Chris Ryan
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Following up on the previous ROMA where I explore the bird’s-eye view of AI. Is our behavior driven by a parasite? Is AI a self-replicating techno-virus? Is it “speciesist” to lament the demise of Homo sapiens as the next form of life rises from our ashes?
Somehow, my mic never got turned on, so this one is all-guest. The perfect episode! Lloyd is a builder, a writer, a photographer, a publisher, an athlete and a great friend. 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
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com We dig into what it feels like to come of age under a permanent sense of "the world could end any moment," comparing Cold War duck-and-cover anxiety to a millennial generation shaped by 9/11, economic collapse, and climate dread. Anya shares thoughts about turning 38. We talk about our past lives, Anya’s formerly unhealthy focus on health, reckoning wit…
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Are we like beavers who drown in pools we’re busy building?
I sat down over coffee with Kyle on my recent drive through Santa Cruz. Our spontaneous, far ranging conversation included birding in Manhattan, our differing learning styles, how we share the curse of having been raised by loving parents, One Last Question Before You Go — Kyle’s wonderful book about interviewing our parents, and how to optimize one’s life by opting out. 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
Richard is one of my favorite writers and one of my favorite people. His books have followed his interests, from chili peppers to the Cuban revolution to eels to homelessness to life after death to cockroaches to the mysteries and intricacies of farming octopus. The phrase “insatiable curiosity” comes to mind. But he’s not just curious, he’s a very fine writer and a compassionate reporter. His books take you places that are fascinating, touching, and totally unexpected. I hope you’ll pick one up. 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
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com The world cup, seen through the eyes of an anthropologist. The significance of Barca. Why it’s “more than a club.” Why Argentinians can be so obnoxious. How being alone in Spain can feel less lonely than being among Americans.
Dave has been around. He spent eight years in the navy, lived in Bali for a while, led hundreds of intimacy workshops, explored non-monogamous relationships and intentional communities, been to Burning Man five times, studied with various gurus and legit teachers, and doesn’t take any of it (including himself) too seriously. He writes self-reflective songs and sings them from the heart. He leans into his fears and nurtures vulnerability in himself and others. He’s on a path, in other words. My kinda guy. 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
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Are the vikings cool yet? The importance of distance in historical thinking. Some really shitty, misguided dating advice. My own insecurities around giving advice. Graham Platner and the possibly self-defeating desire to elect nice, healthy, honest people to represent us in the snake pit located in our nation’s capital.
With almost 800 episodes in the archives, new listeners (and old) often ask me for recommendations. In response, I’ll occasionally re-post some of my favorites. This was my first conversation with Rick Beato (Episode 420, 5/18/2020). Some reasons you might want to listen to this episode. On what Rick Beato actually does for people who love music: Chris Ryan: “He is like the Anthony Bourdain of music. He takes you to a place you’ve never been — or you have been, but you just never noticed it the way he does. And you’ll never experience it the same way again after he’s shown you around.” On how the Beatles wrote Help, Rubber Soul, and Revolver — all in one year: Rick Beato: “In 1965, they released three records within twelve months. These are all 12, 14-song records. It’s not just writing all those songs — they recorded and released all of them in one calendar year. I believe it was 13 records in 8 years. It’s unfathomable. But one of the things about making records all the time is that you get good at making records. The act of always being in the studio, always writing songs, made them better songwriters because they didn’t want to repeat themselves.” On the night John Lennon died: Rick Beato: “I was in my freshman year of college and my roommate was watching Monday Night Football. He said, ‘Oh my god, John Lennon was just shot.’ I said, ‘What?’ And Howard Cosell was doing the play by play. Then five minutes later they announced John Lennon had died. And right then, you could hear it — across the whole campus.” On the fear of understanding music too well: Chris Ryan: “I remember talking with my buddy — a musical prodigy, just a total genius — about a piece of music that I found particularly moving. I said that feels so nostalgic to me, it just sounds like an old person looking back on their life, remembering the loves and the loss. And he said, ‘Well yeah, that’s because it’s in G minor. That’s just a trick.’ And it kind of broke my heart a little bit. His sense of music was becoming more and more mechanical.” Rick Beato: “I never analyze music when I’m listening to it. I just listen. The only time I analyze it is when I need to for a video. And it’s funny — there are songs I’ve heard for 40 years where making the video is the first time I’ve ever even figured out what they’re doing. It never occurred to me. I always listened as a fan.” Chris Ryan: “You’re like a porn star who has real orgasms, Rick.” On where the power of music actually comes from: Rick Beato: “When you play a string, there are natural harmonics that happen because of the atmosphere. If you divide a string in half, it produces the note an octave above. Divide it again — a fifth above. Again — a third above. And all of a sudden you have a major chord. The major triad is literally part of our atmosphere. I think that has something to do with it. Music is one of the great mysteries of human experience. I work with as much music as I’ve studied my entire life, and I still wonder: where do they come up with this stuff?” On perfect pitch — and what it tells us about how we lose things as we grow up: Rick Beato: “Every baby is born with the ability to hear all phonemes from all 6,500 languages spoken on earth. But beginning at around nine months, they start to lose this ability. I believe perfect pitch is exactly the same — it’s just another language that’s retained by some babies and not others. My son Dylan can hear a ten-note chord and tell you every pitch in it. But he says he never thinks about it when he’s just listening. It never occurs to him. And that’s how I am with music too.” 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
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Accents. The World Cup. How soccer strategies reflect on contemporary American politics. Marvin Harris, Cannibals and Kings, and the Big Man theory of leadership.
