The Story of My Friends is a general-interest "call-in" talk-show led by host Joe Friend and his rotating cadre of questionably sane guests. TSOMF covers topics including fire dancing, astrophotography, juggling for a Guinness World Record, hypnotherapy, escaping a hospital, mining for gold, producing a musical, dancing naked with witches, yoga faux pas, artificially inseminating prized dogs, creating a board game, surviving in prison, driving a Corvette across the country, giving a woman a stroke, shooting a good friend, and much more; all with the message: Life Is Better When We Talk.
Part Talk Show, Part Game Show, A Little Too Much of Joe - The Story of My Friends
Apparently Joe is a Pitta Dosha. And it doesn't mean 'sweaty bastard' like he thought it did. Thankfully we have yoga gurus Angela Kukhahn and Shayna Hiller here to set him straight, teach him that "Shiva's Couch" is not meant to be his impression of the Burt Reynolds centerfold, and inform him that the warrior drishti is not intended to psychically explode the person in front of you. So pranayama your chakras free from your bandha and tell your mama about this one!
Flowing on 6/15!
Guest Stars: Angela Kukhaha, Shayna Hiller
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Episode Credits: Produced by: Joe Friend for jf3co, LLC | Associate Producer: Erica Loshin | Guest Thanks: Angela Kukhahn, Shayna Hiller
Music Thanks:
"I Feel For You" performed by Chaka Khan (Prince - ISWC T-070.082.207-6, ASCAP 00000390351930, BMI 000621493)
"California Honey" performed by Joe Friend Band (Joe Friend - ISWC T-306.698.166-2, ASCAP 00000912878333)
The Story of My Friends Theme song, “2nd Street Two-Step” written and recorded by Joe Friend
All songs available on The Story of My Friends The Playlist on Spotify
Hey Kids! On this here episode of The Story of My Friends you will learn that "to smuggle a decent amount of gold out internally, you'd have to be a pretty brave man."
My neighbor Jack White joins me and we take a deep dive into the world of gold mining. Put your lid on, trade your trackie daks for jumpers, call the missus and blow some kisses, and hit the frog and toad because this sparky is about to take us on an underground odyssey… just pray we steer clear of Jumbo Bob!
Excavating on June 1st!
Guest Stars: Jack White
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Episode Credits: Produced by: Joe Friend for jf3co, LLC | Associate Producer: Erica Loshin | Guest Thanks: Jack White
Music Thanks:
The Story of My Friends Theme song, “2nd Street Two-Step” written and recorded by Joe Friend
All songs available on The Story of My Friends The Playlist on Spotify
Is 'the girl next door' an accomplished abstract expressionist artist, classic car enthusiast, children's book author, musician, and full-contact ice hockey playing supermodel?
No?
I got you, boo.
Meet Amanda Renata Tutschek, accidental muse, a victim of 'the muse', acknowledged introvert, and a genuine good person just trying to be the calm in a world gone mad. Join us as we bounce across her life and unintentionally solve all the world's problems one hobby-turned-career at a time.
Coming May 15th.
Guest Stars: Amanda Renata Tutschek
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Episode Credits: Produced by: Joe Friend for jf3co, LLC | Associate Producer: Erica Loshin | Guest Thanks: Amanda Renata Tutschek
Music Thanks:
The Story of My Friends Theme song, "2nd Street Two-Step" written and recorded by Joe Friend
All songs available on The Story of My Friends The Playlist on Spotify
“I understand why Trader Joe’s would work… go to a Ralph’s… there’s no sexual tension in Ralph’s… but you walk into Trader Joe’s and suddenly it’s like... YOU... are on display.”
If you gave any of the other TSOMF episodes a cursory sniff, then it is obvious to you that Joe needs help (and a lot of it); enter Beatrice Rosu, host of “Let’s Talk Relationships”, part goddess / part guru, all the good views to give Joe the bad news: he still needs help. But he is not alone. And… well, neither are you. Come join us on this episode to untwist modern dating pretzel logic and help a better you come true!
Guest Stars: Beatrice Rosu
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Episode Credits: Produced by: Joe Friend for jf3co, LLC | Associate Producer: Erica Loshin | Guest Thanks: Beatrice Rosu
Music Thanks:
The Story of My Friends Theme song, "2nd Street Two-Step" written and recorded by Joe Friend
All songs available on The Story of My Friends The Playlist on Spotify
"First we scared her into a stroke, somehow... and then we helped her."
