Stephen Fry's 7 Deady Sins - I will take each one of the Seven Sins in turn, lay them out on the surgical table and poke, prod, pry and provoke in an attempt to try to anatomise and understand them; I hope and believe it will be, if nothing else, delicious fun and something of a change from the usual run of podcastery. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Content provided by Rolf Potts. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Rolf Potts or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
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An audiobook about how (not) to write a travel book: 9 lessons from my failed van-life memoir
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Manage episode 503907678 series 1776873
Content provided by Rolf Potts. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Rolf Potts or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
“No endeavor to write a travel book is ever lost, since it gives you a useful perspective on (and intensified attention to) the reality of the travel experience itself. When embraced mindfully, the real-time experience of a journey is invariably its truest reward.” –Rolf Potts
In this episode of Deviate, Rolf touches on nine lessons from attempting to write a (never finished) van-life vagabonding memoir at age 23, including:
On Pilgrims in a Sliding World (1:00)
Lesson #1: No work is lost (and “failure” has lessons to teach)
On the author as a character (6:30)
Lesson #2: “Show, don’t tell” is still good narrative advice
On depicting other people (14:30)
Lesson #3: Travel books require reporting (not just recollecting)
On recounting dialogues (22:30)
Lesson #4: Be true to what was said (but make sure it serves a broader purpose)
On veering from the truth (32:30)
Lesson #5: The truth tends to work better than whatever you might make up
On depicting places (39:30)
Lesson #6: “Telling details” are better than broad generalizations about a place
On neurotic young-manhood (48:30)
Lesson #7: Balance narrative analysis with narrative vulnerability
The seeds of Vagabonding (1:01:30)
Lesson #8: Over time, we write our way into what we have to say
The journey was the point (1:06:30)
Lesson #9: In the end, taking the journey counts for more than writing it
Books mentioned:
- The Geto Boys, by Rolf Potts (2016 book)
- Vagabonding, by Rolf Potts (2003 book)
- The Anxiety of Influence, by Harold Bloom (1973 book)
- On the Road, by Jack Kerouac (1957 book)
- The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger (1951 book)
- Epic of Gilgamesh (12th century BCE Mesopotamian epic)
- Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes (17th century novel)
- The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (14th century travelogue)
- True History, by Lucian of Samosata (2nd century novella)
- Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson (21st century memoir)
- Marco Polo Didn't Go There, by Rolf Potts (2008 book)
- Labels: A Mediterranean Journal, by Evelyn Waugh (1930 book)
Essays, poems, and short stories mentioned
- "The Mystical High Church of Luck," by Rolf Potts (1998 essay)
- "Greenland is Not Bigger Than South America", by Rolf Potts (1998 essay)
- “The Faces,” by Robert Creeley (1983 poem)
- "Reflection and Retrospection," by Phillip Lopate (2005 essay)
- "Why so much travel writing is so boring," by Thomas Swick (2001 essay)
- "10 Rules of Writing," by Elmore Leonard (2001 essay)
- "In the Penal Colony," by Franz Kafka (1919 short story)
Places and events mentioned
- People's Park (activist park in Berkeley)
- 924 Gilman Street (punk-rock club in Berkeley)
- Alphabet City (neighborhood New York City's East Village)
- Brentwood (Los Angeles neighborhood)
- 1994 Northridge earthquake
- Panama City Beach (Florida spring-break city)
- Gainesville (Florida college town)
- Athens (Georgia college town)
- Big Sur (coastal region of California)
- Humboldt Redwoods State Park (park in California)
Other links:
- "Van Life before #VanLife" (Deviate episode)
- Paris Writing Workshops (Rolf's annual creative writing classes)
- Picaresque (prose genre)
- Roman à clef (fictionalized novel about real-life events)
- "Jumping freight trains in the Pacific NW" (Deviate episode)
- "Telling travel stories, with Andrew McCarthy" (Deviate episode)
- "Rolf Potts: The Vagabond's Way" (Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank podcast)
- "A personal history of my grunge-bandwagon band" (Deviate episode)
- Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln speech)
- José Ortega y Gasset (Spanish philosopher)
- Jack Handey (American humorist known for "Deep Thoughts" jokes)
- Laurel Lee (American memoirist)
The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.
Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].
260 episodes
Share
Fetch error
Hmmm there seems to be a problem fetching this series right now.
Last successful fetch was on September 02, 2025 08:03 (
What now? This series will be checked again in the next day. If you believe it should be working, please verify the publisher's feed link below is valid and includes actual episode links. You can contact support to request the feed be immediately fetched.
