Deviate

“The act of creating is a way of stopping time.” – Major Jackson Major Jackson (@Poet_Major) is an American poet, professor, and author of four collections of poetry: Roll Deep, Holding Company, Hoops, and Leaving Saturn. He currently serves as the Poetry Editor of the Harvard Review. In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Major discuss the changing perception of time and how creation leads to a deeper experience of time (2:00); poetry and the lessons it teaches us about life (23:00); and time as prison, the way we claim our freedom, and art as a means toward transcendence (39:00). For more information on Major, check out his website at http://www.majorjackson.com/ Poems and books mentioned: The Gutenberg Elegies, by Sven Birkerts (book) “The World Is Too Much With Us” (poem by William Wordsworth) “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” (poem by Robert Herrick) “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” (Wordsworth poem) “On Disappearing” (poem by Major Jackson) “Stations” (poem by Stanley Moss) Into the Mecca by Gwendolyn Brooks (book) Jerusalem (poem by James Fenton) Jerusalem, by Peter Cole (essay) The Snow Leopard, by Peter Matthiessen (book) “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota” (poem by James Wright) Notable Links: Paris Writing Workshop (summer creative writing course) Dead Poets Society (film) Carpe Diem (Latin aphorism) Walt Whitman (poet) Eastern State Penitentiary (former prison in Philadelphia) Michel Foucault (philosopher) True Detective (HBO TV series) John Muir (naturalist) Jack Kerouac (author) Croesus (wealthy king from ancient times) Seneca (philosopher) Dazed and Confused (film) Richard Linklater (writer and director) Ingmar Bergman (director) Cinéma vérité (documentary filmmaking style) Film composer Rolfe Kent on Deviate (podcast episode) 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.

“Travel feels like a generational signifier the way rock music was when I was a kid. The whole idea of having experiences as opposed to accumulating stuff feels like this planetary alignment, the way rock was in the ’70s.” – Jay Yuenger Jay Yuenger (@JYuenger) is a rock guitarist best known for his work with the Grammy-nominated heavy metal band White Zombie. In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Jay discuss Cuba and access to technology (3:00); J’s White Zombie backstory, and his travels with the band (13:30); the rise in popularity of White Zombie and the evolution of travel (40:00); the breakup of the band and Jay’s post-band years spent traveling (50:00); and souvenirs (1:01:00) For more information on Jay, check out his website or his Instagram account. Notable Links: Vagabonding, by Rolf Potts (book) Taxi Driver (film) Thunder Kiss ’65 (song, by White Zombie) Anthony Bourdain (chef and travel documentarian) The Practical Nomad, by Edward Hasbrouk (book) Hardcore Punk (music genre) Minor Threat (band) Metallica (band) Misfits (band) Ramones (band) Slayer (band) Cro-Mags (band) Suicidal Tendencies (band) Danzig (band) Headbangers Ball (television program) 120 Minutes (television program) Butthole Surfers (band) Faith No More (band) Get in the Van, by Henry Rollins (book) The Smashing Pumpkins (band) Fugazi (band) Jane’s Addiction (band) Walt Whitman (poet) Kurt Vonnegut (author) 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 can’t imagine what the Trans-Siberian train would be like if you knew what time it was. That was the ongoing fun of the experience — never really having any clue what time it was.” – Jonathan Arlan Jonathan Arlan (@JonathanArlan) is the author of the book Mountain Lines: A Journey through the French Alps and a recent Tablet essay titled Off the Rails in Birobidzhan. In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Jonathan discuss travel bucket lists (2:30); the Trans-Siberian experience, including being an American on the train (12:30); the passing of time on the railway (28:00); and a final evaluation of the journey (38:00). For more information on Jonathan Arlan, check out his website at http://jonathanarlan.com/ Notable Links: Trans-Siberian Handbook, by Bryn Thomas (guidebook) Lonely Planet Trans-Siberian Railway (guidebook) Real Russia (travel agency) Monkeyshrine (Trans-Siberian travel agency) The Man in Seat 61 (train-travel website) 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.

