The New Maturity – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Guy Branum was eight years old, curled up on his family's farm in Yuba City reading about Greek goddesses while other boys played outside. A gay Jewish kid in rural California drawn to stories about divine beings who didn't quite fit the mold either.

Today he's an Emmy-winning writer and producer for Hacks, a co-star in Bros, and one of the sharpest voices in queer comedy. In this conversation, Guy talks about the Secret Service showing up at his college apartment after a student newspaper column got misquoted—and how he's still on their list decades later. He shares why law school was the best wrong turn of his life, what working for Joan Rivers taught him about writing stand-up that actually feels real, and why his Instagram series "What the Old Gays Remember" keeps surprising him with what lands.

This is about remembering you're a goddess, and why the strangest detours make the most interesting lives.

What We Talk About:

• The Berkeley years, the Secret Service incident over a Chelsea Clinton column, and why he's still on their watch list thirty years later

• Coming out in law school in Minnesota and why the "wrong turn" of going to law school gave him the clearest possible view of what he didn't want

• Writing stand-up for television—why it's one of the hardest things to do, and what working with Joan Rivers and Chelsea Handler taught him about perspective and specificity

• The "What the Old Gays Remember" Instagram series with Tori, and why the most obscure stories end up being the ones that blow up

• Be Fruitful: confronting what purpose looks like as a gay man who won't participate in evolution, and why his best friend's note about getting personal changed the entire show

About Guy Branum:

Guy Branum is an Emmy-winning comedy writer and producer, known for his work on Hacks, The Mindy Project, The Other Two, and Billy on the Street. He co-starred in the groundbreaking queer rom-com Bros and served as an on-set punch-up writer. He is the author of the memoir My Life as a Goddess and a working stand-up comedian who has written for Joan Rivers and Chelsea Handler. He is currently touring with his solo show Be Fruitful. He lives in Los Angeles.

Connect with Guy:

Website: Instagram: @guybranum TikTok: @guybranumcomedy

Resources Mentioned:

• My Life as a Goddess (memoir)

• Hacks (TV series)

• Bros (film)

• Be Fruitful (solo show / Netflix Is a Joke Festival)

• What the Old Gays Remember (Instagram series)

• Joan Rivers

• Chelsea Handler

• Cole Escola & Jeffrey Self / Jeffrey and Cole Casserole

• Roxane Gay / Bad Feminist

• The Daily Californian

• Lido and the Lycian Peasants (Greek mythology)

• Top Chef

• Great British Bake Off

Connect With Us:

Website: https://www.thenewmaturity.com

Instagram: @thenewmaturity

Newsletter: https://thenewmaturity.substack.com

Email: heath@thenewmaturity.com

New episodes drop every other Wednesday. Subscribe now so you never miss a conversation that might just change how you see growing older.

Justin Chapple's grandmother Barbara made meals out of practically nothing—doctoring instant ramen, turning eggs into something magical. She didn't give her recipes fancy names. She just cooked with what she had, and her family ate well.

Years later, Justin would go to culinary school, work the line at fancy restaurants, and land a pinch-me job at Food & Wine magazine as culinary director at large and host of their James Beard-nominated Mad Genius Tips series. But somewhere along the way, he realized restaurant work felt hollow. What he was missing was exactly what his grandmother had—that direct line between making something and feeding the people you love.

In this conversation, Justin talks about seven years at Starbucks before culinary school, how a chance encounter at a South Beach food festival launched his career in food media, and why he finally gave himself permission to sing show tunes in a professional kitchen. Decades later, he's still learning what his grandmother was teaching him all along.

This is about finding the version of your craft that actually makes you happy, and why the best lessons often come from the people who never called themselves teachers.

What We Talk About:

• Growing up in Stockton, California with limited resources and how grandmother Barbara's cooking taught him that abundance isn't about what's in the pantry—it's about what lands on the table

• The seven years at Starbucks, the detour through acting, and why working restaurant line kitchens ultimately left him not wanting to cook at all when he got home

• How a chance meeting at a South Beach food festival with Giada De Laurentiis's producer led directly to the Food & Wine job that changed his life

• The evolution of Mad Genius Tips from food hacks to teaching—and why watching someone learn something new feels like passing something on

• Why the restaurant industry has come a long way for queer cooks, and what it meant to finally work somewhere that let him be loud, funny, and himself

About Justin Chapple:

Justin Chapple is the culinary director at large at Food & Wine magazine and the former host of their James Beard-nominated video series Mad Genius Tips. A graduate of the French Culinary Institute, he worked in restaurant kitchens before finding his calling in food media, where he's spent years making cooking feel less intimidating and a whole lot more fun. He is the author of Just Cook It. He lives in New York with his husband, Jason.

Connect with Justin:

Website: https://justinchapple.com Instagram: @justinchapple

Resources Mentioned:

• Just Cook It (cookbook)

• Mad Genius Tips (Food & Wine video series)

• Food & Wine Magazine

• French Culinary Institute

• Giada De Laurentiis

• The Two Fat Ladies (TV show)

• Jacques Pépin

• Julia Child

• MSG / Accent seasoning

• Sur La Table (Solutab ratchet pepper mill)

• Choqette & Shuka, New York City

Connect With Us:

Website: https://www.thenewmaturity.com

Instagram: @thenewmaturity

Newsletter: https://thenewmaturity.substack.com

Email: heath@thenewmaturity.com

New episodes drop every other Wednesday. Subscribe now so you never miss a conversation that might just change how you see growing older.

This week we journey into the sensory world of fashion publishing with Dennis Golonka, who witnessed Harper's Bazaar's spectacular rebirth under Liz Tilberis in 1992—a transformation that redefined the industry forever. Dennis unveils fashion's Camelot with revelations kept quiet for three decades, from Tilberis's "angel in Chanel" leadership style to her strategic rivalry with Anna Wintour and meaningful friendship with Princess Diana.

• The spectacular rebirth of Harper's Bazaar that redefined fashion publishing

• Inside Liz Tilberis's revolutionary "angel in Chanel" leadership approach

• The strategic rivalry with Anna Wintour that insiders still discuss 

• Princess Diana's friendship with Tilberis and their Met Gala moment

• Dennis's evolution from nervous assistant to influential photographer

• How radical trust—not fear—creates truly transformative leadership

• Preserving print's cultural influence in today's algorithm-driven landscape

Connect With Us:

• Website: https://www.thenewmaturity.com

• Instagram: @thenewmaturity

• Newsletter: https://thenewmaturity.substack.com

• Email: heath@thenewmaturity.com

New episodes drop every other Wednesday. Subscribe now so you never miss a conversation that might just change how you see growing older.

This week we explore how getting older might actually mean getting better with Richard Faraino, whose life chronicles New York's most pivotal moments. From fighting on the frontlines of the AIDS crisis as both a medical librarian and ACT UP activist to his stunning midlife career pivot into horticulture, Richard now creates spaces of beauty in Battery Park's gardens for 12 million annual visitors—a poetic evolution for someone who once fought to distribute life-saving medical information.

• Richard's journey from medical librarian to ACT UP activist during the AIDS crisis

• Finding love through "The Back Room," an early digital dating service, despite policies against dating HIV-positive men

• How his pattern of seeking solace in gardens evolved into a second career

• Creating Battery Park's stunning gardens and their impact on 12 million visitors annually

• The psychological liberation of abandoning external validation in midlife

• Why embracing change becomes easier—not harder—as you age

• Richard's philosophy on genuine community impact versus performative activism

Connect With Us:

• Website: https://www.thenewmaturity.com

• Instagram: @thenewmaturity

• Newsletter: https://thenewmaturity.substack.com

• Email: heath@thenewmaturity.com

New episodes drop every other Wednesday. Subscribe now so you never miss a conversation that might just change how you see growing older.

This week we explore a radical alternative to traditional living with filmmakers Michael Bullock and Michael Cukr, creators of the groundbreaking documentary "Dream Homes." Currently exhibiting at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Triennial, their film takes us inside three LGBTQIA+ intentional communities reimagining what "home" can mean in America today—not as utopian experiments hidden from society, but as active laboratories creating practical models of care, mutual support, and collective living.

• How these communities differ from separatist LGBTQIA+ communes of previous generations

• Miss Major's House of GG—a sanctuary offering rest for trans women by a pioneer who created the first safe spaces for trans sex workers

• Lupinwood's approach to structure through formal house meetings and clearly defined responsibilities

• Ten Cups Farm's revolutionary collective parenting model ensuring adults never run on empty

• The radical concept of rest as luxury systematically denied to marginalized people

• How these communities respond to prejudice with understanding rather than anger

• The documentary's unexpected urgency after Trump's election and what it means for queer communities

Connect With Us:

• Website: https://www.thenewmaturity.com

• Instagram: @thenewmaturity

• Newsletter: https://thenewmaturity.substack.com

• Email: heath@thenewmaturity.com

New episodes drop every other Wednesday. Subscribe now so you never miss a conversation that might just change how you see growing older.

