Everything & Anything...and a bit gay Podcast

On Election Day 2026, Zach Randles-Friedman delivers an unfiltered call to action for LGBTQ+ listeners and allies. In this solo This Is Everything episode, he walks through the policies that have hit the community hardest over the past two years: the federal two-sex definition, the loss of the X gender marker on passports, pressure on hospitals providing gender-affirming care, the trans military ban, prison placement rules, and cuts to LGBTQ+ health programs at home and abroad. He connects those fights to the everyday costs voters are feeling, from gas and groceries to tariffs and the war in Iran.

Zach also spotlights the races and candidates he’s watching, including James Talarico’s Senate run against Ken Paxton in Texas, the false rumor campaign launched against Talarico, and Democratic governors Andy Beshear and Laura Kelly, who have held on in red states. He shares data on the wave of anti-LGBTQ+ bills, the record number of out candidates on the ballot, and the share of LGBTQ+ adults considering leaving their states. His message is simple: polls don’t vote, people do. Vote the whole ballot, bring someone with you, and if you don’t vote, don’t complain.

Podcast song by SIXFOOT 5: https://www.sixfoot5prod.com

Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sixfoot-5/1551774977

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rHMzoU0G0fLhaBsrQiOOY?si=laSZ5hiKTYubJJyhrzf2JQ

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Pride 365 Radio launched on June 1, 2025, as a lasting legacy of WorldPride in Washington, DC. One year later, the independent LGBTQ+ station, part of the Capital Pride Alliance, is reaching listeners from Oklahoma and Kansas to Ukraine, Brazil and Argentina.

Zach sits down with on-air host Jerry Houston and special correspondent Natalie Thompson to talk about building a radio station for the community, by the community.

In this episode:

• Why Pride 365 Radio was created as a lasting legacy of WorldPride DC
• Reaching closeted and isolated LGBTQ+ listeners in small towns and countries where being gay is illegal
• Jerry’s nearly 30-year radio career, from country radio in Baltimore to Top 40 in DC, and helping launch iHeartRadio’s Pride Radio
• Natalie’s path from affordable housing and homeless services to roving Pride correspondent
• How the station balances hard LGBTQ+ news with staying uplifting
• Dance music’s roots in queer culture, and why Madonna’s new album has been the summer’s biggest hit
• Dream interview wish lists, including Madonna, Charli XCX, Troye Sivan, Sam Smith and Miley Cyrus
• An average listening time of 45 minutes per hour, something Jerry says he never saw in three decades of traditional radio
• What mainstream radio could learn from digital-first stations
• Year two plans: more interviews, podcasts, events, and partnerships like the National Trans Visibility March in Puerto Rico and the Wavies
• How independent queer artists can pitch their music
• A message for anyone listening from the closet

Listen to Pride 365 Radio:

• Website: pride365.org
• Instagram: @pride365radio
• Available on iHeartRadio, Apple Music, TuneIn, Live365, the Audacy app and Amazon Alexa (search “Pride 365”)

Have feedback or a guest suggestion? Email [email protected]

Podcast song by SIXFOOT 5: https://www.sixfoot5prod.com

Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sixfoot-5/1551774977

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rHMzoU0G0fLhaBsrQiOOY?si=laSZ5hiKTYubJJyhrzf2JQ

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From a tiny shed in Yorkshire, surrounded by tools and sawdust, Paul has built a YouTube following of nearly 22,000 people by doing something simple: talking honestly about what it’s like to be a 49-year-old man who happens to be gay.

Zach first found Paul when his videos started popping up in his YouTube Shorts, and he’s been hooked ever since. In this episode, Paul shares how he spent years living a lie in a small rural town in Cumbria, going on dates with women to fit in, until a serious accident at 34 made him rethink everything. He opens up about coming out to his sister first, the overwhelmingly supportive response from his family, and the relief of finally being himself.

Paul and Zach also talk about:

• Why the shed became his “safe space” and the heart of his channel
• Growing up gay in a town of 2,000 people with no gay pubs or visible community
• Breaking the stereotype: a gay bloke who loves fast cars, engines, woodworking, and dogs
• Meeting his partner, and who’s actually better at DIY
• Whether he regrets not coming out in his twenties
• How his coming out paved the way for his nephew to come out too
• The viral, tongue-in-cheek “Sorry I’m Gay” video
• Trolls, and the community that shows up to defend him
• A viewer who emailed him ten times on his journey from closeted to out and clubbing with coworkers
• Loneliness, anxiety, stress, and the friendships men lose between 40 and 60
• How he views anti-LGBTQ+ news coming out of the US
• What he’d tell his 25-year-old self

• His dream of inviting guests into the shed (if he can find a bigger one)

   

• Find Paul at: https://www.youtube.com/@PaulsShedTalk
• https://www.instagram.com/paulsshedtalk/
• https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579115649928

Podcast song by SIXFOOT 5: https://www.sixfoot5prod.com

Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sixfoot-5/1551774977

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rHMzoU0G0fLhaBsrQiOOY?si=laSZ5hiKTYubJJyhrzf2JQ

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What happens when you finally put down the weight you’ve been carrying since you were five years old?

