Get Better

Sally Windle - Arts Educator and Oil Painter

If you discovered the importance of your relationship with art as someone coming of age in Lima, Ohio in the late 90’s and 2000’s, odds are good that you have Sally Windle to thank for that. Is that a bit too hyper specific of a demographic to entice you? Well how about a story about how Bill Gates is responsible for derailing the direction of a school system over a million dollar “buyout”? It’s pretty wild. But in all seriousness, my high school art teacher, Ms. Windle was kind enough to spend an afternoon over the recent holidays reminiscing through her journey as an arts educator and how that impacted the arts and arts education in a small Ohio city often written off as nothing more than uncultured, flyover state “MAGA country”. Want to come on the podcast? Have a friend I should talk to? Want to just say what’s up? Get in touch! [managerofcarl@gmail.com] Support the show: Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/carlsmanager], Venmo [https://www.venmo.com/u/Josh-Elstro] or CashApp [https://cash.app/$JoshElstro]

Brenden Davis - Sketch Comedy and Video Producer

The pea to my pod, the corn to my field, the needle to my thread… whatever all that means, today’s guest is Brendan Davis, a fellow “Renaissance Creative” (I just labeled us with that term) who can’t stop himself from trying to do it all. In this interview we focus mostly on his work in long-form sketch comedy video production with his production and writing crew Mazel Tov Cocktail [https://www.youtube.com/@mazeltovcocktailcomedy1702]. He’ll take us through the journey of leaning on creativity and comedy during long-term health struggles to forging his own path toward working independently with a creative team he loves in Savannah, Georgia’s burgeoning improv and comedy scene. Oh and we also have this other podcast we do together called Yeti or Not. Did we mention that? Want to come on the podcast? Have a friend I should talk to? Want to just say what’s up? Get in touch! [managerofcarl@gmail.com] Support the show: Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/carlsmanager], Venmo [https://www.venmo.com/u/Josh-Elstro] or CashApp [https://cash.app/$JoshElstro]

Wonder Brown - Poet and Rapper

Poet and Rapper, Wonder Brown’s compelling and vulnerable story-telling about his journey of discovering himself and his love for words is full of so many fascinating ups and downs that will surely aid any creative person in their pursuit to grow and get better. We discuss his struggles of abuse in a young marriage, finding escape in rap music after an upbringing that left him feeling unsafe and struggling for connection, finding his connection through words and poetry… and all the ups and downs that came along even after that. Not to mention what should be obvious to everyone at this point: That Kendrick Lamar is a much better role model and more thoughtful artist than Ye. We all already knew that a long time ago I hope. Right? Don’t be afraid or dissuaded by the runtime on this episode! We’re building the anti-Joe Rogan Experience over here on Get Better. We’re exploring the idea of men getting vulnerable and nuanced in long form recorded conversation in a way that reconstructs healthy masculinity instead of turning young men into uninformed, arrogant, self-righteous reactionaries. At least I hope thats what comes across. Anyway, share this with your brother, your boyfriend, your nephew, your dad, or whoever. Want to come on the podcast? Have a friend I should talk to? Want to just say what’s up? Get in touch! [managerofcarl@gmail.com] Support the show: Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/carlsmanager], Venmo [https://www.venmo.com/u/Josh-Elstro] or CashApp [https://cash.app/$JoshElstro]

Terra K - Stand-Up Comedian

In her own words, Terra K hit rock bottom during the pandemic in 2020 and decided the thing she wanted to try to dig her way out was stand-up comedy… famously a good exercise for growing one’s self-esteem (that part is a joke.) But for her, it seems to have worked. You can find her doing mics all over Cincinnati almost every week and killing with her brutally honest bits. Stick around long enough and you’ll also have the chance to hear her pry into my personal and dating life! Check her out on Instagram to keep up with her show schedule: @terraklaugh [https://www.instagram.com/terraklaugh/] Want to come on the podcast? Have a friend I should talk to? Want to just say what’s up? Get in touch! [managerofcarl@gmail.com] Support the show: Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/carlsmanager], Venmo [https://www.venmo.com/u/Josh-Elstro] or CashApp [https://cash.app/$JoshElstro]

Ben Jarvis and Ben Hawes - Roundtable on Wellness Marketing, the Manosphere, and Trying to Log Off

A bit of a break of form for this episode as I’m traveling and haven’t finished production on upcoming episodes I’ve recorded. I was invited to join a discussion last week on the MLM and cult-like nature of the online wellness industry and the nature of online branding and content creation at large by my friend Ben Jarvis who has found himself at conflict with some of the teachings of Yoga Teacher training he has been working through the past few months. Joining us in the discussion is Colorado based Acupuncturist, Ben Hawes. Worth noting, our own cultural connection to each other is a sub-Reddit community, r/AcidMarxism, which as best as I can describe is a community of folks preparing for and seeking a more compassionate, cosmopolitan Marxist political alternative to the current model of neoliberal capitalism we see on a trajectory for mass extinction. It’s not a cult… I swear. (Or is it?) The group spawned from the “GrillPill” philosophy ramblings of, Matt Christman, a host of the leftist comedy podcast Chapo Trap House. GrillPill is an extremely online way of explaining to extremely online people that we can’t change the world by being extremely online. All of this is a long way to say, we have some contextual language built in to our relationship and discussion you can probably disregard while still getting the bigger picture. Just roll with it. Want to come on the podcast? Have a friend I should talk to? Want to just say what’s up? Get in touch! [managerofcarl@gmail.com] Support the show: Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/carlsmanager], Venmo [https://www.venmo.com/u/Josh-Elstro] or CashApp [https://cash.app/$JoshElstro]