Tangentially Speaking with Christopher Ryan

Kevin is an actor, comedian, and host of the RISK! podcast — which Slate.com called “Hilarious, jaw-dropping and just plain touching,” and Rolling Stone named it one of its top podcasts. 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 met Gym when I rented her place on Airbnb in Chite, Spain. Just looking at the photos of the funky space she’d created, I had a sense that this woman would be fascinating, and my hunch turned out to be 110% on target. As it happens, Gym is an accomplished painter, has worked on many TV and film sets, and has published a book of autobiographical stories and reproductions of selected paintings cal...

My friend Debra is a magical woman living a magical life. She’s the hub of many wheels, the grain of sand in the oyster, the sun in solar systems, the log that breaks the logjam. She hangs out with movie stars, billionaires, artists, and visionaries. Her energy, generosity, and spirit attract the kinds of people most of us spend our lives hoping to meet — and nothing makes her happier than connect...

In the first part of this month’s bonus ROMA (BROMA), available to everyone, I talk about a new feature to help listeners find each other. I also talk about my thoughts concerning whether we’re all in some kind of simulation, the difference between sound and music, and my personal feelings about and experience with abortion. Part 2 (where I talked about navigating unconventional relationship struc...

To boil it waaay down … After suffering a freak road-rage incident in LA, Robert came to Spain to visit an old friend seven years ago, then went back to LA, quit his job, sold his house under the Hollywood sign, and brought his two daughters to live in a village by the “Playa de los Muertos,” where hundreds of dead sailors washed ashore after the Battle of Trafalgar two hundred and a few years ago...

Intro messages from Mike in Washington, Adam in the UK, and a human from an undisclosed location. I discuss a few topics suggested by listeners, including: “Should I have kids?” “What about yoga?” “What’s the deal with asexuality?” “How has your sense of your personal future changed as you’ve aged?” Also, what’s the deal with ice machines in hotels? Who’s using all that ice? What are they doing wi...

If you’ve read my recent post of the same title, you can skip this one, which is mostly for folks who listen to the podcast, but haven’t checked out what’s happening at Substack yet. Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan is a reader-supported publication. To get access to bonus content including bonus episodes, newsletters, and exclusive blog posts, please become a paid subscriber. This is a publi...

Zen Rahmoun is living what may be the story of our age: that of the refugee. Whether triggered by war, climate change, political upheaval, or economic collapse, one in 95 people around the world have been forced to leave their home, resulting in over 82 million refugees. Well over a thousand people drown every year trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to find a better life in Europe. Zen was almo...

In the past year or so Simon Rex’s life has changed in ways nobody could have anticipated, but the man himself has changed very little. He’s just as funny, thoughtful, kind, and generous as ever. I love this guy. I’m pretty sure you will too. Check him out in Red Rocket, streaming on Redbox, Prime Video, VUDU, Vudu Movie & TV Store or FlixFling on your Roku device. Please consider subscribing to m...

Mike Lang taught me to enjoy beer and Rush when we were 16 years old in 1978. We’ve been brothers-by-choice ever since. In addition to being one of the smartest people I know, Mike has direct family ties to Ukraine, speaks Russian fluently, and is deeply interested in the history of the region, so he seemed like a good person to chat with about what’s going on there now. Please consider subscribin...

What's the relation between "truth" and meaning? Can we scientifically verify our visions while tripping? Are psychedelics tools or teachers? Is astrology "real?" Why has "myth" come to mean something that isn't true in recent years, when no one ever claimed that myths were any truer than novels or poems? These and other questions are discussed (but not really answered) in this episode recorded on...

Should I welcome you, or thank you for welcoming me? My appreciation for the Blindboy podcast . Lifeguard lessons. Why a dog with a bone isn't your friend. Do circles explain more than lines? (Is an NFL locker room the closest thing in the straight world to a gay bath-house?) Intro music: "Brightside of the Sun," by Basin and Range ; "Free Your Mind (And Your Ass Will Follow)," by Funkadelic. This...

Try to imagine a culture in which children aren't taught that their bodies and desires are dangerous, shameful, and disgusting. What would that be like? Also, I discuss what I got wrong (and right) about the current invasion of Ukraine, and the dangerous phrase, "freak of nature." Lastly, I talk about how life presents a series of "should I stay or should I go?" choices that are kind of like rowin...

In this one, I discuss the totally cliche notion that happiness is to be found in simple pleasures (and bodily functions), the strange wisdom of Thai gender identity, the ramifications of the illusion that we can live without causing pain to other beings, my sense of what's really going on with Putin and Ukraine, and the idiocy of toilet paper. Intro music: "Brightside of the Sun," by Basin and Ra...

Made it to 60! Too late to die young. This is just a very brief, very personal message to you, if you listen to this podcast. Many thanks. Intro music: "Brightside of the Sun," by Basin and Range ; Closing: "Down in Belgorod," by Paul Winter Consort . 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...

Coming to you from Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand, in this one I discuss my insights into Joe Rogan (and the current controversy), my thoughts on Whoopie Goldberg's race mess, the practical costs of being in Thailand these days (rent, food, etc.), and I wonder why rich podcasters still run ads (just before asking you to donate to THIS podcast, hosted by a decidedly unrich guy). Then I play a lovely song c...

Rachel Krantz is the author of the reported memoir, OPEN: AN UNCENSORED MEMOIR OF LOVE, LIBERATION, AND NON-MONOGAMY (JAN 25, 2022). She’s the recipient of the Peabody Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights International Radio Award, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Radio Award, and the Edward R. Murrow Award for her work as an investigative reporter with YR Media....

Meet my Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan, two of my all-time favorite humans. As a little kid, I felt an extra layer of love and protection from these two, knowing that if anything ever happened to my parents, one or both of them would take care of me. Every kid should be so lucky. You can listen to my previous conversation with Uncle Dan here . Find me on Instagram or Twitter . Please consider supporting t...

Is it really "darkest just before the dawn?" And if things need to get worse before they get better, isn't a step in the wrong direction actually a step in the right direction? Wouldn't an optimist hope things get worse so they can then hit rock bottom and start the process of getting better? Isn't "hope" the thing that keeps the losing gambler at the table until all is lost? I discuss these and o...

Harley is the author of Lost in the Valley of Death , about the life and (probable) death of my friend (and former podcast guest), Justin Alexander. Pico Iyer, one of the best living travel writers, described Harley's book as, “One of the most haunting books of recent times. ... Somerset Maugham’s classic Razor’s Edge updated to the Age of Instagram." My conversations with Justin are here and here...

First episode of 2022. We made it through another weird-ass year. Gonna make some tweaks to the podcast. Thanks for taking this ride with me. Find me on Instagram or Twitter . Please consider supporting this podcast. This Amazon affiliate link kicks a few bucks back my way. Intro music: “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range; "Mulata," by Raul Paz; "Elvis on the Radio, Steel Guitar in My Soul...

Timo (aka Tim Killian) is one of my favorite people. Former Mormon, long-time political consultant in Washington state (he helped get marijuana legalized), crisis communicator (he represented the first businesses hit by Covid), motorcycle vagabond, deep thinker, Airbnb host, animal lover, expat, future cult leader.... Just listen. Timo on Instagram . This episode is sponsored by OMGYES. Click here...

Blake Webb is an actor originally from Phoenix, Arizona. He lived in Tamaulipas, Mexico for over two years as a Mormon missionary. He later left the Mormon church, and devoted himself to acting, having appeared in several television shows, including: Good Trouble (recurring), 13 Reasons Why, NCIS, Criminal Minds, American Horror Story, The Last Ship, TURN: Washington's Spies and Colony. We met and...

Rick Beato is the kind of guy who will make you hopeful for humanity. After decades producing and teaching music, he's found a way to spread knowledge and joy to millions of people from his basement studio by showing us What Makes This Song Great . In the past few months, he's come to the attention of amazing musicians such as Brian May (Queen), Larry Carlton (Steely Dan), Pat Metheny , and Sting...

Justin “Jud” Kaliszewski is an author, artist, and adventurer. The renowned creator of OUTLAW Yoga, he is a best-selling yoga teacher and author of “The Outlaw Protocol – how to live as an outlaw without becoming a criminal”, and the children's picture book “The Adventures of Babu – from there to here”. His latest novel “The Adventures of Larry Wampler – The Case of The Koreatown Car-Jumper” is av...