“I want to be as clear as I can be on this. Mental health is one of the largest problems we have in society today.” – James Espinoza

Lt. James Espinoza is a 25-year veteran of the Wichita Police Department. His father, John Espinoza, who came from a large Mexican-American family in Hutchinson, Kansas, was also a career police officer. James and Rolf attended Wichita North High School together in the 1980s.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf speaks with James about his decision to become a police officer (2:30); community policing (11:05); being a rookie on the police force (18:15); dangers involved with the job (25:30) bad police officers versus bad administrative policies (30:00); changes in policing and technology (34:40); mental health (39:15); and what is misunderstood and underappreciated about police officers (43:15).

Notable Links

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].

“We have a lot of conflict in this world because we’re too busy putting ourselves into groups.” – Bear Manuel

Jerry “Bear” Manuel is a detective assigned to the gang unit in the Wichita Police Department. Prior to his work as a police officer, Bear was a teacher at Head Start, which provides comprehensive early childhood education services to low-income children. He attended junior high and high school with Rolf in the 1980s, and they competed together on the track team.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf speaks with Bear about growing up poor in Wichita (5:10); his decision to become a police officer (10:20); the day-to-day of being a detective and the importance of community policing (14:30); the importance of having a police department that reflects the community you serve (19:30); and the use of deadly force (25:00).

Notable Links

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].

“I think in every era of music you can find stuff like this — and sometimes you’ll find that it’s superior to the music that really was making it big commercially.” –Michael Carmody

In this episode of Deviate Rolf delves into a musical mystery — tracing the fate of ten rock and pop albums (found in a thrift store record bin) that evoke the quintessential look and sound of 1980s music, even though — for whatever reason — they never made it big back in the day.

Joining Rolf in this musical investigation is Jedd Beaudoin (@JeddBeaudoin), who hosts the syndicated music show “Strange Currency,” and Michael Carmody (@Carmody68), a musician, record collector, and donut shop entrepreneur.

Album art and show notes for each 1980s mystery album are listed below, in chronological order, by time-code.

[4:05 – 10:56]

Featured song: “I I, Me Me”

Links:

[10:56 – 20:25]

Featured song: “She Can’t Wait”

Links:

[20:25 – 27:55]

Featured song: “She Wants You”

Links:

[27:55 – 34:15]

Featured song: “In Her Arms”

Links:

[34:15 – 46:00]

Featured song: “Shot Through the Heart”

Links:

[46:00 – 55:25]

Featured song: “Piece of My Heart”

Links:

[55:25 – 1:06:00]

Featured song: “Too Late”

Links:

[1:06:00 – 1:14:10]

Featured song: “Chain Around Your Heart”

Links:

[1:14:10 – 1:25:36]

Featured song: “Ain’t It a Sin”

Links:

[1:25:36 – 1:30:45]

Featured song: “Street Ready”

Links:

[1:30:45 – 1:45:20]

Links:

This episode was sponsored by the Paris Writing Workshop, an intensive one-month course in the artistic heart of Europe.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].

“To be creative, you have to live. You have to exist on this planet for a little bit” – Tod Goldberg

Tod Goldberg (@todgoldberg) is an American author and essayist, best known for his novels Gangsterland and Gangster Nation, and the tie-in novels to the television show Burn Notice. He directs the UCR Palm Desert Low Residency MFA program in Creative Writing.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf speaks with Tod about studying true crime and how to get away with murder (2:50); our relationship with athletes and sports (23:30); the Olympics and the Cold War (45:00); and the psychology of fandom and meeting your sports heroes (54:00).

For more information Tod Goldberg, you can visit his website, www.todgoldberg.com.

Notable books, essays, poems, and podcast episodes

Notable athletes and sporting events mentioned

Notable films, TV shows, and videos mentioned:

Other notable people and events mentioned

This episode was sponsored by the Paris Writing Workshop, an intensive one-month course in the artistic heart of Europe.

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].

“Go forward, have strength in your own convictions, enjoy what you’re doing, and you’ll be fine.” – David Latt

David Latt (@DavidMLatt) is the co-founder of The Asylum, which is the most prolific independent film studio in Hollywood.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf speaks with David about his path into B-Movies and the beginnings of The Asylum (8:30); independent filmmaking and “mockbusters” (28:00); the Sharknado franchise (43:15); the future of entertainment (1:02:00); and lessons learned throughout his career (1:07:00).

For more information on The Asylum, you can visit their website, www.theasylum.cc

Notable films and TV shows mentioned:

Notable people mentioned:

Other links:

This episode was sponsored by the Paris Writing Workshop, an intensive one-month course in the artistic heart of Europe.

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].

