's like with your
head and what's inside. Unfortunately, there's really no way to
(24:11):
like visually see on someone. And that goes with Yeah,
I think life. I mean, you just really never know
what someone's going through no matter what. But yeah, like
I think she hit that home really well, which is
like mental health and are what's going on inside. It's
it's hard to really understand without like that like a
brace or something around your head. Yeah, it's like kind
(24:33):
of absurd, Like you have to wear like the mental
health helmet this week.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
At work to let people know you're not having a
good week.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Ye, But yeah, I'm just it's nice to see, especially
people speaking out and trying to share their perspective because
I hope. I mean, I know Simone inspires me, and
she certainly inspires young girls and young women and women
down especially I think men too, because they look at
her and the like, she's just tremendous athlete.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
So what do you do now to stay healthy, mindful,
(25:17):
plugged into your mental health.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
I meditate, not every single day, let's be honest, I
try to pretty much every day.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
I use Calm, the app that for me has.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Been a really big secret to like just staying grounded
and kind of balanced. I do feel like it helps
just feeling a little bit less stressed or anxious at times.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Meditation is a big part. I mean, I go to
AA meetings.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
It's not necessarily it's not like a mental health thing,
but yeah, I mean I feel better when I'm helping
other people and when I'm getting out of my own body.
Like I'm going to a meeting tonight in Brooklyn, which
is a meeting I attend frequently, and I sometimes don't
want to go because I'm not feeling good just for
I got some other shit.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
But I'm like, no, this isn't about you. This is
about other people.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So it's good to get out of your body and
go connect with other individuals. I always hear one or
two things that I needed to hear that day. What
else working out, I'd say is probably should start with
working out on the top of the list for me
mental health and sobriety and working out go hand in hand.
I do a lot of hot yoga, I do a
(26:25):
lot of berries, I do a lot of running. I
do city bike, which I pretend is a workout, getting
back to work from place to place. But yeah, I
think those working out, meditation, therapy, A beings, you know.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
And I think.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Service is another element which I mentioned, which is AA,
but donating your time to other people, getting out of
your body, like when you realize it's not all Like
a lot of us me in recovery are very selfish
and self centered, and I it's important to get out.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Of your body, and so I try to do some
of those things. But I live a perfect.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Of recovery or mental health. I am the opposite of
anyone anybody should ever aspire to do or be. That's ridiculous, No,
I mean it's just like I feel like what who
I would follow would be like a lot more serious
fitness people are like.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
But is it working for you?
Speaker 3 (27:18):
What works for me works great, that's it. But I
guess that's it works for me.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
But like if I was someone like I look at
other like people that I'm aspired inspired by, and it's
not someone like myself. I'm just what I'm getting at,
is I actually like Doc Amen or like Ja Shetty,
Like yeah, like high high level people that that's who
I look to. And I'm like, oh, like that they
(27:44):
actually are literally living and breathing this lifestyle. I think
there's a lot of phony people out there, and I'll
say I get a lot more credit than I probably deserve,
just because of the way social media is, like when
you raise your hand and say you're doing this that
the other great, But like I could do more. I
could probably post more about my story or journey or
help more people. Like there's always I feel like there's
(28:05):
a disconnect on what people give me credit for and
then what's actually going on. So I just want to
highlight that, Like I'm not like some Buddha zen like person.
I just knowed for me those little tools. That's what's
helped me kind of become a more balanced person. But
I still have my angry days. I still have my
emotional days. I cry all the time, I pick at
my face, I eat sugar like I do all this stuff.
(28:26):
It's not like, you know, I live this kind of
perfect life.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
So I think you're holding yourself to a really high
standard and trying to convince people you're not perfect when
no one thinks you're perfect or well, they just need
you to be perfect.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
I think the perception of it is I think you
get more praise than this. I'm not good at receiving
any of that kind of.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
You are not You are not and listen, you're not
a doctor. No one's asking you to prescribe. This is
how you beat this. But sharing what you do is
is more than most and can help if it helps
one person say well, I'm going to try meditating or
I'm going to try calm. I mean, these are this
(29:08):
is service. This is good enough. Yeah, what you are
doing is good enough. Do you believe that?
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
I don't, deep down, It's just it's it's my own
character flaws, like nothing will ever be good enough or
you know, there's always more work to be done.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Oh listen, I relate to this too, I really do.
But sometimes you need someone outside who also and.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Are just being pretty honest and candid. I think you know,
I've had a lot of very very nice compliments and
praise a lot of people have reached out, and I'm overwhelmed,
truthfully by it. And that's where that feeling comes from.
Is I mean thousands that you don't deserve it?
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Zero, Like thousands and thousands of messages I get you've
helped me.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
I told this story.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Recently, I was stopped in the subway by a girl
who was coming down the stairs and she like it
was like so uncomfortably shaking. I was like hi, and
she's like, you you're the reason I got sober. I'm
like and I gave her a hug, and what I
said to her was, you got yourself sober. But now
what you need to do is pass this along to
someone else, because someone is just going to see you
(30:15):
living your life this way and they're going to be inspired.
And that's all I did was just I am now
living more purposely and sharing that out loud, and you're
watching it, and that's what helped.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Like it was just it was a beautiful thing to see.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
But what I challenge anybody who tells me that I've
inspired them, go inspire someone else and pass the gift along.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
That's how this works.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
I agree, And that's a wonderful thing to say, But
you have to start with accepting that you've inspired people.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Yeah, I mean, it's just you have Like I I'll
give you an example, like on you know, you go
to social media and I'm not saying that's the best barometer,
but you get your your narcissist piece of shit asshole,
and then you say up, yeah you're Yeah, you're the
worst guy that seen on Bravo.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
You should kill yourself too. Yeah, you save my life.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Like that's that's the world I'm in, and I don't
I think for the psyche. For me, that's where that
comes from. It's like, well, this person says I'm a
complete piece of shit, yeah, and then this person says
I saved their life.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Probably somewhere in the middle, I listen.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
In my world, I get that too. I get death
threats and awful things, but also a lot of praise
and you. I mean, I learned I was way too
like living way too online and way too in the
comments and way too much on Twitter, and that was
fucking with my head, as it would fuck with anyone's
(31:38):
head for sure. So some of that is reinforcing bad
thoughts that you have that you don't need. You don't
need that noise.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
I got a lot better at sifting through and I
you know, I don't look as much as I used to.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
But it makes me sad, because.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
You know, there's it is sad. I'm all I'm trying
to do is just live a better life. I'm not
you know, I'm not doing this for a storyline. I
don't do it or anything other reason than to stay alive.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
But it's authentic, I know.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Yeah, the only way I can stay alive is to
not drink alcohol. If I don't drink alcohol, I don't
do hard drugs. I don't do crazy things.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
Now, yes I have shit, but I don't know.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
It's an interesting complex and I just I more or
less share it because I I'm surprised with how many
people genuinely are inspired by what I've done.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
And I'm just like, I'm done, Like I've.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Just turned off, just been able to like turn my
Like what I could be doing is a lot more
like actual work, Like I could be hosting one hundred
person sober community things and pitching and doing like.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
That's none of this is required of you. You getting
yourself sober is a miracle. It is a miracle and
a blessing. Yeah, and that alone should be celebrated. Now,
the fact that you're talking about it and helping other people,
You're doing enough, Carl. I'm here to tell you you're
doing enough.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Well.
Speaker 3 (32:56):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
And you also managed to turn this into an incredible
business opportunity. Your softbars, talk about what you're doing in
that space. I think it's so cool.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Yeah, I mean over the last well, I mean with
Kyle and Amanda and I. You know, back in twenty eighteen,
Kyle was like, I want to do this. I want
to start a beverage company. And you know, I was
still drinking at that time.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Lover Boy was born. I invested.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
I became, you know, one of the first employee, not
the first, but one of like maybe employee number three
or four. But during that journey was realizing that I actually.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Needed to get some help.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
So we launched a lover Boy no alcoholic product last year.
