The Happy Oscar Show

Sep 19, 2026 / 19 min

Man, this one's about not comparing your inside with someone's outside. I came across a short film called The Neighbors' Window and it hit on that. Also talking about why I don't want a hook on this show, and why nobody needs to process their pain in public. Let's get into it. The Neighbors' Window written and directed by Marshall Curry. It won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short in 2020, and here's the part I didn't know it was based on a true story somebody told on a podcast called Love and Radio. A podcast episode turned into an Oscar-winning film. That's pretty badass. Watch it: theneighborswindow.com Other Podcast References I made: Inside Out (Pixar) Infinite Talks Podcast — Eric Castillo The Switch Podcast www.happyoscar.studio thehappyoscarshow.com IG: @happyoscar

Sep 2, 2026 / 30 min

Aug 26, 2025 / 33 min

If you announce it, your brain is gonna think you already did it and you'll never do it.

I warm up my voice like a singer before I get into this one. I talk about giving things time and not rushing, and I call the pressure to constantly post the algorithm flu. I also share early pieces of a Happy Human creative philosophy, like sharing before you feel ready. If you want to live in the clouds, you've got to get in the dirt.

Aug 24, 2025 / 32 min

If you're understandable, then you're too molded. And you're too predictable to yourself.

No one will understand you, and the moment you come to terms with that you're free. That goes for any journey, not just a creative one, since sometimes we don't understand ourselves. I talk about vulnerability connecting me to people and then worrying about being judged. Happiness takes work, and it isn't permanent.

Aug 21, 2025 / 23 min

If I don't channel creativity, man, it bottles up, it goes inward, and then I get frustrated.

I'm approaching the podcast differently. I recorded 12 episodes in July, and now I'm simplifying, with no intro, no snippet up front and no music, just my voice and a good mic. The hardest part of being creative in public is consistency. We had one in 400 trillion odds of being here, so I don't want to take it for granted.

Aug 4, 2025 / 14 min

You don't need the latest camera. You could use your iPhone camera, your Android camera, whatever, and start there.

This is my first episode of August. I aimed for 15 episodes in July, made 12, and also put out four songs. Don't think you need a whole entourage. Be a one man wolf pack, and if you don't have the tools, start with the phone you've got. I'm grateful it's a good time to be alive.

Jul 24, 2025 / 15 min

You might compare yourself to that image you see online and if you don't stay grounded, it's dangerous.

It's been a few days with a lot of shifts behind the scenes, and I've kept creating through it. I'm trying to get to 15 episodes this month. I talk about not creating from a fake place, because people will find where your ideas came from. The Happy Human brand has a plus and a minus sign because both exist.

Jul 15, 2025 / 17 min

For me I'm risking the song being criticized, or my production skills being criticized.

My first single came out last night. It's called Let It Be Born, and it's about an idea taking over and choosing you. It went through about seven versions, with happy accidents like Bob Ross talks about. I made it on a small MIDI keyboard, after buying my first one in 2021. Knock and the door opens.

Jul 14, 2025 / 16 min

You start creating for survival more than creating for expression.

I talk about Maslow's hierarchy of needs and how it applies to the creative life. I printed the pyramid and scrapbooked it into a journal years ago. If you skyrocket without building the foundation, it's a shaky pyramid. Do the boring work first.

Jul 11, 2025 / 20 min

And they'll support you but they'll never see you in a different light because they're so used to seeing you.

This week was heavy on music production. I talk about making evergreen things that are good now and 50 years from now, like the Happy Human sweater I made in 2018. I share a movie line about failing at a dream because it was the wrong dream. Sometimes the dream just isn't yours, but a version of it might be.

Jul 10, 2025 / 15 min

When I see zero engagement on posts or anything like that, it's just strengthening my own validation, my self-validation that what I'm doing is important.

