Deviate

Latest Episodes:

On American Highways I: A brief history of family road-trips in the USA Jul 10, 2018

Show notes

“Once again road trips are becoming more about the journey rather than the destination and I see that as a very encouraging sign that maybe people are realizing the merit of enjoying the journey.” – Richard Ratay

Richard Ratay (@RichRatay) is the author of Don’t Make Me Pull Over!, an informal history of the family road trip.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Richard discuss the history of long-haul automobile travel and the interstate highway system (6:00); the effects of interstate highways on American travel culture (19:00); the station wagon and the evolution of the road trip car (35:00); and the decline of the road trip Golden Age (48:00).

Notable Links:

Henry Ford (founder of Ford Motor Company)
Horatio Nelson Jackson (automobile pioneer)
Desert Solitaire, by Edward Abbey (book)
Howard Deering Johnson (entrepreneur and businessman)
Motel 6 (hotel chain)
Ralph Teeter (inventor of cruise control)
I Can’t Drive 55 (song by Sammy Hagar)
Citizens Band Radio (short distance radio communications)
Convoy (song)
Convoy (movie)
Wooly Willy (toy)
Handheld electronic games
Mattel (toy manufacturing company)
The Sears Christmas Wish Book was (truly) great American literature (Deviate podcast episode)
8-track tape (sound recording technology)
Bill Lear (inventor and businessman)
Barry Manilow (musician)
M*A*S*H (TV series)
MacArthur Park (song)
Duran Duran (band)
Herb Kelleher (founder of Southwest Airlines)
Airline Deregulation Act

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lu mber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

How to break up with your smartphone (and rediscover your real-world life) Jul 03, 2018

Show notes

“Travel should not be a checklist; it should be about having new experiences” – Catherine Price

Catherine Price (@Catherine_Price) is a journalist and author of How to Break Up with Your Phone and 101 Places Not to See Before You Die.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Catherine discuss digital distractions and their effects on our brains (2:00); reframing the way we think about our smartphones (9:30); being deliberate with our attention (12:30); setting ourselves up for success and creating the necessary “speed-bumps” (17:00); paying attention to our body (21:30); developing a technology-separation practice-trial, and using technology to protect ourselves from technology (29:00); and getting existential about how we think of time management (42:00).

For more from Catherine, check out her website at phonebreakup.com

Notable Links:

“What Would It Take for You to Be Still?” by Catherine Price (article)
“How to Break Up With Your Phone” by Catherine Price (article)
Edward Tronick and the “Still Face Experiment”
University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness
The Craving Mind, by Judson Brewer (book)
Freedom (computer program and app)
Inbox When Ready (computer program)

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lu mber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

Classic rock is not dead. Classic rock is undead. Long live classic rock. Jun 26, 2018

Show notes

“Compared to the pop music that I was listening to at the time, there just seemed to be something deep and mysterious and enigmatic and sexy and scary about classic rock” – Steven Hyden

Steven Hyden (@Steven_Hyden) is a music critic. He currently works as a culture critic for UPROXX where he writes about all things music and hosts the Celebration Rock podcast. His book, Twilight of the Gods, is out now.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Steven discuss the genesis of Classic Rock (2:00); the experience of interacting with music and how that interaction has changed over the years (12:00); Rock & Roll as an aging art (25:00); and how we reckon with the transience of music (36:00).

For more from Steven, check out his UPROXX article archive at https://uproxx.com/author/steven-hyden/

Notable links:

Hammer of the Gods, by Stephen Davis (book)
Hype! (documentary film)
Ship of Theseus (thought experiment)
Appetite for Destruction (music album)
The Joshua Tree (music album)
The Dark Side of the Moon (music album)
Pet Sounds (music album)
Ram (music album)
Alternative rock (genre of Rock & Roll)
Red Rocks Amphitheatre (concert venue)

Notable music bands / music artists mentioned:

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lu mber. Original episode art by Alicia Ard (whose services include branding, illustration, web design, and social media management).

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

Remembering Bourdain, and what we talk about when we talk about travel writing Jun 19, 2018

Show notes

“Every good story is two stories: the story of the place and the story of what happened to you as a result of being in that place” – Alden Jones

Eddy Harris (@EddyLHarris) is a writer, filmmaker, and author of Mississippi Solo, Native Stranger, and Still Life in Harlem. Alden Jones (@jones_alden) is an author and writer of The Blind Masseuse. Thomas Swick (@roostertie) is an author and writer of The Joys of Travel, A Way to See the World, and Unquiet Days.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf, Eddy, Alden, and Thomas reflect on the legacy of Anthony Bourdain and the state of travel writing at large (3:00); common criticisms of travel writing (22:00); the notion of authenticity in travel and travel writing (34:00); what constitutes good travel writing, and the future of the genre (46:00).

