The Lou Perez Podcast

Andrew Hartz is a psychologist and the founder of the Open Therapy Institute — a national directory of vetted, non-activist therapists, plus a peer-reviewed journal, conference, and podcast. He wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed about political activism in mental health, got a grant to do something about it, and hasn't stopped since. We talked about: what an activist therapist actually looks like (APA's division on psychoanalysis lists 90 talks with zero mention of therapy, evidence, diagnosis, or treatment — but plenty on colonial domination, carcerality, and proximity to whiteness); how APA accredited a drag show called "Feel the F***ing Fantasy Redux" for continuing ed credits; a keynote speaker who co-translated Communism for Kids and wrote Abolish the Family; clinics diagnosing patients differently based on their race; patients being referred out for having the wrong politics; how mental health activism is backfiring on the people it claims to help (secondary gains and the evidence against rewarding symptoms); when this all started (earlier than you think — 2014, accelerating through 2019); why Lacanian nonsense writing infected academic psychology and what that sentence actually is; what CBT can and can't do; humor as a mature defense mechanism and why patients who laugh have better outcomes; why AI therapists worry Andrew more than most people realize; and Lou volunteering to coach soccer for a team of first graders despite having never played the sport. Find a vetted therapist → opentherapyinstitute.org Read the journal → Open Inquiry in Mental Health on Substack https://openinquirymentalhealth.substack.com/?utm_source=global-search TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — Andrew Hartz and the Open Therapy Institute 3:23 — What is an activist therapist? The APA call for papers read aloud 6:24 — APA's division on psychoanalysis: 90 talks, 800 attendees, zero mention of therapy 8:29 — APA accredited a drag show for continuing ed credits 10:08 — Keynote speaker co-translated Communism for Kids, wrote Abolish the Family 11:53 — Lou's SJW Therapist sketch — and how close to reality it actually is 12:21 — Diagnosing people by their race — a white girl's anxiety vs. a black girl's anxiety 13:17 — The intake form that starts with pronouns — and what that signals 14:01 — Patient referred out for thinking she didn't get a fellowship due to affirmative action 14:41 — Who's paying for this? Insurance, premiums, and activist therapy 16:16 — "Evidence is Western" — activist therapists and why they reject research 17:25 — When did therapy start going this route? 2014, accelerating through 2019 19:47 — Lou's SJW Therapist video: January 2019 — right on time 20:12 — Mental illness as identity — secondary gains and how compassion backfires 21:33 — Test anxiety, extra time, and why rewarding symptoms makes them worse 23:52 — Lou used to wet himself before tests. He is not ashamed. 26:06 — The incoherence of activist academia — can anyone read this sentence? 27:23 — "Counter the extractive relations of cis heteropatriarchal racial capitalism" — a real sentence 29:54 — Lacan, oracular interpretations, and how academic nonsense writing spread 33:45 — If you have to build a birdhouse, the sentences have to make sense 36:36 — Greg Lukianoff, CBT, and what good therapy actually looks like 38:10 — Anger, dysregulation, and slowing down the loop 41:53 — What therapy cannot do: eliminate human emotion entirely 42:44 — Lou and the spiral — and why self-control matters 45:32 — Lou volunteered to coach soccer. He doesn't know how to play soccer. 49:30 — Humor as a mature defense — why patients who laugh have better outcomes 52:56 — Was it Good Will Hunting? What Robin Williams got right about therapy 54:55 — AI therapists — what they can replace and what they can't 57:17 — The danger of chatbot therapy for people who struggle with real relationships 58:03 — Open Inquiry in Mental Health journal and how to find a vetted therapist Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU 🍺 Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697 📖 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r 🌐 TheLouPerez.com | 📧 [email protected] ✉️ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez #MentalHealth #Therapy #ActivistTherapy #OpenTherapyInstitute #AndrewHartz #CBT #Psychology #LouPerezPodcast #LionsOfLiberty #AITherapy