The sleep monkey got me this morning. I've been deep in music production, and I talk about how a lot of people will say no to your work, with no clapping and no audience. Luck is preparation meeting opportunity. An overnight success with no foundation is a castle that tumbles, so build the foundation.

Jul 9, 2025 / 17 min

The personality of the beat comes from me not hitting the keys on time.

I forgot to set my alarm today, which got me thinking about the harmony of human error. I'm not talking about the tragic kind, I'm talking about how mistakes add value to creative work. Someone who's natural comes across better than someone who's perfect. An AI works off patterns from past data, and humans get messy and go on tangents. Embrace your humanity.

Jul 8, 2025 / 17 min

You're not waiting on people. You are the system.

This one's about being a self-contained creative, and a self-reliant person. When the pandemic hit, people who sold at events had to figure out selling online, and if you couldn't build that yourself you were stuck. Learning a new skill grows your brain and your courage. It also means you can chase inspiration when it hits.

Jul 7, 2025 / 15 min

No one is gonna come and tap your shoulder and be like, hey, can you do that? Nope. The world is not going to wait.

You can't wait for things to be perfect, because there's no perfect time. I talk about businesses that thought everything would stay smooth, and Thoreau and Walden Pond. I'm building foundations now with Happy Human Studio so things are ready when the time comes. Happy Human has two sides, the human with flaws and the happy with its potential.

Jul 4, 2025 / 19 min

Hosting is free. It costs your life because you're about to put yourself out there and no one might listen.

I've been making beats lately, and I talk about starting something without knowing how. I also taught myself to sew on an old machine, which men don't usually do. Getting in there and trying things is the best way to learn, because you tweak, you mess up and you learn. You only know it's a home run because of the fence.

Jul 3, 2025 / 17 min

The potential sometimes of the idea kills the execution because we don't do it.

The treadmill is where I get a bunch of my ideas. I talk about writing them down and having a system to recheck what you wrote. I also look into where the word idea comes from. The potential of an idea can kill the execution, because you get the hit from imagining it and then stop.

Jul 2, 2025 / 21 min

Find a book that tells you, dude, it's a lot of work, you're gonna get knocked on your ass.

I shared the Happy Human Studio app yesterday, on my birthday, as a gift from last year me to this year me. With putting something out there comes a burden. I talk about keeping things minimal, like Steve Jobs wearing the same thing, and the cycle of bringing an idea to life. Once it's out, there are people who can help you through the walls you hit.

Jul 1, 2025 / 14 min

Maybe someone downplays your badass idea and now it's a little splinter in your head.

When someone downplays your idea it becomes a splinter in your creative hand, and you stop building until you remove it. You can only get splinters by building. I share how I stopped my 100 days of t-shirts project at 26, even though they were selling. Don't fear missing out, fear having no impact.

Jun 30, 2025 / 23 min

Show your plan, don't share it. Showing is a lot harder. Showing requires action.

I use cars as a metaphor for staying on your own path, and I mention UFC 317 along the way. People will share ideas about my brand, and I'll listen, but that doesn't mean I jump into another car. I've done that before creatively. Figure out what car you're on, and control your mindset.

Jun 27, 2025 / 28 min

You can't expect others to care about your idea more than you care about the idea.

I've got to believe in what I'm doing before anyone else does, and that's a kind of freedom. It means doing things without waiting on outside validation. I'm confident in Happy Human, but creatives will deal with people who don't see the vision. I also talk about how small the market is for creative products. Believe in it, then do the work.

Jun 26, 2025 / 26 min

We're getting older every minute, every second. Look, I just got older.

I talk about the software I've been running in my mind on this creative journey. My early gym habit is about keeping a body that can run my ideas, and I bring up the mamba mentality as a way to debug your own self-limiting thoughts. Control the mindset and you can be happy and have a good day.

Jun 24, 2025 / 21 min

A lot of us stay, including myself, I've stayed in the imagination.

