Deviate

“I tell people that all the time. Just do it. Just dive in and figure it out. And you’re going to make mistakes and you’re going to fail. But I learned incredible things from that first experience…just from doing that first film.” – Rod Pocowatchit

”Rodrick Pocowatchit (@rawd) is a journalist, screenwriter, actor, and film director.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Rod discuss Native Americans in popular culture and movies (3:10); Native American identity (13:40); creating art within your means (23:00); Rod’s entrance into the film industry, and his distribution strategies (30:00); and pow-wow and Native American culture (42:00).

“Other” short clip from Rodrick Pocowatchit on Vimeo.

Feature films by Rodrick Pocowatchit:

Notable Links

Reporting in Indian Country “bingo card,” from the Native American Journalists Association.

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].

“When you are more focused with how other people are practicing their faith than how you are practicing it yourself, you have gone down the wrong path.” – Rany Jazayerli

Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) is a Chicago-area dermatologist, sportswriter, and co-founder of the Baseball Prospectus website. In 1998 he developed the statistical concept of Pitcher Abuse Points (PAP), which evaluates the impact of high pitch-counts in baseball.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf talks to Rany about growing up the son of Syrian immigrant parents in Wichita (3:40); Rany’s move to Saudi Arabia at a young age, and his relationship with Islam, Syria, and America (14:30); the renowned 19th century Arab religious and military leader Abd el-Kader (19:00); perceptions and realities surrounding the Islamic faith and its place in American society (27:00); and Rany’s predictions for the upcoming baseball season (47:30).

For more recent articles from Rany, check out his Ringer article archive.

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].

“You have to understand your own particular journey — and what you need as a writer, and who you are, and what you want out of the publishing process — because that’s what is going to help you make decisions.” – Sophfronia Scott

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf speaks with Sophfronia Scott about her working-class Ohio upbringing, and the background behind her name (2:40); her beginnings at TIME Magazine and her groundbreaking article on Generation X (13:00); her mid-life career change and commitment to a career as an author (30:00); her spiritual journey (40:00); and dealing with her son’s experience as a student at Sandy Hook Elementary (49:00).

Sophfronia Scott (@Sophfronia) is a writer and author who has debuted three books in the past year, including Unforgivable Love, which retells the tale of Dangerous Liasons in 1940s Harlem; This Child of Faith, a spiritual memoir that touches on the school shooting at Sandy Hook; and Love’s Long Line, a collection of essays.

For more information on Sophfronia, including a full list of her publications, check out https://sophfronia.com/

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].

“The magic of history is that the simple, received wisdom we have turns out to be just one part of the story, and we discover a lot about ourselves when we go deeper into it.” – Mark Clague

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf deep-dives into the Star Spangled Banner, covering topics including the origins and historical backdrop for the writing of Star Spangled Banner (9:20); the irony of using a British melody for the United States national anthem, and the “lost stanzas” of the original poem (23:12); the song’s complicated history, including specific criticisms (35:00); and the evolution of the song in tandem with our national identity (44:00).

This week’s expert, Mark Clague (@usmusicscholar), is a musicology professor at the University of Michigan. He has researched all forms of music in the United States; his recent projects focus on the United States national anthem.

For more information on Mark, please check out his Star Spangled Music website, his Star Spangled Songbook, his Poets & Patriots music compilation, and his podcast.

Notable Links

Mentioned renditions of the Star Spangled Banner

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 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].