Men In Gorilla Suits

Combine the elitism of the staunchest fan of classical music with desperation and a Hammond keyboard or synthesizer and what do you get? Progressive rock! Ah, prog rock, you wacky thing. The musical equivalent of an awkward night of Dungeons and Dragons with a table full of mouth-breathing cretins; the music of "nice guys" and straight up assholes who thought the best way to win over the opposite sex was by telling them how wrong they were in their musical choices -- and to prove it, put on Yes' Tales from Topographic Oceans or Relayer (or worse for the unsuspecting woman: both albums back to back!). We are not beyond seeing the weakness and ridiculousness in the things we held [or still hold] dear to us. But come on...entire albums dedicated to a concept was going to win over only a handful of people, regardless of gender. But for those of us who "got it" new worlds opened to us. Prog rock -- largely -- was the realm of desperate men who thought, "If I can't beat the crap out of the jocks, I can at least sho

Christopher just read a Facebook post about a podcast that just hit 163 episodes. They have 1 millions downloads (and good for them). To put that in perspective, this is our 163rd episode, and we’re at 8,815 total downloads. Here’s the thing: we could look at our biggest episodes ever and be like, “All we should talk about are movies, TV, music, the 80s, and…poop! (Oh, and religion.) Seriously, those are the topics of our big episodes. But…if that’s all we talked about, the people who love that we talk about such a wide range of things would be like, “Uhm…if I wanted movie talk every week, there are better sources.” This much we know: people appreciate that we’re just us. Granted, we could pretend to be what we’re not (and probably get more downloads), but this is the show we want to do. It goes against everything people say in conferences and meetups, but the show exists for us, and if you like it, cool. If you don’t, well…that’s also cool. We can only be what we are, and if we are nothing else, we are…authe

One day, several years ago, we imagined having a podcast. (A podcast made out of rainbows and songs and wind all wrapped up in the remnants of a mummy and steeped in a gallon jug of Prohibition-era bathtub gin.) It's the only way we can imagine to describe what we do. Or maybe we're very serious individuals lacking foresight and vision, unable to scour the depths of our minds to summon this thing called imagination. So to remedy all that, we decided to create an episode dedicated to cotton candy memories and envisioning all the things that go bump in the night. This week, we talk about...imagination. (If you can imagine that!) * * * We begin back as wee laddies, talking about the first time we were aware of this thing called imagination. After that, find out if we consider ourselves very imaginative...as well as how important imagination is to our lives. As you know, we like chatting about society...so we chat about whether or not imagination benefits society, and whether or not there's actually room in offic

Close your eyes, and align your chakras -- we're getting all New Age up in here! Okay, so if you listen to us regularly, you know that's unlikely, but...we do try to see the good in things we [largely] don't believe. (Unless, you know, you believe in being racist, homophobic, or just generally full of hate.) We even admit that there are some things many attach to New Age beliefs that work -- including sme things we think are ridiculous. Was the Age of Aquarius was monetized so we could all become Reiki masters, or is there something more to it all? That's the subject of this week's episode. * * * We begin by talking about when we were first introduced to new age ideas, and then move on to the most useful things we've learned from the philosophies. (See, we're not totally out to discredit it all -- just, you know, most of it...like the notion that a human being contains enough energy to power a city!) We also chat about the dumbest things we've seen. After that, we discuss whether or not we think we'll ever se

We'll get right to it: you want to know our greatest regrets -- the things we are most ashamed of -- it's all right here! (Okay, and Christopher, at Shawn's request, talks about the time he found his father in the basement doing surgery on himself. Seriously! Ralph Bertil Gronlund may have been a man wrought with regrets, but he did shit his own way... * * * We kick it off by talking all about the first time we became aware there was this thing in the world called regret. After that, we define regret...and chat about whether or not it's possible to live a life without regrets. Want to know what we regret in life? We talk about that shit...and then we discuss people [not by name -- we're not assholes] we know who are torn apart with regrets to the point that life is hard for them. (And, sadly, a lot of people are like, "Get over it!" to them. Ah, were it that easy for those people...) Sticking to that, we chat about why some people have a tougher time with regrets, while people like us are like, "Ah well, ther

Some people feel it's a huge obligation to help others, while others are mostly interested in helping themselves and a few people close to them. Is one view of society right and the other wrong? What about those who volunteer more to boast about all they do, rather than actually helping causes? Can a person be like, "Fuck it -- I look out for Numero Uno," and still be decent...or must we all give more of ourselves than we have to give? (And at what point is giving convenient and actually a personal sacrifice?) In short, is there a proper way to volunteer one's time? That's what we're talking about on this week's episode of Men in Gorilla Suits. * * * We kick it all off by talking about how often we volunteer our time, and quickly jump to the last time we volunteered. On that topic, we discuss what we last did to help others -- and why we volunteered our time and energy. Want to know if we've ever volunteered to get something in return? Well, listen in 'cause we talk about that. And also find out our ideal vol

