Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Snapshot · Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Lukas Gage

Explore episode Jul 6, 2026
Society & Culture
5-on-1 hate crime at 18

Lukas Gage · Jul 6, 2026

Lukas Gage was beaten by five guys at a San Diego party after defending a gay friend, breaking his teeth, nose, and orbital bones.

Where this was said

The Wilderness Camp: Kidnapped on Father's Day at 13

At 24:25 · chapter starts 24:04

In one of the episode's most striking segments, Gage describes spending Father's Day at his dad's house at age 13, only to be woken in the middle of the night by strangers and physically removed — what he calls 'getting Paris Hilton'd.' Both his mother and father had secretly arranged the placement at a wilderness program that promised transformation through isolation, hiking, and emotional confrontation. The reality was rice and chicken in bags, solo tent-building, isolation punishment, and being 'knocked down to build you back up.' When Gage tried to escape by crafting an SOS letter from arts-and-crafts supplies, he was put in isolation on a mountain for a day. The outcome was the opposite of the intended one: he came out more defiant, more distrustful, and twice as difficult — a pattern he describes without surprise, recognising the wilderness program industry's well-documented failure rate.

Society & Culture
Paris Hilton'd: Kidnapped to a Wilderness Camp

Lukas Gage · Jul 6, 2026 Society & Culture

At 13, Lukas Gage spent Father's Day at his dad's house and was taken in the middle of the night by strangers and shipped to a troubled-teen wilderness program. Rather than reform him, it made him worse — more rebellious, more distrustful, and twice the nightmare.

Society & Culture
Kidnapped to wilderness camp at 13

Lukas Gage · Jul 6, 2026

On Father's Day at age 13, Gage was taken in the middle of the night from his father's house and sent to a troubled-teen wilderness program.

Society & Culture
Wilderness camp worsened behavior

Lukas Gage · Jul 6, 2026

Rather than reforming him, the wilderness program caused Gage to rebel twice as hard after leaving and reinforced his mistrust of authority.

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