Wow, the conversation kept going! I'll join again with an expansion to why I podcast. I hope you listen and join me in my Vertientes y Tangentes (Slopes & Tangents). Saludos a todos y a todas!
Podcasts are simply conversations, and revolutions are the apotheosis of conversations about making things better. Chris, I can never express enough gratitude to you for sharing the thoughts you've written and recorded, as they have all fed into my contemplation for exactly how a modern revolution can be fostered from the myriad conversations I've consumed. I'm planning my own podcast project that aims to inspire such productive thinking, citing the noble ideas that you and others have graciously shared with the world.
If we're going to make anything better, we have to keep talking.
My word of the day - apotheosis. Thanks for that. So simple conversations are like one point of a fractal? Spiralling micro to macro, voices have power which becomes louder, and larger in impact. But each conversation informs the base.
Cool to hear you're planning a podcast. Sounds very cool. I've been thinking about that too.
Here's a little practise if you're willing. Would love to hear any thoughts you might have
So, seeing that now you've been recording hundreds of podcast episodes for 10 years, and in that amount of time you've written two books, do you introduce yourself nowadays to total strangers as "Chris Ryan, the author" or "Chris Ryan, the podcaster"?
Well, a trend anyway and I finally got involved just this past month at age 70.
It might end up being personally revolutionary for this old man in that I might be honest to the outside world for the very first time. (I'm complicated.)
Mine don't have to be "GOOD" and will likely never have guests and is kind of stoned, crazy, and depressed but all me.
I haven't even told people who know me about it. That way I can be even more honest ratter that be worried about what a friend is going to think.
You've come a long way since that first episode you did with Duncan! For many years, your disembodied voice kept me company, for countless hours, and you even gave me a shout out during the intro to the Bruce Lisker episode from way back. I can still remember when I heard it: I had my headphones in (while doing laundry, I think?), and I froze, smiled, and thought "Did Chris just say my name?!" I had to play it back just to make sure, but it really made my day.
It's the little things that podcasts have done as much as the big things, right? Appreciate all you've done over the years, and I'm glad you're on Substack, I enjoy your writing quite a bit!
I love the optimistic tone of this piece, Chris! :)
One of the awesome aspects of ongoing podcasts, in my view, is the opportunity listeners get to more deeply know the podcast host(s). I know you (and other podcast hosts) don't share their FULL selves on podcasts, but it seems like you share a lot more on your podcast than on social media, which I appreciate.
Social media interactions seem super shallow compared to the authentic connections that can be made between a podcast host and listeners (while listening to the podcast and in other venues such as Substack). Also, when anyone reveals aspects of their authentic selves in a recorded conversation, it's much easier to perceive nuance in their thoughts and feelings, and much harder for people to mischaracterize / stereotype them or their views, which happens so often on social media.
"I know you (and other podcast hosts) don't share their FULL selves on podcasts, but it seems like you share a lot more on your podcast than on social media, which I appreciate."
- Love this comment. Really speaks to why I love Chris' sharing too. He is simply real. Which sometime is hard for people.
"Social media interactions seem super shallow compared to the authentic connections that can be made between a podcast host and listeners..."
- Feel like this is because social media platforms today farm our attention AND our sovereignty. They are just complete and utter parasites.
And all this is shaping our collective social engagement system!
I'd love for you to tell me what you think about this.
Yeah. I agree with your point of nuance coming through on podcast as a medium. Compared to a text message or social media post. The audio and the aMount of time allow for more layers of expression. It does take skill to make a podcast worthwhile. I appreciate Chris’s thought processing and challenging some of my ideas. I also find the guests on this show to be incredibly interesting. It’s like going to a party and hearing different interesting people talk.
As someone who has been in an intellectually impoverished environment for most of his life, Podcasts are like pulling up a chair and sitting in on a really great conversation.
Hey Jamie, I wonder if you'd read over this and share your thoughts?
I too, feel exactly the same about podcast. Love your analogy. I always feel like getting cozy and tuning into a good podcast is like sitting around a fire.
Apr 22, 2022·edited Apr 22, 2022Liked by Chris Ryan
We all know that children are a product of the environment they develop in. Most people with witty and timely senses of humor developed that skill at the nightly dinner table with 6 other people competing to make the table burst into laughter. We still understand very little about the human brain. It is a mystery. The experiences that each person encounters shape who they will become. As for me? I would say my father is a good-hearted man. So is my mother. But a steady dose of alcohol, 9-5 jobs, Fox News, and "bubble-life" have led to some pretty irrational and close-minded ideas and perspective on the world we live in and the purpose of life. I would also expect that most adults fall into this category.
What I think podcasters such as yourself, Duncan Trussel, Aubrey Marcus, Russel Brand, Joe Rogan, Tim Dillon, etc. do for a young man(21 yo) like me is quite literally... save my life. I don't know who I would be without the countless hours of honest thought and conversation about REAL SHIT being blasted into my conscious mind. It cannot be overstated how revolutionary this is. I mean just think about it. If this was 100 years ago, I would've never been able to sit down in a room with you every week and be a fly on the wall for countless amazing mind-bending and expanding conversations. I would only be able to read your book and that's it.
(I'm writing this quickly as I just got home from work and haven't eaten yet, but I just wanted to share this idea with you.)
Podcasts create equal opportunity for our generation. As discussed on the podcast, in the hunter-gatherer tribes, if your mom and dad were assholes and didn't care about raising you properly and showing you the tips and tricks of how to be a loving, happy, conscious, amazing person... you had a whole village of people who could pick up the slack and raise you as your own. As we shifted to a more civilized society, this became decreasingly the case. The lottery of where, when, and what life you're born into, became increasingly reliant upon the content of character of those individuals living beside you in the household. As we moved into the Information Age with the advent of the Internet, the pendulum began to shift.
Guys like me can listen to a seasoned vet such as yourself and absorb your wisdom that wasn't provided to me by my parents. The advantage of having cool, understanding, and insightful folks is becoming increasingly irrelevant(for lack of a better word). This is because of people like you Chris. I appreciate you. You are a person like me, but a very important one to so many. I hope you see this.
"We all know that children are a product of the environment they develop in."
Such a strong point that should never be forgotten. I've recently learnt that as part of automatic nervous system there is a social engagement system! This doesn't appear to be officially integrated in our psychological models. Is that a surprise?
"Guys like me can listen to a seasoned vet such as yourself and absorb your wisdom that wasn't provided to me by my parents."
Guys like us can also respond in kind too. What do you think about that idea? We love Chris, and Chris is Chris because of his listening and his responding. Sensing and responding. Consumption and production.
Let me know what you think about Mycelium Network Dialogue... I know it's a silly name. hehe
Podcasting for me is like a therapy. Un desahogo, as we say in Spanish. I can express my thoughts how I think and speak, and if I need to correct myself I can either do it on the spot or in the next episode. The reason for podcasting having such power, is because it allows thoughts to flow into words without too many restrictions, more than books I think. I believe that the spontaneity that podcasting allows has no match, because you can't write and publish your thoughts on the go (driving, hiking, etc.) but you can podcast it, and when it is unscripted even better. I think this inspires people to listen, to question, and to explore more, and to get to "know" the host more deeply than getting to know a writer (the voice, the pitch, the thought process, the jokes, the motions of the conversation, and the emotions expressed, etc. that are harder to transmit by writing). I think. Anyways, gracias por la inspiración y las enseñanzas. Saludos!
For me podcasting is like therapeutic guidance that I then try to integrate into my life. For me, warm dialogue is where healing happens. We can create our own atmosphere if we dare. Share our world in an authentic way, just as Chris is doing.
We don't need big audiences. I have a feeling the potential in micro audiences is overlooked in podcasting.
Have you ever seen that episode of The Office where Michael and Oscar get into a debate about China's future global influence? Michael has absolutely no chance at even holding up a conversation with Oscar, but he memorizes some facts about China in the hope he can make a decent point. Oscar quickly outwits Michael by posing questions he has no clue how to answer. Michael goes silent and Oscar offers to pay for his coffee out of pitty.
Then Michael says "Wait. You forgetting something?"
Oscar replies, "What?"
Michael says, "This chat. Two men, one white, one latina. A boss and a money cruncher... as long as people like you and me don’t stop talking, nobody can stop the USA... Y’know, a lot of people say if you dig long enough and hard enough you will get to China, and that may be the true, but what they don’t tell you is that if you dig long enough and hard enough in a conversation, you get to a friend. So here is to conversation."
*All of the office breaks out cheering for Michael*
This is how I feel about podcasts. They allow for genuine conversation and debate about difficult points. Social media doesn't, it's just quick stabs at opinions with no room for context. If podcasts will change the world, it'll be because they allow people like Michael and Oscar to keep talking.
"[podcasts] allow for genuine conversation and debate about difficult points. Social media doesn't, it's just quick stabs at opinions with no room for context. If podcasts will change the world, it'll be because they allow people like Michael and Oscar to keep talking."
One hundred percent! And the more podcasts the better in my opinion. We need micro as well as the macro audience!
Would love to hear more of your insights and Office analogies! Let me know what you think about Mycelium Network Dialogue.
I enjoyed this. I think quick 10 or 11 minute responses are a great way to share ideas in a conversation-like format. I do think that a barrier to that, however, is facitating that sort of activity on a platform. I just don't have the time or energy to want to record myself for 11 minutes, and/or listen to multiple people respond to my statements with 11 minute answers of their own.
I'd much rather just listen to one or two podcasts on a consistent basis without any real 'work'.
Hey Bram. Thanks for your comment and you make some great points. At this stage this is the start of a little experiment. But I completely relate to what you’ve said.
I do wonder if web3 might incentivise storytelling at a grass-roots level. Making it fun and possibly a tool for finding consensus across communities. 
Who knows. Thanks for your input though. Great to hear your thoughts.
I don’t know if podcasting will lead to any world-scale change, but podcasts have all but replaced other forms of media in my life including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If that’s happening at a large scale, it’s certainly changing many lives. I see, almost everywhere, artists and creators more interested in building interconnected communities as opposed to fragmented and anonymous ones. That’s what’s going on here, Chris. It’s fascinating to see since I’m so used to (and disillusioned by) the social media age I’ve lived nearly my entire life within.
How about Mycelium Network Dialogue? It's a silly name I realise. lol. World-scale change in mind my starts in the living room and scales through shared recordings - PODCARDS!
I'm sure big change at this point requires micro / macro audience integration.
"People can’t really read books (unless audio book) or watch videos while doing something else. With that said, this added convenience makes the exposure to new ideas far easier."
-- RIGHT! I love podcasts while mowing the lawn!
"Personally, starting a podcast is fun, you meet new people that you would have NEVER met otherwise, and it gets your voice out into the ether."
-- Awesome. I'm getting more excited about starting a pod... just need to be a bit more brave and organised
Wow, the conversation kept going! I'll join again with an expansion to why I podcast. I hope you listen and join me in my Vertientes y Tangentes (Slopes & Tangents). Saludos a todos y a todas!
Check it out.
https://juanbaez.substack.com/p/e26-keeping-the-conversation-why?sd=nfs
Little experiment. With love.
https://mycelial.substack.com/p/a-reply-why-podcast-they-create-a?s=w
Podcasts are simply conversations, and revolutions are the apotheosis of conversations about making things better. Chris, I can never express enough gratitude to you for sharing the thoughts you've written and recorded, as they have all fed into my contemplation for exactly how a modern revolution can be fostered from the myriad conversations I've consumed. I'm planning my own podcast project that aims to inspire such productive thinking, citing the noble ideas that you and others have graciously shared with the world.
If we're going to make anything better, we have to keep talking.
Hey Michael.
My word of the day - apotheosis. Thanks for that. So simple conversations are like one point of a fractal? Spiralling micro to macro, voices have power which becomes louder, and larger in impact. But each conversation informs the base.
Cool to hear you're planning a podcast. Sounds very cool. I've been thinking about that too.
Here's a little practise if you're willing. Would love to hear any thoughts you might have
https://mycelial.substack.com/p/a-reply-why-podcast-they-create-a?s=w
So, seeing that now you've been recording hundreds of podcast episodes for 10 years, and in that amount of time you've written two books, do you introduce yourself nowadays to total strangers as "Chris Ryan, the author" or "Chris Ryan, the podcaster"?
