You May Find Yourself

Today we hear from Eric Marcus. Eric hosts one of my favorite podcasts of all time: Making Gay History, a podcast that has been downloaded more than 6 million times. In addition to hosting the podcast, Eric is a writer, historian, journalist and activist.  Making Gay History is a total treasure chest of archival recordings of activists, some famous, some behind-the-scenes, and all fascinating. So it's a real thrill to sit down and chat with Eric, and to share our conversation with you.  This podcast comes with a content warning. So that's exciting. 

 Jeremy Lasman thinks deeply about how imagination and passion operate, and he's working on a sort of engineering manual that we can adopt. So we talked about that. Twice.  This episode combines two conversations recorded eight months apart. And you can hear an interesting evolution in thinking and approach that i think you'll enjoy. We get pretty heady here in a talk about consciousness, AI, quantum computing, SpaceX (where Jeremey worked as a teenager), engineering, happiness, freedom, parents, work, founding The Passion Company, and other stuff too. So have a listen. 

Mike Crowly was a veteran of the real estate industry and living the life in Irvine, California – the heart of Orange County. Then, one day, Mike sold his house, gave away everything, and started walking.  Because God told him to.  We talk about that fateful decision, the message he's sharing, and some of the things he's learned along the way.

Today on the podcast we hear from Mike Alcazaren for a conversation mostly about sustainability and how to get people (and employers) involved. And in the course of the chat, we talk about design for sustainability, how to associate cost to carbon, My Climate Journey, community building and advocacy. But we talk about other stuff too! Like product marketing, Product, Explained (Mike's podcast) music, mentoring, and NFL Twitter. 

Mert Esencan joins us today for the third and final conversation in a quantum computing trifecta. We talk about quantum (of course!) and we talk about risk, uncertainty, mentors, the role of luck, the march of time, founding a company in your early 20's (Mert is currently 26), science, art, machine learning models, David Deutsch, Nick Cave, and breakfast. Plus other stuff too.   Mert founded Icosa Computing and lives in London.

Daniel Goldsmith joins us today to talk about Digital Catapult and his role as Quantum Computing Technologist. What's a quantum computing technologist? Daniel tells us all about that and about his role as a quantum computing ambassador to the world on behalf of the United Kingdom.  This is the second in a series of conversations that covers quantum and emerging technologies, which I think would be rather amusing to all those science teachers who nearly prevented your intrepid host from graduating high school. One note. Listeners are promised a link to the Quantum Data Center of the future. Curious listeners, here you go: https://kets-quantum.com/2021/11/05/9m-quantum-data-centre-of-the-future-project/

Bill Genovese is a tech advisor who works with companies across the globe on implementation for next-generation tech and revenue-growth strategies. As such, he's got a big interest in fintech, quantum computing, AI, blockchain, predictive modeling for black swan events, and next generation analytics. So we talk about all that. And other stuff too.

Jesse Jarnow. If you know, you know.  Jesse is the author of three books (so far). These are: Heads: A Biography of Psychadelic America, and Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock, and Wasn't That a Time: The Weavers, the Blacklist, and the Battle for the Soul of Ameirca. He's also the co-host of the official Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast and the host of the Frow Show on WFMU (Mondays, 9pm to midnight). This means that listeners get to hear about all of this with hero doses of chatter about Yo La Tengo, The Weavers, socialism, Phish, bootleg culture, battles for the soul of America, LSD, the Grateful Dead, and Jesse's grandmother. Plus other stuff too.

Monick Halm is a TEDx and keynote speaker, a writer, a podcaster, a wife and a mother. Her latest book is, "Invest Like a Goddess: Advice from the Most Successful Women in Real Estate." This conversation goes wide and deep. We talk about career, of course, and we also talk about the highs and lows of owning a business, the joys of mentoring, podcasting, changing careers, and family. Among many other topics.

Scott Shafer is the Senior Editor for KQED's Politics and Government Desk. He's a reporter, host, and oversees the politics desk. Scott's love of radio goes back to his days at Cornell, spinning vinyl in the golden era of college radio. Scott arrived to San Francisco in the early 80s, worked for a time as Mayor Art Agnos's press secretary, and ultimately landed at San Francisco's NPR affiliate in 1998 hosting the California Report. This is a wide-ranging conversation where we talk about San Francisco in the 80s, professional life in and out of the closet, public radio, The Talking Heads, how to be a good interviewer, how to listen, reparations, Gore Vidal, San Francisco legend Sydney Goldstein, the media, and other topics.

