Dear Stranger (and Friend)

The EMOTIONAL conclusion of Carly's two-parter is here. We both get into it a lot about our past relationships. And I might have shed some tears there towards the end. This one was hard one to listen back to for me but I don't regret putting it out there. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Season 4 is here! And I couldn't think of a better way to start it other than having this conversation with my friend Carly. We've hung out multiple times before this conversation but this was one of the rare moments -- if not the first -- where we sat and spent some time sharing and opening up to each other. I hope you guys enjoy this one.

A sneak peek into Season 4 of Dear Stranger and Friend

Being alone with myself has been something that's occupied my mind for the past couple of months (maybe longer) and this week, I talk to Paige about that exact thing. While I found myself somewhat trapped in my childhood home, she left the country to be alone with herself. We talk a lot about what that means and how to get there. We also talk a lot about being people of color while being a part of a scene that doesn't necessarily have a lot of people of color within it. It's a great "first conversation" and I couldn't think of a better episode to end the season. Thanks for listening.

It's always fun to catch up with old friends. That's pretty much an obvious statement. But it's always MORE fun to catch up with friends you traveled across the world with. This week, I'm talking to Vin about the fun we had in South Korea, video games, and how we might be responsible for bringing back Crash Bandicoot. I had a lot of fun recording this one and I hope you guys have fun listening to it.

I'm not big on traveling or maybe I haven't had a lot of chances to actually go out and travel. That isn't the case for my guest this week, Scott. He's spent most of his adolescent years all over the world. Even though we've known each other for a very, very long time, I never knew that he'd been to almost everywhere. We talk a bit about our friendship but a lot of this hour is all about where he grew up.

One question I continually ask myself is "How do I know if I'm doing the right thing?", and there really isn't a definitive answer to it (not for me anyway). This week, I talk with another former professor of mine (Patrick) about this very thing. How do you know what you're working on is what you should be working on? And how does that affect what you enjoy doing and what you consider work? I'm not sure if we find that definitive answer I keep searching for but we do share some thoughts on it.

Part two of Donald's episode is here and it only gets better. This week it's all about music. Making music, listening to music, and how it helps us out with our respective struggles. Talking to Donald over the course of these two hours was a really eye-opening experience for me. It meant so much and it was fun in a very specific way. I feel like we're closer as friends and I'm really glad he's a part of my life.

This week's Dear Stranger and Friend is pretty special to me. It's Part One of a two-part episode, my bud Donald is the guest (someone I've been trying to get on since the start), and we talk about a lot of interesting/heavy things. In this part we talk about growing up with brothers, remembering the early days of the Internet, and towards the middle, we talk about addiction and trying to quit our vices. I'm so glad and grateful that Donald was willing to be open and honest with me about what he's going through. It takes a lot of strength to talk about it privately, so for him to do it on a podcast is amazing to me.

Max returns to Dear Stranger and Friend to talk about his trip across the country in The Dream. It was really fun to have him back on, sit on the bus he drove all around this country, drink a couple of beers, and listen to him and his experiences. It was one of the best ways to spend an afternoon and I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did when we recorded this episode.