What People Do

I grew up hearing Alan Watts' voice on weekend mornings in Southern California in recorded lectures on KPFK. But it wasn't until, on a whim, I pulled one of Watts' books off the shelf and read it during breaks between classes during my undergrad that I was changed.

The book that did it was The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. I have since re-read it at least twice, read most of Watts' other books, followed Watts' pointing to Taoism and Buddhism, and currently listen to Watts' lectures at least weekly on walks. I have recommended the book to folks I know, and none of them liked it as much as I did and continue to.

This episode's guest, Brian Wheeler, also probably likes the book less than me, but he has spent many more years deeply studying and playing with ideas in Watts' corpus. 

Brian and I discuss his entry point into Watts, Tao, Buddhism, transpersonal psychology (which Wheeler studied in graduate school), and paradox (which Wheeler has written on). 

What are you, we wonder in our conversation. Are you a separate you, or a piece of the universe? How? In what ways?

Let's play ... 

Every tabletop gaming convention is dedicated to fun. But not every one of those wargame-miniature-moving, tabletop-RPG-playing, board-game-winning conventions is dedicated to an even bigger cause. 

That’s why Meeple-A-Thon stands out, a 501(c)(3) charity gaming convention dedicated to supporting Kansas City’s at-risk and disenfranchised community members. And why it’s always a special pleasure to announce Meeple-A-Thon’s return as a sponsor for fellow tabletop gaming convention KantCon’s 2026 event July 16-19 at the Overland Park Convention Center.

David Watts is Meeple-A-Thon’s director of strategic operations, a bigger role after his work organizing a wargaming section back in 2024. It’s only gotten bigger, he says.

“Back when it started, it could all fit in the space of a few basketball courts,” Watts said. “Now, we’re to the point of attracting national vendors, more games, and we’ve moved to the Kansas City Convention Center.”

Listen to this episode to find out more Meeple-A-Thon's work, gaming in general, and the behind-the-scenes work of making an event like this happen ... 

Further resources:

As part of an ongoing volunteering job with Kantcon, a fantastic tabletop gaming convention here in the Kansas City metro area, I record and write up interviews with a few of their sponsors each year.

Chris Garbett at Allplay, where he serves as Director of Operations and Logistics, works underground around cool board games all day long. Yes, his job is probably still mostly phone calls, emails, and spreadsheets, but still: A mine! Games everywhere! 

Want to learn more about Garbett and the work he does? Listen to this episode, and check out these links:

As part of an ongoing volunteering job with Kantcon, a fantastic tabletop gaming convention here in the Kansas City metro area, I record and write up interviews with a few of their sponsors each year.

KJ Davis’ company, A Little Help Company (ALHc), focuses on mentorship and boutique publishing support for indie creatives who may need a little extra guidance navigating public events, creative projects, and business growth. (Note: I interviewed Davis for an episode about her company in 2024.)

Want to learn more about Davis and the work she does? Listen to this episode, and check out these links:

As part of an ongoing volunteering job with Kantcon, a fantastic tabletop gaming convention here in the Kansas City metro area, I record and write up interviews with a few of their sponsors each year.

Walter Stewart is co-owner of one of the best tabletop gaming stores I've ever visited: Tabletop Game and Hobby in Overland Park, Kansas.

Want to learn more about Stewart and the games he talks about? Listen to this episode, and check out these links:

As part of an ongoing volunteering job with Kantcon, a fantastic tabletop gaming convention here in the Kansas City metro area, I record and write up interviews with a few of their sponsors each year.

Rikki Tahta in the UK talked to me about his company, MeetMax Games, and why the games are fun, how the games work in groups, and his inspiring and revolutionary take on games for corporations and events: Fun over functional.

Want to learn more about Tahta and his team's work? Listen to this episode, and check out these links:

Yup.

I think it's been 100 or so episodes.

So, I thought I'd mark the occasion with a conversation with somebody else who's made podcasts and watched them ... not grow. (That's Jimbo Radio; I've been on a few times and thoroughly enjoy my conversations with James.)

The What People Do podcast started more than six years ago with a recording in a library meeting room with a former colleague right as COVID spun up before the lockdown. It continues, every month or so, recorded online now in my apartment living room.

Why did I make it? Because I get tired of self-promotional, ad-ridden podcasts. I wanted to make a thing that just ... exists ... to serve my own curiosity and interest in relating to, and asking questions about, people's lives. 

There has never been a direction or a focus beyond 1) the people who ask to be interviewed, or 2) the people I ask to interview. There are more rabbis and RPG folks only because that's closer to my wheelhouse as I volunteer to make content for a local RPG convention and pursue my own rabbinate and Judaism in general.

Well, don't I normally supply links? Well, here ya go. If you'd like to ever support me financially, feel free to subscribe to my Substack or ask to collaborate on something with me:

Rabbi Norman Solomon served in many important capacities in the United Kingdom during his decades of service as a pulpit rabbi and educator.

But the title of his latest book—which promised a delve into what we might mean in the modern world with our talk of God—promised to be a rich read. And it has been, with its very personal and idiosyncratic writing style and conventions. Anyone with an interest in thinking about God in Judaism or Christianity in the modern world might find much to agree with, smile at, and wrestle with in the book. 

I was also delighted to find out Rabbi Solomon has a delightful sense of humor. You will be too.

I met Carole as the star administrator of the New York City-based rabbinic school I attended in 2025. (Shout out, Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute!)

It always felt like there was a lot more under her surface in the moments when she’d pop up, or in the times she’d email. When she shared a cool introspection exercise with our graduating rabbinic class, I had to learn more about her.

Turns out, she’s fascinating herself … nonprofit administration, yoga teaching certification, independent film, commercial work, and community theater.

So … I asked Carole about her acting and film experience as a trick to talk to her, because she seemed cool.

She is.

A hundred years ago, Judaism’s path of moral self-improvement was stuck mostly in the Orthodox world where the classic books of the field were in their original language. When the wider Jewish world began taking notice of Mussar, study and books in translation blossomed in availability.

That’s the beautiful world that Rabbi Greg Marcus and I inhabit today, where the rabbi walks us through his own Mussar origin story, why he became a teacher of it, and where it’s all going from here.

So, self-help with a Jewish flavor: Judaism has had it for hundreds of years! Let’s gooooooo …