Deviate

“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: Rainer Maria Rilke (poet) “A Coffin—is A Small Domain,” by Emily Dickinson The Book of Psalms: A Translation (book) Guests of My Life, by Elizabeth Watson (book) Elegy: Poems, by Mary Jo Bang (book) “You Were You Are Elegy,” by Mary Jo Bang David Letterman (television host) Annie Dillard (author) Six Feet Under (television series) Freaks and Geeks (television series) The Legend of Zelda (video game series) Sudden unexplained death in childhood The Kelly Writers House Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“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 “Paul Theroux on Blogging, Travel Writing, and ‘Three Cups of Tea’” (2011 Atlantic interview) The Great Railway Bazaar, by Paul Theroux The Mosquito Coast, by Paul Theroux The Tao of Travel, by Paul Theroux Deep South, by Paul Theroux American Notes, by Charles Dickens Barbary Shore, by Norman Mailer Journey Without Maps, by Graham Greene Sea and Sardinia, by D.H. Lawrence Travels, by Ibn Battuta Travels, by Marco Polo Lafcadio Hearn’s Japan: An Anthology India: A Million Mutinies Now, by V.S. Naipaul “Paul Theroux’s Quest to Define Hawaii” (2012 Smithsonian article) “Mandalay,” by Rudyard Kipling (poem) Rashomon (1950 Akira Kurosawa film) The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943 film) People mentioned Doris Lessing (novelist and poet) Tom Wolfe (author and journalist) Robin Williams (actor and comedian) Elizabeth Taylor (actress) Michael Jackson (singer-songwriter) Rod Steiger (actor) Mike Nichols (film director) Margaret Mead (anthropologist) Colin Turnbull (anthropologist) Bronislaw Malinowski (anthropologist) 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 deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“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: Perennial plant Annual plant Green Revolution Evolutionary biology (subfield of biology) Sexual selection (mode of natural selection) Origin of domestic dogs Monoculture (agricultural practice) Polyculture (agricultural practice) Kernza (perennial grass) Silphium (perennial sunflower) Upland rice (type of rice) Japonica rice (type of rice) Indica rice (type of rice) Columbian Exchange Farmers of Forty Centuries, by F.H. King (book) Wes Jackson (Founder and President, The Land Institute) Nature as Measure, by Wes Jackson (book) Maya Civilization (ancient civilization) Anasazi (ancient civilization) Mesopotamia (historical region) Ancient Egyptian agriculture Jerry Glover (soil scientist at The Land Institute) Scree (geological feature) Loess (type of soil) 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 deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“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: Asia Grace, by Kevin Kelly (photography book) “Shoulda Been Dead” (This American Life episode on Kevin’s Jerusalem conversion experience) Out of Control, by Kevin Kelly (book) Kevin Kelly’s interview with Tim Ferriss (podcast episode) “1000 True Fans” by Kevin Kelly (essay) Aerogram (pre-stamped airmail envelope) Poste restante (postal pick-up service for travelers) Maureen Wheeler (publisher) Tony Wheeler (publisher) Rick Steves (travel writer and publisher) Hilary Bradt (guidebook publisher) Bill Dalton (guidebook publisher) Lonely Planet (travel guidebook) Moon Guide (travel guidebook) Rough Guides (travel guidebook) National Geographic (magazine) Video Night in Kathmandu, by Pico Iyer (book) Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman (book) Hippie Trail (travel route) “Remembering the Hippie Trail” by Rolf Potts (essay) Recomendo (weekly recommendation newsletter) 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 deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“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: Cisgender (gender identity) Non-binary/gender fluidity (gender identity) Pain play (sex practice) Role play (sex practice) BDSM/power exchange (sex practice) Vanilla (sex behavior) Kink (sex behavior) Safe word (BDSM communication) Fetish (sexual fixation) Polyamory (relationship practice) “Pegging” for straight men (Subreddit page, NSFW) Other links: The Erotic Mind, by Jack Morin (book) Perv, by Jesse Bering (book) Modern Sexuality, by Michael Aaron (book) Sexual Outsiders: Understanding BSM Sexualities, by David Ortmann and Richard Sprott (book) Rewriting the Rules, by Meg John Barker (book) 50 Shades of Grey, by E.L. James (novel) Tristan Taormino (feminist author) Janet Hardy (sex educator) FetLife (social networking for kinky people) AltSex NYC (conference) Manhattan Alternative (sex-positive therapist coalition) 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 deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“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: Principle #1: You’re probably not the exception to the rule (6:30) Principle #2: Stop pretending it’s easy (15:30) Principle #3: The truth about work/life balance is that you’re going to find “success” a lot slower if you have that balance (17:30) Principle #4: Track your process not your progress (37:30) Principle #5: You probably can’t predict what will work (45:50) Principle #6: Don’t set goals you can’t control (50:00) For more from Sarah, check out her blog, yesandyes.org Notable Links: Moment (productivity app) Pomodoro Technique (time management method) Freedom (productivity app) Anti-Social (productivity app) Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference Everest mountaineer Alison Levine on introversion and finding mentors (episode of Deviate with Rolf Potts podcast True Story (interview series, by Sarah Von Bargen) Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in Rosedale, Mississippi, by Rolf Potts (article) 