Digital Social Hour - "I Regret My Viral Days": YouTuber Tells All | Andrew Hales DSH #952

Episode Date: December 5, 2024

"I Regret My Viral Days": Former YouTube prankster Andrew Hills opens up about his wild journey! 🎥👀 From viral fame to sobriety, Andrew shares it all in this raw and honest conversation. Discover how Andrew's life changed after his prank videos blew up, reaching 1 million subscribers in just a year! 🚀 He dishes on the struggles of fame, battling addiction, and finding a new purpose through his "Chatting With" podcast series. Andrew gets real about: • The dark side of viral fame 😱 • His journey to 400+ days of sobriety 💪 • Exploring controversial topics on his new show 🎙️ • The moral dilemmas of creating content 🤔 Plus, we dive into hot topics like crypto, NoFap, and the future of podcasting! 💰🎧 Don't miss this eye-opening conversation that'll make you rethink viral fame. Hit play now and join the discussion! 🗣️ Subscribe for more captivating stories on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! #AndrewHills #ViralFame #PodcastingJourney #DigitalSocialHour #SeanKelly #socialmediamarketing #contentcreation #contentcreationmistakes #socialmediastrategy #howtostartapodcast CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:28 - Recent Episodes of Chatting with 01:48 - Daniel's Political Views 04:52 - Adderall and Mental Health 06:07 - Benefits of Therapy 06:25 - Exploring Psychedelics 07:16 - Understanding Mental Health 08:40 - Importance of Vitamin D 10:04 - David's Journey to Sobriety 14:34 - David Dobrik and Future Pranks 16:40 - Pranks David Regrets 17:30 - Growing Up Mormon: David's Experience 19:48 - Upcoming Podcast Guests 20:44 - Why Not Interview Celebrities? 23:10 - Current Shows and Movies 23:44 - Podcast Acquisitions Insights 25:08 - Depression from Wealth 27:14 - Cryptocurrency Discussion 29:33 - Benefits of Running 32:20 - Handling Backlash 35:40 - Political Views in Content Creation 37:28 - Impact of Political Views on Content 39:43 - Wrapping Up APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail] GUEST: Andrew Hales https://www.instagram.com/mrhales109/ https://www.youtube.com/lahwf SPONSORS: BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com/DSH LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's like a once a month type thing. No, I get crippling anxiety, especially edibles. You gotta take a tiny bit and then wait like two hours. Yeah. And then sometimes when you don't feel like you take more and that's when it gets sketchy. Right. Yeah. All right guys, Andrew Hales.

We are in Nashville, Tennessee. This is where you film your show too, right? Yep. All right, so you interview all walks of life. What have been some recent episodes? Let's see, what a, Day Trader, I'm like going blank right now. No, I know you've done Gambler,

Crohn's disease, Transgender. Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's over, or he's over in- You gotta be tricky with that word these days. Well, yeah, he's over in Leeds England or somewhere around there. Yeah. Okay. Was there some common ground you found on that one? Yeah. Yeah I try I always just try to you know, it's why I call it chatting with I just try to keep it low-key And yeah, like you're like you're a guy in a bar asking basic questions, you know So do you try to stay neutral on those or do you feel yourself having some personal bias

going into it and then kind of combating their argument? Neutral, for sure. I'm not really, I thought about like, you know, taking a hard stance on things and like getting political per se, but I'm not quite ready yet. Yeah. Yeah. Are you scared of just, I guess, cancel culture still?

Yeah, definitely. I feel like it's not as bad as it used to be though. Yeah, there's definitely like a pushback and so that's nice. But yeah, like I would have never because I remember I posted a Trump thing like four years ago and a ton of people hated it. Yeah, but I'm more comfortable posting about Trump these days. It's a right. Yeah.

Well, YouTube, I feel like is definitely more pro trump than most or other platforms but i really youtube is yeah i don't know well i've i've posted like left-winging stuff like in 2020 i posted something about black lives matter or something yeah i was pretty much for it and uh i got a lot of hate that. They got me on that one. I donated to that one. Oh, I didn't have money to donate, but yeah. No, I fell for that one though. I wouldn't support that. Oh, shit. So you donated then you changed your mind? Well, did you see all the stuff come out after about how like some of them were buying houses and stuff?

Yeah, I heard about that. Yeah, so I was like, wow, that's where my money went. Yeah, you got to be careful about pretty much all charities. Yeah. So you said you didn't have money, though. I thought the YouTube was doing pretty well at that time. Well, 2020 was OK. But no, around 2020 is when my channel started to go downhill.

