Overview of 973. - Shep Rose
This episode of How Long Gone opens with the hosts riffing on Berkeley, California, including the city’s quirks, its strong “college town” energy, and the strangely charming Berkeley City Club hotel where Chris is staying. The conversation then shifts into a wide-ranging interview with Shep Rose about his new book, Nothing in Moderation: A Psychedelic Reckoning with Excess, which centers on his ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica, the habits and excesses that led him there, and the lessons he took away about moderation, discipline, and self-awareness.
Berkeley banter and everyday absurdities
Hotel and city observations
- Chris describes staying at the Berkeley City Club, a historic, quirky, old-school hotel with:
- no TV or desk in the room
- a communal fridge
- a “coffee corner”
- a public computer that feels like a relic from another era
- The hosts joke that the hotel feels like a mix of:
- a members club for elderly swimmers
- a boarding school
- a Wes Anderson set
Food, fruit, and the local scene
- The hosts get excited about a pluot on a galette at Chez Panisse.
- They talk about Berkeley’s fruit-forward, organic food culture and the “fruit program” at Chez Panisse.
- A recurring joke is the growing obsession with protein and health:
- a 12-year-old boy wants a 50-gram-protein açai bowl
- the hosts joke that kids are over-optimized too early
- They also note the local froyo, acai, and salad culture, along with the general weirdness of Berkeley’s mix of student life, bong shops, and “piss smell” corners.
Shep Rose on ayahuasca, excess, and moderation
What his book is about
- Shep’s book is about going to a high-end ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica after years of living hard and pushing things to the limit.
- He says he had been encouraged to do it by a friend who had done ayahuasca multiple times.
- The retreat required:
- no alcohol or drugs for a couple of weeks beforehand
- full participation and surrender
- journaling and integration afterward
What the experience was like
- Shep describes the retreat as intense, emotional, and deeply revealing.
- The setting included:
- hammocks
- a lawn
- a bonfire
- mattresses and barf buckets inside
- shaman-led ceremonies with music, singing, and spiritual rituals
- He says people confronted major trauma:
- grief
- parental wounds
- suicide
- emotional patterns they had carried for years
- One of his biggest takeaways: there is a lot more pain and trauma in people’s lives than we usually recognize.
His main lessons
- Shep says the retreat helped him realize:
- he tends to jump from “mountaintop to mountaintop” without dealing with the valleys
- wanting more and more is often an ugly habit
- you have to learn to use what you already have
- He compares it to hoarding:
- substances
- sex
- attention
- experiences
- The hosts frame it as a deeper lesson in not needing to “win” everything.
Shep’s relationship to fame, Bravo, and public life
Being recognizable
- Shep says one of the consequences of Bravo fame is that people constantly want photos and interactions.
- He’s generally good-natured about it and says he tries to be accommodating because it brings joy to fans.
- He notes that many men approach him with the line:
- “My wife/girlfriend got me into Bravo”
- He sees that as part of the fun and says he gets a lot of cross-gender appeal from the show.
The Bravo machine
- The hosts discuss how Southern Charm and Shep helped make Charleston part of the pop-culture map.
- They compare it to what Drake did for Toronto: the show helped change the city’s visibility and economy.
- Shep is aware of Bravo’s power and says he’d only leave the show if he had something else meaningful lined up.
Sports, discipline, and gambling
Tennis and the Intense league
- Shep is in Atlanta working with a new professional tennis league called Intense.
- He explains it as:
- a fast-paced team format
- aimed at players ranked around 125+ who struggle to make a living
- modeled a bit like the Savannah Bananas / LIV Golf-style entertainment layer, but for tennis
- He likes the idea of helping high-level athletes keep competing and earning.
Sports discipline vs. lifestyle
- The group talks about how individual sports require extreme discipline.
- They contrast tennis with golf:
- top tennis players often have to live like machines
- golfers have more wiggle room
- Shep says the all-in discipline mindset can be over-applied to regular life and even to youth sports, where kids are now treated like pros at age 10.
Gambling
- Shep says he does not really bet on sports.
- He’s more comfortable with blackjack and understands the game well enough to feel in control.
- He says blackjack is a learned skill, but he’s wary of gambling culture in general.
Sobriety, self-knowledge, and future plans
What changed after ayahuasca
- Shep says the retreat made him more aware of his limits and the consequences of excess.
- He’s more conscious now that he can’t just keep drinking like he did for years.
- He talks about becoming more deliberate about:
- how much he drinks
- how he spends his energy
- what he wants his next chapter to be
Relationships and the future
- He says he’s open to a serious relationship and even starting a family.
- The hosts push him on whether he’d need to import a partner, given his reputation and lifestyle.
- Shep is candid that a lot of women may see him as fun but not necessarily a “good bet.”
- He acknowledges that he may need someone who can accept his past while believing he’s in a different place now.
TV and creative direction
- Shep says he’d like to move toward more lighthearted, travel-oriented projects.
- The hosts pitch him a travel/golf-adventure format with a Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee vibe.
- He’s interested in adventure, travel, and less combative reality TV.
Notable takeaways
- Ayahuasca as a reset: Shep sees the retreat as a major personal reckoning, not just a wellness trend.
- Moderation as maturity: The book and the interview center on learning that less can actually be more.
- Bravo still matters: The show’s reach is strong enough to shape cities, fan behavior, and Shep’s career trajectory.
- Public life is a double-edged sword: Fans bring warmth and energy, but constant visibility can blur the line between work and life.
- He’s thinking bigger than reality TV: Travel, adventure, and personal growth seem to be the direction he wants next.
Mentioned projects and items
- Shep Rose’s book: Nothing in Moderation: A Psychedelic Reckoning with Excess
- The professional tennis league: Intense
- BravoCon, future travel, and a possible new TV format
- Sponsors mentioned in the episode:
- Square
- Married at First Sight on Peacock
- LL Bean
- a new rom-com trailer on August 7th