Barry Maher spent 20 years as a corporate speaker and wrote six nonfiction books. Then he discovered he had a brain tumor the size of a baseball. He woke up from surgery with Lady Gaga playing on loop in his head and a complete, fully formed novel already there — vivid as a memory, not a dream. Two years later, that novel became The Great Dick and the Dysfunctional Demon, published at age 76. He's also in remission and can tell time again. We talked about: the moment on an Asian cruise when he couldn't read a clock and didn't know why; why his wife figured out something was wrong before he did (he was putting his clothes on backwards); introducing a ship's captain on stage and then asking him what he did for a living 15 minutes later; the doctor's clock-drawing test and the nurse who wouldn't let him go to the bathroom alone; why a brain cancer diagnosis is like an impending hanging — it concentrates the mind; the novel that emerged from surgery (complete with open crypts, dark spells, sudden death, and the Ralph Lauren version of the Manson family); why The Great Gatsby and Moby Dick are the same story; and the Lady Gaga song that played on loop in his head for three straight days (it's "Always Remember Us This Way" from A Star Is Born — he was not a fan before, and he is definitely not one now). Get the book → The Great Dick and the Dysfunctional Demon by Barry Maher https://amzn.to/4xqVD4y TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — who is Barry Maher? 0:24 — Six nonfiction books, 20 years of corporate speaking — and now a novel 1:18 — The speaking business: cold calling, articles, PR, and repeat clients 2:37 — Lou bombing at a Christmas party and waiting to get paid after 4:21 — The speaking escape hatch: "and the point of that was..." 5:41 — His first presentation: an hour of solid content, to a funeral home audience 6:50 — The cruise where he couldn't read a clock — and didn't know why 7:55 — His wife noticed something was wrong on the second cruise 9:15 — He introduced the captain — then 15 minutes later asked what he did for a living 10:06 — What it's like when your mind is the thing that's broken 10:46 — The doctor's clock test — and the nurse who wouldn't let him go to the bathroom alone 11:29 — He wrote himself off. He didn't let her accompany him to the bathroom. There are limits. 11:53 — Waking up from surgery with Lady Gaga on loop and a complete novel in his head 12:27 — The TikTok husband who can't draw clocks — and why that's not funny 14:01 — The seizure during surgery — and why the story felt like a memory, not a dream 15:01 — A brain cancer diagnosis is like an impending hanging — it concentrates the mind 15:38 — He was in his early 70s. He decided to finally write the novel he'd always wanted. 16:47 — Writing it took two years — and the memory never faded 18:26 — Lou hates writing. Barry loves it now. The brain tumor may be responsible. 20:21 — The title: The Great Dick — as in Great Gatsby meets Moby Dick 21:59 — Lou read Moby Dick aloud at his wife's hospital bed. She put pages in the wedding bouquet. 23:35 — The Great Gatsby and Moby Dick are the same story — he makes the case 24:03 — What the book is actually about 25:22 — Always Remember Us This Way — the Lady Gaga song that played for three days straight 27:15 — Did the tumor affect the part of the brain responsible for creativity? 28:16 — His wife likes the book — even with the original subtitle 29:43 — The antihero Steve Huskey — and why women are rooting for him anyway 30:09 — Health update: cancer in remission, can tell time like a champ 30:36 — Outro Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU 🍺 Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697 📖 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r 🌐 TheLouPerez.com | 📧 [email protected] ✉️ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez

Recorded live at FreedomFest 2026 in Las Vegas. Lou Perez sits down with two UFC Hall of Famers — Don Frye (The Predator) and Dan Severn (The Beast) — alongside host Eric Carroll of Dad Talk Today, to talk about the early days of MMA, the wild west of the original UFC, and what it took to compete when nobody knew the rules. Topics include: how Don and Dan each got into the Octagon in the mid-90s (Don needed an outlet during a rough divorce; Dan saw an opportunity when wrestling had nowhere left to go); what it was like to fight in a tournament format — three fights in one night, no idea who your next opponent was, and the whole event might be illegal; Dan starting his UFC career at 37 using Just For Men Number 45 to look more intimidating; the legendary Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama brawl at Pride FC and how it almost didn't happen; Pride FC's testing policy (there wasn't one); Dan Severn at 68 still going to the gym every day with both ACLs gone; how neither of them had ever heard of Brazilian jiu jitsu when they stepped into the Octagon; Don fighting a 600-pound grand sumo champion; and Don Frye's extremely candid prediction on the McGregor vs. Holloway rematch. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — Lou Perez with Don Frye and Dan Severn at FreedomFest 2026 0:27 — 33 years of the UFC — how Don and Dan first got into the Octagon 1:00 — Don Frye: going through a divorce, needed an outlet, got in the cage 1:56 — Dan Severn: wrestling had no professional outlet — MMA filled the gap 3:22 — Dan started fighting at 37 — and used Just For Men to look more intimidating 4:36 — Early UFC: no weight classes, no idea who you'd fight, three fights in one night 5:47 — The UFC was illegal — Indian reservations, no guaranteed payouts 6:10 — Dan Severn: 120+ fights, no training camps, never told anyone about his injuries 7:39 — Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama — the legendary Pride FC brawl explained 9:32 — Pride FC didn't test for anything 10:18 — Dan Severn at 68 still goes to the gym every day 11:44 — The evolution of MMA — no Google, no footage of opponents, style vs. style 12:46 — Dan Severn had never heard of Brazilian jiu jitsu when he entered the Octagon 14:42 — From the cage to entertainment — pro wrestling, movies, and the cowboy look 15:30 — Q&A: Have the Beast and the Predator ever fought each other? 17:15 — McGregor vs. Holloway prediction — Don Frye's honest take 18:17 — No weight classes in early UFC — imagine fighting a 600-pound sumo champion 18:36 — Don Frye fought Akebono — 6'11", nearly 600 pounds, grand sumo champion 20:06 — Obesity in America — Dan Severn on the food pyramid and standards 21:23 — Dan Severn shows off an original UFC belt 22:09 — How sports can push back on division — capitalism and the dollar 23:30 — One moment you'd want to relive — both legends answer 24:46 — Outro Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU 🍺 Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697 📖 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r 🌐 TheLouPerez.com | 📧 [email protected] ✉️ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez

Recorded live at FreedomFest 2026 in Las Vegas. Lou Perez moderates a panel on politics, comedy, and the death of late night TV. Panelists: comedian Boris Khaykin, comedian and podcaster Andrew Heaton, Georgetown law professor and author Randy Barnett, Consumer Choice Center head of media Stephen Kent, and comedian Peter Stewart. Topics include: why Colbert was losing $20 million a year and what that tells you about the economics of late night; the no-monoculture problem — Joe Rogan now outperforms Fox News; how going political gave Colbert a short-term ratings boost and gutted the comedy long-term; the Daily Show's original rule (cut anything designed to get applause, not laughs) and how every show that copied it forgot the rule; the math of splitting one sixth of a dying market; whether Trump actually pressured CBS to cancel Colbert (the FCC and Kimmel story is more interesting); Kill Tony, YouTube, and the new formats replacing late night; the democratization of comedy and what AI tools mean for talent in Nebraska; why writing 252 episodes a year is an impossible creative ask; what it's like to be on Gutfeld! and whether he's actually the new Johnny Carson; and what's still off-limits in comedy. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — Lou Perez moderates the panel at FreedomFest 2026 1:39 — Is late night actually dead? The panel's opening takes 2:35 — We live in the clips economy — nobody watches late night live 3:33 — When did you last watch late night live? The panel answers 5:12 — Colbert lost $20 million a year — the economics of late night explained 5:50 — No more monoculture — Joe Rogan outperforms Fox News 6:43 — Why going political gave Colbert a short-term boost and a long-term problem 8:15 — Short term gains for long term pains 9:33 — The Colbert Report was brilliant. The Late Show was a dad reading the NYT with a band. 10:35 — The Daily Show's original rule: cut anything designed to get applause, not laughs 11:25 — The math: Kimmel, Fallon, and Colbert splitting one sixth of a dying market 12:18 — The Weather Channel sitcom and the pre-cable era of tepid centrist content 13:39 — Did Trump pressure CBS to cancel Colbert? What actually happened. 