Don't share your plan, show it through action. Sharing an idea feels good, almost like a dopamine rush, and your mind feels like you already did it. I've stayed in the imagination too. I use a creek with mud thrown into it to talk about obstacles. We're one in 400 trillion, so make your time here count.

Jun 11, 2025 / 22 min

It's got alerts, it's got notifications, it's like a screaming person in your pocket.

This is about taking a path nobody has taken, where you don't know the next steps. It's the second week of June 2025 as I record this. I talk about guides and unknown terrain, and not looking around at other people's paths. Some days I wish I didn't have this drive, but I don't coast.

Jun 10, 2025 / 28 min

It takes a lot of work, a lot of work, man, to try to just have a good day.

The show has a new name, and I'm not getting into the why. I've been working on aligning everything I create under Happy Human, and bringing in the human side with flaws, not just a filtered highlight reel. Happiness takes work and it isn't permanent. I also share a painting my daughter made, and end with two songs for the soundtrack.

May 23, 2025 / 28 min

I still feel that I can't confidently say I'm a podcaster.

I've been podcasting since 2018 and I still deal with impostor syndrome, like when I made the Happy Human cap. You don't get stronger by running from what makes you feel weak. I go through some of the symptoms, like low confidence and anxiety. I also say I'm looking forward to having guests on the show.

May 22, 2025 / 23 min

It's gonna have zero soul in it. People can smell when you filter your thoughts.

The idea here is tethered happiness. You can't tie your joy to anything outside yourself, including how this podcast gets received. I talk about not polishing out my ums and about AI being a good teacher but not something that should write for us. Find your happiness, don't tether it, and know that it takes work.

May 20, 2025 / 19 min

Every time I get an idea and don't act on it, I'm training myself to ignore the next idea.

I'm cutting the intro and the snippet on this one, because I want the show to feel like a real conversation that bounces around. I talk about a guy on Instagram who got fed up, quit his job and learned to sail so he could cross to Hawaii. He brings people along on a real, messy journey. The voice in your head should root for you, because the biggest enemy to our happiness is ourselves.

May 12, 2025 / 17 min

You can't fake those moments. They come at you from nowhere and you got to be ready. The website's got to be up.

I'm catching up after a couple of weeks. We went to a cheer competition at Disney World, and I left my podcast gear at home and just enjoyed it. A stranger asked about what I was wearing and I pointed him to my Happy Human shop. That felt like a validation of the brand. Sometimes you just live and don't record.

May 4, 2025 / 18 min

Recording your voice actually forces you to confront your own bullshit.

Everyone should have a podcast, even if it never gets published. Record your thoughts in a voice memo app so your own voice is the one you hear. Marcus Aurelius said the soul takes on the color of its thoughts. It's not about building an audience, it's about building you, because the answers are already in you.

May 1, 2025 / 17 min

A creation sitting in the void, maybe the algorithm doesn't show it to anyone, is better than a creation that is eating at me.

I read a quote at a Banksy show about people never using their initiative because nobody told them to. Quotes and podcasts can spark you, but they won't sustain you, and you can't live on borrowed fire. I talk about the movie Cast Away and building your own fire. Show up even when no one's clapping.

Apr 22, 2025 / 21 min

If you can't show up for your current job, you won't show up for your future dream.

I'm not telling anyone to quit their job. I start with Genesis 3:19 and talk about how all kinds of work are sacred, from a nine to five to a side hustle. I've seen both worlds. The goal is to learn how to work, serve and get disciplined, and then build your dream from there. If you can't show up for your current job, you won't show up for your dream.

Apr 16, 2025 / 13 min

Oh, I'm gonna give you life advice. Buy my course on awareness and all this crap. And it's like, they haven't even gone through it.

If you're avoiding pressure, you're avoiding growth. I talk about B-Rabbit choking in the first battle in 8 Mile and how he should've stayed in the moment. Don't run from the pressure, go against it. I'm in the pressure right now myself, building this show.

