Tea with sg

Mac Rebennack invented the Dr. John persona after a famous New Orleans character we'd now probably call an herbalist or homeopath, but they'd call a doctor. He was a long time New Orleans blues and rock musician who came up with the idea to invoke this persona and make an album of gris-gris (voodoo/hoodoo) music. The persona stuck, only parts of the gris-gris stuck, and the music evolved and transcended repeatedly until his death last year. I read this chapter because it evokes some learning I apply to today's confusion. Spirituality and practicality, civic responsibility, community...concepts we may lose perspective on. New Orleans has some knowledge for us.

Nischal @nepalteallc and I met at Little Tokyo's LA Tea Festival 5 years ago I'd guess. https://nepalteallc.com His tea story is richer than most, you can talk about it in the same paradigm we talk about any tea story, the generational development, but there's the unique geography of Nepal that adds to it. So we can talk religion, border conflicts, education, so much. This could be a follow up episode another time, ideally in person in the new world, because in 2 hours we just kinda gloss over all of these topics. Lots more we could have gone into. Order the sampler packs on his website, they're great ways to learn different teas.

The context of why I connected Sara Gran @sara_gran is wild. I tell the story here. Also see previous episode with Sara on as guest. Thanks to Soho Press, buy the book to read the rest! https://www.amazon.com/Come-Closer-Sara-Gran-ebook/dp/B004HYHAT4/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Sara+gran+come+closer&qid=1592785073&sr=8-1

Continuing from yesterday's episode with Ash Carter, I start to read Ash's book about a half hour in. Otherwise I just talk about stuff. But listen to whole thing because I ramble but it all heads toward context for the reading. You can also totally just listen to the reading and enjoy it on its own.

Ash (not on social media bc) and I go back to college, but both grew up in NYC, and our parents who ran in similar circles, had weekend houses in same tiny town nobody else knew about until the last few years. Ash is one of the few friends I have whom can speak fluently on a Manhattan that is pretty much gone, or left to really old people. He's been writing and editing for a great list of magazines over the last few years, and published his first book last year on filmmaker, playwright, comedian, etc. Mike Nichols. https://www.amazon.com/Life-Isnt-Everything-Nichols-Remembered-ebook/dp/B07MMLT51Q/ref=sr_1_1?crid=4PLD2444UHOA&dchild=1&keywords=mike+nichols+life+isn%27t+everything&qid=1592580308&sprefix=mike+nichols%2Caps%2C287&sr=8-1 He's an editor at https://airmail.news, which speaks to a segment of culture that does not give a shit what is trending on the internet, and enjoys picking up physical paper stained with ink. It's a smart venture, weekly wrap up of what's going on, with in depth articles on stuff we might care about, and Cazzie David. The best part is the arts calendar. You can search a city and get listings of all the high brow stuff going on. Once I woke up to a burst pipe in my apartment, looked at https://airmail.news/arts-intel, and got on a plane to the place with the most art I wanted to see that week. We're due for a dinner uptown in the new world. I first typed post-quar, but then realized that is not a thing.

Jason and I met at a tea festival in LA in 2015. You can hear me recall the three teas his brand was offering for tasting that day. Jason was a big part of my education in tea, where he and a few others would come by on weekends early and we'd just sit there for hours and get tea drunk. Jason and I keep this tradition up whenever we're both in LA, but he's been spending more and more time in Taiwan lately, working on both his family business and a new tea venture. I'll hopefully get to see him out there and go on the trip we speak of here. 

Andrew @awhyit is founder/CEO of Cala @thisiscala. They provide all the backend a clothing designer needs to focus on solely creative. I've talked a lot lately around how the music industry works on systems and practices that are only learned when passed person to person, so it becomes very difficult to learn how to do things "professionally" if you're not granted access. Fashion is even worse, because there's these even deeper ego issues. I experienced this myself, where it took me a long time to learn how to design, source fabrics, cut and sew, get solid rates, learn timelines and calendars, what deliverables were necessary when and to whom...I'm just talking manufacturing there. So much. Cala provides access to quality versions of each step, such that you don't need to learn, but their team can also educate you wherever necessary. Recorded on 6/4/20, so I referred to Smriti's episode with the mice.

Elia @eliaeinhorn was someone I immediately knew I wanted on the show. My exploration at this moment is all around communication. How should we communicate. So pre-quar, I was already thinking about podcasts...what should they be? We've clearly crossed the line where they've gone mainstream, but now it's a lot of noise. So how do we do it well? And what's making stuff going to be like in the new either post-quar or continuous semi-quar world? How are we going to integrate these finally firm lines that have been drawn on inequality? So much. I trust Elia to distill this as much as anyone. He's a learner, a listener. He's very sensitive, empathetic. Really knows how to talk to someone in such a way as to draw the beautiful ideas out of them. So he's a friend. And I wanted to ask him these questions on the show, work it out live. If you want my Kanye feelings, this is a good episode to listen to. Check out Elia on Pitchfork, Talkhouse, Sonos Radio and more.