“If there is any revelation to be gleaned from spending several days on a single train, it will come from the bizarre details that lurk beneath the mundanity of the trip itself.” – Rolf Potts In this episode of Deviate, Rolf reads his essay On the Trans-Siberian Express (2:00) and then recounts, with Jonathan Arlan, the story behind the story, discussing his approach to writing about his experiences on the Trans-Siberian railroad (1:17:00). Jonathan Arlan (@JonathanArlan) is the author of the book Mountain Lines: A Journey through the French Alps and a recent Tablet essay titled Off the Rails in Birobidzhan. Notable Links: Marco Polo Didn’t Go There, by Rolf Potts (book) Genghis Khan (historical figure) David Foster Wallace (author) In Xanadu, by William Dalrymple (book) Naadam (festival) Ulan-Ude (Russian city) Elderhostel, i.e., Road Scholar (non-profit organization) Hunter S. Thompson (journalist and author) Douglas Coupland (author and artist) Fyodor Dostoevsky (author) William S. Burroughs (writer) 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.

LaToya Morgan, a television writer and producer known for her work on shows like Shameless and Into the Badlands, shares insights into her creative journey. She discusses how her upbringing and early influences shaped her storytelling. LaToya highlights the importance of character arcs and representation, revealing her experiences in writers' rooms and the challenges of advocating for diversity. She also emphasizes the blend of personal experience and research in her scripts and provides practical advice for aspiring writers on maintaining discipline and a balanced work-life approach.

“Punk is not a sound for me. It’s not a style of music. It’s not a look. It’s not even an attitude. For me punk is the free space: It’s the place where new ideas can be presented without having to hew to profit motives.”  — Ian MacKaye Ian MacKaye is the co-founder of Dischord Records and former front man for Fugazi and Minor Threat. He currently performs in the two-piece indie band The Evens with his partner Amy Farina. He curates an informal archive of the Washington DC hardcore and post-hardcore music scenes, including the Fugazi Live Series, an extensive online library of digitized concert recordings. In this episode of Deviate Rolf and Ian discuss the “Nirvana moment” of the early 1990s, how new ideas find their way into music, and how lesser known acts influence the dynamic of popular culture (8:00); the task of archiving and preserving evidence of music that was created outside the commercial music industry (29:00); skateboarding and punk rock as lenses through which to see the world in a different way (45:30); and the lessons and experiences of traveling the world as a musician. Notable links: Our Band Could Be Your Life, by Michael Azerrad (2001 book) Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century, by Greil Marcus (1989 book) Get in the Van: On the Road With Black Flag, by Henry Rollins (1994 book) “Why Do So Many Kids Think Fugazi is God?” 1993 Washington Post article Henry Rollins’ 2018 KCRW interview with Ian MacKaye Woodstock (documentary film) The Vietnam War (Ken Burns TV documentary series) Thích Quảng Đức (Vietnamese monk who died by self-immolation) Phonograph cylinder (19th century recording technology) Dada (early 20th century avant-garde art movement) Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (museum) Bands, musicians, and music mentioned: Henry Rollins (vocalist, author, and performer) Dave Grohl (rock musician) Kurt Cobain (rock musician) Ted Nugent (rock musician) Jimi Hendrix (rock musician) The Stooges (rock band) Black Flag (hardcore punk band) Bad Brains (hardcore punk band) Lungfish (post-hardcore Dischord band from Baltimore) Empire (post Generation X English punk band) Dead Moon (DIY garage punk band fronted by Fred Cole) Heatmiser (early 1990s Elliott Smith post-hardcore band) The Wipers (1970s Portland punk band) Greg Ginn and Chuck Dukowski (Black Flag band members) “The Laughing Song” (late 19th century recording by George W. Johnson)   Look what my hero Ian Mackaye (Minor Threat/Fugazi) just found: a letter I wrote to him when I was 14! Haha! pic.twitter.com/Ak8gxZz5m6 — Foo Fighters (@foofighters) May 28, 2015 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.

“Social capital is as important as formal training when it comes to disaster response. We see in every event people who have never had emergency training playing critical roles.” – Daniel Neely Daniel Neely is the Manager of Community Resilience and Regional Recovery Manager at the Wellington (New Zealand) Region Emergency Management Office. In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Daniel discuss the importance of community relationships when it comes to responding to a disaster (4:00); emergency preparedness tips (8:00); disaster response strategies (13:00); and preparing for a disaster from both a personal and business perspective (19:00). For more disaster preparedness information, check out https://www.ready.gov/ and https://getprepared.nz/ Notable Links: “Teen who rescued 17 in Harvey flooding wins national Citizen Hero award” Federal Emergency Preparedness Resources FEMA (US Agency) National Flood Insurance Program (FEMA program) 100 Resilient Cities (Rockefeller program) “How to Step Up in the Face of Disaster” (TED Talk) “How to survive a disaster” (BBC article) “Recovering from disasters” (Conversation article) Neighborhood Empowerment Network (community resilience alliance) Cajun Navy (volunteer group) John Leach (survival psychologist) Laurie Johnson (survival consultant) 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.