OK. And I started to struggle. Was that due to a lack of, like, did you feel burnt out? Yeah, that discipline? I Was partying a lot. Mm-hmm. I caught up in the party scene. Yeah, just unfocused Yeah, well not even that I was just you know, we're Especially the like I just met this girl and we were just kind of drinking every day for like a month or so

Oh, wow. Yeah, cuz I remember, I was watching you in the 18, 1920 and you were one of the fastest growing channels I believe around that time, right? 2020? No, no, 2012 and 13 were my heyday. I blew up to like a million subscribers within a year or so. Super fast, yeah, I remember that. Like I saw you at around a hundred K

and then you were at a million. Yeah, yeah, that was the prank days. Oh yeah, you call it the Vitali days. Yes Yeah, and you were walking up to girls on college campus and just doing weird stuff But not just girls, but yeah, I did I did do a lot of like a little pickup videos. Nice 12 years younger, but so so did you have a lot of confidence back then? Yeah, yeah I mean I kind, I made a little expose on myself about how I'd take Adderall.

And that would give me some artificial confidence. Interesting. Adderall. Yeah. I titled it King of Awkward, a film about Adderall. And I was just kind of exploring what's ADD and Adderall in general and how that makes you feel unstoppable, you know.

Interesting, are you still taking it? Yeah, I take like a low dose extended version of it now. Okay, that's fascinating. So I was prescribed ADHD. I don't know the difference with ADD and ADHD, but it's similar, right? Yeah, I think. So they tried putting me on that in like fourth grade.

Wow. Which is, I feel like it's a little too early. Yeah, definitely. I think I mean, yeah, it's over prescribed for sure. I think so too. Yeah, but it sounds like yours was pretty severe. So yeah, I don't know. I got on it like when I was 21. So what are you taking it now? I'm not I'm actually pretty against most Western drugs. So that's probably where we differ. All right. Yeah, yeah, you mentioned psilocybin. I would rather take psilocybin in a microdose form

than Adderall. Is it legal or you get it illegally? It's decriminalized and it's growing. This episode is. Kick off an exciting football season with Bet MGM, an official sports book partner of the National Football League. Yard after yard, down after down,

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to jump straight onto the gridiron and to embrace peak sports action. Ready for another season of gridiron glory? What are you waiting for? Get off the bench, into the huddle, and head for the end zone all season long. Visit betmgm.com for terms and conditions. Must be 19 years of age or older. Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly.

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and it helped me go through some tough times when I was in college dealing with mental health. I was on prescription medication. I actually had agoraphobia when I was in college and therapy helped me figure out some answers on how to fix that problem. For two months I couldn't even leave my house or I would have a full on panic attack.

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No, you won't hallucinate or anything. Is that what scares you about psychedelics? Yeah, for sure. So you've never taken a psychedelic? Wow. Well, unless you include ketamine as a psychedelic. Ketamine, it might be. Were you seeing stuff on it? No. Well, yeah, if you take enough of it.

Okay. So it might be one. I don't know. Haven't tried that one, man. Yeah. Well, no, it was in a doctor's, it was like legal, you know, in the infusions. Oh. That whole wave. Yeah. So you did the ketamine therapy. Right. It's guided, right? Yeah. Well, they don't know. They just sit you in a chair and put it and hook you up.

And then you just hallucinate a little bit for an hour. Oh, wow. Any big takeaways from that experience? Yeah. You feel lighter for the next month or so. OK. It's supposed to build glutamate in your brain or something. Interesting.

It helps with depression. Yeah, it's supposed to be a huge breakthrough in treating depression. So were you dealing with some mental stuff at that time? Yeah, I've kind of always had low energy and whatever, all melancholy my whole life. Yeah, have you tested your testosterone levels? Because that could be related. Yeah, I've wondered about that.

And I would love to get on TRT, but I'm worried about getting infertile and I got to pump out some kids first with Carly. That's true. Yeah it's the game we play as men right? Yeah. Are you on TRT? I'm not but I raised mine naturally. Okay. Yeah. So I was out of 520 which is decent but you could take these herbal supplements to get you up. It gets harder as you age. So you're 34 you said? you said in more ways than one yeah or no you're right yeah it does decline as you age right so you're starting to drop 1% a year I believe around that age right right no I the last time I checked I I

don't even remember what it was it was in the like low to mid-range yeah but yeah I'd love to I'll put you on yeah shout out to Gary Brekka man. Get some gear. Dude those blood tests I used to be like scared of needles and stuff so I wouldn't take them and then you think in your 20s you're just invincible but that shit rocked my world. I was very deficient in a lot of things. Really? Yeah okay. Vitamin D was messed up, vitamin C, white blood cell count. Yeah I definitely noticed when I take vitamin D, I feel a lot better. Yeah, that's a big one, because that kind of controls everything.

