RETCON Podcast

Josh records from a van in Montana, and TJ turns the mic on him.

Growing up in Tulsa. Getting pulled out of class for gifted and talented and spending almost 30 years making himself smaller. A guy telling a 16-year-old he'd never help anybody because he didn't have a story, and why Barry Allen proved him wrong. Body image, shirts vs skins, and the day he took his shirt off at DOPE. Matt, Charlie, and a Halloween costume. And Mema, the person who taught him what unconditional love looks like and how to play cards by rules nobody else used.

We retcon the entire history of a relationship based on how it ends. Which one are you still telling that way?

Hosts: Josh Gill (@joshgill_alteredstate) and TJ Toler (@tjunderscoretoler)

@retcon_pod

Two guys who’ve each torn their lives down and rebuilt them sit down to figure out what this show is.

In the first issue of Retcon, Josh and TJ get into why they finally said yes to a podcast, and then TJ takes the chair. He lost nearly 200 pounds the hard way. He spent years expecting to die at 42 because his dad did. And he built a business for someone else before asking why he needed permission to build one for himself.

From there: why “good enough” is the quicksand nobody warned us about, why being proud of yourself isn’t the same as being cocky, how discipline is the echo of an old obsession, and what losing a parent does to the way you think about legacy. Josh closes with the moment on an Oklahoma turnpike when he pulled over and sent a message that changed everything.

You can’t change what happened. You can change what it means and what you do next.

Chapters
00:00 Cold open
00:38 Lazy Boys and energy drinks
03:43 Why we’re doing this
05:57 Two dudes with mics
07:45 TJ’s 200-pound weight loss
12:05 Rock bottom and TJ’s dad
18:02 Building it for someone else first
21:53 Good enough is quicksand
27:11 Defining success for yourself
29:08 Opportunity now vs 30 years ago
32:00 The problem that hasn’t beaten us yet
35:03 Proud vs humble
39:08 When the wins stop getting applause
42:00 Discipline, motivation, obsession
47:17 Adulting
48:52 Losing a parent and thinking about legacy
56:51 Isolation and Josh’s rock bottom
59:05 The turnpike and the DM
65:05 Jumping before you’re ready

Follow the show: @retcon_pod
Josh: @therealjoshgill
TJ: @tjunderscoretoler