There was a time when men were men and took great risks. (And the world was even more sexist than it still is.) Today, it's not hard to find some middle-aged guy talking about the "Pussification of today's youth," when they rarely did anything to merit any real degree of boasting. But to hear them tell the story, we were all hanging from hot air balloons from threads of dental floss while today's younger people are living in a world of cushions and hugs. The thing is, that's all bullshit. Men and women have always taken risks to various degrees, and still do today. That's the topic this week -- not the board game, Risk, but actual risky behavior and how it's shaped humanity. * * * We kick off this episode talking about the first time in our lives when we realized there was this thing out there called risk. After that, we discuss whether or not we were risk-takers when younger...and whether or not we are today. We chat about the greatest risks we've taken...as well as the funniest. Is physical risk the pinnacl

When thinking about strength, most people seem to think about physical strength. We've all seen circus strongmen, female body builders, and even wiry-looking people who can seemingly dead-lift a Yugo. But strength goes well beyond just physical strength. We've all heard tales of people lost in extreme conditions who only survived because they were mentally strong. Emotional strength is craved as much as physical strength by others. This weak is all about strength! (

From a young age, we're conditioned to look at certain people and things in a larger-than-life way. These are the people we hope to become. Some are driven to succeed because of the people they looked up to, while many more fall short of their dreams. Sometimes heroes themselves "fail us." Is it even realistic for an adult to have a hero, or is it something that should be reserved for youth? Heroes are the topic of this week's episode of Men in Gorilla Suits. * * * We begin by chatting about who our earliest heroes were, and then jump to whether or not parents or other relatives ever held hero status in our lives. After that, we talk about how important heroes were to us when we were younger -- and why that was. We list off our heroes from childhood before discussing whether or not heroes are important to us today. Maybe we no longer have heroes -- just people we admire on some levels. We talk about that, and then move on to why the deaths of people we may have never met, but still admire, can affect us as th

It's probably evident by the photo we used to represent high school that we weren't big fans of those four years. Still, they were not without their moments. For some, they are the best days of their lives, while others could have easily done without them. Football games, parties, and fun; dodging bullies, isolation, and despair. Being somewhere in the middle of it all, we decided to devote this episode to high school days... * * * We begin by sounding off: when did we graduate high school. After that, we talk about where we went to high school...and whether or not it was a good experience for us. Find out if we agree with those who say high school is the best time of one's life as well as what we remember most about those years. For many, extracurricular activities are what high school is all about. We discuss what we took part in -- and then chat about how many people from high school we're still in touch with. High school is supposed to serve a purpose: preparing students for college. Was that the case for

Do as we say, and all will be wonderful... Fuck the system -- Tear it all down! You make it easier on yourself if you're just like us... Do you really want to be just like them?! It's for your own good... Only you know what's right for you! It's an old battle: to conform or not to conform? Some (including us) argue that by not conforming...you're probably still conforming. So...is resistance futile? This week's episode is all about conformity (and non-conformity). Whether you're on the side of the popular jocks and cheerleaders... ...On the side of the deliberate non-conformists (who, remarkably, all look and act the same as each other, in much the same way as the jocks and cheerleaders)... ...Or if you're the geek totally out there on your own... ...This is an episode for you! * * * We kick is all off by talking about our first memories of conformity, and then jump to the benefits -- and drawbacks -- of conforming. After that, we discuss how important conforming is to society...and to us. There are those

While we talk about a wide variety of things on Men in Gorilla Suits, there's no denying that much of what we talk about comes from an American perspective. (At least what we consider American.) Some consider a group of men with guns holed up in a small Federal building they decided to occupy American. People from other places might view Americans as loud and fat; others may say we're friendly. Some might even say we invaded their land and made a big mess of things. America is a funny place. We can get away with things that would get us killed in some countries. At the same time, many think we're the only country with such freedoms...when that's far from the truth. This week, we talk about what it is to be American (whatever the hell being an American is). * * * We begin by talking about how far back we have to go to find non-American citizens in our families. After that, we jump to whether or not people from other countries assume we're Americans when they meet us (and why we think that is how we're viewed)

No, the title of this episode doesn't mean the Gorillamen have bolted into the trees to take a vacation hiatus from the podcast (although Christopher is taking his last vacation day of the year as this week's episode is being put together). With so many people taking time off at the end of the year, we decided to dedicate an episode to taking vacations. * * * We begin with our earliest memories of vacations and where we went (and what we did), and then we define what constitutes a vacation in our minds. After that, we discuss our best -- and worst -- vacations. When people think "vacation," they often think of exotic locations that cost a bit of money for the trip. But can you take a vacation when you don't have much money? We are connected more than ever, and that can mean an issue when announcing you are taking a vacation in certain areas. People you may know, there, want to see you, but all you want is to get away from it all and spend time alone, with your significant other, or your family. How do we deal

If stats for Men in Gorilla Suits tell us anything, it's that many of you are reminded about new episodes through social media. Chances are, your parents and even grandparents are on Facebook. Once "the next big thing hits," and is proclaimed the killer of the previous network or app, something new comes along to take its place. Our desire to communicate in short bits of information seems to know no boundaries. Social media now drives revolutions and political campaigns. It's a way to stay in touch with people all over the world or sell the things you make. What was once seen as a risk by companies is now an asset. But it's not all a wonderful thing. Some studies show that social media makes many people feel bad. Despite being connected in ways we never imagined, it leaves many feeling more lonely than ever. But is that the fault of the social networks, or the person using them? It's a topic that interests us enough that when Shawn pitched this show, Christopher thought, "We've done that one already..." But w

When we look at something big, our minds are conditioned to say, "Damn, that's big!" Many people will never look at something big and see all the tiny pieces that make up the big thing. Because of that, it seems some people think creating substantial things is beyond them. For every thousand people who say, "Someday I'll finally write the best selling novel I know I have in me," is a person who probably actually does have it in them, but believes it's simply beyond them for a variety of reasons. "I don't know how to start..." "I don't have that kind of luck..." And the biggie: "I don't have the time..." There are busy writers people look up to who shoot for 250 words a day. Over the course of a year, they have a novel. Inside a couple years, they have a body of work. But not everything takes as long as a novel. A handful of paintings for a gallery show can be a body of work. Sure, we may not see all the paintings and sketches that got the artist to that point in what they do, but even those sketches in a pi

From a young age, many of us are primed to believe that college is a thing that will happen after high school. Despite the staggering debt many carry after graduating college, you are more likely to earn more over your lifetime with a college degree. At the same time, many of the wealthiest people out there have dropped out of college or never attended at all. Some have such fond memories of college that they have a hard time leaving it behind, going to their graves die-hard fans of their old school's sports teams and towns; others have no problem leaving it all behind. We've spent our time in colleges, so we decided to dedicate this week's show to college. * * * We begin by talking about where we went to college and when we started. After that, we discuss the major social movements at the colleges we attended. Find out if we ever lived on campus and how much what jobs we held while attending college. Also find out how many different colleges we attended. We then chat about all our different majors and why we

For some, it comes as an epiphany: just like that, their lives are changed forever. For others, it can be triggered by a place or event. For most of us, it comes slowly, but it happens to all of us at some point. Our lives change. We hope it's from something wonderful, like in the movies. In a flash, everything is wonderful and makes sense forever. It's long been the stuff of entertainment, the promise that we matter and that life is wonderful. But for most of us, it comes through harder things: a life-threatening illness, or the sudden loss of a loved one. Life changes, and that's what we're talking about this week. * * * We begin by talking about the first time we felt like we experienced a life-changing event, and then we jump to the age we feel most people experience the most change in life. After that we discuss whether or not we stop having life-changing events by the time we reach adulthood, or if that's when we're most likely to have them. Next, we chat about the biggest life-changing events in our li

When we started Men in Gorilla Suits, we made an agreement to post episodes on Thursdays. It works out that we usually post on Wednesdays, though...with the rare Thursday posting. With a holiday week in the states, we're posting on a Tuesday. It is not wasted on us that there's a certain humor in us posting an episode about procrastination two days early. * * * We begin this episode talking about if we are (or have ever been) procrastinators. After that [spoiler alert] we discuss the reasons we procrastinate -- going as far as chatting about the worst thing we've put off for later. If you listen that far into the episode, you'll know we see strength in proper procrastination. We devote some time to when procrastination has been the best course of action in our lives before talking about the last thing we put off. If you've ever wondered, "Who is the worst procrastinator the Gorilla Men know?" -- we answer that question. We also answer this one: "Why do humans procrastinate?" We close out the episode discussin

The power we wield because of this podcast is staggering. We stand like two gods above the masses, our voices swaying your every thought! Okay, so not really to any of that. We're just two guys with a podcast. (No one's ever done that before!) Some might say the listeners hold power over us; that if you didn't listen, we would have nothing. (Of course, if you listen regularly, you know we'd do this even if no one showed up. This podcast is simply about a good friendship, which -- to us -- is one of the most powerful things out there. We're like My Little Pony, without all the colors and cutie marks...although we both have tattoos (Shawn far outnumbering Christopher...we might even talk about that in this episode...we record often enough that it all kind of runs together. Sometime, recently, we talked about tattoos.)) Anyway...this week is the power-talk mashup. We talk about power as a thing many crave, but we also talk about power as physical strength and even pure energy. You even get to hear tales of minor

How do you know you're really reading this right now? (We mean, other than you are sitting there reading and comprehending it.) So scratch that opening -- that kind of thing is not what we're into when talking about more philosophical things. We understand that at some point, many of those kinds of questions needed to be asked, but...that's not the kind of philosophy we're chatting about this week. Every week, we drag philosophy into the show...even when dedicating an hour [and a special added interview with Christopher's mom] about poop! But it's not philosophy in the way you remember it in high school or college. Chances are, you have been philosophical about something today. And you will be tomorrow. So...we decided to finally dedicate an entire show to philosophy! * * * We begin by talking about the first time we were aware that there were different schools of thought in life, and then we jump right to what "philosophy" means to us. After that, we discuss the major school of philosophy we most -- and leas