Tangentially Speaking with Christopher Ryan

West stopped in Portland on his way back to Cambridge from a research trip to the Amazon. This episode features music by his pal, Kim Churchill. 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

It seemed like a good idea at the 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

Lead singer/songwriter of the Canadian band Man Made Lake, Colin is a deep, smart, talented, and very funny man. 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

Elliott graduated from the Naval Academy and worked as an analyst for the Air Force for six years. This is the third in my series of conversations with veterans. 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

Experienced world traveler Justin Alexander discusses his adventurous travels, including experiences in Nepal and living with the Mentawai tribe in Indonesia. They also talk about the challenges of a nomadic lifestyle, the importance of fighting skills, encounters with otters, and their exploration of ayahuasca and hallucinogens.

Nathaniel started at the Mexican border in April and has been walking north ever since. He's covered thousands of miles through deserts, valleys and ridgelines. We talk about the sorts of people he's met on the trail, the highs and lows of walking several thousand miles, and what sorts of insights one gets about home from wandering so far from it. 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

Alice recently resigned her position as a professor at Northwestern University's Medical Humanities and Bioethics Program over her refusal to surrender academic freedom. She's the author of Galileo's Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and the Search for Justice in Science. 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

Eric Berkowitz is a San Francisco-based author and human rights lawyer. His journalistic work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, California Lawyer, and the Washington Post, as well as websites such as Huffington Post, AlterNet and Salon. His books on sex and the law both kick serious ass. 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

Jon was an active-duty US Army infantryman from 2003 to 2006. A third generation service member, his first tour was in Korea.  While there, Jon was part of a historic deployment of an already forward-deployed unit that sent his unit to the Sunni Triangle in September of 2004. They mostly operated in and around the town of Habbaniyah, which was about halfway between Fallujah and Ramadi. Jon is now in Portland, where he lives and works on a small organic farm run by a lesbian couple ... typical Portland.  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

Susan Block has done everything from organizing orgies to climbing the Golden Gate bridge in the middle of the night. She's an adventurer in many realms, but is most well known for her work in sexuality. She's hosted TV programs on HBO, published books and essays far and wide, is a well-known sex therapist, and puts together one of the most bizzare and interesting parties in Los Angeles every Saturday night in Bonoboville, the former motel she and her husband converted into a suite of offices and studios for her various productions. Our conversation touches on all these things, but we focus mostly on her new book, The Bonobo Way, and the relevance of bonobos to our understanding of human sexuality. 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