Tangentially Speaking with Christopher Ryan

It's 1983, and I'm on my first trip to a foreign culture with a sharpened Kung-Fu star hanging from my neck. One thing leads to another and I realize I've stumbled into something far deeper, and more dangerous, than I could have imagined. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

In which I spend some time working the slime line, scam my way out the door, and wake up on the wrong side of a jealous performance artist. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

A Korean kid in the American South, adopted by people who probably shouldn't have, lesbian, super-smart Harvard student, stand-up comic, diagnosed with an incurable disease at 30 ... Mandy has been there and there and there and back. Please join us for this powerful, heartfelt conversation about belonging, family, and that familiar feeling that we're getting better and dying at the same time. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

The only man I know who has passed a joint to a chimp sitting next to him in a tree, (or at least, who's admitted it to me!) Richard is a man of many dimensions. In part 1 of what I hope will be a multi-part series, we talk about his education, his first foray into business with one of America's first mountain bike shops, and what lessons rugby imparts in the "third half," among many other fruitful tangents.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Ceara is a sweet, smart, sexy young woman who degrades, dismisses and denigrates men over the internet. And they pay her handsomely to do it! What a world. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

One of the leading ethnobotanists in the world, Dennis has just published a fantastic memoir about his fascinating life (much of it shared with his very famous brother, Terence) called Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

When the salmon don't come, there's no work to be had in Kenai, Alaska. So what do you do? Get some tequila! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

I get meta in this one—reading a paper I wrote 20 years ago about a near-death experience that happened to me 25 years ago. Damn, I'm getting old! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

I found a mysterious letter on my car this morning. This is what it said. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

One of my closest friends, Dr. Stanley Krippner returns to Tangentially Speaking, to share his thoughts on the trajectory of history, the nature of consciousness, and his advice to young people after 81 years of living la vida loca. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe