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#310 Josh Duhamel - Transformers Star Reveals His 26-Acre Off-Grid Survival Compound

The Shawn Ryan Show1h 26m

Actor Josh Duhamel joins Sean Ryan to discuss his off-grid 52-acre compound in Minnesota, his prepping philosophy, family life, and his men's and women's health company Gatlin. The conversation covers survival preparedness, fatherhood, spiritual reconnection, hormone therapy, and concerns about societal division and AI.

Summary

Sean Ryan hosts Josh Duhamel, the Transformers actor turned entrepreneur, for a wide-ranging conversation that begins with gift exchanges — including a Damascus steel knife and a Sig Sauer 365 Macro with suppressor — and moves into deeply personal territory. Duhamel reflects on growing up in Minot, North Dakota, after his parents' divorce, bouncing between homes and watching his father briefly live out of his car. He discusses how North Dakota instilled humility but also a limiting belief that he didn't 'belong' in Hollywood, which he had to overcome. On the Hollywood side, he argues the lie is that you have to play by the industry's ideological rules.

Duhamel describes spending 16-17 years building his 52-acre compound on a lake in Minnesota, starting with raw land, an outhouse, and no running water, gradually adding wells, electricity, solar, propane, shipping containers, guest cabins, a beach, and a gun range. He traces his prepping motivation to reading Wesley Rawles' novel 'Patriots' during the 2008 financial crisis, which led him to think seriously about bugging out of Los Angeles — originally by motorcycle, now complicated by a wife and three kids. He outlines his current gear: satellite push-to-talk radios, multiple wells, a Berkey water filter, stockpiled seeds, legal firearms including a .223, Glock 17, Glock 21SF, shotguns, a .22, and a crossbow. Sean adds recommendations for physical textbooks like 'Back to the Basics,' dehumidifier-as-water-source setups, and ammo stockpiling.

The two discuss fatherhood extensively — both are fathers of young children and share concerns about being present while building demanding careers. Duhamel's father modeled respect for people regardless of wealth, illustrated by a story about a poor but happy neighbor named Art. Both men acknowledge their children mirror their behavior, including in embarrassing moments. Duhamel describes actively refusing to solve problems for his children, instead forcing them to find alternate routes.

On societal concerns, Duhamel expresses worry about irrational public hatred — illustrated by strangers confronting him over his Cybertruck in Los Angeles — and a dangerous lack of civil accountability. Sean raises the possibility of a biblical interpretation of current events, which Duhamel finds plausible but hadn't previously framed that way. Both discuss returning to faith — Duhamel began sitting in churches after dropping his son at Catholic school, finding spiritual reconnection helped him resist becoming consumed by political hatred. He references Father Ripperger's book 'Diabolic Influence' on spiritual warfare and demonic influence as something he plans to read.

The final major topic is Gatlin, Duhamel's telemedicine hormone and peptide company. He had been quietly using testosterone replacement therapy and peptides for years before deciding to build a company around them. Gatlin offers TRT for men, HRT for women (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone), and peptides including Tesamorelin, the 'Wolverine Stack' (BPC-157, TB-500, KPV), NAD, and MOTC. All compounds are sourced from U.S. 503B pharmacies. Duhamel mentions interest in future offerings like stem cells and plasma exchange. He frames the company as doctor-guided telemedicine to ensure safety and quality control.

About this episode

Josh Duhamel is an American actor, producer, and entrepreneur born and raised in Minot, North Dakota, where a blue-collar upbringing instilled a strong work ethic. He played backup quarterback at Minot State University and majored in biology with plans for dentistry, but dropped out shy of graduation (later finishing in 2005). He headed west, fell into modeling, and won IMTA Male Model of the Year in 1997, exposure that led to the role of Leo du Pres on *All My Children* (1999–2002) and a 2002 Daytime Emmy. From there he built a mainstream career across TV and film, including *Las Vegas* and the *Transformers* franchise. He had no Hollywood connections, just a small-town guy who caught a break and worked his way up. Still active in film and TV, Duhamel has deliberately stepped back from constant Hollywood life, spending more time on his land in North Dakota and speaking openly about never fully fitting in: "I missed the simplicity of who I really am." Beyond acting, he founded GATLAN, a concierge health-optimization company built around his own experience with hormone therapy, which expanded into women's health in spring 2026. Raised Catholic, he favors a grounded lifestyle focused on health and aging well, and embraced entrepreneurship later in life. He's a father of three: sons Axl (with ex-wife Fergie) and Shepherd, and daughter Rocca, born May 2026 with wife Audra Mari, with family at the center of how he spends his time. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: For a limited time, our listeners get 50% off for life AND 3 Free Gifts when you use SRS at https://Mengotomars.com Upgrade your wallet today and get up to 40% off during Ridge’s Father’s Day Sale at https://www.Ridge.com/SRS #Ridgepod Ready to upgrade your eyewear? Check them out at https://roka.com and use code SRS for 20% off sitewide. SpotOn GPS Fence — trusted by Shawn Ryan for his dog Moose. The most reliable GPS dog fence: 100% secure from backyard to backcountry with virtual boundaries you control from your phone. No wires, no digging. Sets up in minutes, any size, any shape, anywhere. Learn more: https://spotonfence.com/srs Find your forever cookware @hexclad and get 10% off at https://hexclad.com/SRS! #hexcladpartner Josh Duhamel Links: IG - https://www.instagram.com/joshduhamel WEB - https://www.instagram.com/gatlan.health Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@privatejoshduhamell X - https://x.com/joshduhamel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Key Insights

  • Duhamel argues that growing up in humble North Dakota instilled a limiting belief that he didn't deserve success in Hollywood, which he had to actively overcome — framing this as a lie the culture taught him.
  • Duhamel claims Hollywood's lie is that you must conform to industry ideological norms, arguing that reliability and professionalism are sufficient regardless of personal beliefs.
  • Duhamel traces his prepping philosophy directly to reading Wesley Rawles' novel 'Patriots' during the 2008 financial crisis, which made him realize he needed both an escape route from LA and a self-sufficient destination.
  • Duhamel argues that money doesn't simplify life or create happiness but does buy freedom and the ability to shape your circumstances — while also increasing complexity through greater responsibility.
  • Duhamel contends that his children are always watching him closely, and that the most powerful parenting tool is modeling the behavior you want them to emulate, citing his own father's equal treatment of wealthy and poor people as formative.
  • Duhamel claims testosterone replacement therapy and peptides — including Tesamorelin, TB-500, BPC-157, KPV, NAD, and MOTC — have allowed him at 53 to maintain physical capabilities he had in his 30s, and he kept this practice secret for years before founding Gatlin.
  • Duhamel argues that HRT for women can delay or reduce the effects of perimenopause and menopause by restoring estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels, framing it as an underserved need that expanded Gatlin from men-only to both sexes.
  • Duhamel expresses that the irrational public hatred he witnesses — including strangers confronting him over his Cybertruck — reflects a dangerous societal breakdown in behavioral norms that didn't exist even ten years ago.
  • Duhamel states that people who are building AI are simultaneously building bunkers, arguing this suggests those with the most knowledge about AI's trajectory are also the most alarmed by it.
  • Duhamel argues that spiritual disconnection makes a person far more susceptible to dark influences and irrational hatred, and that returning to church — regardless of denomination — was his primary tool for maintaining mental clarity amid political noise.
  • Duhamel describes his compound philosophy as prioritizing functional self-sufficiency — three wells, propane systems, solar backup, stockpiled seeds, legal firearms, and satellite communications — over luxury, deliberately keeping the environment 'a little rugged.'
  • Duhamel claims that the Catholic Church, despite its doctrinal limitations in teaching the life of Christ, has no equal among Christian traditions when it comes to understanding and addressing spiritual warfare and demonic influence.

Topics

Off-grid compound building and preppingFatherhood and parenting philosophySocietal division and political concernsSpiritual reconnection and faithHormone therapy and peptides via GatlinHollywood vs. North Dakota identityAI and existential riskBug-out planning and survival gear

Transcript

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