Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. There's some really interesting

relationship advice in today's interview. It's nothing big, just a slight shift in perspective,

which, you know, I find all the best advice to be anyway. It's with Brandon Kyle Goodman,

an actor who you might recognize from Big Mouth, and they're also pretty big on Instagram.

Anyway, their book is called You Gotta Be You, How to Embrace This Messy Life and Step

Into Who You Really Are.

And in this interview with NPR's Elsa Chang, the two of them get to talking about dating,

specifically about dating white guys to fill a certain void that you'll hear more about. But then Goodman refutes

this idea of a so-called other half because who wants to be somebody else's patch?

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky

conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you're ever sitting around on a Monday feeling a little angsty, maybe a little

frisky, check out some of the so-called messy Monday stories on Brandon Kyle Goodman's

Instagram feed.

But just maybe don't have the sound on if you are at work.

It's Monday, messy Monday. So tell me something good or tell me something messy. Cool with it like he was into it? Or like cool with it like, what, what happens? When I failed, my driver says, the proctor said, what do you do for a living? I said, I'm an actor. She said, oh, well, have I ever seen a movie? I'm going to say, he can't't drive. Shady, happy pride? I don't know. This is the gay I've ever heard.

Goodman has built up a huge following with these messy Mondays, doling out some truths,

some laughs, and most importantly, some love. And now they're out with a new book that opens up

about their own origin story

and messy, messy life. Goodman is black, queer, non-binary. They grew up in a religious

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