Jan is a historian specializing in telling the stories of the many extraordinary women of the Old West — many of them madams and prostitutes. She’s written many books, including: Brothels, Bordellos & Bad Girls: Prostitution in Colorado, 1860-1930, Red Light Women of the Rocky Mountains, and Extraordinary Women of the Rocky Mountain West. 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 love talking with Kevin about cutting-edge technology. He’s up to his neck in the stuff. He doesn’t just dabble in it. He’s practically submerged in it. I hope you enjoy this conversation with someone who knows what’s happening, because he’s one of the people making it happen. If you appreciate commercial-free, bullshit-free conversations like this one, please consider helping to support the podcast. 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
Robert Wright is the New York Times bestselling author of The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning. His previous books include: The Evolution of God (a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), Nonzero, The Moral Animal, Three Scientists and their Gods (a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award), and Why Buddhism Is True. He is the cofounder and editor-in-chief of the widely respected Bloggingheads.tv and MeaningofLife.tv. He has written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Time, Slate, and The New Republic. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and at Princeton University, where he also created the popular online course “Buddhism and Modern Psychology.” He is currently Visiting Professor of Science and Religion at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This has been another commercial-free episode, financed by folks who toss a few bucks into the hat every month here. If you don’t want to subscribe, but would like to support this podcast with a one-time donation, please click here. Intro music “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range. Outro: “Losing My Religion,” by REM. If you buy from Amazon, my link is here. (You can click on it once, then bookmark that as your go-to Amazon link so it’ll always work.) Buy some merch from my mom here. Grab a copy of my books: Sex at Dawn, Civilized to Death, Tangentially Reading, Talking Drugs, and Talking Sex here. Find other Tangentialistas around the world! Instructions for getting the paid RSS feed in apps is here. 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
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Would it be such a bad thing if Iran nuked up? Robert Thurman lived a great life. Fukuyama on our innate lack of gratitude for liberal democracy. Some great writing advice. A beautiful song in mystery languages.
Dadaonysus is an artist, scientist, gamer, adventurer, deep-thinker. Our conversation covers a lot of ground, from a difficult childhood to homelessness to being neurodivergent to prehistory. I like this guy, and think you will, too. 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
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Is Graham Platner the Trump of the left? Could there even be a Trump of the left? Are the pitchforks about to come out? Here’s the article about the pitchforks that I mention. And this is another essay well worth reading, about how the super-rich are building bunkers to hide in when shit gets real. George Orwell, writing in 1943:
Mehran Seyed Emami is an Iranian therapist, podcaster, and founder of Ravannama (Persian Psychedelic Society), a community focused on psychedelic education, awareness, and harm reduction for Farsi speakers around the 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
Thank you Bejinha, Midwest Timecapsules, John Climenhaga, david price, Ryan Hichens, and many others for tuning into this live video with Anya Kaats! Join us for our next live video in the app. Check out the documentary I mention. It’s awesome. 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
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com What are some of the potential unintended positive consequences of this shitstorm we’re all living through in 2026? Is there a way to question the US/Israel relationship without being accused of anti-semitism?