The Gay American Life

In this episode, James & Franco talk about the covid urban exodus and how they have traded their big-city  lives for the quieter pace of the desert and the mountains. 
They also talk to their friend Frank Vignola about his upcoming book ‘Crafting Masculinity’ and about his journey from teenage turmoil and drug addiction to life coach.

James & Franco...MIA for the last several months. We're back...catching you up on what's been going on in our lives and our plans for The Gay American Life. Recorded in our new Palm Springs studio.

Franco and I talk about when I knew I was gay and we blame it on too much adult tv and Aaron Spelling. Then I call a childhood church friend to validate a memory about playing with dolls and discussing their genitalia. And then we speak with author Rex Ogle about his recently published autobiographical book 'Free Lunch' and the events of his youth that inspired it.

In this episode, James discovers the world of Club Cobra & Club Chico and meets a new set of friends. Franco and James sit down with Gaby, one of those friends to talk about her experiences growing up in Ecuador, moving the the U.S. as a teenager, coming out as a trans-woman, and what it's like to work as a performer and bartender in such a glamorous way when you are the quiet type.

Dating through apps...meeting people through apps...What's that like now compared to before we had them. Is it really better to have someone's details before the first date? What was life like when we didn't. Are we addicted to endorphins from likes?

James & Franco cover religion...what it was like growing up gay and trying to reconcile our sexuality with our spirituality. I talk about my college days in a cult, caught between the rock of Jesus and a 'hard' place. Then we talk to our buddy filmmaker/actor/director Anthony Caruso who wrote/directed/starred in 'Brotherly Love' about how his film got made...a film about a brother in the Catholic Church struggling to choose between a life of chastity and true love.

James & Franco's first episode! We talk about how we were inspired to create a podcast, the technical and creative aspects of the process of creating it, James' first high school sex tape, future guests, and how one of our friends is probably a gay Russian operative.