Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin Mike White
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Jan 7, 2026 
Mike White, the creative mind behind HBO's *The White Lotus*, dives into a rich tapestry of topics. He shares his transformative experience at a past-life workshop with Shirley MacLaine and reflects on mortality while discussing his storytelling approach. White explains his preference for creating over consuming art and his unique writing process that fuses intense bursts with deep character development. He also touches on his adventures in reality TV, the collaborative atmosphere on film sets like *Nacho Libre*, and the importance of empathy in storytelling.
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Past-Life Retreat That Changed His Perspective
- Mike White describes a five-day past-life retreat in Galisteo, New Mexico that felt intensely cathartic and formative for him.
- He returned transformed enough to commission paintings of his past lives and to embrace the idea of the self as protean.
Endings Define Emotional Afterlife
- Mike White links storytelling to how lives end, saying endings shape what people carry forward emotionally.
- He prefers imagining a 'soft landing' in death and sees catharsis as central to narrative closure.
Use A Short Time Frame And Weekly Drops
- Use a tight time frame (a week) and a single location to create focused, character-driven drama that still feels propulsive.
- Drop episodes weekly to build suspense and real-time conversation among viewers.