Best David Limon Podcasts (2025)

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How Dan Wang Became America’s Favorite China Expert 1:59:40

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2h ago1:59:40

1:59:40

I interviewed Dan Wang, a writer and analyst whose annual letters from China have become a first draft of modern Chinese history. We talked about how he blends personal observation with deep analysis, how to skip the cliches and write with texture instead, and how classical music and literature have shaped his writing style. What’s unique about Dan…

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The Unexpected Benefits of Chopping Wood, with Nicole Coenen 47:26

20m ago47:26

47:26

Wood chopping is objectively awful for all the obvious reasons: blisters, back aches, over-the-counter painkiller expenses. But that’s not what you remember months later, when the fruits of your labor warm you and your loved ones on a cold winter night. See, wood chopping is really an investment—both in terms of that crackling fire, but also your e…

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How to Make an Algorithm in the Microwave with Poet MAYA SALAMEH 38:26

3d ago38:26

38:26

“Poetry is like one of the great loves of my life, and I think it's probably the longest relationship I'll ever have. I read a lot of poetry. I also wrote these short stories even when I was pretty young, like in second grade, and the stories kept getting shorter and shorter. My family used to go to Damascus in Syria and Lebanon every summer for th…

1
Ada Limón & Joy Harjo: Everything I Learned From The World's Greatest Poets | How I Write 47:24

7d ago47:24

47:24

I interviewed Ada Limón and Joy Harjo, two of America’s most celebrated poets and former U.S. Poet Laureates. We talked about the art of deep listening, how to translate the music of the world into language, and why silence is never empty but always alive. We explored how poetry resists “clock time,” why metaphor is essential to truth, how culture …

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What You Learn Running Toward, Rather Than Away, From a Tornado, With Pecos Hank 47:33

8d ago47:33

47:33

Spend time outdoors, and you’ll eventually spend time in brutal, even scary weather. Dangerous winds, flash flood-inducing rain, and vision-erasing whiteouts are sometimes the cost of entry. By the same token, you’re as likely to remember the upsides to those experience—the belly laughter of relief, the rainbows after the rain, the waist deep powde…

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Empire of AI: Dreams & Nightmares in Sam Altman's Open AI with KAREN HAO 43:40

8d ago43:40

43:40

“My book is called Empire of AI because I'm trying to articulate this argument and illustrate that these companies operate exactly like empires of old. I highlight four features that essentially encapsulate the three things you read. However, I started talking about it in a different way after writing the book. The four features are: they lay claim…

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Why We Need Stories in Times of Crisis: ETGAR KERET on Healing, Connection & Creativity in the Age of AI - Highlights 19:13

14d ago19:13

19:13

“I feel that when you don't tell your story, it's as if you have a limited existence. We can always have some kind of choice, but I'm saying that the story we choose may be the most crucial choice that we make, because this story will affect all the other choices.” Etgar Keret is one of the most inventive and celebrated short story writers of his g…

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Finding Humanity Through Storytelling with Author & Filmmaker ETGAR KERET 1:08:23

14d ago1:08:23

1:08:23

“When I write my stories, I don't want to solve things in life. I just want to persuade myself that there is a way out. Maybe I am in a cell, maybe I'm trapped. Maybe I won't make it, but if I can imagine a plan for escape, then I'll be less trapped because at least in my mind, there is a way. I think that my parents are survivors. They always talk…

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Arabic Literature, Palestine & The Art of Translation with HUDA FAKHREDDINE

14d ago

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“I'm Lebanese. I grew up in Lebanon during the Civil War, and I came to the United States as a graduate student with the intention of going back. I never wanted to stay here. I really thought that my life would happen in Beirut, in a city that I loved and hated in the healthiest of ways. My investments, both literary and intellectual, were rooted t…

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AJR: The Writing Secrets Behind TikTok's Viral Sounds | How I Write 1:31:44

14d ago1:31:44

1:31:44

I interviewed Jack and Ryan from AJR, the band that has built one of the most original voices in modern music. We talked about how they use humor and vulnerability to write songs that connect on a deeper level, why embarrassment is often the best creative compass, how Broadway and magic inspire their live shows, and what they’ve learned about navig…

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Running as Art, With Olympian and Filmmaker Alexi Pappas 43:00

14d ago43:00

43:00

Extreme adaptability and versatility can be found throughout the animal kingdom, but may have found their peak expression in Alexi Pappas. As a runner, Pappas was a two-time All-American for Dartmouth who set a national record running for Greece at the 2016 Olympics. As a performer, she was a member of Dartmouth’s gut-busting Dog Day improv group b…

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Steven Pressfield: The Brutal Truth About Creative Success | How I Write Classic Episode 1:26:17

21d ago1:26:17

1:26:17

Every so often, I’ll re-publish one of my favorite How I Write episodes. This classic episode is with Steven Pressfield, the author of more than 25 books who speaks as beautifully about the creative process as he writes. He waded through 27 years of Resistance so you don’t have to. Come learn his best practices for doing your best work. TIMESTAMPS:…

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Running Toward Love, with Lawlor Coe and Family 31:15