“I thought that if things were hard it somehow meant that you shouldn’t be doing them. I think that was a youthful notion.” –Cynthia Sweeney

Cynthia Sweeney (@CynthiaDSweeney) is an American author, whose debut novel, The Nest, was a New York Times bestseller.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf speaks with Cynthia about therapy and hugging (2:00); career changes, writing her first novel, and the benefits of obtaining an MFA (6:30); writing tactics (21:15); starting a career in writing later in life (27:00); signing a seven-figure advance for her debut novel, and navigating the resulting expectations (34:00); writing in different genres, and the process of adapting a novel into a screenplay (46:40); the idea of talent, and its relationship to hard work within the creative process (57:00).

For more information on Cynthia Sweeney, you can visit her website, https://www.cynthia-sweeney.com/.

Topics discussed:

People mentioned:

This episode was sponsored by the Paris Writing Workshop, an intensive one-month course in the artistic heart of Europe.

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].

“It’s helpful to have a thing that only exists in your imagination, as long as you are aware that that’s what it is. It’s only when you try to drag it into reality that it goes to a weird place.” –Jessa Crispin

Jessa Crispin (@thebookslut) is an author, book critic, former editor-in-chief of the pioneering literary blog Bookslut, and current host of the podcast Public Intellectual. Her books include The Dead Ladies Project: Exiles, Expats, and Ex-Countries and The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf speaks with Jessa on all things Keanu Reeves. Through this lens, they explore high school, and how ones world is forever contextualized by that experience (16:30); hooking up with celebrities in the social media age (29:40); adolescent crushes and idealized love (34:30); and personal obsessions (43:10).

For more information on Jessa Crispin, visit her website, www.jessacrispin.com.

Links of note:

Notable People Mentioned:

Notable Films Mentioned:

This episode was sponsored by the Paris Writing Workshop, an intensive one-month course in the artistic heart of Europe.

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].

“The Sears Christmas Wish Book was, for me, a kind of foundational text — a secular counterpoint to the Bible stories I learned around that time in Sunday School. I paged through the holiday catalog’s 620 glossy pages as if they amounted to an intoxicating graphic novel of desire, rich with abundance and possibility.” – Rolf Potts, from “Literature of Desire”

In this episode Rolf reads an audio version of his Christmas-themed essay “Literature of Desire,” and discusses the wonders of the Sears Christmas Wish Book with novelist Tod Goldberg (@todgoldberg). Tod is the New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen books, including the novel Gangsterland, which is currently being developed into a television series. He is also the director of the University of California-Riverside Palm Desert Low-Residency MFA, and the co-host of the Literary Disco podcast.

Introduction (00:35 – 11:20)

Literature of Desire essay (11:20 – 32:20)

Sears Wish Book memories (32:20 – 50:10)

This episode was sponsored by the Paris Writing Workshop, an intensive one-month course in the artistic heart of Europe.

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].

“These travel podcasts are great because you just drive around talking, and people feel like they’re sitting in the back seat.” – Ari Shaffir

Ari Shaffir (@AriShaffir) is a comedian whose standup special Double Negative recently debuted on Netflix. He is the former host of Comedy Central’s storytelling show This is Not Happening, the current host of the Skeptic Tank podcast, and the perennial host and organizer of Shroomfest.

In this freewheeling episode of Deviate, Rolf drives Ari around Los Angeles on a quest to get a burrito. Along the way they cover numerous topics, including Tinder and dating (8:30); their conflicted relationship with smartphones and technology (32:30); the psychic merits of taking magic mushrooms (55:15); and the awkward etiquette of when it is and is not appropriate to hug someone (1:36:50).

People and interviews mentioned:

Other links:

Rolf and his Kansas City Royals sign:

This episode was sponsored by the Paris Writing Workshop, an intensive one-month course in the artistic heart of Europe.

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].

“If you go through your life expecting moral purity from every artist you love, you’re going to have a very lonely life, aesthetically.” – Tom Bissell

Tom Bissell is an American author, journalist, and critic. He co-authored the book The Disaster Artist, which has been adapted into a movie starring James Franco, Seth Rogen, Dave Franco, and Alison Brie.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Tom discuss Metallica and thrash metal (5:25); violence in music and video games (23:30); how one’s relationship to one’s own writing transforms over time (28:10); the shallowness of cultural criticism in social-media (33:55); the dubious concept of “authenticity” as applied to food, music, and travel (42:00); co-writingThe Disaster Artist with actor Greg Sestero, and making sense of The Room (58:50); and finding joy and contentment within the creative process (1:06:00).

Articles, books and movies:

Bands, songs, and albums mentioned

Other Links:

Tom Bissell’s favorite Metallica albums:

Other books by Tom Bissell:

This episode was sponsored by the Paris Writing Workshop, an intensive one-month course in the artistic heart of Europe.

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].