Today we hear from Honey Mahogany. Honey may be a familiar name to anybody who gives a damn about making things more fabulous. Honey made their name in drag and was a contestant on Ru Paul's Drag Race. Honey is also a small business owner, social worker, singer, activist, and candidate for District 6 supervisor in San Francisco. We talk drag, night life, The Stud, the good ole Democrats, San Francisco politics, Honey's run for District 6 Supervisor in San Francisco, the fate of cities, nu metal, Sylvester, activism, Beyonce, and hope. And other stuff too.

Today we hear from Dr. S. Pete Worden (Brig. Gen., USAF, ret.) and perhaps the best way to introduce the conversation is to simply share some of the folks who come up in the conversation. Yuri Milner. James Cameron. Elon Musk. Jeff Bezos. Stephen Hawking. Arthur C Clarke, Avi Loeb, Isaac Asimov, Rick Tumlinson, Carl Sagan, Jerry O'Neil, Wernher von Braun, Robert Heinlein, Newt Gingrich, George Bush (41 and 43), Donald Rumsfeld, Liu Cixin, and Nancy Pelosi. And yes, we talk about aliens. Pete is currently the chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. You're going to like this one.

Today we hear from Dr. Niels Mueller-Wickop. After spending a year traveling the world, Niels co-founded JoinMyTrip, a travel-tech startup based in Hamburg, Germany. (Niels divides his time between Hamburg and Beirut.) Niels graduated Magna cum Laude from the University of Hamburg. He's a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Information System Science. He's pretty smart. Niels and his team have done a bunch of original thinking on questions of work, and of travel, and the platform they've built brings together adventurous souls who want to see the world and build community. So we talk about that. This episode ties together a bunch of themes we've been exploring on this podcast. Like: how to get the most out of work. Like: how to stimulate creativity? Like: making space for work and for play. Have a listen.

Today we hear from renowned photographer Steve Peixotto. Born and raised in the San Francisco bay area, Steve developed (haha) his love of photography shooting his buddies skateboarding in the late '80s and he's been at it ever since. So we talk about that. And we talk about trying to monetize doing what you love, the need to always be winning new clients, and we talk about what all goes into making a living as a photographer. And we talk about other stuff too.

Today we hear from Dan Lynch, aka NYC Taper. Dan somehow manages to be a defense attorney by day and bootlegger (or "New York's live music archivist") by night. If you love live music, if you know deep in your soul about that special kind of magic that can happen after the house lights dim, then you're going to love this episode. We talk about music and bands we love, like Phish, Wilco, The National, Animal Collective. We talk about the peaks of the New York scene. And we talk about pizza.  Among many other topics.

Today we hear from Jon O'Brien, founder of O'Brien Global Strategies and former President of Catholics for Choice. Based in Washington DC, Jon is a leader in developing communications strategies for a variety of causes and groups, especially around issues of reproductive freedom. He has worked on five continents with policy leaders, activists, politicians of all stripes, and Bono. We talked about starting a business in the midst of a global pandemic, the past and future of the pro-choice movement, music, Ireland in the '80s, and the good ole Catholic Church. Among many other topics. Podcast produced by www.oesounds.com.

Today we hear from David Brinkman, Chief Executive Officer & President of DAP. During his tenure, DAP Health was named one of the "Top 20 HIV/AIDS Charities" and Charity Navigator, America's largest independent charity evaluator, awarded DAP Health "four-star status" for 10 consecutive years. We talk about DAP and David's unique journey from a childhood in Iowa to Palm Springs and leading DAP. And we talk about service, compassion, and imagining a better world - then working to build it. And, of course, we talk about the fabulous Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards. Podcast produced by www.oesounds.com.

Today we hear from entrepreneur Anthony Winston, founder of Winston Engineering. Anthony's company provides a variety of engineering and technical solutions to businesses in the United States and Canda. We talk about starting your own business, about taking a business international, about winning new clients, and about the importance of having a diverse workforce.

