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I'm a big Matt Ruby fan and this is his third time on the show! I have to say—this was pretty funny—comedian Matt and I got high together and went some places I don't think we would have gotten to—for one thing—I said the way he described his dad was hot. I also check in with him about what Claude AI said when I asked:"What would be good advice to comedian matt ruby from a therapist?" We talk about a lot of stuff. Matt describes his parents—a free-spirited woman from Manhattan and his dad, a lawyer, a prosecutor. They were introduced by his grandma and fell in love right away, His father loved comedy which was obv a huge influence on Matt. We also go down a rabbit hole about the ego and the way ego can affect one's own creativity. There's so much in here—and SO MUCH laughing! Sponsored by KOAN pocket elixers. More about Matt Ruby: Website: mattrubycomedy Instagram: @mattrubycomedy Rubesletter Latest Special: Bolo BIO: Matt Ruby is a comedian from New York City. His smart and dark brand of standup is "button-pushing" and "funny" according to the NY Times. His comedy has been filmed by Comedy Central, MTV, NBC/Seeso, and FOX. His newsletters (The Rubesletter and Funny How) have over 17,000 subscribers combined. He also hosts the podcast Kind of a Lot with Matt Ruby. His latest standup special is BOLO. Standupworld on BOLO: “Matt’s a New York comedy beast. He’s sharp, dark, and funny. BOLO is his awesome special on YouTube and it’s something truly worth checking out. It’s Matt at his best: raw, real, and ripping into life’s absurdities with a signature edge the New York Times called ‘button-pushing’ and ‘funny.’ His style’s a mix of cerebral gut-punches and pitch-black humor. We’re diving deep into how he crafted this one, what it’s like to sling jokes in today’s world, and why he’s one of the smartest voices in standup right now.” Previously: In his comedy doc/special Substance, he performs 4 sets on 4 nights (1 high, 1 drunk, 1 sober, and 1 on shrooms). His previous special, Feels Like Matt Ruby is available on YouTube. His comedy albums (including Feels Like Matt Ruby and Hot Flashes,) are in regular rotation on Sirius and went top 10 on the iTunes Comedy charts. He's also been featured on CNN, The Huffington Post, New York magazine, Time Out, and more.  He's a regular at the legendary Comedy Cellar and co-produces Hot Soup there (Tuesdays), one of NYC’s longest running independently produced comedy shows, and Good Eggs (Mondays and Wednesdays) at NY Comedy Club. He tours around the country and internationally too. Misguided Meditation is his one-man show about mindfulness, psychedelics, therapy, and death.

Laura Parnes is an extremely accomplished filmmaker and artist . (Scroll down for bio—impressive!!) One of the themes in Laura Parnes's work is female adolescence. Here's a quote from an interview with her in ⁠FEMEXFILM Archive⁠: "A really big focus of the work is the romantic vision of a teen peering in on a culture that they haven’t personally participated in and how this holds potential for criticality. But, it’s really tempered by a desire to gain status, power, and agency. " Bearing that in mind, I wanted to find out about Laura's own upbringing and teen years and how that has influenced her work. It turns out there were about two years in Laura's life that were filled with older friends and drugs. After that she chose to put her energy into art, got accepted to Tyler Art School and the rest is history. Art history to be specific. Laura's work has been clearly ahead of it's time as well as an influence on the period we are living in today. Gen Z has picked up on one of her films from 2017, No Is Yes, depicting two teen girls with a crush on a rockstar they kill accidentally and then mutilate. Clips of it have gone viral on Tik Tok. Please check out her work, if you're not familiar, on her website and Vimeo. BIO:     Laura Parnes’ critically acclaimed films and installations fuse comedy with pathos to probe social and political trauma. Informed by traditions and genres in narrative film, video art and queer theater, her work blurs the lines between conventions of storytelling and experimentation. The performers in her projects are often part of a diverse community of artists and musicians, many of whom are responsible for the rich underground scene in NYC, and who have shaped and affected other mainstream art cultures. Laura Parnes has screened and exhibited her work widely in the US and internationally, including: The Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio; The Institute of Contemporary Art University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; The International Film Festival Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece., LOOP Festival, Barcelona, Spain; Light Industry, Brooklyn, NY; Kusthalle Winterhur, Switzerland; Overgaden- Institute for Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark; iMOCA, Indianapolis, IN; Cinematexas, Austin, TX; Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius, Lithuania; Museo Nacional Centro De Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Whitney Museum of American Art (1997 Whitney Biennial), NY; Dunedin Public Art Gallery, New Zealand; PSI Contemporary Art Center MoMA, NY; Miami Museum of Contemporary Art, FL; and Brooklyn Museum, NY. Her solo exhibitions include Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY; Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY; Human Resources, LA, CA; Fitzroy Gallery, NYC, NY; LAXArt, LA, CA; Alma Enterprises, London, UK; Locust Projects, Miami, FL; Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam, Holland; Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, LA, CA; Participant Inc, NYC, NY and Deitch Projects, NYC, NY. She has had solo screenings at The MoMA, NYC, NY; The Kitchen, NYC, NY; MoMA PS1, LIC, NY; NYCATE 10-year Anniversary, presented by the School of Art Institute of Chicago and Video Data Bank, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL; Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA; Vtape, Toronto, Canada; and in a two-person screening at The MoMA, NYC, NY. She was presented by Participant Inc. in a two-person exhibition at No Soul for Sale at X Initiative, NYC, NY.      Parnes is a 2021 MacDowell Fellow, a 2019 Yaddo Artist in Residence, a 2019 Wave Farm Media Arts Awardee, a 2016 Creative Capital Awardee, a 2014 NYFA recipient, a 2013 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellow and has lectured as a visiting artist at numerous institutions including Harvard University, Columbia University and UCLA. She has participated in panels at Yale University, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and MoMA PS1.

Comedian Matt Ruby and I agree there is a lot Non—Trump voters missed (myself included) about how society views a large group of men. It's not simple, especially since we are all in our info silos. Matt put out a great substack opinion piece on this topic. Even discussing this shit nowadays is risky, but necessary for all of us to understand these issues. I was inspired to listen to this Joe Rogan episode after our chat and it was further illuminating. We MUST UNDERSTAND the other people! Btw: Did you also know that Matt Ruby is an AWESOME COMEDIAN?? HERE'S PROOF More Matt Here: https://www.mattrubycomedy.com/ @mattrubycomedy/ The substack we discussed here: https://mattruby.substack.com/p/incessantly-calling-men-toxic-is Incessantly calling men toxic is a bad way to get their votes How to win 'em over: Less dunking, more persuading. It’s my fault. As ambassador of the elites, I take full responsibility for this defeat.First off, let’s admit it: He’s the greatest con man ever. The first time around, people might not have understood what was happening. This time, everybody knew — and they went for it anyway. When you get the marks to volunteer for the duping, you’ve achieved true con mastery. Am I mad? Nah. Frustrated, but this is just who we are. It’s the same way I feel about the rise in antisemitism. We act like something new is happening, but really we just moved the rock and are now seeing what was underneath all along. I’d rather stare it in the face than pretend it’s not there. This is who we are. (Also, let’s be real: I’m a white dude who lives in NYC so I’ll probably be insulated from the worst of it.) Plus, I kinda saw it coming… mattrubycomedy #mattruby #mattrubycomedian A post shared by @mattrubycomedy “Butts in seats” is the comedy version of elections. It’s our way of saying, “Scoreboard!” The lesson we’ve learned: You can go on Colbert 15 times and it won’t have the impact of one Rogan appearance. Especially if you wanna reach dudes. Ezra Klein explained this in the NYT: She should’ve gone on Rogan, and much else besides…But Rogan is symbolic of something bigger. There is an alienation that’s grown between young men and much of the Democratic Party. For years, there’s been no real way of talking about masculinity in liberal circles that didn’t attach the word “toxic” before it. There’s been a reveling in growing female strength and a deep critique of male culture. You can have any view you want on the merits of that, but it’s had consequences. The Republicans are the roast and the Democrats are the HR department. And America wants cruel jokes more than a DEI seminar. If any/all of this annoys you, I return to this question: Do you want to win next time or nah? Because what I’m really getting at… It’s time to realize that incessantly calling men toxic is a bad way to get their votes. The truth is men are suffering and retreating right now. Richard Reeves has been discussing this at length. Here's a taste. I worry that we’re not signaling strongly enough to young men now we need you. We in very different spaces. We the families, we the mothers, we the labor market, we the community. Not just we need people, but we need you. And absent that sense of we need you, I think we see a lot of young men retreating. #mattruby #comedy #comedian

