The Friscalating Dusklight, by Michael Rand Podcast

You have almost certainly read something Will Leitch has written in the last two decades because, frankly, he’s prolific.Leitch is the founding editor of Deadspin (“the late Deadspin” as he now calls it) and is currently a contributor at many high-profile outlets while also being a film critic … and a podcaster … all while keeping up a weekly Substack newsletter, where you can find links to a lot of his other work.Oh, yeah, and he’s also a novelist.His latest work, “Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride,” came out today (Tuesday, May 20 if you are not reading this as soon as you receive it) and is tremendous as usual.I highly suggest buying a copy. If you do, let me know! Maybe we could make it into a The Friscalating Dusklight book club selection.I had a chance to talk with Will recently about his new book, the writing process and more. I hope you enjoy our conversation.(Technical note, in the interest of full disclosure, which might only be of interest to me: There was a terrible reverb sound effect on all of my original audio from our recording, though thankfully it was just me and Will sounded fine. You can probably hear it in a couple of spots where we are talking back-and-forth. To enhance the listening experience, I re-recorded most of my questions).The Friscalating Dusklight, by Michael Rand is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to The Friscalating Dusklight, by Michael Rand at thefriscalatingdusklight.substack.com/subscribe

My 8-year-old daughter, who likes to ask big questions like “Who was the first person ever?” and “How did people talk before there was language?” asked probably the toughest one of all the other day.“What’s it like being a parent?”I fumbled around with the answer, trying my best to incorporate all the greatest highs and biggest challenges, but the part that really resonated was when I told her something like this: “It’s the most important job you will ever do, and you have absolutely no idea what you are doing at the beginning and a lot of points along the way.”A lot of parents I talk to would certainly nod their heads in agreement and add that the challenges only seem to be greater as our kids’ lives get bigger and the world around all of us gets more complex.Fortunately, while there is no one-size-fits-all manual to parenting, there is the wisdom of shared experiences and data to help guide us all.That brings me to the subject of the latest The Friscalating Dusklight podcast episode, which features an interview with Minneapolis-based author Erin Walsh on her new book (out Tuesday!) “It’s Their World: Teens, Screens and the Science of Adolescence.”In the book, Walsh leans on both research and practical intuition to help re-frame how we think of our kids’ relationships with screens.In our conversation, I try to highlight my favorite parts of the book while giving Walsh the space to expand on the heart of adolescent development.I hope you enjoy it! (Spotify version here and Apple version here). Get full access to The Friscalating Dusklight, by Michael Rand at thefriscalatingdusklight.substack.com/subscribe

A couple years ago, as our middle child developed an intense love for the “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie franchise, I noticed something uncanny: One of the lead writers, Pat Casey, was … following me on social media?As a Timberwolves and Vikings fan who spent his formative years in Bloomington, Minn., Casey gravitated toward my sports opinions. And I never resisted an opportunity to tell him about the Sonic fandom of our daughter (and eventually all three of our kids, and my wife and I as well).I knew that at some point I needed to talk to him and hear his origin story, and that time has arrived.On the latest edition of TFD Podcast, we talked about Sonic, some great Jim Carrey stories and Minnesota sports, of course, but also about the tinkering that goes into the creative process. And when I saw that he also made a movie — a cult classic, it turns out — called, “Hey, Stop Stabbing Me,” well obviously that was in the mix as well.Our now 8-year-old daughter and world’s biggest Sonic fan even got to ask a question, as did her older sister.I hope you enjoy the podcast, which you can also find at Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you prefer Get full access to The Friscalating Dusklight, by Michael Rand at thefriscalatingdusklight.substack.com/subscribe

To be fair, I would probably tout my friend Keith Richotte Jr.’s new book, “The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told,” even if it was barely above-average or even merely good.But it is much better than that. Dare I say, it is excellent?It combines deft storytelling with meticulous research, making a potentially dense subject — a journey through hundreds of U.S. Supreme Court cases pertaining to Native America in search of answers to fundamental questions about power dynamics — accessible to non-experts (like me, and probably you).I finished it over the weekend. I encourage you to read it for your own edification and because it will be the first official The Friscalating Dusklight Book Club selection (details to come). Here is the direct link to buy it from Stanford University Press … or the Amazon link … or the Thriftbooks link.Keith and I recently talked about the book for the latest edition of TFD Podcast (which you can also find at Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you prefer).I hope you enjoy the conversation and the book. Get full access to The Friscalating Dusklight, by Michael Rand at thefriscalatingdusklight.substack.com/subscribe

The first episode of this podcast is about a whole bunch of serious stuff like Jason DeRusha turning 50, parenthood and the local restaurant scene. But it's also about these random things that I wrote down while editing the episode.Wine snobArm goutHe wasn’t firedButt talkRent-free four days a weekThe DeRusha swimming pool blackmail photoGetting swole Get full access to The Friscalating Dusklight, by Michael Rand at thefriscalatingdusklight.substack.com/subscribe