S3E24 - A Conversation with Michael Gaskins

About this EpisodeMichael Gaskins is a Philadelphian by birth and heart. In fact, he’ll take a soft, chewy Philly pretzel anytime over cookies. He began his career in television production with CBS, NBC, and CNN affiliates but has found himself drawn to work with incarcerated young men to help them prepare for their re-entry into society as citizens upon their release. For a time he operated a prison ministry to do that work and worked with Prison Fellowship (https://www.prisonfellowship.org/) as an area director. His desire to produce a reality TV show about young men returning to society from a prison sentence led him back to television production. For the past several years he has worked on TV courtroom shows including Relative Justice, Judge Steve Harvey, Tribunal Justice, and Judy Justice. In this conversation we learn more about his journey and the challenges of having open, honest, and civil conversations in the TV and film industry and also with young men in prison. Michael also shares an act of kindness he has received as well as one he has passed on. After leaving Hollywood in 2025, Michael Gaskins became the Director of Media and Communications for a faith community in Virginia and is in the process of starting his own production company. We are Looking for Acts of KindnessDo you have an act of kindness that you’d like to share?These are the two questions in our survey:What is an act of kindness you’ve received that made a difference to you?What is an act of kindness you have done which you hope changed another person’s life?You can participate through a Google Forms poll at this link: https://forms.gle/Po83D9TBY2UUAuoZ8Finally, please share this survey because an act of kindness shared begets others.Learn more: Drexel Alumni Spotlight: Michael Gaskins - https://drexel.edu/westphal/about/alumni-spotlight/Michael-Gaskins/When US Outlets Cover Black Shooting: An Interview with Michael Gaskins - https://www.media-diversity.org/when-us-outlets-cover-black-shootings-an-interview-with-michael-gaskins/Michael Gaskins’ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michaelcgaskinsHow We Check OurselvesFact Checking: Because there are a lot of things happening…some true, some false, some unbelievable…we use the following fact checking sites. Take a look for yourself:Snopes - https://www.snopes.com/ FactCheck.org - https://www.factcheck.org/ Politifact - https://www.politifact.com/RealClearPolitics - https://www.realclearpolitics.com/ Because media can have its own biases, we also rely upon these sites to help us get balanced coverage:Media Bias/Fact Check - https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/All Sides - https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-newsAd Fontes Media Bias Chart - https://app.adfontesmedia.com/chart/interactive Want to watch us do the podcast? Visit the Klaus Haus Productions YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@KlausHausProductions. Comments? Suggestions? Ideas for guests or topics? Send us a voice message on Spotify or email us at [email protected] and [email protected]:Wild Opinions and Nonsensical Musings by Lamar Roth & Tom KlausImages by Getty Images, Pexels, Pixabay, Roth Images, and CyberlinkFinal review and approval by Jake and Ebie Dawgs Inc. Photos by Lamar Roth are copyrighted by Roth Images, All Rights Reserved. For permissions or additional information: [email protected] and https://www.rothimages.com/Getting to 3rd Space with Lamar and Tom is produced and sponsored by Klaus Haus Productions LLC and Acorn Consulting, LLC. © 2025. All Rights Reserved. Permissions: [email protected]. No living creature was harmed in the production of this film but a lot of Colombian coffee was consumed.Recorded using Riverside.fm - http://riverside.fm/ - from “home studio” locations in Maryland and Kansas, USA; Original Publishing Date, December 9, 2025.