We were camping at the Tom Thorn/Beth Williams Wildlife Habitat Management Area in southern Wyoming when we recorded this, yesterday. It’s raw. It’s real. Maybe you can hear the birds chirping. Anya and I recap the retreat and give some thoughts about being on the road. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers …

Erik’s is the brain behind one of my favorite accounts on Substack, Poetic Outlaws. If I were a woman, I’d be chasing guys like him: smart, tough, adventurous, well-read, sensitive, funny, talented, and way more humble than a guy like that has any right to be. He writes beautifully, takes great photos, has impeccable taste in literature. This is a …

Mark Sisson is widely regarded as the founding father of the ancestral health movement. His number-one-ranked blog and Primal Health Coach Institute have paved the way for primal enthusiasts to take personal responsibility for their health. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episode…

Manvir is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of California, Davis. He holds a bachelor’s degree in human biology from Brown University and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He has studied Indigenous psychedelics use in the Orinoco river basin of Colombia and, since 2014, has conducted ethnographic fieldwork with Mentawai commun…

Eric Czuleger is an author and geopolitical analyst who has lived, worked, and traveled through 47 countries including conflict zones like Iraq, Lebanon, and Somalia. His book You Are Not Here: Travels Through Countries That Don’t Exist covers a year of living in unrecognized countries to find out what a nation is in the first place. This is a publ…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Some of the topics discussed include the fact that I was an illegal immigrant for years, some recent personal health issues, prepping for our trip to Montana, two spots that just opened up for women in the upcoming retreat, avoiding audience capture, seeking beauty…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Let’s get into it! Issues discussed include: Scott Galloway on the sickness of money, David Sedaris on the sickness of fame, Why some people sacrifice intimacy for attention, and Was it hard for me to transition out of my “adventure years” into “settling down?”…

Everyone should have a friend like Josh. Solid dude who knows how things work on both sides of the law. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribeBy Chris Ryan

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com On principled thinking vs tactical thinking. Is AI coming to “save” us or “destroy” us? Is there a middle ground? Can it love us? Comfort us? Thinking of relationship issues in terms of new shoes. Break-in pains or wrong size pains?…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com In which I rip Fareed Zakaria a (new) new one, talk about the abject stupidity of the intelligensia, play a song sung by a bunch of cool alley cats, applaud a Scott Galloway rant on the hypocrisy of the American ruling class and ponder “Dover Beach,” a poem by Matt…

David was raised in a conservative Christian reality that he eventually came to question, without questioning his love and respect for the people around him. How do we negotiate that kind of growth, where we step away from a shared reality without hurting the people we were sharing it with? That’s an eternal question of the highest order. This is a…

Jeff Mauer is the brains behind I Might Be Wrong, here on Substack. He was head writer for Last Week Tonight, with John Oliver and before that, wrote speeches at the EPA. He’s smart, funny, and thoughtful — and savvy enough to shut the fuck up when Chris Rock walks into the room. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other su…

When I first came across his Instagram account, I assumed he was a comedian of some sort, as he is so deft at taking the piss out of the New Age, Shamanic, Mother-Aya nonsense. Then I read his essay on Substack and realized that this dude is very, very smart and his humor — like all the best humor — is fueled by wisdom, compassion, disappointment, …

Anya and Nadia have helped lead our retreats in Montana for the past few years. In this conversation, we talk about the different kinds of movement they’ve studied and teach and how — along with Cameron and Melayne — we try to create a place and time where people can get very real with themselves and each other. Learn more about the event here. Int…

Intro music “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range. “Tear,” by Red Hot Chili Peppers. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribeBy Chris Ryan

Allene would never describe herself in such grand terms, but the fact is that she’s spent a long career in law working hard to defend and promote the fundamental decency that is at the heart of the American justice system — or should be. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, …

Thank you Daniele Bolelli, Douglas Rushkoff, Jesse Damiani, Michael Scarmack, and many others for tuning into my live video with Daniel Pinchbeck! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe…