Stuart Vining. To know him is to love him. He's one of the characters you might meet if you spend any time in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. A painter. A writer. A musician. A raconteur. Part of the Rehoboth Beach Writers Guild.  We cover a lot of terrain in this chat. We talk a bunch about alcoholism and the road to recovery, we talk about the music industry, about writing, about fighting off the darkness, and about managing ego. As an added bonus, listeners get to learn how they made chowder in Moby Dick. A note: this episode is absolutely filled with profanity.

Today we drive through the California night to catch the sunrise over the Gulf of California. And then we keep going. Somewhere around the Tropic of Cancer, we stop in at a bar. And it is here, behind the bar, that we meet Andria Marshall and Hannah Kendall. Andria and Hannah tend bar at Neat, a perfect place to get your drinks without complications in Todos Santos, just north of the Tropic of Cancer. Andria is also a co-founder of the http://www.twoforkscollective.com/. There are many stories across the line, between sea and sand. Here are two of them.

I speak today with the esteemed Doctor Jason Durant, psychotherapist of Manhattan, New York, NY, USA. Jason and I take out the cocktail shakers and kibbitz about life, psychotherapy, way upstate New York, aging, career, the gays, "getting to the why," gatherings of very stoned confirmed bachelors in Baltimore, Oscars in Palm Springs, Alan Watts, the Grateful Dead, queer deadheads, Dire Straits, Steve Silverman, homophobia, and Hendrick's gin. Among other topics. Much terrain was covered. We could go on for hours, and we often do. So consider this an excerpt of what our conversations sounds like at the start of the evening. As producer John Chilson and I edited and finalized this episode, we were both struck by how special it is to hear an intimate conversation that leaps from the depths to the surface and back again so casually. I suspect this conversation isn't for everyone. But for some, I suspect it will resonate very much. Chin-chin darlings.

Steve Silberman is an award-winning science writer, Twitter impresario, deadhead, activist, podcaster, and all-around fascinating guy. His work has appeared in Wired, The New York Times, the New Yorker, and many other publications. Steve is the author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity (Avery 2015), which Oliver Sacks called a "sweeping and penetrating history…presented with a rare sympathy and sensitivity." He has appeared on many podcasts including Freak Flag Flying and the Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast (hosted by the fantastic Jesse Jarnow). And, he has written liner notes for Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Grateful Dead, and other groups. Steve and I have a wide-ranging talk and we cover many topics including finding your calling, becoming a writer, tech, his relationship with legendary poet Allen Ginsberg, the Grateful Dead, LSD, Owsley Stanley, neurodiversity, Twitter, meditation, Oliver Sacks, outrage management, and many other topics. Steve is one-of-a-kind and pulls no punches. This is a great conversation. This podcast is produced by OE Sounds.

Today's guest is Lauri Kibby. Lauri is an investor, hotelier, homebuilder, entrepreneur, adventurer, spiritualist, collector, and all-around fascinating woman. Lauri is a founder of King's Garden, California's preeminent cannabis cultivator and processor. And she's a Vice-Chair of DAP Health Board and Co-Chair of the Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards.  We cover a variety of topics. Art. Whaling. Parenting. Philanthropy. Cannabis. Investing. Spirituality. 

Today we hear from Endourage CEO Isaac Foster. Isaac has an extremely impressive resume. CEO of Endourage. CFO of Oyster Optics. CFO of Outerbridge Networks. He worked on Wall Street, and spent much of his prolific career in biotech. He grew up in Harlem and has a lot of thoughts on what it takes to thrive (hint: strong survival instincts).

From the Taverna at Lichenwood, this is You May Find Yourself, a podcast about work and about life on – and off – the great wheel. This is the first episode. Host Robert O'Shaughnessy is a curious guy and in this podcast, Robert chats with people who feel good about where they find themselves. People who sincerely wrestle with questions of work and of career will find these conversations interesting. The first guest is Matt Slepin. Matt's the founder of Terra Search Partners, an executive search agency in the real estate space. He's also the host of the Leading Voices in Real Estate podcast. The conversation covers  podcasting, starting a business, the great resignation, the role of money in a happy life, and other topics. This podcast is produced by www.oesounds.com.

Today we hear from whiz-kid Jereme Monteau. Jereme is an engineer and we talk a bit about a company he co-founded, OuterSpatial, which uses technology to get people away from technology and into nature. And we talk about a bunch of other stuff: NFTs, electronic music, the promise of psychadelics, mindfulness, social media. I think you'll enjoy listening to our chat.