21d ago31:15

31:15

After Lawlor Coe lost his brother Hunter to tragedy, he did everything he could to avoid his pain. Then he laced up his joggers and began to run. At first, it was to elude his grief. But over time, as he began to log miles and miles, he found that the physical suffering he was enduring out on the trail helped him find his way to peace, and then bac…

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Jimmy Soni: Kobe Bryant’s Secret Obsession with Writing | How I Write 1:30:47

28d ago1:30:47

1:30:47

I interviewed Jimmy Soni, who is currently writing a book about Kobe Bryant. He spent six years on his previous book about the origin story of PayPal and has mastered the art of investigative biography. We talked about his 4am writing routine, how he blends research and writing to battle writers block, why he finds the best stories by talking to pe…

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African Surfing and the Ocean as a Source of Joy, with Professor Kevin Dawson 43:54

28d ago43:54

43:54

The blissed out, swell chasing surfer with a single-minded focus on the next great ride is a pervasive outdoorsy archetype that’s completely at odds with the lived experience of many surfers. Take historian Kevin Dawon, a professor at UC Merced, for whom surfing serves as his connection to a rich tradition of African aquatic culture. Dawson is cred…

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The Poetics & Pedagogy of Toni Cade Bambara, June Jordan, Audre Lorde &Adrienne Rich in the Era of Free College w/ DANICA SAVONICK 42:56

29d ago42:56

42:56

“As I was reading Hooks and Freire, a colleague recommended Adrian Rich's essay "Teaching Language in Open Admissions." It was in that essay that I first read about her experiences teaching at CUNY during open admissions, learning that she taught alongside June Jordan, Audre Lorde, and Toni Cade Bambara. Eventually, that essay led me to their archi…

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We Should Have Left Sooner – True Appalachian Horror | Rigor Mortis Paranormal #60 43:23

1M ago43:23

43:23

Rigor Mortis Paranormal Podcast Episode 60 stories include We Should Have Left Sooner – A couple camping deep in the Appalachian Mountains find decapitated animals near their tent before a chilling encounter with something lurking high in the trees, She Crawled Into My Room – A woman recalls terrifying nights as a child when her mother would whispe…

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John Lennox: AI, God & Writing | How I Write 1:00:34

1M ago1:00:34

1:00:34

I interviewed John Lennox, the Oxford mathematician who's spent decades bridging science and faith. We talked about why John 1:1 reveals we live in a word-based universe, how to recognize God-breathed scripture, why scientific explanations don't exclude God, and his fascinating take on AI as humanity's attempt to "make God." He also shared practica…

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What Life in the Grand Canyon Tells Us About Life Everywhere Else, With Cindell Dale 45:55

1M ago45:55

45:55

We love our outdoor archetypes, the folk heroes who reject the trappings of the 9 to 5 life and solely focus on the trail, the powder turn, or the frothing whitewater. River guides live a romantic sunburnt existence, ones in which bucket list adventures are their everyday. It’s not just their ability to read water and navigate huge standing waves d…

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Garrett Hongo Reads Charles Wright 42:04

1M ago42:04

42:04

Garrett Hongo joins Kevin Young to read “T’ang Notebook” by Charles Wright, and his own poem “On Emptiness.” Garrett Hongo is the author of several books of poetry and nonfiction, including “Ocean of Clouds” and “The Perfect Sound: A Memoir in Stereo.” He's received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts,…

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What Do We Do with the One Life We’re Given? - Scientists, Writers, Philosophers & Changemakers Share their Stories 16:09

1M ago16:09

16:09

In this time of rapid technological change, how do we hold onto our humanity? How do stories, traditions, and community help us find meaning in loss and face an uncertain future? How can science, art, and spirituality open new pathways to understanding ourselves and the human experience? PAUL SHRIVASTAVA (Co-President of The Club of Rome) discusses…

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Henrik Karlsson: One of the world’s most under-rated writers | How I Write 1:31:53

1M ago1:31:53

1:31:53

I interviewed Henrik Karlsson, a writer who's developed a five-step method for writing that starts with exploring without pressure and ends with crafting the opening last, after everything else is done. We talked about why looking away from the page improves your writing, how to suck reality into your descriptions, why protecting young ideas from e…

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What’s Harder Than the Ironman World Championship, with Chelsea Sodaro 50:03

1M ago50:03

50:03

We love our stories of human endurance, from Shackleton’s famed expedition to the 11-hour Wimbledon match to days-long ultramarathons. Hell, even the Coney Island Hot Dog eating contest is broadcast on television; that’s just how much we celebrate a person pushing themselves to the brink. But the moments that inspire the most are the ones in which …

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Every Monument Will Fall - DAN HICKS Explores Remembering & Forgetting 55:59

1M ago55:59

55:59

“I work in between archeology and anthropology in this field called either historical archeology or contemporary archeology. At the heart of that is the relationship between objects and humans. How do we write about the past or the present in terms of listening to human voices or evidence from things where maybe human voices have been erased or hav…

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An Evil Among Us – True Horror Stories with Isabel Perez | Rigor Mortis Paranormal #59 1:25:53

2M ago1:25:53

1:25:53

Rigor Mortis Paranormal podcast episode 59 - Author Isabel Perez joins us to share chilling real-life experiences from her book An Evil Among Us: A True Story Based on Actual Events. Hear her terrifying encounters, along with the usual beer-fueled banter and outrageous antics from the RMP crew! Podcast produced by: Robert Limon (host) David Limon (…

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Jayne Anne Phillips: Learn Storytelling from a Pulitzer Winner | How I Write 51:15

2M ago51:15

51:15

I interviewed Jayne Anne Phillips, who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel Night Watch. We dug into passages from her writing that will show you how she thinks about voice, character, and the poetry of great writing. As you listen, I want you to notice something: pay attention to how many times Jane describes writing as a full-bodied e…

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Recreating Hollywood’s Greatest, Dumbest Road Trip Of All Time, with Zack Courts and Ari Henning 28:12

2M ago28:12

28:12

In celebration of summertime road trips, this week we’re revisiting an episode from our archives that is one of PaddyO’s favorites. In 2021, two men set out to do something seemingly impossible. And also pretty dumb. Motorcycle gurus and YouTube stars Zack Courts and Ari Henning would squeeze together, buttcrack to belt buckle, onto a minibike—a ve…

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AI, UFOs, Perception & Reality with Artist, Geographer, Author TREVOR PAGLEN - Highlights 14:14

2M ago14:14

14:14

“If we look at the entire history of the human experience, if you saw some text or you heard some spoken language, you could 100 percent reliably infer that there was a human who created that. Our experience of having that text or that image generated for us is very akin to the experience of a magic trick, and we sort of pre-subconsciously want to …

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How AI is Shaping Perception w/ Artist TREVOR PAGLEN, Author of Trevor Paglen: Adversarially Evolved Hallucinations 55:26

2M ago55:26

55:26

“There's a word for this brain rot, right? I think that's very real. There are studies coming out now that are showing that the more and more of our cognitive labor we offload to AI systems, the less creative we become, the less critical we become, and the less of our human faculties for reason we use. There's something sad about that, but there’s …

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Art, Empathy & Resilience with CADY McCLAIN, Actor, Director, Writer, Artist, Musician - Highlights 11:20

2M ago11:20

11:20

“I had to become the father of my family very young because my parents divorced when I was 12. My situation was a little bit unusual in that my father kind of disappeared, and I had been making a fair amount of money as a kid, doing commercials and television and film. We needed money, and I kind of became the breadwinner. But I had this amazing wo…

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A Life in Acting with Emmy Award-winning Actor, Director, Writer CADY McCLAIN 1:06:02

2M ago1:06:02

1:06:02

“I won my first Emmy when I was 21, which was the result of absolutely devoting myself day and night for two years to doing all the scene work. I attended classes simultaneously and did plays until my mother died. I studied with Michael Howard for eight years. Even when I was so tired I couldn't get up to do a scene, he would say, "Get up and do a …

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Rosanne Cash: Writing Masterclass from 4x Grammy Winner | How I Write 1:07:59

2M ago1:07:59

1:07:59

I interviewed Rosanne Cash, a 4-time Grammy winner who's been writing songs for over 40 years. She's mastered something most writers struggle with: turning raw emotion into beautiful, lasting songs. She writes songs like a painter, starting with visual images, and brings the same rhythmic approach to both music and prose. We talked about how to tur…

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Getting Outside of the Hollywood Star Machine, with Tony Cavalero 42:36

2M ago42:36

42:36

Famous Hollywood actors aren’t outdoorsy, right? They’re too busy being…well, famous to enjoy the outdoors and certainly too fancy to listen to a podcast about the surprising impacts of a life outside, aren’t they? Turns out, HBO’s “The Righteous Gemstones” star, Tony Cavalero, is a longtime listener of the Outside Podcast because he’s been obsesse…

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Exploring Organic, Biodynamic & Regenerative Agriculture with LOUIS DE JAEGER - Highlights 11:50

2M ago11:50

11:50

“We as humans can destroy things in a couple of years that have taken thousands or even millions of years to form. So in the snap of a finger, we can destroy so much work. That's an observation I’ve seen in all biomes, and it's pretty scary. On the other hand, nature regenerates pretty fast. It heals itself. If humans help this healing process, it …

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SOS: Save Our Soils: How regenerative food & farming will save your health & the planet w/ LOUIS DE JAEGER 1:02:35

2M ago1:02:35

1:02:35

“The Earth started as one big rock, and soil did not exist. Without soil, you can't really grow trees or any crops whatsoever. We are depleting soils super fast, and it is predicted that in less than 25 years, 90% of our soils will be degraded. We as humans, we can destroy things in a couple of years that have taken thousands or even millions of ye…

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Abolish Silicon Valley—How to Liberate Technology from Capitalism 48:54

2M ago48:54

48:54

“Abolishing Silicon Valley means freeing the development of technology from a system that will always relegate it to a subordinate role, that of entrenching existing power relations. It means designing a new system that isn't deluged in the logic of the bucket. It means liberating our worlds from the illegitimate ring of capital. Perhaps this sound…