Hey Broken Homie,
Real talk…. we haven’t dropped a new episode since last September. But that doesn’t mean it’s been quiet.
Behind the scenes we’ve each been building, producing our own stuff, and figuring out what’s next. (Spoiler: new episodes are on the table. Stay close.)
And in the middle of all that, the three of us keep circling back to the same conversations. Heavier ones. The kind that used to sneak into the show between the jokes.
Here’s what’s been on our minds.
⭐ Everybody remembers a version of you. That version has an expiration date. ⭐
We did a whole episode unraveling Fresh Prince and there’s that scene everybody knows.
Will’s dad shows up in Bel-Air, makes promises, then leaves again. “How come he don’t want me, man?” Gut punch every time.
This image is from the iconic Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse," which originally aired on May 9, 1994
But here’s the part that hits as an adult. Will couldn’t go back to being the kid from West Philly that everybody back home remembered.
He grew. He changed. And every time he went back, there was that friction…. people wanting the old Will, the version they were comfortable with.
Will's homesick feelings lead Aunt Viv to invite his old friend "Ice Tray" (played by Don Cheadle) from Philadelphia to visit
That’s real life. Your family, your friends from your neighborhood …. they hold a picture of who you used to be. There’s love in that. But there’s a trap too.
The second you become someone new, it disrupts the people who needed you to stay the same.
You can’t go back to being West Philly Will. And you’re not supposed to.
Then there’s how we see ourselves.
We did an episode on Robin Williams that we still think about. Here’s a man who gave the entire world joy and made everybody laugh, lit up every room and was carrying something completely different on the inside.
Robin Williams as Peter Pan in 1991's 'Hook'; Robin Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire/Daniel Hillard in 1993's 'Mrs Doubtfire'; Robin Williams as John Keating in 1989's 'Dead Poets Society'.
Three versions of him (or more) existed at once. How he saw himself. How he wanted to be seen. And how the world saw him. And the distance between those three was bigger than anybody knew until it was too late.
We all do a smaller version of that. We perform one self, quietly are another, and everybody around us is watching a third thing entirely.
Getting honest about that gap might be the hardest part of growing up. Nobody warns you it’s coming.
We also keep coming back to being selfish with your art. 🎨
You almost have to be. Protective. A little obsessive. The work demands all of you and right now we’re each deep in our own projects, locked in, building separately.
But the second you step away from the work? Gotta flip it. Selfless with the people in your life. Present.
The ones who never learn that switch lose the people who matter. We’re still working on it ourselves, in real time.
Here’s where the nostalgia actually landed.
Looking back used to feel like wishing you could freeze it at the good part. Whole crew and family together, nothing’s changed yet, the mic’s still on every Friday.
But there’s a reframe. The past is finished. Closed. And weirdly…. that’s the gift.
Once you really accept it’s over, it stops being a place you’re trying to get back to and becomes the foundation you build the next thing on.
That’s the wisdom that doesn’t sound like the old cliché. “You can’t go home again”…. but said with of the emotions of free instead of said sad.
Same words. Completely different vibe.
That’s the stuff that made our show what it is and what it was. And it’s the stuff we’re carrying into whatever comes next. Catch up on the catalog while you wait:
One more thing before the fun stuff — we started a Broadcast Channel. 📲
We’re done letting the algorithm decide who hears from us. We’ve got a Collective channel on Instagram now — episode drops, behind-the-scenes, first looks, straight to you, no gatekeepers.
If you want the real-time pipeline, come through:
Okay. Now for something completely different. 👽
We just walked you through a whole meditation on growth and clarity, so naturally — let’s blow that up 💥🤣
A while back Aaron said, dead serious, that aliens have always been here. Not coming. Here.
The whole time. Probably posted up at the bottom of the ocean minding their business.
We laughed.
Then the government started putting out UFO files.
So… we’re not saying Aaron was right. But we’re not NOT saying it. 👀
We clipped the exact moment. Watch it before he gets too powerful:
Want the full conversation? Here’s the episode it came from:
Was he right, or was he RIGHT? Reply and let us know — we read every single one.
And forward this to the friend who needs both halves of this one — the deep part AND the alien part. 🔥
P.S. — Somebody in your life going through a glow-up nobody around them respects yet? Send them this → [subscribe link]
— Double D, Staffman & Aaron
After-School with Friends Collective
Detroit, Michigan
You’re getting this because you signed up at afterschoolspecialpodcast.com — and we love you for it. 🔥