Manage episode 503907678 series 1776873
Content provided by Rolf Potts. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Rolf Potts or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
“No endeavor to write a travel book is ever lost, since it gives you a useful perspective on (and intensified attention to) the reality of the travel experience itself. When embraced mindfully, the real-time experience of a journey is invariably its truest reward.” –Rolf Potts
In this episode of Deviate, Rolf touches on nine lessons from attempting to write a (never finished) van-life vagabonding memoir at age 23, including:
On Pilgrims in a Sliding World (1:00)
Lesson #1: No work is lost (and “failure” has lessons to teach)
On the author as a character (6:30)
Lesson #2: “Show, don’t tell” is still good narrative advice
On depicting other people (14:30)
Lesson #3: Travel books require reporting (not just recollecting)
On recounting dialogues (22:30)
Lesson #4: Be true to what was said (but make sure it serves a broader purpose)
On veering from the truth (32:30)
Lesson #5: The truth tends to work better than whatever you might make up
On depicting places (39:30)
Lesson #6: “Telling details” are better than broad generalizations about a place
On neurotic young-manhood (48:30)
Lesson #7: Balance narrative analysis with narrative vulnerability
The seeds of Vagabonding (1:01:30)
Lesson #8: Over time, we write our way into what we have to say
The journey was the point (1:06:30)
Lesson #9: In the end, taking the journey counts for more than writing it
Books mentioned:
- The Geto Boys, by Rolf Potts (2016 book)
- Vagabonding, by Rolf Potts (2003 book)
- The Anxiety of Influence, by Harold Bloom (1973 book)
- On the Road, by Jack Kerouac (1957 book)
- The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger (1951 book)
- Epic of Gilgamesh (12th century BCE Mesopotamian epic)
- Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes (17th century novel)
- The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (14th century travelogue)
- True History, by Lucian of Samosata (2nd century novella)
- Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson (21st century memoir)
- Marco Polo Didn't Go There, by Rolf Potts (2008 book)
- Labels: A Mediterranean Journal, by Evelyn Waugh (1930 book)
Essays, poems, and short stories mentioned
- "The Mystical High Church of Luck," by Rolf Potts (1998 essay)
- "Greenland is Not Bigger Than South America", by Rolf Potts (1998 essay)
- “The Faces,” by Robert Creeley (1983 poem)
- "Reflection and Retrospection," by Phillip Lopate (2005 essay)
- "Why so much travel writing is so boring," by Thomas Swick (2001 essay)
- "10 Rules of Writing," by Elmore Leonard (2001 essay)
- "In the Penal Colony," by Franz Kafka (1919 short story)
Places and events mentioned
- People's Park (activist park in Berkeley)
- 924 Gilman Street (punk-rock club in Berkeley)
- Alphabet City (neighborhood New York City's East Village)
- Brentwood (Los Angeles neighborhood)
- 1994 Northridge earthquake
- Panama City Beach (Florida spring-break city)
- Gainesville (Florida college town)
- Athens (Georgia college town)
- Big Sur (coastal region of California)
- Humboldt Redwoods State Park (park in California)
Other links:
- "Van Life before #VanLife" (Deviate episode)
- Paris Writing Workshops (Rolf's annual creative writing classes)
- Picaresque (prose genre)
- Roman à clef (fictionalized novel about real-life events)
- "Jumping freight trains in the Pacific NW" (Deviate episode)
- "Telling travel stories, with Andrew McCarthy" (Deviate episode)
- "Rolf Potts: The Vagabond's Way" (Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank podcast)
- "A personal history of my grunge-bandwagon band" (Deviate episode)
- Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln speech)
- José Ortega y Gasset (Spanish philosopher)
- Jack Handey (American humorist known for "Deep Thoughts" jokes)
- Laurel Lee (American memoirist)
The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.
Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].
260 episodes
All episodes
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Similar to Deviate with Rolf Potts
Stephen Fry's 7 Deady Sins - I will take each one of the Seven Sins in turn, lay them out on the surgical table and poke, prod, pry and provoke in an attempt to try to anatomise and understand them; I hope and believe it will be, if nothing else, delicious fun and something of a change from the usual run of podcastery. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
…
continue reading
Travel, at its best, changes the way we see the world. Join us each week as we dig into stories from people who took a trip—and came home transformed. Travel Tales by Afar is your ticket to the world, no passport required.
…
continue reading
Explore Something New. Interviews on Science, Sex, Society and Sports. From CERN Particle Physicists and Professional Casino Cheats to Erotic Hypnotists and Olympic Athletes, every week we sit down with a guest from a different walk of life. The story is never the same but the goal always is, to learn something new. Named Best Interview Podcast in 2023, nominated in 2021 and 2022.
…
continue reading
Since 2014 this longstanding podcast favourite has been creating hard-hitting cinematic stories about love, bodies and all of the things between humans that we don’t know how to name. Creator Kaitlin Prest works with her friends, idols and all kinds of loved ones to bring you into an expansive sonic universe that challenges what we think we know about relationships.
…
continue reading
Short documentaries and adventures in sound presented by Josie Long.
…
continue reading
“LA Made” is a series exploring stories of bold Californian innovators and how they forever changed the lives of millions all over the world. Each season will unpack the untold and surprising stories behind some of the most exciting innovations that continue to influence our lives today. Season 3, "LA Made: The Other Moonshot," tells the story of three Black aerospace engineers in Los Angeles, who played a crucial role in America’s race to space, amid the civil unrest of the 1960s. When Joan ...
…
continue reading
Rabbi Shalom Rosner on The Parsha
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continue reading
Kwentuhan Sessions is a podcast by a Filipino-Chinese couple who’ve been together for over 25 years, sharing honest conversations about love, life, politics, food, and everything in between. Join us every week as we dive into the real stuff—from relationship dilemmas and Filipino culture to current events and random musings over coffee. Whether it’s funny, deep, or a little bit of both, our kwentuhan is always unfiltered and real. 🎙️ New episodes every week 📩 Connect with us on IG/Threads @k ...
…
continue reading
The simplest questions often have the most complex answers. The Philosopher's Zone is your guide through the strange thickets of logic, metaphysics and ethics.
…
continue reading
David Edmonds (Uehiro Centre, Oxford University) and Nigel Warburton (freelance philosopher/writer) interview top philosophers on a wide range of topics. Two books based on the series have been published by Oxford University Press. We are currently self-funding - donations very welcome via our website http://www.philosophybites.com
…
continue reading
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Go offline with the Player FM app!
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