Kyle was very awesome, like wanting to support me and
come up with that. So during this like non alcoholic
I don't want to call it revolution, but I've been
living and breathing at shopping at stores that only sell
non drinks. It's a place called Wassan here in New York.
(33:56):
There's other stores like it. We launched our non alcoholic
lover Bok. I'm like, where do we where are we
going to have this product sold? Like where can we
get it on the shelf? And a lot a lot
of the stores were these non alcoholic bottle shops. I
was shopping at one of them last year in Brooklyn
and I walked in and lover boys on the shelf
the non alcoholic and other cool non alcoholic and I'm like,
this is.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Great, but like, where do I go to enjoy it? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (34:19):
I go home to enjoy it. I'm like, this is insane.
Why can't I go sit down at a bar? And
I've had this dream of really like pioneering and like
changing the way you socialize in a way, and like,
I believe after living and breathing it for almost four years,
that you can have fun without drinking. They'll be social
and have a good time. You could still do all
these things. And I wanted to like really lean in
(34:40):
on that. So for the last year I've been working
on a new concept called soft Bar. And really what
the idea is a bar and cafe for mindful consumption.
And this is not a sober bar, because I believe
if we are just framing it as a sober bar,
you're only going to attract so people. I want everybody
(35:02):
to come because I want everybody to feel comfortable walking
in that door, regardless of how you describe your lifestyle,
not everybody's like me and raises their hand. There are
people that don't drink any.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
Alcohol at all. That's just how they live.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Yeah, they're not going to go to a sober bar
because they don't even think about it. It's just like
they live life without alcohol. There's people that are taking
a break the press. Yeah they're post metapausal, they have
lime disease, they've got an autoimmune issue.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Tons of people are wanting alternatives.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
So I've been really looking in on this kind of
non olc revolution and I'm starting a bar in cafe
here in Brooklyn for mindful consumption, so it's called soft Bar. Then,
you know, raising money, building the team, all that good stuff.
So not only am I living and breathing this lifestyle,
I'm trying to like make a business out of it
and love it.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
You know.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
I just think there's we're just at the beginning of
all these cool non out drinks, but we still need
places to go drink them.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
It's so important. And one group of people you left
out of who wouldn't go to a sober bar, or
people who might have a problem and not know it.
They might avoid a sober bar, but going and seeing
other people having fun. Not drinking might just be the
thing that tells them, oh, I could do that totally.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
It's yeah, I think just creating, Like I hate saying
safe space, it just sounds like overused marketing jargon, but
an inclusive environment where no matter where you're at in
your journey, you've got a beer in the parking lot
and come inside. We'll walking in with open arms. We've
got alternatives. We just don't have alcohols.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
So yeah, trying.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
You know, kind of what they call is it's a
third space, is how they describe kind of what we're doing.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
You know, it's a cafe, it's a bar.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
I mean really the only places they socialize our cafes
and bars. We wanted to kind of create something in
the middle. We are going to be coffee and we're
also going to have non alcoholic drinks.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Well, I wish you all the success with it. I
think it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
You'll be welcome to visit anytime once we get our
doors officially open.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
We're not open yet.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Well, this is a good segue to talk about a
little show stuff. Was it hard to protect your sobriety
within your personal relationships that we saw on the show?
Speaker 3 (37:29):
I mean I would never blame anybody for you know,
it's on me.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
I mean, it's really I firmly if I feel like
a lot of my friends who you've seen some on
the show, some you don't see on the show, but
without a lot of support from fronts, you know, I
don't think some of those friends fully understand the levels
of what I go through. But I've never felt intentionally
(37:55):
tested by my sobriety by any friend, like throwing a
drink in my face or making me feel weird. It's
really all up to me, Like what am I I
need to decide what I'm comfortable and not comfortable with,
and my friends people then follow suit. But I needed
to kind of be in charge of my own way
and then you know, guys like I can't drink like
(38:16):
this is the life I'm living and just be very stern.
But once I said that, people were very accepting and welcoming.
You know, I think as it comes into like a
serious relationship sobriety and the other person doesn't understand that
or still drinks, yeah, that's a very difficult situation to
be in. And I, you know, I for me personally,
(38:40):
you know, that was a more of a big challenge
for my sobriety being in a relationship with someone that
still drank. Yeah, but I think that's all an individual basis.
You know, it's really up to that individual how they feel,
what they need or what they want to be surrounded by.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
But yeah, no one tests my sobriety.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
I mean, it's all I got to take ownership of that, Like,
no one's responsible for me staying sober, only I am.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
In a future relationship. Do you think you'd prefer to
be with someone who's sober.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
I've thought about this a few times. I don't think
I'm going to have like a you know, like a
wall up if they're not. I've met sober people who
are in the community. I've met sober people who just
don't drink and they don't think about it.
Speaker 3 (39:27):
It's not a thing.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
I've met people that are just have a healthy relationship
with alcohol, don't drink a lot. I've met people that
drink a lot. I probably shouldn't necessarily be with someone
that drinks a ton where it's like a big part
of their lifestyle. Yeah, but I've often thought I could
be with someone that still drank and had a healthy relationship.
But I don't have like a like a rule. Let's
say about you know who, what lifestyle they should live.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
I mean, I'd like.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
To think I could still be with someone that maybe
does drink a little bit, but it has a healthy relationship.
Speaker 2 (39:59):
Okay, I get to a lightning round. Are you game
for a lightning round?
Speaker 3 (40:03):
I'm game for a lightning round?
Speaker 2 (40:04):
Okay, send it or more life, More life, favorite mocktail.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
It's called the Soft Sprits. And we don't say mocktail,
we say soft cocktail.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
We're not okay, what's your favorite soft cocktail? This is good.
You're educating me.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
The Soft Sprits and then there's another one called the
high Road.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
What do they taste like?
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Soft Sprits is like our kind of take on an
apparol sprits, So think like a little bit of that
canpari kind of tart sweetness with a little bit of
bubble from We use a non alcoholic champagne, so it
still has that bubbly kind of fun mouthfeel. We also
(40:53):
use some ingredients in our beverages that provide functional so
like electrolytes, vitamin B, fie, inning lions Maine. We're using
some additional ingredients which provide, whether it's focus or energy hydration.
So The Soft Sprits and The High Road are my two.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Favorite Summerhouse spinoff that needs to happen. For example, I
think Page and Craig need their own show because there's
so much like unintentional and intentional comedy there.
Speaker 1 (41:26):
I'm not saying no to that. I think they're great. Yes,
I don't know if a whole.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Show for no.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
I love Page and Craig. I'm I don't know. If
I'm that, it wouldn't be the first that comes to
my mind.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
I'm just okay.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
I want to see Brock and Sheena on a like
a home development remodeling show.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
Oh my god, he is so amazing. I don't understand.
He's like making driveways and walls a law and he's.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Like, I need to get a table saw it. I'm like,
get the table saw man, that's what you need.
Speaker 3 (41:58):
Yes, I know them, that's what comes to mind.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
That's a good.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
One, And I feel like there's got to be like
I'm surprised this hasn't happened yet, but like a cooking
show with someone from the Bravo world, I feel like
there's plenty of people that view themselves.
Speaker 3 (42:13):
As cooks or yeah, like you know, some of the
housewives have their recipes. Oh yeah, I feel.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
All of them be a competition Teresa.
Speaker 3 (42:22):
Yeah, okay, fishing cooking show with the Housewives.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
That's fine. I like it. Let's pitch that to Bravo.
Speaker 1 (42:27):
At the end of the reunion when they can't decide
who's coming back for the next season, they do a
competition cooking show and then rever Wins gets to come
back next season.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
It's great, Okay, workshop it.
Speaker 1 (42:39):
We'll solve all the toxicity on all the shows. Yeah right,
I hope you're listening to New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Yeah right, exactly. What's your favorite movie?
Speaker 3 (42:50):
My favorite movie of all time is What's Two?
Speaker 1 (42:54):
Casablanca Humphrey bogart Oasik one of the most amazing scripts
ever written. But my other favorite film arguably is either
Trading Places or Caddy Shack.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
So we go really high and low, high and low.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
High and low.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
But I still would argue, like the low of Trading
Places is still like super smart.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
Yeah, very different.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
You know, I'm thirty nine years old, so my dad
got me into some of those you know, eighties comedies
coming to America. Caddy shack trading places. It was always
a big comedy guy. But I did go to Syracuse
University and study television and film, so I started learning
about you know, the Citizen Kanes, the Casablanca is the
(43:40):
Gone with the Winds, those like kind of cannon. Yeah,
the best films. Yeah, but those are probably my favorites
right now. To come to think, I've.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
You can bring back one Summer House castmate. Who would
it be?
Speaker 3 (43:58):
Andrea Denver?
Speaker 2 (44:01):
Who would say no to that?
Speaker 1 (44:02):
But I know all the women and men that like
that are very wanting to have Andrea back. I love Andrea.
We're very close. We're still really good friends. I was
texting with him this morning.
Speaker 2 (44:13):
What's not to love? Coffee in bed every morning?
Speaker 1 (44:16):
Come on, such a great guys, and you know we
were out He got married in May, Yeah, in Italy,
so a few of us were out there watching him
get married, which was really special.
Speaker 2 (44:26):
So whatever happened, mine would be Christina Gibson. What happened
to her?
Speaker 1 (44:31):
Christina, as far as I know, is in Florida. She
got I think, married.
Speaker 3 (44:34):
Had a kid. I still follow her.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
She still occasionally we'll comment on some pictures and stuff.
Speaker 3 (44:43):
I'm going to say this. I I didn't know Christina
that well before the first summer.
Speaker 1 (44:48):
But yeah, I don't think she's as bad as everybody
thought she was.
Speaker 2 (44:51):
I mean she definitely No, I think she was misunderstood.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
Yeah, some moments, but no, I mean I feel bad.
You know, when it's all said and done. We had
no idea what the hell is going on back season one,
none of us did.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
Yeah, that was a wild That was a wild season. Okay.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
Last meal, last meal either steak and potatoes or pizza.
Speaker 3 (45:16):
But a steak meaning a filet. I'm a filet guy.
Speaker 2 (45:19):
Oh interesting, Okay, so would.
Speaker 1 (45:21):
Probably my two Yeah, a steak, a file and mashed
potatoes and asparagus, and or a pizza.
Speaker 2 (45:30):
Where do you get your favorite steak in the city?
Speaker 1 (45:33):
Favorite steak? I mean Wolfgangs. I feel like it's probably
my favorite steak.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
Oh Okay.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
There's a new place that everybody keeps talking about, but
I haven't been. Kyle went and another friend of mine.
It's called Beef Bar. It's in Tribeca Bar. Okay, it's
a very new, trendy, popular spot that they have amazing
steak apparently, as as the name would suggest.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
Sure, I mean there's so many good places in New
York like Keynes and Homestead and Sparks. I love Del
Frisco's is great.
Speaker 3 (46:05):
I mean there is another broke.
Speaker 1 (46:07):
I mean I got an email, actually another an email
inviting me into Brooklyn chop House. Oh so I might
take them up on that email and go get a
stick do it?
Speaker 2 (46:16):
Yeah? Yeah, Okay. Last question, This question is the most
important to me culturally, spiritually, all the reasons. When is
iced coffee season.
Speaker 3 (46:26):
All year round?
Speaker 2 (46:27):
That's the right answer. That is the correct answer you have.
Speaker 3 (46:31):
I knew. I feel like you were setting me off,
so I'm glad I was ready for that.
Speaker 2 (46:34):
It's a trick question because some people will say, oh,
you know in summer or the only right answer is year.
Speaker 3 (46:41):
Round, year round.
Speaker 1 (46:41):
Well, I can I say something in fear of you
potentially throwing something at me.
Speaker 3 (46:46):
I don't drink coffee.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
It hurts my heart. But listen, listen. Everyone's on their
own journey, and I don't judge a journey. I'm just saying,
as a man ashole, someone who grew up in Massachusetts
with dunkin Donuts. I had a dunk in my high school.
This is my religion. Coffee is a huge part of
who I am. But you it doesn't matter. You still
have the right answer.
Speaker 3 (47:12):
That's all that matters. But now I like espresso, but
coffee makes me.
Speaker 1 (47:16):
I already have anxiety depression, so the coffee only exacerbates
those things.
Speaker 3 (47:21):
Whatever it may.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
Got to know, got to know what works for you
and what doesn't. You gotta Yeah, Carl rad Key, thank
you so much again for opening up, talking candidly with me,
sharing your story for an audience that may or may
not know about it. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (47:35):
No, thank you. I mean, I'm sorry for being so.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
I don't know, I guess I'm sometimes I appreciate it again,
the opportunity to talk. And obviously I love love hearing
what you're doing and everything you stand for. So I'm
honored to be a part of this. I truly am.
I appreciate you kind of checking me a little bit too,
you know. I just as far as how I sometimes
feel about.
Speaker 3 (47:56):
How I am with certain.
Speaker 2 (47:57):
Things, Yeah, I think they're doing enough.
Speaker 1 (48:00):
I talk to tons of people that feel the way
I do at times, so I'm glad that I can
be open about how that feeling is.
Speaker 3 (48:06):
But also you can.
Speaker 2 (48:08):
You can, but you are doing enough. I want you
to know that thanks, thanks, and look forward to watching
you again and maybe running into you at a Bravo con. Yeah,
with Dave Kaplan, I love Dave Well, thanks not only
for this, but thanks for everything you do on Bravo.
I mean when, like I say, for a lot of people,
it's just an outlet, it's an escape that like we
(48:31):
really love and need. No.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
I mean, I will say, the Bravo fan base and
just the audience I mean, I would argue is the best.
Speaker 3 (48:38):
Fan base on television, hands down.
Speaker 1 (48:41):
I mean engaged and super just supportive of whether it's
your personal story or your Brandon's or your companies. I mean,
Bravo fans show up and they oil out and they're
very loyal.
Speaker 2 (48:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (48:53):
So I'm very lucky to be where I'm at. Honestly.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
I mean, if you would have asked me back in
twenty sixteen when I signed up for Summerhouse that I
talking to you about sobriety right now, I would have said,
you're fucking crazy.
Speaker 3 (49:04):
So it's really cool to have it evolve into where
it is now.
Speaker 1 (49:07):
And you know, Season nine of Summer House is coming
out and you'll see me in a different light hopefully
this summer than last.
Speaker 2 (49:13):
So well, you're doing great and keep doing good stuff.
Speaker 3 (49:18):
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (49:21):
Next week on Off the Cup, I talked to my
friend Luke Russert, author of Look for Me There.
Speaker 3 (49:27):
They said, sorry, we have to bump you.
Speaker 2 (49:30):
We're going to take Donald Trump's reaction to the shooting
death of Harambe.
Speaker 3 (49:34):
The Gorilla live. Oh my, and I just said, you know,
I think it's time. I think it's time. I'm out.
Speaker 2 (49:43):
Off the Cup is a production of iHeart Podcasts as
part of the Recent Choice Network. I'm your Hostess Cupp
editing and sound designed by Derek Clements. Our executive producers
are Messie Cup, Lauren Hanson, and Lindsay Hoffman. If you
like Off the Cup, please rate and review wherever you
get your podcasts. Follow up subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday.
Host
S.E. Cupp
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