Tangentially Speaking with Christopher Ryan

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 ca...

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 mus...

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 wi...

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 pod...

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...

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,...

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/subscri...

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?

Ryan is an aspiring underachiever. He’s worked for NASA, planned and conducted his own scientific research at the CDC, and served as a foreign affairs analyst/speechwriter in the British Parliament; he’s founded four companies and he’s published peer-reviewed scholarship in fancy-pants journals across two separate academic disciplines. All this misguided, insecure early-life ambition mostly just t...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com We respond to a listener's question about our own addictive behaviors and addiction in general. How to engage with the inner voices. Why would one be sexual with a close friend? Why do some men prefer to scan the radio stations even if they don’t like the music very much? Upcoming Substack live about DTF St. Louis...

Guustaaf Damave is a Dutch technologist and writer based in Taiwan. He has been writing a weekly newsletter about AI, culture, and the future since 2023. You can read it at guustaaf.substack.com . He is also the author of The Minimum You Need to Do Before AI Changes Your Life: A No-Panic Checklist for Normal People in an Abnormal Moment . Learn more about the situation we all face here . This is a...

Author, historian, professor, podcaster, father, partner, son, funny and smart dude. Daniele is a man of many dimensions. We just bullshit for an hour or so, but I’d like to think it’s Grade A Prime bullshit. After this, we went out for Thai food. Wish you’d been there. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.s...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Is violence ever justified? Is structural violence different from interpersonal? What about violence against property? What about when property is violent against us? Is the US/world approaching a tipping point? Deep issues considered from a shallow bathtub. https://warehousefire.watch/

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Conspiracies and collapse. Felt the lightning. Waiting on the thunder.

The QWERTY keyboard and its resonance with cognitive and behavioral assumptions we all carry within us that are designed around conditions that no longer exist. And other stuff. 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 On this AROMA, we answer a listener’s question about whether non-monogamy is an expression of a desire for escapism, fantasy, and a lack of commitment — a perpetual state of discontent. We talk about the nature of falling in love, projection, and what our longing can teach us if we engage with it intentionally. We...

Andy grew up in the UK, but a series of events led him to drop his life there fly off to a place where he knew no one (although he was born there). As you’ll hear, that gutsy decision paid off very well. 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 In which we talk about our last days in LA, our impressions of the tenth Bombay Beach Biennale, our arrival back in Crestone, and the importance of choosing your discomforts wisely.

Jesse Bering is an award-winning science writer specializing in evolutionary psychology and human behaviour. He is the author of The Incredible Afterlives of Dr. Stevenson , about the world's leading reincarnation researcher. 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

Peter Michael Bauer is an internationally known leader in the cultural rewilding movement. For over 20 years he has written and taught about rewilding. He has served as an expert source in multiple academic articles and books on the subject. He is the founder and director of Rewild Portland , a trend setting community based nonprofit. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with ot...

Tao is a magical man, living a magical life. Film director, musician, philosopher, bon-vivant, and all-around lovely human being. I’m thrilled to bring him back into our party again (for the fourth time?). Anya, Tao and I recorded this in our van at his recent 50th birthday celebration. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes,...