What I'm Reading, Nov 2022
Maia Szalavitz, Liz Goldwyn, John Paul Brammer, Tim Kreider, Holly Whitaker, Connor Beaton / Mantalks, Bill Maeda, Jamie Wheal, and Bill McKibben on why we need to stop setting things on fire.
Reading
Unbroken Brain — Maia Szalavitz quit cocaine & heroin in 1988 and in this book lays out her very convincing case for understanding addiction as a learning disorder. She also makes a nuanced and very helpful critique of the 12-step methodology.
Sex, Health, and Consciousness — Liz Goldwyn is host of thesexed podcast and in this sweet, honest, personal book makes the case that "Your sexual energy is one and the same as your creative energy.” I appreciate her tender and balanced inclusion of men, and also her nuanced definition of love as informed by her experience of aloha, as well as the connection that she makes between love and intuition. Finally, she introduced me to the term ecosexuality, which I had just been calling “Nature Boner.”
¡Hola Papi!: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons —
advice columnist @WashingtonPost and on Substack and his unique advice/memoir, super funny, honest, tender, charming really, and some great writing, as well as bits of philosophy such as "I don't attempt something I can't do."Our Greatest Political Novelist? —
on Kim Stanley Robinson’s ShamanDepression as Bliss—an explanation of ‘Dakini Bliss’ by
Big 'T', Little 't', Silent 'V', and Programming—The four ways our minds are shaped by outside influences by
from .The Backhanded Homage—A surf exploration through the Shumagin Islands, Alaska by
Gender is Complex... Let's Keep it That Way by from
byPushing Everyone Into College was a Policy Response to Other Policy by
The
byListening
This Is The Most Valuable Masculine Trait… on the Mantalks podcast — on how one of the core traits of masculinity is non-conformity & the paradox that finding oneself as part of the collective requires finding oneself as a distinct individual.
Sex + Creativity w/ Liz Goldwyn on the Sex with Emily podcast — I like how Liz (author of Sex, Health & Consciousness), equates sexual and creative energy, and also how she talks about the sexual energy that come with being in nature.
Why Men Don't Trust Each Other on the Remaking Manhood podcast.
Kim Stanley Robinson interviewed on the Ezra Klein show.
Carl Erik Fisher with Dr Steven C Hayes on addiction, recovery and “psychological flexibility” — being “open, grounded, and committed to values-based action.”
Ezra Klein with Bill McKibben on how we need to stop setting things on fire, and “If you know a young person who wants to do something that’s going to help the world, and wants to make a good living at the same time, tell them to go become an electrician.”
Watching
Bill Maeda on Instagram
Tony Hawk: Until The Wheels Fall Off — great doc about the guy who we all hated for no reason for a little while, simply because he was so good—and he turned out to be the best of all time.
Rainbow Plant Life, great vegan cooking recipes!
America's Longest Paragliding Flight in 2022 by
— this is what I'd be doing with one of the five parallel lives I'd love to have. From Pine Mountain near Bend, Oregon almost to Susanville!Stuff I’m Using
My friend Bill’s ‘ancient grains’ — a 1:1:1:1 mix of oat groats, hulled barley, rye kernel and kamut. It’s delicious, much healthier than rice, and Dr Bill swears it will make you live longer!
Given my recent bout of sciatica, I’m giving barefoot shoes a shot again. Check out the Shoespiracy and you may feel to do the same. My favorites are Vivobarefoot, not least of which because their UK offices used to be on the same street as my little office in London! Get 25% off with this link: https://vivobarefoot.mention-me.com/m/ol/uu1kr-bowen-dwelle
I’ve also started using Mastodon as an alternative to Twitter. Hopefully Mastodon, or one of the other alternatives, will gain enough traction to give challenge to the advertising-industrial-economy social platforms. You can find me at @bowendwelle@writing.exchange
My Own Writing and Podcast
E11 / Generative Action with Fernando Desouches — The New Macho, the "man box" of traditional and progressive masculinity, sustainability in marketing, leading through service, generative action, equality, and how being childfree is a brave choice.
Screaming in Pain—and Laughing in Wonder — Sciatica, synthetic opioids, Dakini Bliss, mind over matter, The Donnas, Holly Whitaker, Maia Szalavitz, fondue, and a floating home.
What I’ve Learned from Ten Brothers and Teachers — Adam Gayner, Roddy McDowell, Lucas Krump, T Callahan, Bob Conlin, Anthony David Adams, Robert Ellis, Kenyon Phillips, Noah Rainey, and James Brown on masculinity, identity and love.
E10 / Everyday Flow with James Brown — Flow, presence, Vedic meditation, intuition, fatherhood, adoption, giving things up, moving past alcohol, freedom, discipline, becoming a disciple of values, masculinities and identities...
A Five-Minute Love Affair with Natural Wine — I still love wine... I just don't drink it any longer.
An Update on Writing Tools…and moving to Logseq — Moving from Zotero, Day One, Goodreads, iThoughts and Notes... all to Logseq
E09 / The Adventure of Young Fatherhood with Noah Rainey — A commitment to joy and fun, the power of invitation, embodied virtues, exploring the territory of fear, unexpected fatherhood, rites of passage, the opportunity to struggle, conscious relationships—and kitesurfing!
You can find all the past editions of What I’m Reading right here.