John Roderick – Musician, Podcaster, Writer

UPDATE: In the intervening years since this interview came out, my old podcast, Aravinda Show, has been retired. To listen to this classic episode, see the episode list over at the Patreon collection page →

Today I present a big, juicy conversation with John Roderick, podcaster, speaker, and co-founder of the band The Long Winters. I’ve been listening to his shows for almost 10 years—at this point, he’s a legendary podcaster.

In this episode, our conversation flows to some unpredictable places, sprinkled with just enough ALOHA, including a great object lesson on how green sea turtles don’t swim against the flow, they work with it. (Although John’s young daughter was apparently not impressed.)

We talk about his transition from Alaska to Seattle, and John accidentally hits on an undercurrent, a theme of Season 3 of this show that I hadn’t realized before: the power of our Yin side and LISTENING instead of always doing. (We also learn about #SurfaceYIN.)

By the way, you can support this podcast, my spontaneous Hawaii podcast, and ALL the great work, on Patreon! When you support my work, you get unreleased in-person interviews, including a brief aftershow with John!, behind-the-scenes photos, and full early versions of my Hawaii action memoir Ten Thousand Hours in Paradise. There are also HoloHoloTime episodes there, too, and those are free. Check it out 🌺 →  https://Patreon.com/HelloCrusoe/

For fans of John’s podcasts, they know that his father, a former Washington State legislator and World War II veteran, comes up from time to time. John’s impression of him is forever stuck in my mind, and in this interview, we get a bit more of the story behind his father encouraging him to “go practice the car,” often with hilarious results. John also touches on how not having a plan can be a good thing, freeing us from assumptions about the future. We start to wrap it up by talking about reconciling our inner voice with our outer voice, how craving creates a slippery slope, and a seldom-discussed side of ALOHA.

Is there a Space Wisdom? John shares his thoughts, and I can’t wait to hear yours.

Enjoy, and be sure to SUBSCRIBE.

Show Notes

1. John’s podcast “Roderick on the Line”
2. The Famous episode “Go Practice the Car”
3. Space Songs Live Stream put on by the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum
4. Andrew on Back to Work’s only call-in episode
5. John Roderick on The Merlin Show (an early video podcast)
6. The BIG tweet that John talked about (Retweeted by Mark Hamill)
7. John’s song “Ultimatum” on YouTube
8. His new Western State Hurricanes record, streaming now!
9. John on Instagram (RECOMMENDED)
10. More photos of John at Laura Duffy’s photography page!
11. My TRUE HAWAII adventure that we discussed: Ten Thousand Hours in Paradise. Get the first 20% for free, including the chapter about my visit to a lava lake →
12. Support this podcast (& get unreleased in-person interviews, including a brief aftershow with John!) by supporting my work on Patreon. There are also free HoloHoloTime episodes there, too, mahalo 🌺 →  https://Patreon.com/HelloCrusoe/