Jackson Lester is a civil engineer specialising in airport design and a rapper who makes music under the name Lester. Originally from Auckland, New Zealand, Jackson recently relocated to Vancouver, Canada, where he's joined a new band, picked up ice hockey, and is plotting to secretly...

Jackson is one of those friends where the conversation picks up exactly where it left off, no matter how many months or time zones sit between us.

We get into: what the default sound of a human would be if we didn't have words, why writing dark things you never release is still worth doing, the difference between a cliché and a truth that's been told so many times it lost its texture, using AI tools to create guitar riffs, the 1% change in the mirror that you never notice until you look back at old photos, why hugging a tree is only embarrassing if you let the label ruin the experience, and Jackson's hot take on the lottery.

"Are you satisfied with your life in its current form? And if not, why not?" — Jackson Lester

Find Jackson:

• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/lester_jackson
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackson-lester-5812ba15a/

Find Tay:

• Rejection Collection: https://rejectioncollection.vercel.app/
• Big Action | Tay's consulting company
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taypattison/
  

Books Mentioned:

• Project Hail Mary — Andy Weir
• We Need to Talk About Kevin — Lionel Shriver
• Atomic Habits — James Clear
  

People & Concepts Mentioned:

• Tom Scott — NZ rapper (Home Brew, Avantdale Bowling Club), Jackson's favourite artist; "the personal is universal"
• Kofi Stone — UK rapper, another of Jackson's current favourites
• Dexter and the News Agent — artist behind "With You," Jackson's song on repeat
• Doechii — rapper discussed; confirmed Tiny Desk performer
• Kendrick Lamar / Eminem / Joey Badass — early influences on Jackson's writing
• Rap Genius — website for breaking down rhyme schemes and lyrical structure
• Jody Blatchley ("Jodeo") — Tay's snowboard coach; unshakable confidence
• Jesse Itzler — entrepreneur/author; quarterly habits, Kevin's Rule (mini adventures), and the misogi concept
• Rejection therapy — collecting rejections as a practice; Tay's commitment to 5 asks per day
• The "personal is universal" — idea attributed to Tom Scott: specific stories resonate more than generic ones