Deviate with Rolf Potts

“John Hughes, and really all of best 1980s teen movies, were saying that the stories of teenagers are the stories of all of us. They have the same human need and longing that the stories of adults have.” —Kevin Smokler

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf discusses classic coming-of-age films with Kevin Smokler (@Weegee), author of Brat Pack America: A Love Letter to ’80s Teen Movies.

The discussion themes, cultural references, and time-codes that outline this expansive conversation are as follows:

[2:30 – 17:00]

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[17:00 -45:10]

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[45:10 -1:06:10]

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[1:06:10 -1:19:00]

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[1:19:00 – 1:25:00]

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[1:25:00 -1:32:40]

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[1:32:40 -1:51:30]

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[1:51:30 – 2:01:00]

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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 greatest blessing for me, from having all these losses, has been the otherworldly, supreme clarity about what’s important to me—about how much I love and how much I am loved.” – Heather Dobbins

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf, Heather Dobbins, and Jamie-Lee Josselyn discuss personal loss, grief and mourning, including the importance of gestures over words (2:30); the rituals that surround loss and mourning (18:00); the task of facing holidays and difficult moments in the years following a personal loss (30:00); and funerals and bearing witness to the life and death of loved ones (44:00).

Heather Dobbins, is a teacher, poet, and writer of In the Low Houses and River Mouth. Jamie-Lee Josselyn (@jljosselyn), is a creative writing instructor, essayist, and host of the Dead Parents Society podcast.

Notable Links:

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

“All writing is trying to destroy a stereotype, and the individual that you’re writing about — the figure in the landscape — is actually the ideal.” —Paul Theroux

Paul Theroux‘s highly acclaimed novels include Blinding Light, My Other Life, and The Mosquito Coast. His 1975 book The Great Railway Bazaar is credited with revitalizing the genre of literary travel writing, and his more recent travel books include Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Dark Star Safari, and The Last Train to Zona Verde.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Paul talk about Theroux’s new book Figures in a Landscape, and strategies for writing about the “human architecture of a place” (4:30); the attitude and time-investment required for meaningful travel reportage (19:30); the qualities that determine successful travel writing (24:50); the essential discomforts and obstacles of travel (31:45); the uses and shortcomings of paper maps in developing countries (39:15); and where Paul is traveling next (45:00).

Books, articles, and films mentioned

People mentioned

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 the fate of humanity ultimately rests on how we conserve and protect that thin, magical layer of soil on this planet” – David Van Tassel

David Van Tassel is a lead scientist at The Land Institute, a non-profit research, education, and policy organization dedicated to sustainable agriculture.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and David discuss Agriculture 101 (3:00); the impact of agriculture on the formation of society (25:00); farming, modernity, and the Green Revolution (39:00); The Land Institute and the push to develop perennial staple plants (47:00); and politics and the long game of sustainable agriculture (1:13:00).

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 met people who would say, ‘I wish I had more time to travel like you do.’ They had more money than time, and I had more time than money. In terms of traveling it’s much better to have more time than more money. …If you have a chance to travel, just do it. You won’t regret it.” – Kevin Kelly

Kevin Kelly (@kevin2kelly) is a polymath in the truest sense of the word. Aside from being a co-founder of Wired magazine, he is also co-founder of the Rosetta Project, which is aiming to build an archive of all documented human languages, and he serves on the board of the Long Now Foundation. He is a photographer, writer, and futurist (he was “futurist adviser” on the 2002 Steven Spielberg movie, Minority Report), with much of his work centering on Asian and digital culture.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Kevin discuss the inspiration for his Asia travel in the 1970s (3:00); getting around and dealing with language barriers (15:00); the people he encountered while traveling in Asia, and the life-expanding nature of his journey (32:00); what he packed (47:00); modernity and technology in Asia, and managing his photography during travel (1:07:00); and self-actualization, discovering oneself through travel, and what the future holds in Asia.

For more on Kevin, check out http://kk.org/

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].

“My specializations come from who I am. I’m a little unusual in the therapy field because I state very clearly what my identifications are. Which is that I’m kinky, and that I’m poly, and that I identify as queer, and that I’m gender fluid, and that I’m a former sex worker.” –Dulcinea Pitagora

Dulcinea Pitagora (@KinkDoctor) is a New York-based psychotherapist specializing in alternative sexuality. She is the host of the web series Kink Doctor.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Dulcinea discuss the specifics of dominatrix work (2:00); the difficulties and hurdles involved with dominatrix and other sex work (25:00); Dulcinea’s personal path into sex work and sex therapy (31:00); sex therapy and alternative sexualities (47:00); and Fifty Shades of Grey and public perceptions of kink (1:00:00).

For more on Dulcinea, check out http://www.dulcineapitagora.com

Sex terms dicussed:

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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].

“Better or happier usually takes much less time than we think.” – Sarah Von Bargen

Sarah Von Bargen (@yesandyesblog) is a writer, teacher, and business/lifestyle consultant. Her work focuses on goal-setting, work/life balance, productivity habits, money management, and the pursuit of happiness.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Sarah deconstruct her six principles for identifying, embracing, and maintaining happiness:

For more from Sarah, check out her blog, yesandyes.org

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].

“All lessons are delayed. Very few of us actually receive the lesson right there, when it is delivered to us.” –Al Filreis

Al Filreis (@Afilreis) is a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the founder and Faculty Director of The Kelly Writers House, a non-profit, community organization dedicated to creative writing and the literary arts. He is also author of such books as Counter-revolution of the Word: The Conservative Attack on Modern Poetry, 1945-1960 and Modernism from Right to Left.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Al discuss the underpinnings today’s educational framework (2:45); improving our educational process (20:00); self-learning (30:00); curation of content (44:00); Twitter and our ongoing societal dialogue (1:01:00); and pedagogy and the polis (1:17:00).

For more from Al, check out The Kelly Writers House, his PoemTalk podcast, or “The end of the lecture as we know it.”

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This episode was recorded at Kelly Writers House on the UPenn campus, with the help of Wexler Studio coordinator Zach Carduner. 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].

“What we have found is that technologies are not prolonging human life. They are really just prolonging human death.” – Ann Neumann

Ann Neumann (@otherspoon) is a visiting scholar at the NYU Center for Religion and Media and author of the book, The Good Death.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Ann discuss what got her involved in the topic of death and dying (5:00); end-of-life care (13:00); confronting the finality of death, and the parallels between death and travel (22:00); hospice, and dignity in death (39:00); the evolving definition of death and associated medical logistics (44:00); and how we address death as a society (56:00).

For more from Ann, check out her author website.

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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].

“That’s the lovely thing about a souvenir: It’s a touchstone that reminds you of what you can do, and what you have done, and what you can be proud of. And what can make you laugh.” –Jeanmarie Theobalds

To celebrate the debut of his new book Souvenir, Rolf invited various writers, performers, and world-wanderers onstage at New York’s underground Cornelia Street Cafe to tell travel stories. Storytellers included:

Ari Shaffir tells a story about a t-shirt, a Czech model, and a bunch of gibbons in Thailand. Ari is a comedian, actor, podcaster, writer, and producer. He is the host of the Skeptic Tank podcast, the stand up series This Is Not Happening on Comedy Central, and the Netflix comedy special Double Negative. He also co-hosts the podcast Punch Drunk Sports with Jayson Thibault and Sam Tripoli, and is a regular guest on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Alex Dawson tells a story about Alabama, and his mother’s boots. Alex is the founder of Raconteur Ventures, a company dedicated to reviving communities through cultural programming, and the host of Raconteurs & Roustabouts, a vaudevillian variety show that puts authors on stage alongside musicians and sideshow performers. He teaches creative writing and audio narrative at Rutgers University. He is the curator/host of Rutgers University’s “Inside the Writers House,” a weekly series of candid conversations with acclaimed authors.

Jeanmarie Theobalds tells a story about a “magic ring” she bought in Brazil. Jeanmarie is a freelance oral historian and oral history project consultant. For many years she was an editorial portrait photographer in New York. She was awarded the William J. Fulbright to photograph and interview women potters in Bahia Brazil. Upon her return from Brazil, she pursued her interest in the art of interviewing through oral history and earned a M.A. in oral history from Columbia University.

Tommy Pico reads an excerpt from his forthcoming book Junk, which Tin House Books will debut this May. Tommy is also the author IRL (Birds LLC, 2016) and Nature Poem (Tin House Books, 2017). He was a Queer/Art/Mentors inaugural Fellow, Lambda Literary Fellow in poetry, and NYSCA/NYFA Fellow in Poetry from the New York Foundation for the Arts, and he’s the winner of a Whiting Award and the Brooklyn Public Library’s Literature Prize. Originally from the Viejas Indian reservation of the Kumeyaay nation, he now lives in Brooklyn.

Ayun Halliday tells a story about a household souvenir she has come to call “Mike.” Ayun is best known as the author and illustrator of the long-running zine The East Village Inky. She is the author of a number of books, including the travel book No Touch Monkey! And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late, the food-themed Dirty Sugar Cookies: Culinary Observations, Questionable Taste, and the graphic novel Peanut.

Pegi Vail tells a story about being offered the chance to name a newborn baby in Kenya. Pegi is an anthropologist, documentary filmmaker, and professor at New York University. A former Fulbright Scholar, Vail began as a visual artist and museum educator. Receiving her Ph.D. at NYU in Sociocultural Anthropology in 2004, Vail’s dissertation focused on the “backpacker subculture,” travel narratives and the ‘gentrification’ of the Bolivian tourism industry, a topic she would return to in her award-winning feature-length 2013 documentary film, Gringo Trails.

Ernest White II tells a story about a souvenir vendor he met on a journey to Namibia. Ernst is a storyteller, explorer, and the producer/host of global reality-travel television series Fly Brother. Ernest’s writing includes fiction, literary essay, and travel narrative, and has been featured in Time Out London, USA Today, Getaway, Ebony, The Manifest-Station, Sinking City, Lakeview Journal, Matador Network, National Geographic Traveler’s Brazil and Bradt’s Tajikistan guidebooks, and at TravelChannel.com.

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].