Yeah, that and magnesium. Yeah. Right. Yeah, we're getting older, man. We got to be supplementing. No. And we're only in our 20s and 30s. Imagine when we get even. Yeah, and we got all this plastic in our bloodstream,

which I've heard is theorized that that's causing a lot of low T in men. Yep, it's in our balls. 100% of balls. And the radiation from our cell phones is another possibility. Which is in our pockets right now. Right.

We're just constantly attacking our bodies. Yeah. I try not to get too lost in it because there's some people that take a little extreme, you know, right? The health stuff. Yeah, you can't get too crazy about it. Like there's cold plunging, which is, I don't know.

I do that, I love that. Oh, you do it? Yeah, yeah. Wow, what temperature? I try to get it to 45. Dude, that's cold. It is, yeah, it's hard. How long are you in there?

The first minute's like agonizing, but then the next like five minutes are fine, and then you get out and you feel great. Okay. Well, there's some upstairs, so I might have to try it after this. What do you mean? I just went on the roof, there's two tubs up there. And they're already cold. Yeah. Oh, we should have did that before this that would have been cool

Yeah, we would have been amped up that honestly works better for me than up taking a monster really. Yeah, it really like Triggers like a bunch of chemicals in wow. Yeah, okay. You never done it. I've done a cold shower, but that's probably nothing close Sure, I don't like showers because it's like constantly cold in one area. You know, then the plunge you can and it's more relaxing. You can't prevent early mornings, but you can help prevent certain HPV related cancers with Gardasil 9. Approximately 75% of sexually active Canadians will get HPV in their lifetime. Gardasil 9 helps protect against certain cancers and diseases caused by certain HPV types. It does not treat HPV infections, cancers, and diseases, and may not protect everyone who gets vaccinated.

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just a realization that you gotta get going going and you got to take care of yourself and I Did read some books that helped change my mind about it and helped me like change my paradigm of alcohol I think it's called a sober on a drunk planet. Mm-hmm. I forgot the author but that was really good So on a drunk planet, what a name for a book. Yeah Well, it's true. It's like the hardest, it's because it's everywhere, and it's the one drug that you have to explain to people why you don't drink.

Really? Yeah, because everyone pressures you to drink. Don't you feel like that? Yeah, I'm sober right now, but there's definitely wherever you go, alcohol is there, so it's everywhere for sure. How long have you sobered before? Well, I say sober, but I'll have right now, but there's definitely wherever you go, like alcohol is there. Yeah. So it's everywhere for sure. How long you sober before?

Well, I say sober, but like I'll have a drink, but I won't get drunk. So I haven't been drunk in six years. Nice. And I used to get drunk like four or five times a week in college. See, yeah, I mean, I never understood the point of just having one drink, you know.

I do it to socialize, it loosens me up a little bit, but yeah. I'm not a fan of just drinking in general, to be honest. Well, that's good. Though I feel like the reward to risk ratio isn't really there. Yeah. You know, you're damaging your body and trying to fit in with people that... Yeah, well, one monkey that is on my back though is Kratom. You heard of that?

I have, what does that do? It just makes you feel good. Is it like an upper? It's supposedly, it's technically a stimulant, but yeah, it's this green powder. You swish it in a tea, and you drink it. And it's kind of like a natural opioid in a way. OK.

So you're taking that? Yeah, I've been taking that the last year. And that helped a lot, weaning off alcohol. Because it's like, when I'll get an urge to drink, I'll just get that. Yeah, I've seen it sold at gas stations, right? Yeah. Yeah, it's sketchy.

You can get it at smoke shops or online. And the legality of it is a little gray and it's banned in some states. Like CBD and then? Yeah, yeah. There's a lot of similarities to weed but it doesn't feel like weed, but it's yeah. Have you tried this nicotine wave out?

These Zins are everywhere, man. Oh yeah, yeah. Well, it kind of goes like cigarettes and then you taper to vaping and and then vaping to Zins, and then Zins. And right now I'm on Zins. How is that? I haven't tried it?

They're fine. They keep the demons at bay. I actually heard nicotine isn't as bad as you think for you. Really? Yeah. So the part of the cigarette that's not good is the stuff they add. It's not the nicotine.

That's what I've heard, at least. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I know Zins are, they're probably better than vaping at least for your lungs. Oh, sure. So you have a nicotine addiction? No, my dad used to chew those yellow nicotine squares. And I thought they were disgusting growing up,

but no, the vape pens, man, I used to smoke those in college and that was messing me up. Yeah. There's a lot of things you get Gen Z vaping took hold of Gen Z you know it's bad yeah it's real bad I have a lot of you know zoomer friends and they're always vaping yeah so do you like weed or cigarettes more tobacco more yeah weed yeah for sure but I weed like, I don't know. I have to be in the mood for it. I don't have a problem with weed.

Yeah. I get anxiety off it. Yeah. Yeah. Like I, it's like a once a month type thing. No, I get crippling anxiety, especially edibles. Oh yeah. I feel like I'm dying. No edibles, you gotta be,

you gotta take a tiny bit and then wait like two hours. Yeah. And then sometimes when you don't feel it, you take more and that's when it gets sketchy. Right, yeah. And it sucks if you take too much and you're just violently high. Yeah.

Oh man. There's nothing worse than that. Do you see pranks ever making a comeback? You see yourself ever doing that type of content again? Yeah, I've thought about it. Just for the views to, you know, bring in some cash. But it's, I don't know.

I, it's, part of me feels like the wave is over and it's like, I just, it's not really, I feel like it's almost impossible to make good content that way. But the other part of me is like, nah, that's just in my head. So I don't know. I love the honesty. Well, I guess you won't truly know until you try it.

And now live streaming is pretty hot and people are doing some weird pranks on those. Yeah. Yeah, and then I like, you know, I'll get all philosophical. I'm like, oh, is this wrong? Like, and I'll get in my head so much. Like, oh, I shouldn't be filming people, you know?

And I just don't want to, I'm just, at the end of the day, I just feel like I'm a little too mature to be filming strangers and like exploiting them. But then I kind of wake up the next day and I'm like, oh, maybe I'm just, that's, they don't care, you know? So you got that moral dilemma. It's interesting you say that cuz Gideon I'm not sure if you followed what happened with him, but one of the biggest pranksters of recent era

Have you seen his stuff? I'm not sure I don't think so. Okay. He was a big live streamer But I became one of the biggest pranksters and then went through this whole moral dilemma where he quit pranking overnight became super religious Wow started reading the Bible on stream and stuff But that only no, it's crazy. You should look it up, but then not only lasted a certain amount of time, and now he's back to pranking.

But doing it more in a ethical way, I guess. Because before some of his pranks would get people fired. Oh. Like he would fake being an employee. I would feel really bad about that. Yeah, and then like he'd fake being employed at Target, and then some guys got fired or something Interesting. Yeah, you definitely I mean some of them you kind of have to be a sociopath, you know

To do and just not have feelings for other people when you're doing it. That's true. There. Yeah, there is like some there are some certain Prank ideas where it's it's pretty much harmless. Any pranks you regret that you still think about? Probably, yeah, any like the trying to kiss girls where I would just like awkwardly in the library, I would like kind of walk in and you make eye contact and then you just slowly lean towards them and then they, what are you doing?

And so that's, I wouldn't, I would never do anything like that now. Cause that's- I'd get you canceled now. Yeah. I'd get you a charge probably these days. Yeah. Yeah. I'm surprised no one called the cops on you back then.

I know. I don't know. You're one of those pranksters that's never been arrested. I feel like all those guys got arrested back in the day. Yeah. I did get kicked off the BYU after like the 10th or 20th prank and then like UVU a little bit but BYU must have been interesting all the Mormons there and you grew up Mormon, right? Yeah. Yeah

So you were probably used to that but that always interests me the Mormon culture. Yeah. Yeah, you know any Mormon friends? I do I'm actually really close friends with a few of them. Cool. Yeah, I haven't really been active since I moved out, so... Really? So you kind of left it? Yeah. It is interesting to see some of them get really wrapped up in that lifestyle. Yeah, I mean, yeah, like about half my friends and family are Mormon, so I don't... I try not to... You know, you hate the belief I try not to, you know,

you hate the belief, not the believer, you know? So. Right, cause they think they're doing the right thing. Right. So it's not them. Yeah, everyone that kind of has their own little religions, you know, like no fap is kind of something I'm into. Really?

Yeah, a lot of people kind of think it's a little loony, you know? I like no porn. I'm a believer in that. All right, yeah, that's good. No faps like the next level though. So how long you been practicing that or do you go through periods where you're doing it?

Yeah, no, I usually, I don't go more than a couple of weeks. So I know I'm definitely not, I just know that like, so like in preparation for a video or something important, I won't abstain from porn masturbation for leading up to it for at least like five days. Oh, that will give me like an extra aura. But that's it could be all in my head. Could be Yeah, some fighters practice it though. So there's

there's something there like boxers. No, I like that, though. Yeah. Muhammad Ali, I think, Ali I think you know he wouldn't have sex and all that before a fight and Mike Tyson I think he was quoted saying something like that so. Yeah there's something there I've seen one video where it's like no fap for a year I'm like all right that's a little that's a little extreme you know. Yeah I mean it's it's hard to tell because it's like sometimes you release and you feel like a lot better because then you got that clarity, you know? And so it's, I don't know.

