Summary of Rolf Potts Interview: Part 2 (Full Episode) | The Tim Ferriss Show (Podcast)

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00:00:00 - 01:00:00

In the second part of his interview with Tim Ferriss, Rolf Potts discusses his work as a writer and how his travels have taught him about writing well. He recommends books on writing, screenwriting, and personal essays, and shares his experience writing a screenplay with zombies. He also talks about the importance of having different relationships to success, and how his Ivy League education helped shape his idea of what counts as successful.

00:00:00 Rolf Potts, author of Vagabonding World, discusses how his travels have taught him about writing well. He recommends books on writing, screenwriting, and personal essays.
00:05:00 Rolf Potts, a writer, recommends that beginners approach storytelling by studying Joseph Campbell's monomyth and by getting lost. He also recommends avoiding writing for business, as it can stifle creativity.
00:10:00 Rolf Potts, a travel writer and former night owl, discusses how seeking out mild discomfort or uncomfortable situations helps him to "uncover language difficulties and one of my favorite ways to do this is typically a night owl, but when I travel I try to switch it up so I'd like to try to wake up early in some cases." He talks about how early morning walks with old Greek men in small Greek islands inspired him to start writing about travel, and how flitting, or being constantly in a state of flux, is a concept invented in his hometown of Paris.
00:15:00 Rolf Potts, a travel writer, discusses the importance of walking and exploring a city in a psychogeographical way. He also discusses his experience teaching in Paris and the students he teaches.
00:20:00 The Tim Ferriss Show host, Rolf Potts, interviews a student who has taken the Parisian Writing Course, which varies in size from year to year and capped at 32 students. The student shares how the course has helped them to find humility and confidence as a writer, and how being in a group of writers has helped to fuel their creativity.
00:25:00 Rolf Potts, a 38-year-old successful writer, recommends trying different creative activities to keep yourself fresh and inspired. He shares his experience writing a screenplay with zombies. If his previous screenplay was any indication, it's likely his next project will be a success.
00:30:00 Rolf Potts, a travel writer, discusses the importance of having different relationships to success, and how his Ivy League education helped mold his idea of what counts as successful. He also talks about how his background as a middle-class family led him to appreciate and focus less on material success.
00:35:00 Rolf Potts, a Yale professor, discusses his experiences at the school and how it has shaped his career. He also discusses the criticism that Dave Chappelle and John Hughes faced for turning down large sums of money.
00:40:00 Rolf Potts, a successful business owner, recommends that people manage their success by taking time for themselves, enjoying life, and not comparing themselves to others. He also recommends watching a documentary about a man who fought grizzly bears.
00:45:00 The Tim Ferriss Show interviewed Rolf Potts, who discussed his 13 years living with grizzly bears in Alaska. He noted that one reason he liked Grizzly Man was because it was an interesting experiment in storytelling, and that Verner Hertzog is a brilliant role model for using narrative to tell a profound story about human nature and the people who go against human nature and nature itself. He also shared his thoughts on the movie Conair, which he saw on a bus in Syria 14 years ago and which has since become a part of his emotional experience of the Syrian people.
00:50:00 Rolf Potts, a writer and entrepreneur, discusses the books he has gifted to others the most well. He mentions Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass as a particularly meaningful gift to young adults and his friends, and Stuart Dashell, a poet from Jersey. He also recommends Michael Robbins's poetry book, Alien Versus Predator.
00:55:00 Ralph Potts, a poet, discusses his work and how people can learn more about it. He also discusses his book club and how to join it.

01:00:00 - 01:00:00

In the second part of his interview with Tim Ferriss, Rolf Potts talks about how his book Vagabonding has impacted his life and how it has helped him to steer in a positive direction. He also discusses his experiences using 99designs to create graphic designs and the viral video he put out about how to travel the world with 10 pounds or less.