I saw Matt do a super interesting comedy show at a yoga studio last month called Misguided Meditation. It was great and he's doing another one January 22 at Yoga to the People – East Village TICKETS HERE He has a great newsletter too = sign up here: THE RUBESLETTER He's a really great comedian where you walk out thinking about what you were just laughing about. This episode stuck around in my head for a while—like a good acid trip. Matt really shared a lot of personal stuff. He’s has a very successful career as a comedian performing regularly at The Comedy Cellar. His comedy is hilarious! Plus exceptionally smart, thoughtful and his work has some great messages about toxic masculinity, which was refreshing to hear from a straight dude. I harassed him to share more specifically about the points he is making, why those issues speak to him and where they come from (a prosecutor dad and artist mom). Matt understand his feelings and is very articulate, There’s a lot to draw you in. More Matt: BIO Matt Ruby is a NYC comedian that tells smart/dark jokes for people with a finely tuned BS detector. He's a regular at the Comedy Cellar in NYC, in regular rotation on SiriusXlllllllM, his album "Hot Flashes" went top 10 at iTunes, and he's been seen on Laughs on FOX, MTV's Girl Code, and The Comedy Show Show on NBC/Seeso. He's also the creator of Vooza, a video comic strip about the tech world (called the "The Spinal Tap of startups" by Mashable) and co-producer of Hot Soup, one of NYC’s longest running independently produced comedy shows. H Outside of standup, he's the creator of Vooza, a video comic strip about the tech world that’s received millions of view and was called the "The Spinal Tap of startups" by Mashable and (SIGN UP FOR THIS!!! ) he’s the author of the Rubesletter, a weekly newsletter with over 15,000 subscribers.

Tim Seeberger s his music. As founder/frontman of PopMusic his band is gatherering heat and opportunities. As he has transitioned from a devoted Christian to a devoted queer musician who is also Christian, Tim has experienced a lot of identity adjustments, starting in a new way when he went away to college. He has a good relationship with his family, lots of friends and above all, his music will always ground him. There’s still some work to do on intimacy but he’s only 27. Also, on a personal level—I really like this music. It has a genuine uncynical authenticity just like Tim. Listen to PMFD on Spotify Watch their Another Screen video Another Screen by Pop Music Fever Dream, from their new EP, "Songs For Emotion." Starring T. Seeberger, Carmen Castillo, Domenico Bancroft, and Nicole Harwayne Directed by T. Seeberger Produced by T. Seeberger, Carmen Castillo Cinematography/Vfx by Sam Blieden (Instagram: @s.r.b) Edited by Sam Blieden, T. Seeberger Acting Coaching by Carmen Castillo Special thanks to @TheFilmMakersCooperative Pop Music Fever Dream is a post-punk/no wave band from NYC. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pmfd.nyc/?h... Bandcamp: https://pmfd.bandcamp.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0SZRh... Apple Music:   / pop-music-fever-dream   Here's some great interviews with Tim: https://swimintothesound.com/blog/2024/9/9/the-name-of-the-band-is-pop-music-fever-dream https://www.bkmag.com/2023/10/02/inside-the-queer-punk-revolution/ #timseeberger #popmusicfeverdream

Alvaro Gamboa is an awesome human and a great comedian. He sums up his POV here:, “I have a background in critical race theory. I have a have a degree in that. And so it's something that I find amusing, I guess I could say, where like just trying to find the intersections between race, gender and class and how those play out in our daily, not just in my upbringing, but in our day to day lives and how that affects it.” You’ll also hear how Alvaro, a good-looking young man, likes the ladies—and I’m here to tell you personally, as a witness and friend, he is very respectful of women. https://www.youtube.com/@AlvaroJokesGamboa rebelioncomedy : Mondays 6pm @bkmadecomedy

Sarah Cummings is a young trans woman who I hadn't met before. She is from a fairly small town and has had to make her own path as she is trans and bi-polar. Sarah is very serious about becoming an accomplished writer. Currently she is an editor at https://sentencedlit.org/ She's been in New York for 3 years. As Dr. Lisa, I'm thinking it must be disorienting to be an outsider until you move to New York and fit in. Going from being an outsider to fitting in will challenge anyone's view of themselves and therefore, their creative work. Sarah puts a lot of pressure on herself, but she's only 25 and has good footing to get to where she wants to go.

DLG1425 Machine Dazzle can only be 100% who he is — a major reason he is the creative force that he is.