Apr 8, 2025 / 12 min

They won't like it because it might remind them of what they can do and they haven't done yet.

I start with Mark 8:36 and talk about shrinking yourself so people can handle you. I use the idea of being the concentrate version of yourself and not watering it down. You can support the people around you without slowing down your own race. Share this one with someone who's been holding back.

Apr 3, 2025 / 10 min

Too many times I had had dreams but no structure, no foundation.

A Draw It Out episode on a piece from 2020, in the middle of the pandemic. The word dream is hidden in the leaves while the roots are weak, so the tree gets uprooted. I tie it to the parable of the seed on rocky ground. Dreams can go up fast, but build the roots first so they don't get pulled out.

Apr 2, 2025 / 8 min

Sometimes it's just silence when you expect some celebration, some support.

A Draw It Out episode about one of my first pieces, a balloon that says dream lifting the Monito into the air while a hater takes aim. Launch a dream and they'll try to shoot it down. I connect it to John 15:18. Your job is to stay lifted and let them hate.

Apr 1, 2025 / 9 min

They throw their chains on you because they're too used to wearing their own.

This is about the kid you were before the fear and the pressure, with big dreams you promised to make real. Don't let that kid down. I read a short story from a Hemingway collection, and I talk about every loss being experience, like getting stronger at the bench press.

Mar 31, 2025 / 12 min

The real doubt shows up when I ask myself, am I saying something worth listening to?

I start with Joshua 1:9, which is a command, not a suggestion. I talk about fear and doubt when you're called to something and don't feel ready. I share Emerson's line about work not being made manifest by cowards, and Gary Vaynerchuk's message about doing what's in you. Where do you need to stay steadfast and not back away?

Mar 30, 2025 / 12 min

You're just clearing the field for the old stuff to come back, and it comes back with backup.

This is about what happens when you clean house and leave the space empty. If you don't fill it with purpose, something else will, like old habits and distractions. I use Michael Jordan coming back in 95 as the good kind of I'm back. I got clear on my own space, with mornings for working out and afternoons for creativity.

Mar 29, 2025 / 10 min

Sometimes the happiest version of you has less in their hands.

Another Draw It Out episode. This one's Balancing Act, which I drew in early 2023, my Happy Monito on a unicycle made of a clock, juggling fireballs for work, family, health and a creative passion. Everyone's juggling something different. Ask which ball you're giving more energy than it deserves, because time keeps moving and we don't get more of it.

Mar 28, 2025 / 12 min

Something's in us that needs to come out, and if we don't move it forward, it's going to turn inward.

You are the light of the world, and salt that loses its taste isn't good for anything. You don't have to be loud to matter. People won't always understand what you're building, and half the time we don't understand ourselves either. Stop hiding it and don't wait for everyone to get it.

Mar 27, 2025 / 10 min

It's insecurity. Why you? Why are you the one creating this?

This is the first Draw It Out episode, where I break down one of my own illustrations. It's my Happy Monito at a desk, with the things around him that want to stop him and the protection over him. To me, working with purpose is a form of prayer. I talk about trusting that you're covered when you do the work you're called to.

Mar 26, 2025 / 8 min

How about day 333, when the energy is gone and the crowd isn't there?

This is about discipline. I break down a blog post I wrote in 2021 about how spiritual growth is a lot like boxing. Michael Chandler said the hard part isn't the work, it's doing it consistently over time. We're all in our own ring, and you don't have to be perfect, you just have to get back up.

Mar 25, 2025 / 10 min

A pen locks you in and you can't move, you can't erase, you can't adjust.

Start with a pencil, not a pen, because a pen locks you in. Once the thing is real, then you sand down what isn't working. I talk about starting this podcast that way, and Austin Cleon's idea that taking from several artists is research, not stealing. Everything polished started as a rough idea.

Mar 24, 2025 / 16 min

It's easier to gossip than do actual work that matters.