Sometimes you release, you feel like shit though. Right, so it's like, I don't know. Yeah, I wonder if someone could solve that problem. What's causing that, you know? Right. Because that's the worst, like, when you feel like shit after. Yeah.

You kind of just Yeah, you're definitely less motivated. Yeah, you got any guests booked for the chatting with series that you're interested or excited about coming up Yeah right now I got like a guy with Tourette's I'm gonna talk to soon It's another guy I got a bunch, a guy with bipolar one should be good. This girl that's like a dating coach for the last 10 years. Interesting. Yeah, we're chugging along.

What's your kind of goal with this? Are you just genuinely interested in these lifestyles? Yeah, I mean, the interviews are easy and podcasts are really hot right now. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, if they don't really pick up right now, it's not really doing that well, like 10, 20k views each. And if they don't pick up in like the next month or just two or whatever, I'll probably start vlogging again or something. Oh, go.

Or try something different. Yeah. Your angle interests me because you could have had on all your friends all your celebrities and yeah did the normal route But you and Tosh point Oh and a different route. I forget his name, but where you just interview like ordinary people. Yeah. Yeah Theo Vaughn no Tosh point Oh, right, but Theo Vaughn also has like ordinary people too. Well, he has on celebrities, too Yeah, yeah, but yeah, he has on celebrities too. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, he's had on some ordinary people. Yeah, in my opinion, like celebrities are, you know, when I first did the chatting was I had like a bunch

of big YouTubers and friends and I don't know really, I don't know what to ask them. It's like, I don't know, it's harder to keep my attention cause I don't know, I don't really, it's like, keep my attention because I don't know, I don't really, it's like, I kind of feel like I have them figured out, you know? Plus they're at a higher risk of getting canceled. So they won't be as honest from my experience at least,

because I've had on some notable people and it doesn't feel as authentic with them generally. Yeah, it's a little more sterile. Yeah, so that's the game you gotta play. Yeah. Yeah, because when you go to A-list, I mean, they're giving robotic answers. Yeah. Yeah, cuz when you go to a list, I mean they're giving robotic answers Yeah, it sucks. You know, who's the biggest guest you had in terms of fame?

Sure, cuz I've had on people you've never heard about getting millions of views but in terms of fame, I'd say howie mendel He's probably the number one guy. Yeah his son. I know it was a big YouTuber. Oh yeah. For a little bit. I don't know what he's doing now but um yeah I what's funny is you heard of Tim Ferriss? Yeah you met him right? Yeah I interviewed him like really three four years before I ever started doing the interviews. Whoa that must have been a really impressive. And I thought about bringing it up and just reposting it as a chatting with. You should. Yeah.

It's only audio, though. Oh, what? Yeah. And I just did it with my phone on the side of the street in San Francisco. Oh, you ran into him. No. We met up to do a video, and we did

hugging people in the park or something. And then I just, as a bonus, I just interviewed him for like 20 minutes I think with my phone. Dude that's a legend right there. Yeah and it's just ironic because he's like the biggest has probably the most prestigious guest I've ever or person I've ever met and so he's up there man he's probably top five or top 10 show of all time I'd say. Yeah I used to watch all his episodes but no I No, I love his book. Yeah, his book's great. Some of his episodes are too smart for me. Yeah.

I can't even understand it. Yeah, no, he gets very analytical, for sure. What shows are you watching and studying right now? Not much lately. I've been kind of just watching, just been listening to Theo Vaughn's podcast a lot, Smart List, what else? I'll listen to books on tape, I'll play video games.

They'll kill Tony is a big one. I just started that one. Yeah, I listened to Theo, I just saw his with Trump. That was interesting. That blew up, that got like 10 million views in a few days. I'm telling you, man, I'm excited about future podcasts. Did you know this year alone, there's been six acquisitions,

over $80 million in the podcast space? That's insane. Yeah. Man. I think Theo is probably gonna be next. And I think... Like Spotify picks them up or something? Spotify, SiriusXM, there's one other company,

Smartlist, the show you watch, got acquired for a hundred million this year. Damn. Wow. Like syndication rights or? Yeah, I think the way it works from what I've seen, Heartless, the show you watch got acquired for a hundred million this year. Damn. Wow. Like syndication rights or? Yeah. I think the way it works from what I've seen, because Rogan sold this year for 250, is they

take all the money from the sponsors and they use that to recoup their money that they pay you. Wow. So they're seeing it as like an investment that they'll make back over time. Right. Because these shows are making a ton of sponsors. I don't know their exact numbers, but I'd assume millions every year they're making back. Crazy.

So they could put up 50 million for Theo Von's show and make that back in however long. Yeah. So that's my goal at least. It's super competitive. Very. Feels like everyone has a podcast now. Everyone does, but the 1% are just way ahead of everyone.

It's really hard to catch up to the top shows. Yes. Like super shows. Yes. Like super hard. Yeah. Like there's so many podcasts, but not a lot of them get views. Right. Yeah.

Super hard. Is that a goal for you to sell your show one day? Yeah, I guess, yeah, obviously that'd be great. But I don't know, I've always kind of just done my own thing and like doing my own thing. But yeah, I gotta sit down and write and focus more. Do you meditate? Depends.

Not the traditional sense of sitting there and humming and chanting, but this forms. It sounds like you made a big paycheck with the crypto. Made a lot in crypto and then I sold my crypto company. Okay. So I'm in a weird spot where I could have retired at 25. Yeah. But it was depressing.

Like this is getting to sound weird, but I had so much money and like didn't know what to do. Yeah, no, I've been in that position, not too much money, but where you're totally comfortable and don't have to do it You have no obligations every day and you're just watching movies and no literally I would sleep like 10 11 hours wake up like Kind of like a zombie. Yeah, were you smoking weed or anything? Yeah, I think I was hitting pens at the time But dude, it was weird. Yeah, like money won't fix everything Yeah, that's a big point Tim Ferris makes in for our work week that retirement's a myth you gotta you gotta always be doing something well now they're doing studies on retirement

brain scans and dude people are dropping way earlier Wow like when you retire you're uh like you're like they get sad yeah they get sad and they pass away younger than people that keep working and have purpose. Nice, yeah. So I don't think I'll ever stop as long as I genuinely enjoy what I'm doing, which right now I do. Yeah. Podcasting is fun. Yeah. Meet some cool people, learn a lot.

And there's not many other professions where I'm as passionate about podcasting. And you're getting sponsors now, right? Yeah, just got DraftKings. Shout out to DraftKings, Babel, LinkedIn. Nice. Took a while though, man. Took a while to get sponsors. Was it like that for you?

Yeah, I don't know, it depends. Sometimes I'll get like three in a row and then I won't get any for a year. That happened to me. Yeah, there was a few months this year where I wasn't getting any. I actually lost money some months. I lost money the first six months and then I thought I'd be set the rest of the way but it was one or two months

this month where I was taking some fat L's dude. Fat L's like 30k L's. Well yeah that's showbiz. You're not messing with crypto at all now? I still have a ton but I'm down pretty bad right now. But I like it. Like the market is down, you mean? Market's down. Yeah, as we're filming this, Ethereum's at like almost 2000 and Bitcoin's at 50. So that's considered down from the peak.

You got most of it in Bitcoin? Ethereum. Ethereum, why Ethereum? I had a lot of Bitcoin. I sold it to buy a house just now, but I like both. No really preference, you know, but I feel like with Ethereum, you can still three to 5X. Bitcoin's kind of high.

You think people are gonna be using that instead of money in the future? They already are. I mean, I have so many crypto nerd friends that buy watches, houses, anything you can think of with crypto. I guess besides the super rich, I mean. Oh, just casually?

Yeah. It's gonna be tough. The reason is because banks hate it. So like my Chase account got banned just cause I was in the crypto space and credit card companies hate it because let's say you buy a thousand dollars of Bitcoin and it goes down 20%,

you're gonna file a charge back on that credit card. Right. And it's gonna put the credit card company out of business. So they hate crypto. Yeah, it's so volatile. Yeah, so I don't think it'll ever be casual because of that. Yeah, like a casual currency. No, that's why the dollar is casual, like, you know?

Yeah. Even though that's a whole nother podcast with the value of the dollar going down. Yeah, sorry, I don't mean to... I'll let you ask questions. No, you're good. When I go on other shows, I ask the host questions, too It's like a natural thing. Yeah, do you do you like being the host more the guest? Oh

Host probably same. Yeah, I like having control, you know hundred percent. Yeah, I turned down most shows to be honest, really? Yeah, well, I'm yes. I mean I it's not I don't get asked that much So it's like I'll say yes, because it's like once a year. OK. Oh, that's it? Yeah. Wow. Well, yeah, once or twice a year.

Damn. I get asked a lot, but it's usually smaller shows, and it's the same questions. So it's like, I'm going to tell my life story. I'm impressed. Yeah, you haven't been asking the usual questions. That's what I try to do with the show, because you've got to stand out.

Yeah. I mean, I hate when they're like describing your life story like So, uh, how'd you get started? Yeah Oh jesus. Yeah, so basic Are you still preparing for uh for a half marathon? Sorry you made a video about that. Yeah. Yeah, that's uh in late october I've been running a lot Um, but I eat like shit. So yeah, so I still have a dad bod. Um, but yeah, everything's fried, right?

Yeah. There's a lot of fried stuff here. Barbecue stuff. But, um, I've been, yeah, I've been running like usually like two or three miles every day, sometimes more. Well, the half marathon is 13.1, right? Yeah. I got to start ramping it up.