Casey J Salengo has just released his special, "Welcome To The Jungle," so I wanted to hear about his experience and his feelings about completing such an awesome project. Casey is super talented and is hilarious to watch as well as listen to. This special, any special for a comic, is a HUGE project that involves great comedy but with a serious side of production. I really want you ro WATCH HIS SPECIAL cause I want you to be happy! Look for the stuffed fox when you watch it. Casey and I talked on Dr. Lisa in 2017, LISTEN HERE, when he was single and I was trying to get him a date from a call-in. Now he's happily married to great woman, also a comic, Courtney McGuiness. Courtney is funny but also really good at all the things that are valuable that make for a great career as a designer. with a good, consistent salary and benefits. We take a deep dive into how this relationship has facilitated his growth as a human. Let's face it—women rock! PS: My husband listened to Casey and I talking and it helped him understand me better. I actually did some good therapy for my own relationship on this one! Insta: @caseyjsalengo #comedy #unlicensedtherapy #comedians #caseyjsalengo #courtneymcguiness #therapy #creativework #creativestruggle #creativerewards #drlisa #drlisagivesashit

Aamir Ashad is a stand up comedian who moved to New York from Rochester a year ago to pursue comedy. he's smart, funny and with a good work ethic, he is making great progress in reaching his goals. When I met Aamir at an open mic a few months ago I invited him on to discuss arranged marriage, as that is how his parents met. We have a deep discussion about Aamirs view of arranged marriage as well as his own thoughts about dating and sex. Aamir is Muslim, 22 years old and has very set ideas about women, staying pure and marriage. As Dr. Lisa, I tell him he sounds like he might be repressing some important feelings that would help his personal growth. He then lays an unexpected bombshell on me which changes our whole understanding of the discussion right there and then. (Go to timestamp 51:23) Conflict ensues, but we finish as mutually respected friends. Follow @aamirdoesstandup

Megan Cossey is highly educated (Cornell, ba cum laude, Columbia Journalism, MFA) from a tiny, southern town, that didn't follow the script she was brought up with. After graduating from Columbia, she embarked on a career in communications at the UN. Currently, she co-parenting her teenage son with her ex-wife and her ex-wife's partner and reinventing her work career, all while pursuing an increasingly active comedy career. She talks about how her perspective is changing along with circumstance out in the world. Megan has learned a lot about men from raising her son who is doing well in school and has a girlfriend. She sees how boys are restricted from expressing emotions except for anger and mean girls make fun of emotional boys. @megan_the_cossey

This is Ben Louis' EIGHTH time on the show! Ben has solidified his position at Siriusxm. Currently a Music Program Coordinator for SiriusXM Heart & Soul. as well as being the Producer/co-host of the Platinum 20 Countdown on Heart & Soul.As a self-proclaimed workaholic and R&B expert, Ben's has gone from Radio Free Brooklyn to R&B Sirius XM radio influencer who is sent to represent SiriusXM at music festivals all over the us in 8 short years. Ben's father is a preacher and Ben talks about the connection he has with his dad's work ethic and skills as a pastor  Ben's SiriusXM Show: ⁠Sunday Mimosa,⁠ Sundays 5pm + midnight on channel 47, Instagram: ⁠@benlouisradio/⁠ #BenLouis #Siriusxm Listen to Ben's personal and professional journey as recorded with Dr. Lisa annually since 2018: Ben Louis: First session DLG1204 - 2018 Fellow RFB "Ben Talks" host, Ben Louis talks recent gf breakup. Ben Lous: 2nd Session, DLG1840 2019 Ben Louis, host of RFB's BEN TALKS, comes in for a follow-up session! Ben Louis: Third Session - DLG220 2020 Fellow RFB host, Benjamin Louis of BEN TALKS, talks candidly about his personal growth. Ben Louis: Fourth Session DLG260 2021 Ben Louis, former RFB host is on the cusp of living his dream! Ben Louis: Fifth Session DLG286 2022 Former RFB host (now at Sirius), Ben Louis, comes in for an annual check in with Dr. Lisa Ben Louis: Sixth Session DLG319 2023 Former RFB Host now SiriusXM Host, Ben Louis. Ben's life in a creative career is inspiring. Ben Louis Seventh Session DLG339 Sept. 2024/ Ben Louis has made it—now he’s under pressure. We know he’s got this.