Erin is closing in on her PhD in Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute. We’ve been very close since 1/1/16 and she’s one of my all-time favorite people. If I get arrested and have one call, her phone might be ringing. She’ll be joining us at the Becoming Uncivilized event at the Budokon compound this summer. Consider joining us! Intro mus…

Thank you Nikita Petrov, Lacey Delayne, Dr Doug, Andrew Ramos, Eamon Cullen, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com In this, the first walking ROMA episode, I ramble: Our world is ruled by unloved men. What’s it mean to be “driven?” Would the spirit of the angry prepper be ok with what we’ve done with his cabin?By Chris Ryan

You know those kids — toddlers, even — where you see the fully-formed person in their eyes? That’s how this guy has always been for me. He was cracking me up and blowing my mind before he could pronounce my name. Smart, kind, and very wise for his age (or any age). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or ge…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com My friend Riley Morton is a film-maker, documentarian, world traveler, back country skier, deep thinker and all-around badass. He and I sat down for about six hours over two days and he picked my brain about who I am, who I’ve been, and the experiences and ideas th…

Does Trump have the wrong answers to the right questions? It feels like things are falling apart, but have they been falling apart for a long time? How long? When did this process of collapse begin? Why do intelligent people sometimes say incredibly stupid things? Intro music “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range. Paid version: Outro: “Politi…

Simon first came on the scene as an MTV personality, then starred in the Scary Movie franchise, appeared in a slew of TV shows, and toured the world as parody rapper, Dirt Nasty. Now he’s appearing in films with the likes of Al Pacino and Vince Vaughn. What a trip! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or ge…

My uncle Dan died on February 13th, my birthday. Here’s a look back at his life and mine. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribeBy Chris Ryan

Young guy writes a Substack piece about his favorite author, Cormac McCarthy. It gets a few reads, and turns out that one of those readers knows old Cormac and actually reads him the piece. In fact, she’s known and loved old Cormac for 40+ years. She corresponds with the young guy and eventually decides he’s the right person to tell her story, whic…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com A few of the questions I ponder in this one: How can we distinguish what’s true for me from what’s just true? How can we tell when the shit’s hitting the fan? Is it always hitting the fan? When is a dress not a dress? How is a bikini like “the N-word?” Was Trump in…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com What does it mean to be a “consenting adult?” (Thoughts on the Neil Gaiman mess.) Why podcast? David Milch: “People who are unable to turn their wishes into passions … sit passively in mute outrage, anticipating disasters.” The original article accusing Gaiman is h…

This conversation was originally recorded in September, 2018, when Theo was famous, but not yet FAMOUS. We talked about his recent trip to China, whether mental health issues can be considered a luxury, the ethics of sleeping with married women, Louis CK’s fall from grace, obscure masturbation techniques, and the strangeness of fame. The main thing…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Cameron has been studying and sharing martial arts, yoga and mobility for over 30 years producing hundreds of highly skilled teachers world wide. He currently lives and runs Budokon University Montana with his wife Budokon University Director Melayne Shayne. Come d…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Pete and I entertain a few questions and we talk by the fire. Among them: What is soul? Is there a purpose in learning these lessons as we get older? Are silence and solitude necessary components to the soul’s maturity? Are silence and solitude even available in a …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Some stuff I didn’t get to yesterday. Who was inside Aubrey Plaza’s consciousness, watching her have a stroke? Do podcasters like Rogan and Theo Von have a responsibility to change what they do in light of their massive audiences? Intro music “Brightside of the Sun…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com A few of the issues stumbled over: The complicated ethics of revenge against a corporation. Yet more evidence that we don’t live in the real world. On old creeps like Woody Allen, Cormac McCarthy, and me. And more! Here’s the article about Cormac McCarthy I mention…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com — Responses to comments on the Wim Hof thing. — Is football like sex work? — How to behave in the End Times. — A few words in defense of Woody Allen and Joe Rogan. — The night Daryl Hanna asked me to sign a copy of Sex at Dawn. Intro music “Brightside of the Sun,” …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Meet me in the kitchen! Anger vs gratitude. The perverse appetite for disaster. Who are we to judge? Intro music “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range. "Roll the Bones,” by Shakey Graves. “Watch it Fall,” by Billy Strings. Tangentially Speaking with Chris Rya…