This week we're joined by Susan Aberth, renowned author of "The Tarot of Leonora Carrington" and Bard College's preeminent scholar of occult art history. In our most downloaded episode of 2025 so far, Aberth delivers an intellectual rollercoaster—seamlessly connecting practical queer survival wisdom with revelations about the mystical underpinnings of American culture that will forever change how you see The Wizard of Oz.

• The brutal realities of estate planning for queer couples

• How homophobic relatives can legally erase queer lives after death

• The Emerald City's secret Masonic origins revealed

• Why men in early 20th century America flocked to rituals where they could wear makeup

• How Los Angeles became the epicenter of queer mystical culture

• The surprising connection between physics and what we call "supernatural"

• Aberth's prediction for humanity's next evolutionary leap

Mentioned in this episode: "Sci-Fi, Magic, Queer LA" exhibition and "The Tarot of Leonora Carrington"

Connect With Us:

• Website: https://www.thenewmaturity.com

• Instagram: @thenewmaturity

• Newsletter: https://thenewmaturity.substack.com

• Email: heath@thenewmaturity.com

New episodes drop every other Wednesday. Subscribe now so you never miss a conversation that might just change how you see growing older.

This week we welcome Douglas Friedman, the renowned photographer capturing America's most breathtaking interiors for Architectural Digest and Vogue. At 52, Friedman embodies creative reinvention—thriving in Manhattan's art world, Marfa's desert expanses, and amid his 150-year-old Long Island restoration project.

Episode Highlights:

• Douglas's radical career pivot at 27—leaving David Fincher's film crew to travel Southeast Asia

• The $10,000 in traveler's checks that changed everything

• Finding patience and presence before the era of "constant input"

• The decade-long Marfa love affair that everyone thought was crazy

• Why his friend Martha Stewart at 80+ is his ultimate role model

• The philosophy of the "high value day"—creative exhaustion vs. burnout

Explore how abandoning Hollywood transformed his artistic vision, why at 52 he's designing swimwear, restoring historic homes, and launching diverse creative ventures, and how his unconventional desert home "ringed by mountains" reshaped his identity.

Connect With Us:

• Website: https://www.thenewmaturity.com

• Instagram: @thenewmaturity

• Newsletter: https://thenewmaturity.substack.com

• Email: heath@thenewmaturity.com

New episodes drop every other Wednesday. Subscribe now so you never miss a conversation that might just change how you see growing older.

Kicking off Season 3 to celebrate Pride 2025 with Jeff Hiller, the breakout star from HBO's "Somebody Somewhere." Jeff discusses his memoir "Actress of a Certain Age: My 20-Year Trail to Overnight Success," chronicling his journey from theme restaurant performer to Hollywood success story.

Jeff shares his Texas-to-Hollywood path, the infamous $15,000 toupee incident, breaking stereotypical roles, finding success through grief, and how "Somebody Somewhere" changed everything. Learn his three principles for midlife reinvention: embracing authenticity, rejecting limiting stereotypes, and continuously redefining success.

Pre-order Jeff's memoir "Actress of a Certain Age" (releasing June 10th)!

Connect With Us:

• Website: https://www.thenewmaturity.com

• Instagram: @thenewmaturity

• Newsletter: https://thenewmaturity.substack.com

• Email: heath@thenewmaturity.com

New episodes drop every other Wednesday. Subscribe now so you never miss a conversation that might just change how you see growing older.

An accomplished editor steps into the director's chair, weaving parenthood and filmmaking into an intimate exploration of family complexity in her groundbreaking debut.

Ready to revolutionize how you grow older? The New Maturity is your vibrant community where queerness meets wisdom, and every year brings exciting new possibilities. Our stories celebrate aging authentically, challenge stereotypes, and empower you to thrive. Join our dynamic Instagram community @thenewmaturity and discover game-changing insights at thenewmaturity.com. Whether you're LGBTQ+ or an ally, we're rewriting the rules of aging together!

Losing his sight at 25 led this master potter to profound artistic revelation, offering powerful lessons in resilience and the unexpected gifts of transformation.

Ready to revolutionize how you grow older? The New Maturity is your vibrant community where queerness meets wisdom, and every year brings exciting new possibilities. Our stories celebrate aging authentically, challenge stereotypes, and empower you to thrive. Join our dynamic Instagram community @thenewmaturity and discover game-changing insights at thenewmaturity.com. Whether you're LGBTQ+ or an ally, we're rewriting the rules of aging together!