If you've never driven across the country, I highly recommend it. The scenery is gorgeous and changes drastically on a daily basis. And if you're doing it by yourself, you should definitely download a bunch of stuff to listen to since you won't have access to any sort of reception, be it phone, WiFi or radio, throughout much of the trip. For myself, after consulting the Facebook hive mind, I checked out tons of new (to me) podcasts. Now, although I've recorded my own podcast during my time at the Ontario Arts Council, I never really got into listening to them. I feel like I miss out if I have them on in the background and I don't have enough time to give them my undivided attention. Well, if you're spending a week driving in a car, that problem pretty much resolves itself.
A couple great ones to check out if you ever find the time: WTF with Marc Maron (although I stuck to interviews with people I actually knew, this great post by Sam Mullins makes me want to listen more). I've always been a big Alan Cross fan ever since I first caught the Ongoing History of New Music on radio, so his Geeks and Beats with Michael Hainsworth is a treat. Be sure to check out the one called the Ongoing History of Alan Cross if you want to know what's happening with OHNM now! CBC's This Is That is great for a laugh and Serial, by the same folks who also created This American Life, is an ongoing true crime story that has me anxiously waiting for the next episode. - Side note: while I was in Vancouver I got invited to a live talk by Ira Glass and sat in the second row even though I had no idea who he was.
But there were two specific podcasts and episodes that really got my synapses firing and I would highly recommend any creative types out there check out when the need for inspiration hits. In my case, that was somewhere between Wawa and Sault Ste-Marie.
The first one was a Kevin Smith interview on The Nerdist Podcast - another podcast where I saw the host, Chris Hardwick, live at JFL 42 a few years ago yet had no idea who he was or what I was watching... I've always been a huge Kevin Smith fan ever since I saw Clerks in University. My friends and I used to quote it and Mallrats all the time. That last one was why we started calling ourselves the Caférats since we spent all our time in this one coffee shop on campus. I've seen all his films and loved his hour-long talks, which I think you can now find on Netflix. But this interview was super special to me. He talks a lot about social media and how it now affects the movie-making landscape, how he's done with the Hollywood system and how he's just going to go out there and make what he wants to make because he just doesn't give a fuck. Honestly, it's way more crass and eloquent than what I am saying, but that's because KS (may I call you KS? Ugh, never mind, that sounds stupid) is a much better writer than I am. But the one thing I really took away from that talk was how we have to stop saying things like "Wouldn't it be nice/cool/awesome if someone did X." If you catch yourself saying something like that? That someone is you.
The other one is a podcast run by a guy named Tim Ferriss who wrote a great book called The 4-Hour Work Week. That book changed my way of thinking a few year ago, so when I found out he also had a podcast, I decided to check it out. And am I ever glad I did! I highly recommend you listen to the one with Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis on Thinking Big. It blew my mind and made me realize that I can take everything I do to an even higher level. Drive and ambition know no bounds, people!
Let's get to it!