Books mentioned:

Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain
A Cook’s Tour, by Anthony Bourdain
In Patagonia, by Bruce Chatwin
Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert
Wild, by Cheryl Strayed
Abroad, by Paul Fussell
The Pillars of Hercules, by Paul Theroux
Go Tell the Crocodiles, by Rowan Moore Gerety
White Man’s Game, by Stephanie Hanes
Flaubert in Egypt, by Gustave Flaubert
Video Night in Kathmandu, by Pico Iyer
Figures in a Landscape, by Paul Theroux
What Belongs to You, by Garth Greenwell (novel)

Authors, articles, and other notable links

“Anthony Bourdain Did Not Speak Travelese,” by Rolf Potts
“Around the World in 80 Hours (of Travel TV),” by Rolf Potts
“Is Travel Writing Dead?” Granta essay by Colin Thubron
“The danger of a single story,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (TED Talk)
Key West Literary Seminar (writing conference)
Jan Morris (writer)
Pico Iyer (writer)
Tim Cahill (writer)
Paul Theroux (writer)
Ryszard Kapuściński (journalist)
Bill Bryson (author)
Gerald Brenan (writer)
Gertrude Bell (author)
Mary Kingsley (writer and explorer)
Jeffrey Tayler (journalist)
Granta (literary journal)
Panorama: The Journal of Intelligent Travel
Best American Travel Writing (book series)
Jason Wilson (writer and editor)
Amy Gigi Alexander (writer and editor)
Cochabamba Water War
U.S. bombing of Cambodia
Cambodian genocide
Gorongosa National Park (preserve in Mozambique)

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lu mber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

**Why 1980s coming-of-age movies matter** Jun 12, 2018
Show notes

“John Hughes, and really all of best 1980s teen movies, were saying that the stories of teenagers are the stories of all of us. They have the same human need and longing that the stories of adults have.” —Kevin Smokler

In this episode of *Deviate*, Rolf discusses classic coming-of-age films with Kevin Smokler (@Weegee), author of *Brat Pack America: A Love Letter to ’80s Teen Movies*.

The discussion themes, cultural references, and time-codes that outline this expansive conversation are as follows:

**Kids having adult adventures movies**

[2:30 – 17:00]

Links:

Stand By Me (1986 film)

*Different Seasons*, by Stephen King (book)

Rob Reiner (film director)

Season 4 of *The Wire* (TV season)

David Simon (TV writer-producer)

Boyz in the Hood (1991 film)

John Singleton (film director)

“12 Great Coming-Of-Age Movie Final-Scene Songs,” by Rolf Potts

**Emblematic teen movies**

[17:00 -45:10]

Links:

Breakfast Club (1985 film)

John Hughes (filmmaker)

Sixteen Candles (1984 film)

Long Duk Dong (Sixteen Candles character)

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (Simpsons character)

Hari Kondabolu (standup comic)

*How to American*, by Jimmy O. Yang (memoir)

Fresh Off the Boat (TV show)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982 film)

Say Anything (1989 film)

Cameron Crowe (writer-director)

John Mahoney (actor)

Ione Skye (actress)

Heathers (1989 film)

Daniel Waters (screenwriter)

Riot grrrl (feminist punk movement)

Dead Poets Society (1989 film)

Dylan Kussman (actor)

Norman Lloyd (actor)

Carpe Diem (*Dead Poets Society* Latin aphorism)

**Quirky teen fantasy movies**

[45:10 -1:06:10]

Links:

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986 film)

Matthew Broderick (actor)

John Hughes director’s commentary on *Ferris Bueller*

*Ferris Bueller’s Day Off* screenplay

Home Alone (1990 film)

Back to the Future (1985 film)

*Life Moves Pretty Fast*, by Hadley Freeman (book)

Risky Business (1983 film)

Tangerine Dream (electronic music band)

Paul Brickman (writer-director)

**One crazy night movies**

[1:06:10 -1:19:00]

Links:

Dazed and Confused (1993 film)

Richard Linklater (writer-director)

Quentin Tarantino (writer-director)

American Graffiti (1973 film)

Everybody Wants Some!! (2016 film)

Slacker (1991 film)

Boyhood (2014 film)

Before Sunrise (1995 film)

Before Sunset (2004 film)

Before Midnight (2013 film)

**Dark teen movies**

[1:19:00 – 1:25:00]

Links:

River’s Edge (1986 film)

Murder of Marcy Renee Conrad (inspiration for *River’s Edge*)

Dennis Hopper (actor)

Keanu Reeves (actor)

Satanic panic (1980s moral panic)

Over the Edge (1979 film)

The Legend of Bill Jean (1985 film)

**Teen sports movies with strong sense of place**

[1:25:00 -1:32:40]

Links:

Breaking Away (1979 film)

*Friday Night Lights*, by Buzz Bissinger (book)

Friday Night Lights (2004 film)

Friday Night Lights (TV series)

All the Right Moves (1983 film)

Hoosiers (1986 film)

Remember the Titans (2000 film)

**Autobiographical coming-of-age movies**

[1:32:40 -1:51:30]

Links:

Almost Famous (2000 film)

“Tiny Dancer” scene from *Almost Famous*

Freaks and Geeks (TV series)

Paul Feig (TV writer)

Judd Apatow (TV producer)

Jason Segel (actor)

Bob Seger (singer-songwriter)

My So-Called Life (TV series)

**21st century coming-of-age movies and TV shows**

[1:51:30 – 2:01:00]

Links:

Stranger Things (TV series)

Everything Sucks! (TV series)

Lady Bird (2017 film)

Greta Gerwig (writer-director)

Real Women Have Curves (2002 film)

Dope (2015 film)

Love, Simon (2018 film)

“Stranger Things: 5 Differences Between the Pilot Script and the First Episode,” by Rolf Potts

*The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lu mber.*

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

How to talk to someone who is grieving the loss of a loved one Jun 05, 2018

Show notes

“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.

Paul Theroux on the art of listening, and the necessary obstacles of deep travel May 29, 2018

Show notes

“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 Lu mber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

The way we grow food has been broken for 10,000 years (but we can fix it) May 22, 2018

Show notes

“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 Lu mber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

Kevin Kelly on the lost world of 1970s Asia (and why you should travel now) May 15, 2018

Show notes

“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 Lu mber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.

Kink Doctor Dulcinea Pitagora on sex therapy, BDSM, and dominatrix work May 08, 2018

Show notes

“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: