Episode 7 – Robert Earl Stewart: Writing, Running, Poetry, and the Rise and Fall of the RPWA
My guest on today’s show is writer, poet, book-seller, “newpaperist,” and runner Robert Earl Stewart. Robert and I, or Bob as I have always known him, go way back. We both grew up in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. In the mid-1980s when we were 13 and 14 years old, he and I created the Role Playing Wrestling Alliance, an amazing, all-consuming game that was at once part Dungeons and Dragons, WWE/WWF, and repository of our own intense brand of imaginary violence. The game consumed us for two to three years and in some way, had an influence on each of our professional paths.
This week, Robert has a wonderfully-written article coming out about our monstrous and fantastic creation in the upcoming issue of Canadian Notes and Queries (www.notesandqueries.ca ). In this conversation, we get into that (I think the article has several belly laughs), and we end discussing a range interesting topics, including:
It is a fun conversation that I am certain you will enjoy!
Show notes:
Robert on Twitter: https://twitter.com/earlofbob
Robert on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robertearlstewart/
Robert on Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3102353.Robert_Earl_Stewart
Canadian Notes and Queries: www.notesandqueries.ca
Biblioasis: http://biblioasis.com/
Robert’s first poetry book Something Burned Along the Southern Border:http://mansfieldpress.net/2011/09/somethung-burned-along-the-southern-border/
Robert’s second poetry book Campfire Radio Rhapsody:http://mansfieldpress.net/2011/09/campfire-radio-rhapsody/
Book recommendation Y.T.: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25937717-y-t?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true
Book recommendation Exemplary Departures:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27416805-exemplary-departures
Portrait of Robert by Melanie Janisse Barlow (https://twitter.com/mingot and https://www.instagram.com/melaniejanissepaint/)
Episode 6: Alison Taylor: Culture and Corruption
Alison Taylor is, amongst many other things, an expert in anti-corruption. Alison is a Director at an organisation called Business for Social Responsibility (www.bsr.org) and has several years of experience doing consulting work and investigations in this area. She brings a unique perspective to corruption by bringing both analytical and practical lenses to it – and emphasises the important role that organisational culture (i.e. “how things are done around here”) plays. She not only knows her stuff, but explains things clearly and with plenty of interesting stories and examples. I thought it was an excellent conversation and I’m certain you’ll enjoy it.
We covered many areas including:
- What corruption is;
- How and why organisations become “corrupted”;
- Why many currently popular “compliance-led” approaches to corruption are falling short;
- Whistleblowers and why there are so few of them out there;
- Tell-tale signs of corruption (i.e. how to tell if you might be working for, or with, a corrupt organisation);
- Cross-cultural (i.e. non-Western) attitudes towards corruption
Show notes:
- You can find some of Alison’s articles on this topic here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/riskmap/2014/12/11/lighting-up-the-battle-against-corruption/#7e0783416ea5, here: http://globalanticorruptionblog.com/tag/alison-taylor/and here:http://www.fcpablog.com/blog/2015/6/22/alison-taylor-does-competition-cause-corruption.html
- Follow Alison on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FollowAlisonTand Linkedin:http://bit.ly/1UGu8hL
- The book “Beautiful Souls”: http://amzn.to/1o6Lkij
- Article in Rolling Stone, “A Whistleblower’s Horror Story”: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/a-whistleblowers-horror-story-20150218
- The article “The Nature of Corruption”: https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/ifwedp/201359.html
- The site www.ipaidabribe.com
In-betweenisode 3: Bruce Lee, Resilience, Authenticity and Self-Awareness
Thoughts on the relationship between resilience and self-awareness and authenticity, drawing upon one of Bruce Lee’s most famous quotes.
Show notes:
- Bruce Lee’s water quote.
- Article on Bruce Lee and the water principle
- Article on Bruce and self-actualisation
Episode 5: Tarran Kent-Hume: Kayaking the Amazon, Facing Fears, and Chasing Dreams
In this episode, I chat with Adventurer-Athlete Tarran Kent-Hume. Tarran is a veteran of a litany of epic adventures – chasing his dream of becoming a professional footballer in England from his native Australia, completing an Ironman triathlon, organising and competing in the world’s longest 5-a-side football match, climbing Mont Blanc, training and competing in Muay Thai in Thailand, and becoming a fitness model. However, we spend a lot of the show talking how Tarran and his friend Olie Hunter kayaked the length of the Amazon river last year(!) – from its source in the Peruvian Andes to its mouth in Brazil – a total distance of 6,500kms. Wrap your brain around that!
Beyond (or perhaps because of all this), Tarran has a beautiful approach to life that involves tackling his greatest fears. I don’t get inspired easily or cheaply (neither should you!), but it is hard not only to be inspired by Tarran, but to take away some things from his adventures that you can apply to your own. While his core is clearly tough-as-nails, he is very humble, introspective and funny. We have a wide-ranging conversation, heavily anchored in his Amazonian adventure:
The first I had met Tarran was to do this podcast – and I came away having felt that I had known him for a long time. It is a great and engaging conversation. Enjoy!
Show notes:
You can find Tarran on social media here:
Website: http://www.tarrankenthume.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tarran.kent.hume1/?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tarran008
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarran008/
What is this drink masato, that Tarran mentions? This is it:http://bit.ly/1Fbjw0k
Exploring By the Seat of Your Pants: http://www.exploringbytheseat.com/
I butcher Timothy Leary’s famous maxim “Turn on, tune in, drop out”:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn_on,_tune_in,_drop_out
The book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki:http://amzn.to/1W9AbJs
Once again, Nassim Taleb’s The Black Swan: http://amzn.to/1UfpIwI
Episode 4: John Morrison – In the Eye of the Storm
In this episode, I sit down with John Morrison. John is an economist and risk manager and currently a Director at Credit Suisse. John is not only one of the smartest people I know, but he is also a great story teller. He possesses the ability to explain complex phenomena in ways that make them easy to understand.
We talk about:
We reference Michael Lewis’ books a lot:
I mention the book The Hour Between Dog and Wolf
John even drops a couple of film references: