Tangentially Speaking with Christopher Ryan

Neil Strauss is a wildly successful writer and podcaster. He’s written for Rolling Stone , The New York Times , and just about every other high-profile platform you can think of. His best-selling books include The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists (2012), Everyone Loves You When You're Dead: Journeys Into Fame and Madness (2011), and The Truth: An Uncomfortable Book About Rela...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com A “director’s cut” of one of my most popular posts on Substack: What We Fall in When We Fall in Love . The Raymond Carver story I mention is in this collection . Music (paid version): “Trampoline,” by Joe Henry .

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Cover versions of well-known songs that illuminate some quality in the original that was dormant, waiting to emerge, like a cicada.

As a follow-up to my recent post about some things ethical non-monogamy is not , I thought it might be fun to consider some things ENM can be, in the best of circumstances. In light of the volume and vehemence of the feedback my first post received, it seems this is an issue folks are interested in, so maybe this will be an on-going series. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this w...

Trying this new feature on Substack where I read a post and add some off the cuff commentary. Sort of a mini-ROMA, centered around a written piece. Let me know what you think. Is this a good format? Should I do more? 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

A few months ago, someone mentioned that a dude had walked to Crestone from Colorado Springs — which is a SERIOUS walk over some very rugged mountains — and that he was some kind of Sasquatch expert. I was intrigued, but I have to admit that I assumed the guy was a wild-eyed wayward soul who’d had a bit too much psilocybin and not enough common sense. Then I met Mateo at a party and after chatting...

Following the birth of their daughter, Jack McClure and his wife Alana decided to continue their life of adventure. They set their sights on thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Canada to Mexico as a family, beginning when their daughter was 9 months old. What followed was a 1,500 mile odyssey filled not only with primeval forests and sweeping mountain vistas but also countless lullabies, hund...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com * Can/should we slow down the development of AI? * Frans de Waal : “Because the role of sex in society is such a loaded and controversial issue, scientists have tended to downplay this side of bonobo behavior…. Sexual encounters of the bonobo kind are strikingly casual, almost more affectionate than erotic.” * And...

Adam’s name comes up a lot in Crestone. He and his family have been around for a long time, he runs a local business , currently serves on the Town Board of Trustees, is running for County Commissioner, and seems to be admired and respected by pretty much everyone. This is my favorite kind of podcast to bring you, where I’m getting to know the guest at the same time you are. Among lots of other st...

Michael Henry Dunn is a guy who has been around the block a few times. He’s a classically trained actor, having studied at Juilliard. He’s a musician and an activist. He’s an author , journalist, Substacker and scholar who has delved deeply into the controversies around Shakespeare’s true identity, the Code of Chivalry and global human rights. And he’s a really nice guy who happens to live in this...

We’ve all heard the adage: “Think globally, act locally.” Liza embodies that perspective. She came to the San Luis valley about 30 years ago to work on a buffalo ranch with her husband. Since then, she’s lived a lot of life in this valley. Raising kids, horses, dogs, working as school board president and County Commissioner, and founding and running the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition are ju...

Trained as a neuroscientist, Elliot is the Principle Scientist at a nonprofit called The Good Food Institute , which is focused on building an innovation ecosystem that will accelerate the development of alternatives to conventional/industrialized production of meat, eggs, and dairy. They believe that we can avoid or mitigate the many negative externalities of industrial meat production by instead...

CHARLES DUHIGG is a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter and the author of The Power of Habit, which spent over three years on New York Times bestseller lists. His second book, Smarter Faster Better , was also a New York Times bestseller. His latest book, Supercommunicators , is out now. Charles currently writes for The New Yorker magazine. Intro music “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range . “Bre...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com “Jordi” has one of the most unusual life stories I’ve ever come across — built around a man’s very pure, very unusual love. We talk about being a child of mixed cultures (Spanish and Basque, in his case). What makes someone a “parent” and what constitutes “a family?”

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Wes Atkinson grew up kinda wild and largely unsupervised in a very remote part of Colorado. Nature was his sanctuary. As an adult, Wes ran a thriving outfitting business where he guided hunters all over the world. But then a quiet voice suggested it might be time to rethink his life, and he realized that indeed, s...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Amanda Knox is an exoneree, journalist, public speaker, and author of the New York Times best-selling memoir, Waiting to Be Heard . She spent nearly four years in an Italian prison and eight years on trial for a murder she didn’t commit.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Ian is a writer, podcaster ( The Mythic Masculine ), and filmmaker who is especially interested in exploring a regenerative future and how to get there. We talk primarily about his recent film, “ The Village of Lovers .”

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com A few of the issues I discuss in this one: Snoring and sleep apnea. Is doubt an expression of humility? Are all emotions, at base, an expression of love? Is deepfake porn an invasion of privacy or a protection of privacy? My picks for the NFL playoffs. Music: “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range; “Get Toget...

Teacher, seeker, musician, traveler, visionary, professor, husband, father, scholar…. Lama Thupten is all these and more. I was lucky enough to hang out with him a bit recently here in Crestone, where he was visiting the Yeshe Khorlo retreat center. 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

Nick has spent a good chunk of his adult life on an island off the coast of Antarctica at McMurdo Station. He’s a cool guy who is living an extraordinary life in a humble, low-key way. I’m really glad to have met him and, with any luck, we’ll be neighbors before too long! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan...

Kyle Thiermann first made headlines as a teenager when he released a YouTube video detailing how Bank of America was one of the largest financiers of dirty energy worldwide. This video garnered international media attention, landed him on the stage at TEDx, and caused people to move significant sums of money out of B of A and into local banks around the country. Through his 20s, Thiermann worked a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com American Beauty, Love Has Won , Down By Law, Stranger Than Paradise, and The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. Intro music “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range. “Narrative Song,” from Lowland Tribes of Ecuador, recorded by David Blair Stiffler; “Harlem 2 Bole,” from Bole 2 Harlem; Outro: “Smoke Alarm,”...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com You know this guy. Big wave surfer, environmental activist, co-creator of the Motherfucker Awards, world traveler, standup comic, beet taco pusher, driveway squatter and as close to a son as I’ll ever get … the one and only Kyle Barrett Thiermann. This is the first part of a two-part conversation recorded a few we...

Matt Evers and Pete Van Horn both moved to Crestone in pursuit of freedom, independence, and community. If those concepts strike you as being in opposition to each other, you may learn something important in this conversation. We talk about the challenges and joys of building your own house, what DIY DOESN’T mean, the tension between being self-reliant and being a good neighbor, the unique qualiti...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com I talk about some fascinating documentaries I’ve seen lately: * Happy People: A Year in the Taiga ( Amazon Prime ) * 28 Up ( Amazon Prime ) * Love Has Won (HBO/Max) How/when/why do our “gods” become our human sacrifices? When does a potential mass murderer qualify as an unknown, solitary hero ? How should we handl...