Randomly going to Dallas to buy a 1971 Corvette Stingray? Of course I'll hop on a plane to go with you!
... don't forget to get hammered, eat our body-weight in grilled meats, drink a gallon of butter, get accosted by the Texarkana police, give a woman a stroke, save a woman from a stroke, walk face-first into an evolving solve for race relations, and put that very same car you went to buy onto a trailer and watch it drive away leaving you... well, leaving you... somewhere?
Guest Stars: Robert Pratley
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Episode Credits: Produced by: Joe Friend for jf3co, LLC | Associate Producer: Erica Loshin | Guest Thanks: Robert Pratley
Music Thanks:
"Little Red Corvette" performed by Prince (Warner Brothers, 1982, ISRC USWB10003038)
The Story of My Friends Theme song, “2nd Street Two-Step” written and recorded by Joe Friend
All songs available on The Story of My Friends The Playlist on Spotify
Admitted to the hospital as a patient during what was promised to be "the most anticipated party of the year"?!?
Well, if you are Hollywood screen actor and horror queen Trisha Rae Stahl the answer is simple: BREAK OUT!!!
This tale has it all: Playmates, napalm, a garage converted into a makeshift operating room, drunken teenagers, hijinks, and enough legal paperwork to capsize our lawyers yacht (The SS Shepardizer), TSOMF episode 3 brings you "The Great (Hospital) Escape.
Guest Stars: Trisha Rae Stahl
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Episode Credits: Produced by: Joe Friend for jf3co, LLC | Associate Producer: Erica Loshin | Guest Thanks: Trisha Rae Stahl
Music Thanks:
The Story of My Friends Theme song, “2nd Street Two-Step” written and recorded by Joe Friend
All songs available on The Story of My Friends The Playlist on Spotify
"Youthful experimentation in the woods with a male prostitute and a half-wolf."
"... in a Pre-Colonial shack."
Red tops, blue tops, green tops, yellow tops... THE GOLD TOP! Joe has Ric Krause in the hot seat, playwright and producer of "The Gold Top" the musical. They dig in on the Sisyphean task of breathing life and fire into creative efforts... they also (ahem) maybe talk (allegedly) about making synthetic cocaine (allegedly) in a Precolonial shack in the woods (allegedly).
Guest Stars: Ric Krause
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Episode Credits: Produced by: Joe Friend for jf3co, LLC | Associate Producer: Erica Loshin | Guest Thanks: Ric Krause
Music Thanks:
"The Gold Top" album written and performed by Joshua John Funk (BMI IPI 340475381), written by Rick Krause (BMI IPI 1238052866), published by Pumapunku Publishing (BMI IPI 1249027458)
The Story of My Friends Theme song, "2nd Street Two-Step" written and recorded by Joe Friend
All songs available on The Story of My Friends The Playlist on Spotify
On this inaugural TSOMF: Randi wants to add some spark to her life, and accidentally sets herself on fire. Joe shares a painful moment of regret... it also involves fire. And we have Jennifer here to help piece it all back together. Circus arts, fire dancing, a mysterious woman in the mist, woodsy Bacchanalias, beachside revelations, Help Me / Help You hypnotherapy, and the promise of a future well done.
Guest Stars: Jennifer Champion & Randi Sargent
Who's afraid of [the big, bad] wolf?
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Episode Credits: Produced by: Joe Friend for jf3co, LLC | Associate Producer: Erica Loshin | Guest Thanks: Randi Sargent, Jennifer Champion
Music Thanks:
"View To A Kill" performed by Duran Duran (Barry John, Bates Nicolas James, Duran Duran, Movin Dream Orchestra - BMI 1587520 ISWC T9000207647)
"Hokus Pokus" performed by Insane Clown Posse (ICP, Violent J, Shaggy 2 Dope, Mike E. Clark, PolyGram Records, 1998, BMI ISWC T9046347506)
"The Safety Dance" performed by Men Without Hats (Ivan Doroschuk, BMI ISWC T0715151839)
"Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)" performed by The Hollies (Harold Clark, Roger Frederick Cook, Roger Greenway, John Reginald, BMI ISWC T0104478478)
The Story of My Friends Theme song, "2nd Street Two-Step" written and recorded by Joe Friend
All songs available on The Story of My Friends The Playlist on Spotify
March 15th, 2026... Beware the Ides of Ideas; Today, we launch a show!
TL;DR - new podcast launched today: “The Story of My Friends”... available everywhere fine podcasts are listened to. Links at bottom. Listen, love, follow, forward.