Okay. So if you can run the whole way without walking, that'll be a win for you. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I feel like I could, but it would make me sore for the next week. Yeah. A marathon's on my goal, my bucket list goal.

Yeah, you done any races? I used to be a runner. Oh. Yeah. I was a speedster, dude. OK. Yeah. What was your main race?

Mile and 800. what's your mile time 440 wow yeah i was pretty good that's a and i was eating like shit back then so if i took it serious these days i could probably run a 420 do you still run every day no man i do basketball now yeah running is a very mentally exhausting sport. Yeah, cause I do feel after running, I'm like, I'm expecting that I'll get all this work done cause it's like, I've got all these endorphins now, but. Yeah, it's the opposite, right? A little bit, yeah.

Like my willpower though is down. So it's tough, man. Plus it's so, when you get to a high level, you're spending so much time cause to run 13 miles would probably take you three hours. Right. So yeah you got to dedicate that daily it gets pretty time intensive. Yeah 454 that was like in high school. 440 yeah in high school and then my half mile was 159 that was my main event. Wow. So yeah I could have went deep one for running if

I wanted to. Man that's agonizing that last stretch. It's like your whole body's on fire. Yeah. I did a little bit of track in high school, but it was mostly just long jump in 100 meter. Oh yeah? What was your 100? Oh, I don't even remember. It was like, I had no idea. 11 seconds. You were a sprinter, so you were muscular.

Yeah, but it was only like in sophomore, in high school or something. Oh, okay. I had on the fastest 100 meter runner in the world. What? Yeah, or not the world, the US, my bad. Okay. Usain Bolt's the best.

You were the fastest 100 meter high schooler? In the world, like he was an Olympian gold medal. Wow. Yeah, Justin Gatlin was his name. Damn. That was a gold medal. Wow. Yeah, Justin Gatlin was his name. Damn. That was a fun episode. Wow. Yeah, 10 seconds, man.

Or nine, seven was his 100. Nine, seven. Which is crazy. Yeah. Yeah, they're all in the nine range now. These days, yeah. If you're not under 10 these days. Right.

Man, being an athlete, especially these days with social media just ridiculing you off a poor performance, you gotta be really tough to be an athlete, especially these days with social media just ridiculing you off a poor performance, you gotta be really tough to be an athlete, I feel like. Did he talk about steroids? No, I didn't ask him that because it was touchy. Yeah.

He got banned for a few years. Oh, he did, okay. Yeah, so I didn't wanna certain guess if you push the wrong buttons. You know, I haven't had anyone walk off yet, but apparently every host has to deal with that Do you send the episodes for approval to people after? That's what I do for chattings cuz I

Some people ask but I don't go out of my way and send it to them. No, okay Yeah, hmm. Has anyone asked for them to been taken down after the fact? So I know that's happened to you. It hasn't happened to me yet down after the fact? So I know that's happened to you. It hasn't happened to me yet. OK. Because I'm not really trying to get gotcha moments. Right.

Like certain hosts are like, oh, let's talk about your ex-girlfriend or something. I don't find purpose in that. Yeah, I feel like a lot of British journalists are that way. Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Are you on all the, yeah, like the guy with Robert Downey Jr.?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's such an asshole. What are you? You're on all the yeah, like the guy with Robert Downey jr. Yeah, it's such an asshole What are you you're on all the platforms now just got banned on tick-tock but yeah, I'm why I did an interview with Tulsi Gabbard Okay, she's like a politician on the right-wing space. Wow, just join Trump's team and that one got me banned because it was right wing Yeah, well, they tell you which clip got flagged and it was about talking about the deep state. Okay, conspiracies. Conspiracies, yeah, you gotta be careful with those.

Moon landing, Earth is flat. You believe in any conspiracies? Not really. I think- You're pretty level-headed. Yeah, I think basic stuff like big pharma is pushing doctors to, I don't know. Yeah. I don't want to get you canceled here. Some of them are interesting.

I'll say that. Yeah, no, I had a flat earther. It's one of my best episodes chatting with. Yeah. Same with me. That's one of my most viewed clips. Yeah, people go crazy about that stuff. They go nuts Yeah, but I don't know I can't believe that they this person believes that right? Yeah, and that's the game I have to play like I have to promote crazy stuff like that to get views So that's the moral dilemma I have with it, right? Because if I don't do that, I won't get as many views, right?

I'm sure you deal with that too, right? Yep. Yep. It's a, there's a balance. Yeah. And that kind of limits my guest pool because certain guests get offended by certain guests I've had on.

So they won't come on. Interesting. Yeah. Man. So it kind of sucks. Our, what was I going to say? You had any guests on that you, like your manager had on and you were like, why is he, and that you didn't want to have on?