This was originally episode 122, recorded in Portland, OR, in April, 2015. This conversation is about as uninhibited as they come. We bounce from shitting in Asia to how to compliment someone’s genitals to my experience giving a TED talk to eating disorders to group sex. Never a dull moment with Nikki. I’m so glad to see her getting the attention s…

I met Aaron at the Budokon retreat this summer, and I was immediately impressed by his candor, kindness, and the depth of his intellect. Then, when I learned that he led men’s groups, I thought he’d be a great guest for the podcast, since I know little about that world and, in fact, have some resistance to what often ends up being somewhat exploita…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Try to fix this old house again, or should we burn it down and start over?By Chris Ryan

Deborah and her husband lost everything but their lives and each other when Hurricane Helene washed away their house a few weeks ago. Deborah’s experience of this “emergence” is framed by her experiences as a Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, and author. I greatly appreciate her trust in sharing her thoughts and insights — even while still immersed in th…

Retired in 2016 after five terms as Colorado’s only Green Party county commissioner, Art Goodtimes has worked as a newspaper editor and he had a 40+ year run writing weekly and monthly op-ed columns for print and online publications including the Telluride Times, the San Miguel Journal, the Telluride Times-Journal, the Watch, the Daily Planet, the …

I'm back. Thanks for your love and support over these past few difficult weeks. Intro music “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range. “Into the Mystic,” by Van Morrison. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com This is a continuation of my (I hope) never-ending conversation with Cameron Shayne, martial arts expert, legendary movement/yoga teacher, iconoclast, deep thinker, gentle bad-ass, and all-around awesome dude. Learn more about Cameron and Budokon University, which …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com This is the “director’s cut” of the article I posted a few days ago, tracing the ancient origins of the eternal political debate back to the conflicts between an agricultural approach to social organization and the hunter-gatherer approach. What’s old is new and wh…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Andrew Gold is an investigative journalist, podcaster and filmmaker who has made and presented documentaries for the BBC and HBO. He presents the popular podcast Heretics, where he has interviewed Richard Dawkins, Jon Ronson and David Baddiel amongst many others. H…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Shawn Kubli is an American immunologist and surfer, currently land-locked in Toronto, Ontario. Working in the biotech industry for Treadwell Therapeutics, his research group develops living drugs – cell therapy – that harness the intrinsic power of the immune syste…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Gender controversies at the Olympics. What is a woman? How pronoun preference is like religion and veganism. What is intimacy and how can we nurture it? What is valuable? What is beauty? How is attraction contextual? Intro music “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin an…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Cameron Shayne is considered the father of the Mixed Movement Arts culture. Cameron pioneered the phrase and concept of Budokon Mixed Movement Arts in 2001 by combining the combat arts of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts together with Yoga, Crawling Patte…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com A bit about how 2024 is like 1934 and the appeal of MAGA is like the appeal of Socialism then. Age is sedimentary, not linear. And what to do when heart, spirit, and animal desire don’t align? I love him/her, but I’m not that attracted. How to learn and grow withou…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chrisryan.substack.com Abbey and Liam have been married for over a decade, and have been exploring an open relationship for most of that time. They are unusually thoughtful, open, and articulate about the joys, challenges, and surprises they've encountered along the way. You can learn mo…

Mark is a good dude who has lived a good life. You can see it in his face. Not a life without challenge or disappointment, but a life of meaning and purpose and love and kindness. (How could a “good life” ever be free of challenge and disappointment?) I really enjoy hanging out with this guy. We talk travel, music, film, theater, Manhattan in the 8…