Tangentially Speaking with Christopher Ryan

Together with Saagar Enjeti, Krystal Ball co-hosts Rising, a show featuring sharp political analysis seemingly free of commercial bias. Ball has worked for over a decade as a political consultant, analyst, and journalist -- having appeared on MSNBC, Real Time with Bill Maher, Fox News, and elsewhere.

Rick Beato is a multi-instrumentalist, music teacher, producer, dad to Layla and Dylan, and host to three deaf animals (2 dogs and a cat). His YouTube show (What Makes This Song Great?) is the best guide to the magic and mystery of music I know.

Matt and Winston lived in China for years, learning to speak the language, love the people, and distrust the government. Their insights are surprising and fascinating. 

A reading and discussion of "What You Can't Say," a very powerful essay by Paul Graham, that shows the importance of tolerating thoughts and statements that may be "offensive," "inappropriate," and/or "heretical." More importantly, Graham shows how to find wisdom in our taboos and prohibited speech and thoughts.

Bryan Callen is an American actor, comedian, and podcaster. He's also a very smart guy.

My discussion of "Cat Person," by Kristen Roupenian. The story offers a subtle, nuanced look at power, eroticism, and the confusion that often results when a man and a woman try (and fail) to understand each other, taking us inside the heads of people who share physical space -- but are miles apart. 

"Cat Person" offers a subtle, nuanced look at power, eroticism, and the confusion that often results when a man and a woman try (and fail) to understand each other, taking us inside the heads of people who are together -- and yet miles apart.

Mike had a tennis scholarship to college, but things went a different way. Within a few years, he was helping to run Reality Kings, one of the biggest Internet porn companies in the world, and managing the career of Kimbo Slice, who Rolling Stone called "The King of the Web Brawlers."

This first episode of What Makes This Book Great (WMTBG) features "The Liar," one of my favorite short stories, by Tobias Wolff.

Unhinged opening rant from the good people at Profit-Driven Pharmaceuticals, followed by a lot of nonsense and good tunes.

Eli and his buddy, Jesse, run Back to Earth, an organization created to take groups of boys and young men into the wilderness for ten days and nights. What happens is powerful, magical, and utterly natural.

Jody Armour teaches law at USC, but don't think this dude is some dry, boring, law professor type. Hell no. Jody's father taught himself law in prison and Jodi struggled to get where he is today. There's no chance of his ever forgetting where he came from. We talk about race, language, justice, shame, and redemption. Zero fluff in this one.

I caught up with Zofia in Patong, Phuket (Thailand), along her journey from Poland on her motorcycle. She's a fascinating woman, who's been riding bikes -- with and without motors -- all over the world for years. Her courage and hunger for life are inspirational. Plus, she's a lot of fun to hang out with!

Richard survived the surgery -- or did he? When he regained consciousness, his memory was wiped clea Nothing remained of his life before that day. No memory of his wife, children, friends ... nothing. His life was effectively over, but another was just beginning.

Georgy Gusev is a graduate of the famed Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He performs at major music festivals and events around the world. He does things with a cello that are unimaginable until you hear/see him perform.