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 deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“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.” Education-oriented links: MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) Modern Poetry (“ModPo”) MOOC (online course) TED (media organization) The Great Courses (audio courses) Coursera (education company) iTunes U (audio courses) edX (MOOC provider) Chautauqua (19th century adult education movement) Other links: Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad (novel) Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe (novel) Colonialism (national imperial policy) William Carlos Williams (poet) Emily Dickerson (poet) Triumph of the Will (German propaganda film) Schindler’s List (film) Rambo (film series) Free Speech Movement (student protest) Quakers (religious theology) Lutheranism (religious theology) Socratic method (teaching theory) Net neutrality (principle) Desegregation in Yonkers (political campaign) Shooting of Stephon Clark (police shooting) ProPublica (non-profit newsroom) Slate Culture Gabfest (podcast) Stephon Clark: Rhythms of Tragedy, by Charles M. Blow (article) #NeverAgain (student gun-control movement) Third Reich (sociopolitical period) National Socialism (sociopolitical ideology) Wannsee Conference (meeting of Nazi leadership) Vietnam War (Wikipedia entry) Battle of Dien Bien Phu (battle during First Indochina War) 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 deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“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. People and books mentioned: Desert Solitaire, by Edward Abbey Ecclesiastes (book of the Old Testament) Barbara Ehrenreich (author and political activist) Joanne Lynn (author and policy advocate) Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer, by Barbara Ehrenreich (book) Knocking on Heaven’s Door, by Katy Butler (book) “What Broke My Father’s Heart,” by Katy Butler (article) Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande (book) “Letting Go,” by Atul Gawande (article) Caitlin Doughty (author and mortician) Karen Ann Quinlan (significant figure in the history of the right to die) Nancy Cruzan (significant figure in the history of the right to die) Terri Schaivo (significant figure in the history of the right to die) Michel Foucault (philosopher) Jacob Appel (writer) Notable concepts and medical terms: Memento mori (theory of mortality) Alzheimer’s disease (neurodegenerative disease) Hospice (type/philosophy of health care) Intubation (medical procedure) Do not resuscitate (medical legal order) Persistent vegetative state (disorder of consciousness) Advance healthcare directive (legal document) #BucketListPlus1 (end-of-life care campaign) Biopolitics (intersectional academic discipline) Mensch (Yiddish word/concept) 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 deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“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: Comedian Ari Shaffir 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. Playwright Alex Dawson 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. Photographer Jeanmarie Theobalds 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. Poet Tommy Pico 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. Writer-actor Ayun Halliday 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. Filmmaker Pegi Vail 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. TV host Ernest White II 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 deviate@rolfpotts.com.

“Essentially, a romance is a courtship story. And if you think about it, courtship stories are part of the foundation of human storytelling” –Sarah Wendell Sarah Wendell (@SmartBitches) is an author and blogger whose work primarily focuses on the romance fiction genre. She is co-author of the book, Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels. In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Sarah discuss the elements of a romance novel book cover (13:00); plot and structure of a romance novel (24:00); the history the romance genre (34:00); and the evolution of romance fiction characters and tropes (46:00). For more from Sarah, check out her website: Smart Bitches, Trashy Books Notable Links: RT Booklovers Convention “Where no Travel Writer has Gone Before“, by Rolf Potts (article) Elements of Surprise: Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot, by Vera Tobin (book) Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell (novel and film) Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn (novel) Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen (novel) Turducken (novelty dish) Fabio (romance cover model) Mullet (hairstyle) #MeToo movement The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger (viral video) Asexuality Demisexuality Black Panther (film) Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle (novel and film) Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda , by Becky Albertalli (novel) Highlander (film) Romance novels, novelists, and genres mentioned: Prowl the Night, by Crystal Jordan (romance novel) The Raider, by Jude Deveraux (romance novel) Jude Deveraux the Raider Barbie & Ken Set (collectible toy) Sharon Shinn (romance novelist) Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters series Kate Duffy, editor at Kensington The Flame and the Flower, by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss (romance novel) Carina Press Romance Promise Paranormal romance (genre) Amish Vampires in Space, by Kerry Nietz (romance novel) Tamed: A Menage Dinosaur Shifter Romance, by Jenny Clemens (romance novel) Hot and Badgered, by Shelly Laurenston (romance novel) 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 deviate@rolfpotts.com.