Deviate

“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].

“The top of a mountain is just a pile of rock and ice, and it’s really not much different than being a couple hundred feet lower. What’s important are the lessons that you learn along the way when you’re fighting like hell to get up there. And then what you’re going to do with that information to be better going forward.” – Alison Levine

Alison Levine (@Levine_Alison) is an American mountaineer, leadership consultant, and public speaker. She is one of less than 60 people to have ascended the highest peaks on every continent and skied to both the North and South Poles (known as the Explorers Grand Slam). Her 2014 book On the Edge: Leadership Lessons from Mount Everest and Other Extreme Environments was a New York Times Bestseller.

In Episode 4 of Deviate, Rolf discusses introversion versus extroversion (1:45); summiting Mount Everest and overcoming obstacles (18:55); respecting culture while fostering progress (37:00); Alison’s career path, and lessons learned along the way (51:20); finding mentors (1:04:30); and Alison’s most important life advice, including the importance of failure (1:16:26).

You can find out more about The Glass Ceiling, Alison Levine’s documentary project about the first Nepali woman to climb Mt. Everest, at theglassceilingmovie.com or via her Indiegogo fundraising campaign.

Notable People Mentioned:

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].

“You should write down what you would like your future to look like, because otherwise you will be on autopilot.” – Rolfe Kent

In Episode 3 of Deviate, Rolf discusses music and the creative process with accomplished Hollywood film composer Rolfe Kent (@rolfekent), whose recent project, The Zen Effect, is available on iTunes.

To download a free track from The Zen Effect, visit Rolfe’s website.

Links:

Tools:

Rolfe’s film and TV scores discussed in the interview:

Notable film music discussed:

Notable people mentioned:

Show Notes:

Free download from Rolfe’s Kent’s Zen Effect.

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].

“Culture is cosmetic” – Ernest White

In Episode 2 of Deviate, Rolf explores friendship and culture as he goes on a road trip with friend, travel writer, and storyteller Ernest White (@ernestwhiteii), whose new TV show, Fly Brother, comes out soon.

Links:

Media Links

Show Notes:

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 never got paid for podcasting, would the skills and relationships you developed be enough to keep you doing it? If the answer is ‘no’, I wouldn’t pull the trigger.” – Tim Ferriss

In the inaugural episode of Deviate, Rolf goes meta and talks about podcasting with bestselling author and lifestyle-design guru Tim Ferriss (@tferriss), whose newest book, Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World, debuts this week.

Update (12/07/17): An abridged transcript for this episode is now available online in blog form, as “Tim Ferriss on his 17 principles for how to create a successful podcast.”

Links:

Podcasting Tools

Other links

Show notes:

Books by Tim Ferriss:

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].