This one's about how frustration, fear and algorithms run the same plays on us. I start with a drive-thru story, then bring in Wayne Dyer's idea of falling into the same hole twice. We also see fake urgency online that tries to push our buttons. Study the film of how you reacted last time and move different.

Mar 23, 2025 / 11 min

We start asking, why are we doing this, man? Is anyone even listening? Does it even matter?

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I put out five episodes this week while hitting the gym at 4 a.m., and I still feel the battle between purpose and pressure. I talk about Peter on the water and what happens when you focus on the waves, like stats and the algorithm. If you're building something meaningful, don't expect it to be easy.

Mar 22, 2025 / 8 min

The green light doesn't mean you're done working. It means that now it's time to work even harder.

I use traffic lights to look at chasing a dream. At red you keep sharpening your skills, at yellow you slow down, and at green you go and work even harder. I feel like I'm at a green light with creativity right now. Timing matters, so stay ready and don't run the red.

Mar 21, 2025 / 10 min

It goes from a personal brand to almost like a personal prison.

I'm for personal branding, but I talk about how a brand can turn into a personal prison. I got my logo in 2015 and my yellow in 2018, and I once changed my Instagram name because I felt boxed into being happy all the time. Be the shoes inside the box, not the box. And don't become a chameleon for whoever's giving you attention.

Mar 20, 2025 / 8 min

It's easier to be good but not too good.

This is about what happens when you get good at something and people start noticing. I got nervous when I was asked to speak at a local mixer, and I talk about why some creatives stay in the middle. Nobody needs permission to put their work out anymore. When the green light hits, go, but stay yourself.

Mar 19, 2025 / 1 hr 7 min

My conversation with Cesar Gutierrez, Mr. Mamalonskis, on staying real and being your authentic self.

Mar 18, 2025 / 9 min

Why isn't this where I saw it in my mind?

Patience. I talk about how long it took to make things like Michelangelo's David, the Mona Lisa and Snow White. Social media makes us think everything should happen overnight. If your idea is good today, imagine it with the time it deserves, and keep working while you wait.

Mar 17, 2025 / 11 min

I'll burn out if I don't create. I'll burn out from thinking of why I'm not creating.

This is the battle between create and chill. I've done both, and not creating feels worse to me than trying. It's not about hustle culture, it's about honoring what's wired into you. What would you create if it didn't matter what anyone thought?

Mar 16, 2025 / 10 min

What people think, but really, most people aren't even watching.

I talk about why it feels weird talking into a mic and why I'm really talking to my past self as much as to you. I bring up Marcus Aurelius writing to himself and a country song about advice to a younger self. A lot of us hold back because we care too much about what people think. If you had to give your past self advice, what would you say?

Mar 15, 2025 / 10 min

This one's about the pushback you feel when you try to create something. I pull from The War of Art and from Jordan Peterson, and from the idea that once you get a vision you get sent into the desert. You're as ready as you need to be, and not every swing is a home run. If you're facing resistance on something good, that's a sign to keep going.

Mar 10, 2025 / 16 min

It was like I was cutting off a piece of myself and pretending I was fine.

This is me connecting 2018 to now. The Happy Oscar Show started as a kind of prequel to The Switch, then took a long pause while life got busy. I got tired of chasing the algorithm and making content just to make content. Now I'm calling it a comeback, and I know why I'm here.

Mar 5, 2025 / 14 min

I can't make more time. A lot of people say I just got to make time. There's no time factory.

I tell the story of the eagle that supposedly renews itself around age 40, with the beak, talons and feathers that are holding it back. I know it's a myth, but I connect it to my own creative seasons, when I stepped away and then came back. I'm relaunching Happy Human, and I'll call you all happy humans. You go through stuff, you learn from it and you move forward.

Mar 4, 2025 / 12 min

Can you really stay happy? You could work towards happiness.

