Tangentially Speaking With Dr. Christopher Ryan

After spending some time in Thailand teaching tigers not to eat people, Ben went to Chile, bought an old VW camper van, and set off for Alaska.   Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Roger has worked in film and television as a director, writer, producer and editor. He's worked with lots of famous people (Larry David, David Spade, Leonard Nimoy) and has made a series of unique documentaries about fringe communities and thinkers: Trekkies, Suckers (about car salesmen), Six Days in Roswell (UFO enthusiasts), The Nature of Existence. Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Jonathan is the host of Outside TV's The Road Less Traveled. We talk about everything from the wonders of Colombian women to the dangers of swimming naked in cold water to what Robert Frost really had in mind.  Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

This bonus episode was recorded last week at The Strand bookstore on Broadway, in New York. The three of us talk about intimacy, sexuality, and the often opposing appetites for novelty and intimacy. Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Neil and I became friends after he'd already outgrown The Game, his colossal best-seller. The Truth, just released this week is one of the bravest, funniest, most vulnerable books you'll ever read.  Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Jenn and Bryan left the security of good jobs and a nice house in Portland in an old VW van and spent a year meandering south with Karma, their dog. Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

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. Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at 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. Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at 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. Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Justin has been there and done that. From western Nepal to Sumatran jungles to Black Rock Desert, he's left footprints and gathered memories. A man after my own heart, Justin travels the way it should be done. Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

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. Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at 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. Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at 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. Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at 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.  Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at 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. Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Mark is a very good writer, blogger, and author. We have a lot to talk about: travel, women, writing, negotiating our need to write about our lives versus the right to privacy of the people in our lives, etc. You can learn more about Mark's work at http://markmanson.net. Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Aaron uses various methods to help people inhabit their bodies in the best way possible, from rolfing to massage to structural realignment. We had a good time talking in Burnside Park, where we took a break every fifteen minutes or so to allow Aaron to run around, do handstands, and other health-inducing activities. Meanwhile, I shifted my weight from one butt cheek to the other... Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Rod and Justin (episode 99) met years ago fighting forest fires. Justin and I drove up to Rod's amazing spread east of Mount Rainier and spent a night in Paradise. As you'll see in the photos below, Rod's building skills are equal to his firefighting abilities. He's a tough, smart, open-hearted, humble man who'll no-doubt be embarrassed at being called "legendary," but everyone else says that's the word for him. Get a copy of Rod's book! Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

David Steinberg is an author, photographer, and a radically sane guy. We talk about his inadvertent work with the CIA, what it was like to be plugged into the anti-war political world of San Francisco in the late 60s, and his lifelong refusal to accept shame as a sensible response to human sexuality. Join us in Portland's Laurelhurst Park for this wide-ranging, intimate conversation.Music:Opening theme: Basin and Range.Kim Churchill, "Don't Leave Your Life Too Long." iTunes link.Closing theme: Carsie Blanton, "Smoke Alarm." Get full access to Tangentially Speaking with Chris Ryan at chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe