Strange Path

Dan is back. We talk about the role of libraries in education, teaching kids to drive, my job in publishing (he turns the tables and interviews me), what it was like to grow up in the information dark ages, what you can get from a conversation that you can’t from the internet, book clubs, Gabor Mate’s The Myth of Normal, a tv show called Westward, the movies Road to Perdition and The Dark Divide, and a little about the show Baby Reindeer, before we are cut off by a technical problem. We talked in the fall of last year, so this is being posted with some delay. 

Is it better to practice difficult things by making them easier, or by reducing the consequences of failure?

Stephan Kesting is known among jiujitsu practitioners as a prolific creator of video instructionals. However, he is also a firefighter and an avid outdoorsman who has completed numerous solo canoe treks in the Canadian wilderness. For his most recent trip he had to be dropped off by float plane, and he was truly on his own in the subarctic for weeks. We talk about this trip, training to do difficult things, overcoming a life-threatening health condition, his first solo canoe adventure, finding a space to work through grief, what it’s like to be alone in the wilderness, and his soon to be released book, Perseverance. Other topics include how to put together a repair kit, communications strategies for remote areas, being picky about who you travel with, whether and how to share your experiences, and why he seems to be drawn to dangerous activities.

In this episode I talk with Chris Kuszmaul, a robotics coach and aikido instructor. I discover that there are things called sailbots. He describes his various incarnations as a robotics teacher, including how his son’s interest led to his first such position. We discuss what it is that robots actually do, how clubs choose what to focus on, the integral role of failure in learning, the dangers of success, how opportunities to fail generate opportunities to succeed, natural consequences, planning and logistics, mentors and mentoring, teaching students how to sweep, cussing as a cash register, second system syndrome, aikido, understanding and demonstrating but still not doing, and zen—moving and not.

In this episode I talk with Curt Fukuda and Ralph Pearce, the authors of the book San Jose Japantown: A Journey. We look at how they each grew up in the San Jose area, becoming interested in local history in different ways, until after crossing paths a few times, they ended up working together on the book. We touch on several topics, including religious upbringing, growing up in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, book design and editing, the importance of connections in the community, generational differences, taiko, baseball as a medium of cultural exchange, and tips on working with older interviewees. For more, check out the website Hidden Histories of San Jose Japantown, and Ralph's blog "Looking Back," on the San Jose Public Library website.

In this episode I talk with Heather Lane, a friend from high school who ran several small businesses, including a landmark ice cream shop, for more than two decades. Heather has taught business and entrepreneurship, and is an avid hiker. We talk about Purity Ice Cream, which began in 1936 and continues today, her early apprenticeship in the restaurant business, followed by running her own cafe, and then the continuous process of investment and innovation that kept Purity going under her and her husband's stewardship. She also talks about balancing work and family life, getting an MBA and teaching, navigating the pandemic as a small business, the rewards of mentoring young people, hiking, walking, and yoga, cooking as a way to bring people together, community engagement, being a deacon, and more. For reference, the books Heather mentions at the end are Peter Attia's *Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity*, Amy Dickinson's *The Mighty Queens of Freeville*, Kelly Barnhill's *The Ogress and the Orphans*, Amanda Hesser's *Cooking for Mr. Latte*, and Caroline Chambers *What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking*.

In this podcast I chat with Sergio Trejo, a psychotherapist and mental performance coach. We talk about how his interests in psychology and coaching developed over time, what motivates people to engage in sports, learning from winning vs learning from losing, the role of breath work in mental performance, competition as means rather than an end, the transference of skills between domains, visualization for sports performance, facing Galacticus, side quests, finding the right mindset, the value of therapy, making beer chicken, and the point of golf, among other things.

In this conversation with Michele Korb, we talk about teaching, jazz, and martial arts. Michele gives her perspective on finding mentors, leaping into the unknown, teaching from a cookbook vs encouraging open inquiry, the effects of hands-on learning, sudden shifts in one's life, jazz performance, martial arts, things to keep in mind if you are an older athlete, finding synergies and balance, remote vs. in-person learning, and visual thinking. Check out Michele's music at michelekorb.com.

In this episode I talk with my friend Ariel Mendez about the concept of advocacy and what it's like to be active in city politics. We talk transportation infrastructure, the value of thinking local, electric bikes, having an improv mindset, and the challenge of communicating complex ideas. We also talk about the appeal of World War II movies, the relationship between inspiration and free will, and more.

In this episode I talk with my friend Dan McConnell about what predisposed him to become a teacher, what he finds rewarding in teaching, his improvisational, collaborative approach to fostering curious minds, the return to the classroom after Covid, enrichment, role playing games, measuring student success, whether kids today are fundamentally different, and the overlaps between parenting and teaching. We take detours into stories about a wandering constable, World War II, spoiled mayonnaise, how the world used to shut down at night, wrestling babies, shadow puppets, redirection, natural consequences, and an apocryphal tale about George Washington.