“There’s nothing that will stop white people from trying to do some black shit. It’s fundamentally baked into every aspect of American popular culture. It is the first thing that we invented that was entirely ours — white people dressing as black people and entertaining other people.” — Wesley Morris Wesley Morris (@Wesley_Morris) the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic at large for the New York Times. Formerly the co-host of the Grantland podcast “Do You Like Prince Movies?”, he now co-hosts the “Still Processing” podcast with Times colleague Jenna Wortham. In this episode of Deviate Rolf and Wesley discuss the nature of podcast celebrity and how it differs from traditional celebrity (2:45); the stories that sports uniforms tell to the people who watch sports (23:00); the unique task of cultural criticism in the 21st century (30:00); the challenge of being seen as racially representational as a journalist and critic (40:15); and Wesley’s upcoming book about the invention of the performance of blackness in America (51:00). Media personalities mentioned Jenna Wortham (technology reporter and podcaster) Roger Ebert (film critic) Ta-Nehisi Coates (journalist and public intellectual) Bill Simmons (sports columnist and podcaster) Ira Glass (This American Life host) Angelo Moore (lead-singer of Fishbone) Lilly Singh (YouTube star) Rebecca Black (YouTube star) Emily Bazelon (journalist and podcaster) Jordan Peele (film director and actor) Ian MacKaye (DIY punk pioneer) Rany Jazayerli (sports writer) Roxane Gay (writer and commentator) Spike Lee (filmmaker) Sidney Poitier (actor and diplomat) Books and articles mentioned “The Misunderstood Genius of Russell Westbrook,” by Sam Anderson “Bagginess, baseball bodies, and the post-steroid era,” by Wesley Morris “Treme’s Big Problem: Authenticity,” by Rolf Potts “The Frustrating Unlikeability of Treme,” by Alex Pappademas “‘Whitney,’ a Pop Music Tragedy, Is Sad, Strange and Dismaying,” By Wesley Morris The Geto Boys (33 1/3), by Rolf Potts To the Break of Dawn, by Jelani Cobb “The Hug Heard Round the World,” (Malcolm Gladwell podcast episode) Other notable links Slate Political Gabfest (podcast) UniWatch (sports uniform website) Court tennis (archaic sport) ABA/NBA merger (basketball league realignment) Free Spirits (30 for 30 episode about the ABA) Blaxploitation (1970s film subgenre) Blackface minstrelsy (American entertainment form) Stephen Foster (19th century songwriter) Post Malone (rapper) Chromeo (electro-funk duo) Teena Marie (singer-songwriter) Hall & Oates (pop-music duo) 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.

“There are the actual facts of what was happening in popular culture in the 1980s — and then there was this tantalizing notion that music played backwards was going to seed our minds with evil. Which was scary, but also kind of cool to a certain kid-like way of thinking. You can almost see a book like Backward Masking Unmasked as young-adult literature.” — Rolf Potts In this episode of Deviate Rolf delves into another musical mystery — the idea of “backward masking” in rock music, and how it came to influence notions of “Satanic Panic” in America over the course of the 1980s. Returning to the show for this musical deep-dive are Jedd Beaudoin (@JeddBeaudoin), who hosts the syndicated music show “Strange Currency,” and Michael Carmody (@Carmody68), a musician, record collector, and donut shop entrepreneur. Together they discuss preacher Jacob Aranza’s underground-classic 1983 anti-rock book Backward Masking Unmasked and its idiosyncratic take on popular music (4:00); the history of rock and roll and American culture that led up to Satanic Panic in the 1980s (31:10); how rock acts exploited the idea of Satanism to sell records just as preachers, politicians, and pop-journalists fixated on its supposed dangers to attract followers (42:10); and the legacy of Satanic Panic and the seeming lack of evil in today’s popular music (1:05:45). Rock and roll curiosities mentioned Backmasking (audio technique) Gene Simmons’ Tongue (Snopes article) Blood in KISS Comic Book (Snopes article) Paul is Dead (Beatles urban legend) Aleister Crowley (English occultist) Robert Johnson sold soul to the devil (blues myth) Sign of the horns (rock hand gesture) Eddie (zombie-like Iron Maiden mascot) Dark Side of the Rainbow (movie/album mashup) Acid rock (psychedelic rock subgenre) Judas Priest suicide lawsuit Ozzy Osbourne suicide lawsuit Norwegian black metal (extreme metal genre) Classic rock is not dead. Classic rock is undead (podcast episode) Hammer of the Gods (controversial book about Led Zeppelin) Movies and TV shows mentioned CHIPs “Rock Devil Rock” episode (1982) The Decline of Western Civilization (Penelope Spheeris documentary) Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (documentary) Rosemary’s Baby (horror movie) The Exorcist (horror movie) Trick or Treat (horror movie) Manic Pixie Dream Girl (stock movie character) Dream Deceivers (Judas Priest suicide trial documentary) Other people, institutions, and events mentioned Satanic Ritual Abuse (moral panic) Day-care sex-abuse hysteria (moral panic) James Vicary (subliminal advertising researcher) James Watt (Interior secretary under Reagan) Tipper Gore (senator’s wife and anti-rock crusader) Captain & Tennille (soft-rock artists) Bette Midler (singer-songwriter) Church of Satan (religious organization) Transcendental Meditation (spiritual practice) Dada (avant-garde art movement) 1 Samuel 15:3 (genocidal Bible verse) West Memphis Three (wrongfully convicted ritual-murder suspects) Shout at the Devil (Motley Crue album) Columbine High School massacre (mass shooting) The weird history of America’s national anthem (podcast episode) Manson murders (cult killings) Rock Devil Rock CHiPs TV clip Quincy punk-rock episode clip This episode was engineered by Torin Andersen of KMUW studios in Wichita. 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.

“We all have different priorities in life, and there is a place for each of us where we can live according to what those priorities are.” – Winona Dimeo Winona Dimeo (@winona_rose) is the managing editor of Livability.com, a website that ranks America’s most livable small and mid-sized cities. In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Winona discuss what people are looking for in a place to live (2:00) and Livability.com’s latest rankings for America’s most livable cities (23:00). Then, Rolf takes recommendations from listeners on their favorite places to live in America (53:00). For more livability tips, check out 2018 Top 100 Best Places to Live. Livability also publishes its methodology. Cities mentioned in the main interview include: Portland, OR; Austin, TX; Minneapolis, MN; Pittsburgh, PA; Manhattan, KS; Lawrence, KS; Overland Park, KS; Lindsborg, KS; Ottawa, KS; Wichita, KS; Buffalo, NY; Rochester, MN; Kingsport, TN; Sevierville, TN; Fargo, ND; Savannah, GA; New Orleans, LA; Cincinnati, OH; Yellow Springs, OH; Athens, OH; Astoria, OR; Lincoln City, OR; Nashville, TN; Asheville, NC; Black Mountain, NC; Brevard, NC; Traverse City, MI; Marfa, TX; Charleston, SC; Bend, OR; and Hood River, OR. Notable Links: Konza Prairie (biological preserve) Tallgrass National Prairie Preserve Kanopolis State Park Stiefel Theater “One of the Coolest Cities in America Doesn’t Even Realize It Yet” (Thrillist article) Dollywood (theme park) Alicia Underlee Nelson (travel writer) Gooding (band) 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, by Patricia Shultz (book) Oregon Shakespeare Festival Transcendental Meditation Wollowa Mountains (mountain range) Terminal Gravity (brewery) Maharishi Vastu Architecture Audio contributors: Adam Karlin (Staunton, VA) Alicia Ard (Bend, OR) Sarah Bell (Phoenixville, Pennsylvania) Gooding (Kingston Springs, TN) Steven Gray (Pensacola, FL) Avery Gunns (Truth or Consequences, NM) Max Hartshorne (Northampton, MA) Michele Hermann (Buffalo, NY) Karen Hugg (Ashland, OR) Jamie-Lee Josselyn (Galena, IL) Brian Kevin (Joseph, OR and Enterprise, OR) Tim Leffel (Chattanooga, TN) Deborah Lewis (Middlebury, VT) Dinty W. Moore (Athens, OH) Chrystine Olson (Graham, NC) Patricia Schultz (Beacon, NY) Jessica Voigts (Traverse City, MI) Jason Wisdom (Fairfield, IA) 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.