Ray Aubel is a hypnotist and coach who works mostly with gay men on the patterns that form from growing up hidden: the masks, the performing, the feeling of being different before you even had a word for it. Zach and Ray get into how hypnosis actually works, why Ray went from atheist to believer after visiting two of his own past lives, and what he’s seeing in clients right now as political news stirs up old fears.

They also talk about the growing divide between cis gay men and the trans community, the “I have a gay friend” brand of performative allyship, why straight men are afraid to admit another guy looks good, and the surprising number of listeners tuning in from countries where being gay is illegal.

Connect with Ray Aubel:

• Website and scheduling: intuitivemindhypnosis.com 
• Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok: @ray.aubel

Resources mentioned:

• Rainbow Railroad: rainbowrailroad.org

Podcast song by SIXFOOT 5: https://www.sixfoot5prod.com

Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sixfoot-5/1551774977

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rHMzoU0G0fLhaBsrQiOOY?si=laSZ5hiKTYubJJyhrzf2JQ

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In a rare serious episode of the Gay Bit, Zach Randles-Friedman makes his final pre-election case for voting in the November 3 midterms. He covers the first-ever anti-trans measures to go directly to voters, including Missouri’s Amendment 3, Colorado’s measures, and Arizona’s HCR 2003, along with Virginia’s vote to remove its constitutional same-sex marriage ban and the flood of anti-LGBTQ+ bills filed in 2026. He also covers what everyone is feeling: inflation back up to 3.7%, record diesel prices, and a costly Iran war now in its eighth month. Zach reminds listeners how confident polls were in 2016, and that the race came down to fewer than 78,000 votes across three states. His message is simple: every vote counts, so make a plan and go vote.

Podcast song by SIXFOOT 5: https://www.sixfoot5prod.com

Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sixfoot-5/1551774977

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rHMzoU0G0fLhaBsrQiOOY?si=laSZ5hiKTYubJJyhrzf2JQ

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

October is LGBTQ+ History Month, and on this solo episode of This Is Everything, Zach takes you on a whirlwind tour through thousands of years of queer history — the heroes, the heartbreaks, and the hard-won victories most of us were never taught in school.

Zach starts with a candid take on religion and where homophobia really comes from (spoiler: the word “homosexual” didn’t appear in an English Bible until 1946, and Jesus never said a word about same-sex love). From there, it’s a journey through ancient Greece and Rome, the poet Sappho of Lesbos, and the Two-Spirit traditions of Indigenous North America.

Then the timeline gets real: England’s 1533 sodomy law and its colonial legacy, Oscar Wilde’s trial, Magnus Hirschfeld’s pioneering institute in Germany and its destruction by the Nazis, the pink triangle, Alan Turing’s conviction after helping win World War II, the Lavender Scare and Frank Kameny’s fight back, and Christine Jorgensen making international headlines.

Zach honors the civil rights connection through Bayard Rustin, Pauli Murray, and James Baldwin, then moves through Compton’s Cafeteria, Stonewall, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, the first Pride March, Harvey Milk, and the 1973 removal of homosexuality from the list of mental disorders.

He also gets personal, sharing what it was like growing up during the AIDS crisis in Miami, losing friends on South Beach, waiting days for HIV test results, and why he and his husband Andrew celebrate the day they met instead of their wedding day.

The episode closes with marriage equality’s long road — DOMA, Edie Windsor, Jim Obergefell — and today’s front line: transgender rights. Because we are a community of survivors, and these stories deserve to be told.

Podcast song by SIXFOOT 5: https://www.sixfoot5prod.com

Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sixfoot-5/1551774977

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rHMzoU0G0fLhaBsrQiOOY?si=laSZ5hiKTYubJJyhrzf2JQ

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What does a 25-year open marriage actually look like, and what happens when you let Showtime cameras into the bedroom? Zach sits down with KamalaDevi McClure, a sex and relationship coach, tantra teacher, author of seven books and former star of Showtime’s Polyamory: Married & Dating. She’s here to talk about her new memoir, One Fool’s Journey.

KamalaDevi explains how she told her future husband she was bisexual and polyamorous before she’d even give him her number, and how their second date included a third person. She breaks down the difference between polyamory and open relationships. She also covers why “you can have sex but you can’t fall in love” is a swinger agreement, not polyamory, and how couples build “designer relationships” outside the mononormative script. Zach, who has been monogamous with his husband for nearly 28 years, asks the questions many listeners are probably wondering about.

The two go behind the scenes of reality TV. KamalaDevi refused to let Showtime cut her young son from the show, set firm boundaries against staged sex, and had a contract barring her from talking about God or spirituality on camera. She shares how a solstice hike to Machu Picchu on her 50th birthday inspired the book. The memoir is structured around the 22 tarot archetypes and comes with a reimagined queer, poly and kinky companion deck. She also opens up for the first time about her experience as a “soul walk-in.”