Seneca said words become works, and this one's about keeping notes on your journey. I use a digital journal app that shows me what I wrote on this day in past years, and nobody's paying me to say that. You don't need a podcast, you just need a record you can go back to. I also end up rethinking my sign-off and land on get up, smile.

Mar 3, 2025 / 18 min

Man, this one's heavy. Something frightening happened at a cheer competition where my daughter was, and I share what I saw from my own point of view. I wanted to record it to get something out of it, like keeping routines normal afterward and keeping the kids informed. It's only my account, and I'm sure my family saw it differently.

Feb 25, 2025 / 13 min

And then you launch it and no one cares. Everyone's got their things going on at home.

This one's about creating without expecting anything back. The last few months I've been making podcasts, relaunching Happy Human and building my own gym bag that I'm testing at the gym. I bring up a street sweeper in Mexico who posted a simple video of his workday and it blew up. You never know how the world will react, so I keep telling myself not to expect anything.

Nov 25, 2024 / 3 min

Short one. I want to do quick episodes off a quote, a book or a movie line, and this is the scene in Troy where the boy says he'd never fight the giant and Achilles tells him that's why no one will remember his name. You're either Achilles or the boy. If you don't face the thing in front of you, you won't do anything memorable.

Nov 16, 2024 / 7 min

The day before the 100 day started, I posted on social media I'm gonna go on 100 days of t-shirts project.

Another skit, this time about a club for people who plan their ideas forever and never do them. I've been that guy. I posted that I was starting a 100 days of t-shirts project and stopped at day 26. Planning is fine until it becomes the excuse, so don't be an I'm gonna person.

Nov 8, 2024 / 7 min

The thought of having the perfect tool or the perfect story to create this episode, it doesn't exist.

This one starts with a skit about a waiting room where everybody waits for the perfect tool before chasing their dream. I talk about podcasting and drawing, and how I'd find a way with paper and a phone if I didn't have an iPad. The tool becomes what you make of it. Nobody's calling your number, so start with what you've got.

Nov 3, 2024 / 5 min

I read a book that says we get about 4,000 weeks of life, which is roughly 76 years if we're lucky. That's not a lot, and none of it is worth wasting. Look up your own week number and ask yourself what you're going to do to make this week count.

Nov 1, 2024 / 18 min

Like, man, they're doing that. It's like someone that starts working out, they're very consistent and you're not. It's like their consistency is calling you out.

Man, this is episode one of the new Happy Oscar Show, and it's about not wanting to regret never starting. I did guest interviews back in 2018, and this version is just me sharing reflections. I had the tools and kept waiting, so I'm starting before I have it all figured out. If you've got an idea and the drive, go get it done.

Nov 29, 2018 / 1 hr 13 min

Nov 14, 2018 / 58 min

Oct 10, 2018 / 34 min

Sep 24, 2018 / 37 min

Sep 17, 2018 / 1 hr 15 min

Sep 13, 2018 / 39 min

Sep 5, 2018 / 1 hr 7 min

Success has a weird way of lying to us.

Sep 1, 2018 / 1 hr 2 min

Aug 30, 2018 / 1 hr 14 min

Aug 25, 2018 / 57 min

Aug 23, 2018 / 1 hr 2 min

Aug 18, 2018 / 1 hr 2 min

Aug 7, 2018 / 1 hr 5 min

Jul 26, 2018 / 59 min

Jul 21, 2018 / 58 min

Jul 19, 2018 / 1 hr 2 min

Jul 17, 2018 / 1 hr 8 min

Jul 14, 2018 / 1 hr 15 min

Jul 7, 2018 / 47 min

Jun 29, 2018 / 1 hr 3 min

Jun 23, 2018 / 1 hr 16 min

Jun 16, 2018 / 1 hr 0 min

Jun 6, 2018 / 1 hr 1 min

Jun 2, 2018 / 51 min

May 26, 2018 / 1 hr 0 min

Host of Aliens on the Border Podcast

May 21, 2018 / 54 min

May 14, 2018 / 56 min