14:05 — The FCC, Brandon Carr, and Kimmel — government jawboning explained 14:46 — Kill Tony, YouTube, and the new model replacing late night 15:23 — SNL, Alec Baldwin as Trump, and the Instagram kid doing it better 16:37 — Ben Burke live in Naples, Florida — the demographics that surprised everyone 17:39 — Johnny Carson was unifying — a conservative Republican family from the Midwest loved him 18:10 — Kill Tony as an evolution of late night 19:34 — YouTube as a gateway to live comedy 20:18 — Is the FCC still necessary? The property rights argument for radio airwaves 22:23 — Howard Stern and transgression — you need a line to cross it 23:29 — Richard Pryor's masturbation jokes and why taboo topics lose their edge 25:12 — What podcasting did to late night — Conan's pivot 26:47 — Reality TV is cheap. Writing jokes is hard. 27:09 — The democratization of comedy — from 3 channels to 31 flavors 28:16 — Randy Barnett got in trouble on X — Georgetown security called 29:11 — The future: AI tools, zero barriers, a flood of new talent 30:41 — Human connection — why people still show up live 33:39 — Joe Rogan is now an institution — new late nights are forming 36:22 — Lou on Gutfeld! — what it's like to be on the number one late night show 37:57 — Gutfeld vs. Carson — is he actually winning or just winning on the right? 39:30 — The volume problem — 252 shows a year is impossible to do well 41:42 — Kimmel's Charlie Kirk joke, the FCC, and when both sides can be wrong 42:28 — Q&A — what's currently off-limits in comedy? Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU 🍺 Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697 📖 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r 🌐 TheLouPerez.com | 📧 [email protected] ✉️ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez

Jon Miltimore is back — writer, commentator, and one of the sharpest guys covering arts, culture, and politics on Substack. This is his second time on the show and we did not run out of things to talk about. Topics include: why California can't fight wildfires and why Native Americans had better land management practices; the World Cup finally breaking through in the US; what to actually expect at a Bob Dylan concert when you're a Dylan fan (Jon didn't get what he wanted; he has no regrets); Ben Askren's double lung transplant and why elite athletes bounce back from things that would end most people; the new Stallone biopic about how Rocky got made — specifically the part where a broke, dog-selling, parking-car Stallone turned down $1 million because he refused to not play the role himself; the Rocky franchise and what it means that it somehow worked as it became more absurd; working out at 44 and 47 and why exercise is mental health; the case for travel sports (and why Matthew Yglesias is wrong); and why you should never outsource teaching your kid to ride a bike. Follow Jon on Substack → https://substack.com/@miltimore TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — Jon Miltimore, writer and commentator 0:31 — Canada's wildfires — black skies over New York and Minnesota 2:37 — Why California can't fight fires — federal land, bad policy, and arson 4:38 — Native Americans had better land management — and we stopped listening 5:21 — Private land vs. federal land — the tragedy of the commons 5:38 — Happy Hour Econ — a comedian and an economist walk into a bar 8:50 — The World Cup in America — how soccer finally broke through 10:26 — Bob Dylan at a Bob Dylan concert — what you should actually expect 13:38 — Lou cries at a Bob Dylan concert. He's not embarrassed. 17:21 — Ben Askren's double lung transplant — and why athletes bounce back when others don't 20:44 — Askren retires on his shield — and makes peace with his rival 23:26 — The new Rocky biopic — Stallone turned down $1 million to play the role himself 27:53 — Lou used to go by Rambo as a kid. Old ladies still ask about him. 28:29 — Jon's 13-year-old son shadowboxed like Clubber Lang at age two 29:11 — The Rocky franchise — from gritty 70s realism to superhero movie 32:50 — Working out at 44 and 47 — rowing machines, air bikes, and getting back at it 36:30 — Russell Crowe's comeback — individual agency and why exercise is mental health 41:14 — Travel sports — expensive, worth it, and Matthew Yglesias is wrong 45:34 — Teaching your kids to ride a bike — don't outsource the best moments 51:07 — Auto-deleting tweets and cancel culture — how we need to treat speech differently 52:10 — Outro — find Jon on Substack Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU 🍺 Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697 📖 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r 🌐 TheLouPerez.com | 📧 [email protected] ✉️ Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez