Episode 5: The Gene Pool Story (Part 3)

Episode 5 finds Gene in a more ruminative place, talking to Studio C's Andy Miles about his mental health struggles, specifically his coming to terms with a bipolar disorder diagnosis after spending a week in a Brooklyn psych ward. That helped motivate his decision to "get the hell out of Brooklyn" and settle for a time in an Ohio farm house. He started writing poems as a way to recover from those tumultuous times and has never stopped writing; at last count he has penned about 2,000 poems, several of which he reads in the episode. "The land my mind lives in is treacherous but friendly," he says in one of them. Gene also tells the story of his bottle cap, zebra and Mr. Nice Guy suits and performs one of his all-time favorite songs, calling it a "flawless work of art."