MAKE MOVES

Jay Ruttenberg – Editor of The Lowbrow Reader and Connoisseur of Tasteless Humor. Jay's love of the movie Billy Madison prompted him to start a zine dedicated to lowbrow humor, and in the process he invented a new cultural space for the finest journalists in America to write about comedy.

• How the movie Billy Madison changed his life
• How he transitioned from writing about indie rock to starting a comedy zine
• How the rough exterior of punk rock was a trojan horse for smart culture, and how comedy works the same way
• The difference between working with friends and famous people
• Interviewing one of the Beatles
• How he got connected to Drag City, and how the Drag City aesthetic influenced his thinking
• Why the Lowbrow Reader has to be great or it isn't worth doing at all
• Balancing a two-decade zine project with his day job of writing for publications like New Yorker magazine
• Lessons learned the hard way
• People who changed his life but didn't know it

With permission of Drag City, this episode features the title cut off of King Kong's album Me Hungry.

Guerrilla Girls – Feminist Art-Activists, Creative Complainers, and Hashtag Heroes. Anonymous, but hilarious, female artists tackle discrimination and equity issues in the art world. Their super power – creative complaining – has moved the needle and may be a model of effective protest and activism for many of the troubling issues of our time.

S2 Ep. 16 feat. Ben Monder – Enigmatic Guitar Hero & Black-box for Brilliant Music. Guided by a singular ear for music, Ben's sound is unmistakeable and breathtaking. His solo releases have created an entirely new vocabulary for guitar. His skills as a sideman have earned him work supporting artists as varied as David Bowie, Jack McDuff, Paul Motian, Billy Childs, and Maria Schneider.

• His freely improvised album Amorphae
• Acceptance of being a really slow worker
• Working on David Bowie's final album
• Musicians he admires
• Feeling like he always needs to play catch-up
• The privileges and responsibilities of being an artist
• Thriving on comfort
• Perfectionism
• How creative risks aren't really risks if taking them isn't optional.

With permission, this episode features the following music by Ben…

S2 Ep.15: Bob Oswaks - Sr. entertainment executive turned master artisan baker. From President of International Marketing for Sony to Proprietor of Bob's Well Bread Bakery and Cafe: a story of transition, passion, crust, and crumb.

Bob discusses:

• His transition from being the President of International Marketing for Sony Pictures Television to being the Proprietor of Bob's Well Bread Bakery and Café
• Leaving at the top of one industry and rising to the top of another industry
• A conversation he had with Norman Lear about change
• How he did research and 104 weekly homework assignments to write the business plan for his bakery
• Grieving losses and moving on to a more satisfying life
• When his friends in the bakery world told him he was crazy for starting his own bakery… but he did it anyway
• The difference between getting recognition in the bakery vs. the entertainment industry
• Creating a brand
• His failure-is-not-an-option mindset
• Feeding people's souls

With permission, this episode features the tune Black Sheep by Big Lazy off their album Don't Cross Myrtle.

S2 Ep.14: Michael Brubeck - The King of Cannabis, CEO of Centuria, & Author of Tipping the Scale.

Michael discusses:

• The conditions of the $200B worldwide cannabis market
• Why he focused his business model on the supply side of the cannabis industry
• How his company, Centuria, scaled up to be the largest cannabis manufacturer in North America, and is currently growing more than all of Canada AND Washington AND Colorado COMBINED
• His approach to enrolling the smartest minds in the world to develop state-of-the-art growing techniques
• What it felt like when the US Attorney General was threatening him with life in jail
• Why he thinks "a better way" is always possible
• The Maverick 1000
• The advantages and disadvantages of creativity in business
• Using daily routine to maximize creativity
• How the worst day of his life was the best day of his life
• His father's role in his life
• Meditating
• Why he's not afraid to share his knowledge and ideas in his book Tipping the Scale: The book that changed everything you know about investing in cannabis

With permission of Ropeadope Records, this episode features the song Killaweed off Angelo Moore and the Brand New Step's album Centuries of Heat.