RED PILL JUNKIE
Is this a red pill kind of thing??
https://mycelial.substack.com/p/a-reply-why-podcast-they-create-a?s=w
Neither. More like "Chris Ryan, who your mother warned you about."
HAHA. Our mothers need a dialogue to create a safety net across the mycelium network. Watch out for this Chris guy!
https://mycelial.substack.com/p/a-reply-why-podcast-they-create-a?s=w
🤣
Ha! Revolution!
Well, a trend anyway and I finally got involved just this past month at age 70.
It might end up being personally revolutionary for this old man in that I might be honest to the outside world for the very first time. (I'm complicated.)
Mine don't have to be "GOOD" and will likely never have guests and is kind of stoned, crazy, and depressed but all me.
I haven't even told people who know me about it. That way I can be even more honest ratter that be worried about what a friend is going to think.
https://anchor.fm/stephen981
Steve!
WOW. A podcaster at 70!!! You're amazing!
I'm looking forward to tuning in later on this afternoon.
Would be thrilled if you felt like recording some thoughts on this idea...
https://mycelial.substack.com/p/a-reply-why-podcast-they-create-a?s=w
You've come a long way since that first episode you did with Duncan! For many years, your disembodied voice kept me company, for countless hours, and you even gave me a shout out during the intro to the Bruce Lisker episode from way back. I can still remember when I heard it: I had my headphones in (while doing laundry, I think?), and I froze, smiled, and thought "Did Chris just say my name?!" I had to play it back just to make sure, but it really made my day.
It's the little things that podcasts have done as much as the big things, right? Appreciate all you've done over the years, and I'm glad you're on Substack, I enjoy your writing quite a bit!
How do you feel about Mycelium Network Dialogue? It's a silly name I realise. lol
https://mycelial.substack.com/p/a-reply-why-podcast-they-create-a?s=w
Thanks, Branden. Hey, I just said your name again, kinda!
I love the optimistic tone of this piece, Chris! :)
One of the awesome aspects of ongoing podcasts, in my view, is the opportunity listeners get to more deeply know the podcast host(s). I know you (and other podcast hosts) don't share their FULL selves on podcasts, but it seems like you share a lot more on your podcast than on social media, which I appreciate.
Social media interactions seem super shallow compared to the authentic connections that can be made between a podcast host and listeners (while listening to the podcast and in other venues such as Substack). Also, when anyone reveals aspects of their authentic selves in a recorded conversation, it's much easier to perceive nuance in their thoughts and feelings, and much harder for people to mischaracterize / stereotype them or their views, which happens so often on social media.
¡Viva la revolución!
"I know you (and other podcast hosts) don't share their FULL selves on podcasts, but it seems like you share a lot more on your podcast than on social media, which I appreciate."
- Love this comment. Really speaks to why I love Chris' sharing too. He is simply real. Which sometime is hard for people.
"Social media interactions seem super shallow compared to the authentic connections that can be made between a podcast host and listeners..."
- Feel like this is because social media platforms today farm our attention AND our sovereignty. They are just complete and utter parasites.
And all this is shaping our collective social engagement system!
I'd love for you to tell me what you think about this.
https://mycelial.substack.com/p/a-reply-why-podcast-they-create-a?s=w
Yeah. I agree with your point of nuance coming through on podcast as a medium. Compared to a text message or social media post. The audio and the aMount of time allow for more layers of expression. It does take skill to make a podcast worthwhile. I appreciate Chris’s thought processing and challenging some of my ideas. I also find the guests on this show to be incredibly interesting. It’s like going to a party and hearing different interesting people talk.
As someone who has been in an intellectually impoverished environment for most of his life, Podcasts are like pulling up a chair and sitting in on a really great conversation.
Hey Jamie, I wonder if you'd read over this and share your thoughts?
I too, feel exactly the same about podcast. Love your analogy. I always feel like getting cozy and tuning into a good podcast is like sitting around a fire.
Little experiment.
https://mycelial.substack.com/p/a-reply-why-podcast-they-create-a?s=w
Absolutely. I will check it out sometime today and get back to you.
An equal opportunity for conversation and thought.
We all know that children are a product of the environment they develop in. Most people with witty and timely senses of humor developed that skill at the nightly dinner table with 6 other people competing to make the table burst into laughter. We still understand very little about the human brain. It is a mystery. The experiences that each person encounters shape who they will become. As for me? I would say my father is a good-hearted man. So is my mother. But a steady dose of alcohol, 9-5 jobs, Fox News, and "bubble-life" have led to some pretty irrational and close-minded ideas and perspective on the world we live in and the purpose of life. I would also expect that most adults fall into this category.
What I think podcasters such as yourself, Duncan Trussel, Aubrey Marcus, Russel Brand, Joe Rogan, Tim Dillon, etc. do for a young man(21 yo) like me is quite literally... save my life. I don't know who I would be without the countless hours of honest thought and conversation about REAL SHIT being blasted into my conscious mind. It cannot be overstated how revolutionary this is. I mean just think about it. If this was 100 years ago, I would've never been able to sit down in a room with you every week and be a fly on the wall for countless amazing mind-bending and expanding conversations. I would only be able to read your book and that's it.
(I'm writing this quickly as I just got home from work and haven't eaten yet, but I just wanted to share this idea with you.)
Podcasts create equal opportunity for our generation. As discussed on the podcast, in the hunter-gatherer tribes, if your mom and dad were assholes and didn't care about raising you properly and showing you the tips and tricks of how to be a loving, happy, conscious, amazing person... you had a whole village of people who could pick up the slack and raise you as your own. As we shifted to a more civilized society, this became decreasingly the case. The lottery of where, when, and what life you're born into, became increasingly reliant upon the content of character of those individuals living beside you in the household. As we moved into the Information Age with the advent of the Internet, the pendulum began to shift.
Guys like me can listen to a seasoned vet such as yourself and absorb your wisdom that wasn't provided to me by my parents. The advantage of having cool, understanding, and insightful folks is becoming increasingly irrelevant(for lack of a better word). This is because of people like you Chris. I appreciate you. You are a person like me, but a very important one to so many. I hope you see this.
-Ryan
Hey Ryan,
"We all know that children are a product of the environment they develop in."
Such a strong point that should never be forgotten. I've recently learnt that as part of automatic nervous system there is a social engagement system! This doesn't appear to be officially integrated in our psychological models. Is that a surprise?
"Guys like me can listen to a seasoned vet such as yourself and absorb your wisdom that wasn't provided to me by my parents."
Guys like us can also respond in kind too. What do you think about that idea? We love Chris, and Chris is Chris because of his listening and his responding. Sensing and responding. Consumption and production.
Let me know what you think about Mycelium Network Dialogue... I know it's a silly name. hehe
https://mycelial.substack.com/p/a-reply-why-podcast-they-create-a?s=w
Totally agree Ryan. If we’re to look for people who are our same “species”, we need platforms and technologies that give us easy access to each other.
Thanks, Ryan. Seen and felt.
Podcasting for me is like a therapy. Un desahogo, as we say in Spanish. I can express my thoughts how I think and speak, and if I need to correct myself I can either do it on the spot or in the next episode. The reason for podcasting having such power, is because it allows thoughts to flow into words without too many restrictions, more than books I think. I believe that the spontaneity that podcasting allows has no match, because you can't write and publish your thoughts on the go (driving, hiking, etc.) but you can podcast it, and when it is unscripted even better. I think this inspires people to listen, to question, and to explore more, and to get to "know" the host more deeply than getting to know a writer (the voice, the pitch, the thought process, the jokes, the motions of the conversation, and the emotions expressed, etc. that are harder to transmit by writing). I think. Anyways, gracias por la inspiración y las enseñanzas. Saludos!
Ah. Love this!
For me podcasting is like therapeutic guidance that I then try to integrate into my life. For me, warm dialogue is where healing happens. We can create our own atmosphere if we dare. Share our world in an authentic way, just as Chris is doing.
We don't need big audiences. I have a feeling the potential in micro audiences is overlooked in podcasting.
I'd love hear your thoughts on this.
https://mycelial.substack.com/p/a-reply-why-podcast-they-create-a?s=w
I decided to make an episode in my podcast about 'Why Podcast?'. I invite you to check it out and to subscribe if you feel like it. Peace.
BTW, sorry. I went longer than 11:11.
https://juanbaez.substack.com/p/e26-keeping-the-conversation-why?r=4gkv&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Gracias, Juan. Un abrazo.
I'd love hear your thoughts on this.
https://mycelial.substack.com/p/a-reply-why-podcast-they-create-a?s=w
Have you ever seen that episode of The Office where Michael and Oscar get into a debate about China's future global influence? Michael has absolutely no chance at even holding up a conversation with Oscar, but he memorizes some facts about China in the hope he can make a decent point. Oscar quickly outwits Michael by posing questions he has no clue how to answer. Michael goes silent and Oscar offers to pay for his coffee out of pitty.
Then Michael says "Wait. You forgetting something?"
Oscar replies, "What?"
Michael says, "This chat. Two men, one white, one latina. A boss and a money cruncher... as long as people like you and me don’t stop talking, nobody can stop the USA... Y’know, a lot of people say if you dig long enough and hard enough you will get to China, and that may be the true, but what they don’t tell you is that if you dig long enough and hard enough in a conversation, you get to a friend. So here is to conversation."
*All of the office breaks out cheering for Michael*
This is how I feel about podcasts. They allow for genuine conversation and debate about difficult points. Social media doesn't, it's just quick stabs at opinions with no room for context. If podcasts will change the world, it'll be because they allow people like Michael and Oscar to keep talking.
"[podcasts] allow for genuine conversation and debate about difficult points. Social media doesn't, it's just quick stabs at opinions with no room for context. If podcasts will change the world, it'll be because they allow people like Michael and Oscar to keep talking."
One hundred percent! And the more podcasts the better in my opinion. We need micro as well as the macro audience!
Would love to hear more of your insights and Office analogies! Let me know what you think about Mycelium Network Dialogue.
https://mycelial.substack.com/p/a-reply-why-podcast-they-create-a?s=w
I enjoyed this. I think quick 10 or 11 minute responses are a great way to share ideas in a conversation-like format. I do think that a barrier to that, however, is facitating that sort of activity on a platform. I just don't have the time or energy to want to record myself for 11 minutes, and/or listen to multiple people respond to my statements with 11 minute answers of their own.
I'd much rather just listen to one or two podcasts on a consistent basis without any real 'work'.
Hey Bram. Thanks for your comment and you make some great points. At this stage this is the start of a little experiment. But I completely relate to what you’ve said.
I do wonder if web3 might incentivise storytelling at a grass-roots level. Making it fun and possibly a tool for finding consensus across communities. 
Who knows. Thanks for your input though. Great to hear your thoughts.
Great comment.
I don’t know if podcasting will lead to any world-scale change, but podcasts have all but replaced other forms of media in my life including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. If that’s happening at a large scale, it’s certainly changing many lives. I see, almost everywhere, artists and creators more interested in building interconnected communities as opposed to fragmented and anonymous ones. That’s what’s going on here, Chris. It’s fascinating to see since I’m so used to (and disillusioned by) the social media age I’ve lived nearly my entire life within.
How about Mycelium Network Dialogue? It's a silly name I realise. lol. World-scale change in mind my starts in the living room and scales through shared recordings - PODCARDS!
I'm sure big change at this point requires micro / macro audience integration.
What say you Jack?
https://mycelial.substack.com/p/a-reply-why-podcast-they-create-a?s=w
"People can’t really read books (unless audio book) or watch videos while doing something else. With that said, this added convenience makes the exposure to new ideas far easier."
-- RIGHT! I love podcasts while mowing the lawn!
"Personally, starting a podcast is fun, you meet new people that you would have NEVER met otherwise, and it gets your voice out into the ether."
-- Awesome. I'm getting more excited about starting a pod... just need to be a bit more brave and organised
Please check this out
https://mycelial.substack.com/p/a-reply-why-podcast-they-create-a?s=w
Yes, and don't forget that YouTube is owned by Google. Lots of information censorship happening there now.
This!