One of my favourite podcast episodes ever is this interview with Czech economist Tomas Sedlacek from BBC Radio 4. Here’s a Sedlacek quote from that conversation: “Two, three years ago I got very often seriously asked by educated business people from Germany, Switzerland, France – everywhere – ‘Look at China. Shouldn’t we also a little […]
I had planned on writing this post later next week, but given the guffawing over this New York Times article, which asks a very fair question about the state of podcasting, I figured screw it. The article — which you should read right now — starts with two twenty-something millennials in New York who start […]
I have a weird history with dreams. My first memory was a dream. It was when I was three, and in it, I fell down an escalator. I guess it’s kind of weird that my first memory wasn’t one of the conscious world. What’s even weirder is that it’s such an incredible metaphor for my […]
I have two loves — Forensic Files and podcasts. Forensic Files is a non-fiction true crime TV show. It takes a “whodunit” approach to the cases it covers, so it starts with a victim and ends with a murderer. Of course, this means you spend most of the half hour coming up with your own […]
One of the most important things I learned in school is that if a word or term can mean anything, it also means nothing. And so it is with “long-form journalism” in an age where web series, podcasts, blog posts and more can be created easily and quickly. Scrolling through social media I’ve had to […]
Languages have never been my strong suit. An assumption many Canadians have run into abroad, myself included, is that most people in our country are bilingual. I’ve found that many non-Canadians believe this in spite of knowing that exactly one province in our federation is majority francophone. “But isn’t it taught in all the schools?” […]
I’ve been back from Southeast Asia for about three weeks now. Many of you have wondered what’s happened to my serialized memoir on this blog. You’ve probably seen a lot of my posts on social media, so you might have a sense of my experiences over the past month or so, but little reflection on […]
A lot’s happened since I last posted. For one thing, I’m now writing to most of you from the other side of the world! Second, and more important, I just finished my first week training at an authentic muay Thai camp.
In less than 24 hours I’ll be off to explore a new continent, off to fulfill a decade-long dream. I would do the normal thing and say that it feels “surreal”, but it doesn’t. I don’t want to ascribe myself some sort of high-minded quest. I’m just a farang from the suburbs of Toronto trying to […]
On Monday, I got a Facebook message from Kiatphontip Gym in Bangkok. I can only assume I was speaking with the owner/manager. He wanted to confirm my plans for next week and arrange transportation from the airport to the gym. Shit, this is, like, real.
Richard Raycraft 