Dear Friends,
Announcing the launch of our new podcast, “The Story of My Friends”. I say ‘our’ because that is the intent… let’s tell each other our stories; and to that I am forever thankful to the friends, old and new, whom have generously gifted their time, energy, vulnerability, wry sense of humor, and expertise into this fledgling effort. I couldn’t promise a single guest that anything beneficial would come from sitting with me and talking. But people did. This truly was a labor of love. And helps prove my evolving hypothesis: Life is Better When We Talk.
Why pod at all? I notice the ugly trends; loneliness, segregation, seclusion, exclusion, a world seeking to divide us, app businesses making sure we are focused specifically on not communicating with each other more than superficially, that we are locked into their ecosystem (basically toddler playpens). I was acutely aware walking down the street, watching people with their necks craned at horrific angles, staring down at glowing rectangles, not even quite sure why they are looking into it at that particular moment, feet on autopilot, wondering why they were alone, why there is an epidemic of loneliness, brushing past each other in completely unacknowledged fashion.
I believe that our ability to communicate with each other - directly, discreetly, honestly, and without trying to apply some form of transactional manipulation to it - has deteriorated significantly, is stilted, dismissive, and continues to wither. So much so that I wandered around myself wearing the lens of that ‘that’s wrong’, ‘and that’s wrong’, and ‘who wronged me’, and ‘how was I wronged’ to the point where being around strangers was no longer enjoyable, I became intolerant of others toxic traits, I stayed bugged.
Then I stopped. Stopped walking mid-stride like a guileless tourist at the top of an airport escalator oblivious to the fact that that life (in the form of a corporeal conveyor belt) goes on and will knock you down.*
*unless you have an epiphany
I had an epiphany: “Fuck what’s wrong!”, I shouted over the noise of the sirens and screams, “What’s right? Who ‘righted’ me?”
What is the commonality? My answer was the people with whom you choose to build community. And participate in community. And represent yourself into the community. And help maintain the community as it flourishes.
That requires conscientious effort. Effort in a world so laden with commodified distraction designed to clown you. Your community is not the entire world. It’s not passing attention from strangers on the Internet that you’ve baited or been baited by. It is your tribe, the strength and purpose that you bring into it, and the effort you undertake to make a tribe a tribe.
That was my learning. But how to put it into action? People walking around with their necks bent at horrific angles staring at glowing rectangles… maybe we can start there. Maybe something can be done that would encourage people to pull their heads up and realize that richer, deeper engagement is better than the ‘mile wide, inch deep’ instantaneous access to all information on the outrage machine called the Internet; that we’re not supposed to have our opinion told to us 30 different times in the space of 15 minutes; that we’re not meant to jump from emotion to emotion 15 times within 30 seconds (from elation, to titillation, to outrage, to lust, to ‘aww cute’, to ‘super grody’), that it’s weird to have to continue to second-guess what is (like) really real. And, could something be done in a way that does not require one conform to the current model of megalomania required of any ‘digital thing’ (brand, celebrity, event, persona, whatever) that the internet pushes upon individuals? The decree that you must focus on a big thing, you must stay in that lane, you must have attention, celebrity, controversy, be the most-mostest, and (above all) bring the outrage.
Ok, so, a podcast, a meager podcast: audio-only, no blowouts, no swimsuit models, no begging for digital dog-treats, no need to be the loudest, and no need to be outrageous… like truly, truly, truly outrageous. The theme is ‘general interest’. Just talk. Maybe it jumps around a little. The language coarse on occasion (*see: Philadelphia). Maybe we’ll go on too long or not long enough. If there is anything to accomplish it is to encourage people to sit with each other, spend time with each other, dig deep with each other, and tell your stories.
Welcome to “The Story of My Friends”. 24 episodes across a year, a new episode every two weeks. Our foray into the ‘Life Is Better When We Talk’ effort.
If you listen to this podcast and it encourages you to pick up your head and say hi to a stranger, or pick up the phone and connect with a friend, we’ve succeeded; the goal is that simple.
BUT (and a big ole’ Sir Mix-A-Lot butt here)… IF you happen to enjoy podcasts, AND you are kind enough to give this one a listen, AND you happen to like it, PLEASE consider sharing this with other friends who might enjoy a new podcast; we can continue to make more the more traction we get.
Lastly, DO YOU have a great story you want to tell? I would love that. Just hit me up: [email protected]