Bryant Denton is a bright, affable, young man who has a growing career in radio having worked at NPR, WNYC and Vermont Public Radio. I got to know Bryant fairly well since he is a fellow radio show host at Radio Free Brooklyn, but I have always sensed that Bryant was just a little more grounded and mature than most guys his age and on the show we find out why. Check out Bryant's RFB show, LIFE SUPPORT, which airs weekly from 11pm to midnight on Fridays,. Bryant went through some major upheaval in his relationship with his brother, when he and his brother first moved to NYC together and became roommates. There was conflict, with Bryant eventually moving out . They weren't in touch for about 2 years. In the beginning of this year Bryants' brother reached out and they actually spent time together about a week ago—it went well. Bryant and his brother have a difficult background — their mother is disabled due to a car accident when Bryant was 8. Soon after the accident, Bryant's father left the family so he and his brother with a disabled mother, brought themselves up. Its so encouraging to hear Bryant talk so openly about his life and what his experiences have been like. Clearly this is a story of resilience, growth and hard work.

Sarah Boxer is foremost a thinker! The author of s⁠everal books, graphic novels and articles for many storied publications such as the New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic, Brooklyn Rail and many more. Dr. Lisa began her career as a self-proclaimed psychotherapist in 2001 and Sarah, on staff at the Arts & Ideas desk at the NY Times, wrote a feature story on Psychotherapy LIVE! READ IT HERE Lisa's live stage show where she did "Psychotherapy" on audience volunteers. A LOT has happened in the last 25 years. Sarah has a 22 year old son and she's putting the finishing touches on a book of her drawings she did of him from birth to age 5 that is to be published soon. She discusses what effect it had on her to do those drawings, how she first dived into Freud's writing at age 15 (her father had his books in the house) and her impression of Psychotherapy LIVE! all those years ago (a good impression!) It's compelling to find these women with their separate journeys back in the same room, years away from when they first met in July, 2002. Sarah Boxer Bio: WHO AM I? ​​I am a writer of non-fiction and graphic fiction from Colorado who now lives in Washington, D.C. I have drawn & written two psycho-comics -- In the Floyd Archives, based on Freud's case histories, and its post-Freudian sequel, Mother May I?  I have also written reviews and essays for The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic, The Comics Journal, The L.A Review of Books, The New York Times, Photograph, Slate, and Artforum. Now I'm working on a third volume of my Shakespearean Tragic-Comics, a series that so far includes Hamlet: Prince of Pigs ​and Anchovius Caesar. For more detail, see my CV.  WHO WAS I?​​For many years I worked at The New York Times  (1989-2006) where I was, at various points, a photo critic, a Web critic, an arts reporter, an editor at The Week in Review, and an editor at The Book Review.  In 2008 Vintage published Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks From the Wild Web, an anthology that I edited. My first book, published by Pantheon in 2001 was In the Floyd Archives.

Kevin Townley Jr. is one of those fascinatingly multi-talented creative people who doesn't fit neatly into any box—he's an actor, filmmaker, writer, meditation teacher, and now author of "Look, Look, Look, Look, Look Again," a book that connects 26 artists to Tibetan Buddhist teachings about transforming negative emotions into wisdom. His upbringing was pretty wild: raised in 1990s Colorado by his father in a spiritual commune filled with tarot cards, alchemy experiments, and Native American rituals after his parents had a messy divorce (his mom literally punched his dad in the school playground). Despite growing up poor and dealing with instability, Kevin learned early on to embrace his theatrical, queer sensibility—dyeing his hair orange and wearing purple suits to middle school as an act of defiant self-expression that basically made bullies back off. He didn't formally start practicing Buddhism until his 30s, though it was always part of his world growing up in Boulder's spiritual scene. Now he's making independent films the DIY way, gathering NYC creative friends to shoot projects over months without traditional Hollywood budgets or gatekeeping. His approach to everything—from Buddhism to filmmaking—seems to be about creating nurturing, non-judgmental spaces where people can express themselves authentically. The whole conversation reveals someone who turned a chaotic childhood into a superpower: an ability to see possibilities where others see obstacles and to gather communities around creative visions without manipulation or cruelty. BIO: Kevin Townley is a writer, filmmaker, actor, singer, and meditation teacher. He began formally studying Buddhism in 2010 and currently practices with the Sokuko-Ji Zen community under the guidance of Kyoun Sokuzan. He has taught Buddhism and meditation for over a decade. His film and television work include appearances in My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Men in Black III, The Detour, and Law & Order. With his band, Bambï, Townley adapted Rossner’s Looking for Mr. Goodbar into the rock opera called GOODBAR, performed at The Public Theater. He has written extensively for the Waterwell theater company and Rookiemagazine. He has also led hundreds of art tours in museums across the United States, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.