Find KamalaDevi:

• Website, newsletter and a free sample chapter: kamaladevi.com
• Book: One Fool’s Journey https://kamaladevi.com/landing-page/ 

Podcast song by SIXFOOT 5: https://www.sixfoot5prod.com

Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sixfoot-5/1551774977

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rHMzoU0G0fLhaBsrQiOOY?si=laSZ5hiKTYubJJyhrzf2JQ

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Is your company committed to inclusion, or was it only ever for show? Celeste Warren, a diversity and inclusion leader with nearly 30 years at Global Fortune 100 companies and author of The Truth About Equity, joins Zach for a candid conversation about belonging at work. She shares the early-career moment that shaped her mission: presenting her own project to a room of men who directed every question to her boss. Zach and Celeste get real about tokenism, the myth that diverse hiring lowers the bar, and the wave of corporate retreats from DEI and Pride sponsorships. Celeste explains why performative programs fall apart so easily, why social progress moves like a pendulum, and why customers, employees, and shareholders need to remember who stood up during hard times. She also leaves CEOs with one challenge and listeners with a reminder that waiting isn’t enough. We have to act.

Connect with Celeste Warren:
Website: https://crwdiversity.com/ 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/celestewarrenllc 
Instagram: @CRWDiversity
Also on Facebook and Substack
Book: The Truth About Equity
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1967587000?lv=shuf&psc=1&th=1&tag=bk00010a-20&geniuslink=true&channelId=1&plpRedirect=mhFallback 

Connect with Zach:
everythingandanythingpodcast.com | @TheRealZachRE

Podcast song by SIXFOOT 5: https://www.sixfoot5prod.com

Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sixfoot-5/1551774977

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rHMzoU0G0fLhaBsrQiOOY?si=laSZ5hiKTYubJJyhrzf2JQ

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on The Gay Bit, Zach goes all in on a theory that’s been all over the internet: is Donald Trump slowly coming out? With a clear disclaimer that everything here is his opinion, Zach plays a series of rally clips in which the president gushes over men’s muscles, hands and bodies, offers to kiss every guy in the room, recalls what athletes said coming out of the showers, and pantomimes with a microphone in a way no one in the crowd could miss.

Zach asks why a man who claims to be straight talks about men like this in public, and why the loudest anti-LGBTQ voices so often seem the most fascinated by queer people. He takes on Pete Hegseth’s push for testosterone for soldiers while gender-affirming care for trans people is stripped away, calls out the double standard, and points to the 800+ anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in 2026.

He also offers Trump some free advice (a gay hairdresser, a gay makeup artist, and an end to the orange), an invitation to come out on the podcast, and a firm “no thanks” on joining the LGBTQ+ community. The episode closes with a turn to the real-world fallout: the Iran war, depleted munitions, the Strait of Hormuz, soaring gas and diesel prices, and Republican farmers who say they’re done.

In this episode:

• Trump’s rally clips about men’s bodies, hands and showers
• Drag, Rudy Giuliani and the anti-LGBTQ hypocrisy
• Pete Hegseth, testosterone shots and the gender-affirming care double standard
• 800+ anti-LGBTQ bills in 2026
• “Get a gay hairdresser”: a makeover intervention
• Iran, gas prices and voters flipping before the midterms

Everything in this episode is Zach’s personal opinion and commentary, for entertainment.

New guest episode every Sunday. Send feedback to [email protected] and follow @TheRealZachRE.

Podcast song by SIXFOOT 5: https://www.sixfoot5prod.com

Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sixfoot-5/1551774977

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rHMzoU0G0fLhaBsrQiOOY?si=laSZ5hiKTYubJJyhrzf2JQ

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

They met at a New York coffee shop, both quietly working on music, and didn’t speak for an hour. Eight years later, singer-songwriter John Coons and adult performer and former Broadway music director Jonah Wheeler are touring the country as self-described “adult cabaret clowns” with their new show, Double InDUMBnity.

In this episode, Zach talks with the couple about building a creative partnership inside a romantic one, from a song that took a year and a half to finish to the Monday-night cabaret bootcamp at Club Cumming that got them started. They explain what people get wrong about cabaret, what people get wrong about kink, and why the show leads with dumb jokes but keeps leaving audiences in tears.

They also get candid about Jonah’s move into adult film during the pandemic, how John made peace with it (with the help of a Mary Poppins Returns–themed party), and the assumptions people make about each of them as a result. Plus: drag queens on bicycles in Provincetown, seven weeks of shows in Puerto Vallarta, a fake infomercial of filthy 1940s gay standards, and the one person they’d love to see in the audience.
NYC: 
The Green Room 42 Tickets (October 23): https://thegreenroom42.venuetix.com/showdetails/gAjapBDBnL0zxWLfpFdz/pHwSfqHpUIW2s8dHppPy 

Palm Springs: 
Toucans in Palm Springs, CA (November 5): 
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/toucanstikilounge/2426108 

Podcast song by SIXFOOT 5: https://www.sixfoot5prod.com

Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sixfoot-5/1551774977

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rHMzoU0G0fLhaBsrQiOOY?si=laSZ5hiKTYubJJyhrzf2JQ

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.