Oh, that I didn't want to have on? That like you, that your manager got without like telling you? Oh, yeah, there's been a couple on the spot where I've been like, this is going to be weird, but I think you can learn something from pretty much everyone, you know? Like I'm about to have Tate on and- That's gonna be big. It's gonna be big, but that will limit certain future guests. So I have to play that game like, okay,

people won't come on because I've had them on. Right. So, yeah, it's whatever though. There's enough people in the world to have on. Would you say you're more right wing? Yeah, these days. But I grew up super left, Democrat in New Jersey. And you were in Cali, so I'm assuming

you grew up pretty left too, right? No. My dad's a really conservative. Oh, really? Yeah, I grew up pretty right up until, yeah. And then I went left as I got older. Yeah. I've never heard of right going to left.

Yeah. I mean, LA kind of just rubbed off on me. I guess I live there for six years. Okay, so you're still left right now, though Yeah, Wow So you're gonna vote for Kamala? I mean I don't I don't usually vote. Oh, yeah, it's like I don't know I wish there they made it I wish you didn't have to mail it in or go somewhere. It is a tedious process.

I don't know. I know I should vote. I haven't ever voted. But since I'm in a swing state now, I'm in Nevada. Jersey used to always be left, so I didn't see a point. I thought Nevada was totally right. No, I was left in 2020, voted for Biden. Wow. Yeah. Nashville's right though, right?

Yeah. So you're like an outlier out here. A little bit. Yeah. So you probably don't even touch on it out here. No, but yeah, I thought about getting political with like my street interviews, like people on abortion, et cetera.

I think you should. The reason being is it's hot right now. It's getting a ton of views and it's important. Okay, I think we should be having these conversations. Okay, you know Well, yeah, I'll take that into consideration I mean look at all the top shows right now. They're touching on politics or they're super political, right? I should bet David Tucker Carlson Candice Owens, right? Candice is out here. I heard my channels like at such a low point. It's like I don't really have much to lose anyway Yeah, so that's how I feel if you're not constantly doing something new like my everyone's views are down or now. Yeah

Well, especially on YouTube. Yeah, I'm down 70% on Instagram. Huh? I used to get 40 million accounts reached a month Wow Yeah, and then I had sneak go on Yeah, yeah the right-wing. Yeah. Yeah, and I've been screwed since Yeah, yeah. The right-wing guy. The streamer? Yeah. And I've been screwed since. Wait, he's right-wing? I don't know what he is, but he's just a little extreme. He's been banned everywhere.

Would you have glasses on? Uh, he might. He didn't on the podcast. I might be thinking of someone else. Yeah, I don't know if that's it. Would you have on just about anyone on your show though? Like, if they were super right-wing, would you be willing to talk to them? Yeah, of course. Like Alex Jones?

Yeah. Okay, so you're down to have the dialogue. Yeah, I'm very open-minded and I, you know, I'm not, I wouldn't say I'm like really left, but I just in general, just a casual Democrat. Yeah. Interesting. I just feel like John Stewart, you know. Bill Maher.

Yeah, Bill Maher. All these guys are they're just seem way smarter Smarter than who are you comparing them to? Joe Rogan Bill O'Reilly the was the guy What's the other guy's name Tucker Tucker. Yes, Tucker What's the other guy's name? Tucker. Tucker, yes. Tucker Mark.

Carlson. Tucker. Carlson, yes. I don't know. They, yeah, they just seem cooler, you know? Well, Tucker is right wing. I'm like, I'm definitely not an intellectual and it's above my pay grade,

but I just would rather hang out with them than Tucker or Bill, you know? Really? Yeah. Oh wow. What an interesting, no, I'm so fascinated because on my podcast, it's the opposite. Interesting.

I've had on mainly right wing guys. I try to have on people on the left, but they don't seem as open to come on, dude. Do you find that too? I mean, this is honestly like the first time ever that I've really talked about politics. The longest I've ever talked, yeah, the most. Wow, yeah.

I've had Marianne Williamson on the show, but that's about it. Yeah, she's kind of like a female Bernie. I actually liked her a lot. I was surprised. All right, cool. Yeah, other than the vaccine stuff, I agreed on a lot with her.

I don't wanna mention that word, get the podcast deleted. All right. But dude, it's been fun. I mean, I'm gonna keep up with you. I hope you can revive this thing Yeah, the fact that you've been around this long though is impressive. There's not many of you guys still Yeah, making videos for 10 plus years Yes, I mean, I feel like if you get burned out just take a break and then come back to it. Absolutely We'll link your stuff below. Thanks for coming on. Of course, man. Thanks. Thanks. Watch God as always. See you next time.