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Leif Pettersen Makes a Podcast Podcast

Leif Pettersen Makes a Podcast Podcast

By Leif Pettersen

Writing, travel, "odd jobs," Dracula, juggling and commentary that will probably only interest a handful of my closest friends. Also, funny.
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Odd Jobs: Circus Performer with Gena Shvartsman Cristiani

Leif Pettersen Makes a Podcast PodcastNov 24, 2020

00:00
01:08:45
Prepping for sane people with Joshua Samuel Brown

Prepping for sane people with Joshua Samuel Brown

In this episode we talk about (sane) measures people can take to to prepare for temporary interruptions in normal society due to climate-related disasters, civil unrest, power grid failures, government instability and, well, name a thing. 

Joshua Samuel Brown is the author of Spinning Karma (a Buddhist Comedy), Formosa Moon, Vignettes of Taiwan, How not to Avoid Jet Lag (and other tales of travel madness). He's also co-authored thirteen guidebooks for Lonely Planet. Visit him online at www.josambro.com.

Here are a few of the books from climate futurist Kim Stanley Robinson Joshua mentioned:

New York 2140

2312

Green Mars, Red Mars, Blue Mars trilogies

Please support this show by using the affiliate links above. Thank you.

Dec 08, 202153:26
Winter is coming and I'm still single with Callie McMillan

Winter is coming and I'm still single with Callie McMillan

This was an unexpectedly enlightening conversation about dating during covid (and winter). Callie had a bunch of suggestions for apps, friend set-ups, making Zoom dates less awkward and much more that had never occurred to me. I hope you learn as much as I did.

Callie McMillan is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at the Relationship Therapy Center, a place dedicated to helping people grow in health and happiness in their important relationships. Through the integration of empirically informed couples therapy and a willingness to go beyond the normal bounds of couples therapy, Callie and her colleagues tailor their services to the needs of each individual client and relationship. Callie got her master's degree at the University of Wisconsin-Stout where she studied sex therapy in addition to systemic family and relationship therapy.

Oct 28, 202159:40
The Minneapolis Department of Public Safety charter amendment, AKA "defund the police," with Naomi Kritzer

The Minneapolis Department of Public Safety charter amendment, AKA "defund the police," with Naomi Kritzer

In this episode, I talk to Naomi Kritzer about the Minneapolis Department of Public Safety amendment to the city charter, AKA “defund the police,” that the people of Minneapolis will be voting on in November. We get into the history and the details of the proposed amendment (and why the Minneapolis city council currently can't share those details) and straighten out the misconceptions being paraded through the media as the country watches.

Naomi Kritzer is a science fiction writer who's also been writing about politics since sometime in the early 2000s. She started out just researching her own ballot, then sharing her notes with her LiveJournal friends, and expanded because people were interested in her opinions. She emphasizes that she has no particular qualification for this beyond strong opinions, solid skills at Internet research, and a blog. She lived in Minneapolis from 1995 through 2012, and now lives in Saint Paul. She has two children, one in high school and one in college, and currently has four cats.

Naomi's books:

Catfishing on CatNet

Chaos on CatNet

Both books are usually available from Dreamhaven and from the current mail-order-only incarnation of Uncle Hugo’s.

Oct 18, 202156:14
Travel media in the age of COVID with Jenna and Micah from Wander The Map

Travel media in the age of COVID with Jenna and Micah from Wander The Map

In this episode, we talk about the delicate world of travel media (i.e. being travel influencers) in the age of COVID. How it stated, how it's going and how they managed to keep working through most of it. 

Jenna and Micah Kvidt are photographers and videographers who travel the world in search of adventure which they feature on the travel blog Wander The Map. One of their favorite things to do is to capture stories, both visual and written, through the people, cultures and destinations they visit. They're also in the process of launching Kvidt Creative, which will focus on their commercial video and photographer work which I can say from firsthand experience is fantastic.

Wander The Map (website)

YouTube

Instagram

Twitter

Facebook

Oct 07, 202155:39
Will travel ever be the same with Sheila Scarborough

Will travel ever be the same with Sheila Scarborough

In this episode, I chat with Sheila Scarborough about her recent blog post "Will travel ever be the same?" We also discuss why social responsibility is becoming a factor for leisure travelers and how destination marketing organizations are countering over-tourism. 

Sheila Scarborough is a speaker, trainer, and writer specializing in tourism, travel, and social media. Along with Leslie McLellan, she's part of the Tourism Currents team, offering online and in-person training in social media marketing for tourism, hospitality, and economic development.

She co-founded and still writes for the award-winning Perceptive Travel blog, helps run #tourismchat on Twitter and Facebook, serves on the Advisory Board for the South by Southwest conference and also serves on both the Education Committee for the Texas Association of CVBs and the Legislative Committee for the Texas Downtown Association.

A U.S. Navy veteran and Navy Master Training Specialist, Sheila is an NHRA drag racing fan because there's one winner, one loser, and no whining.

Sheila's Social media chanels:

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

Sep 16, 202157:15
The ups and downs of van life with Jarrod Tocci

The ups and downs of van life with Jarrod Tocci

In this episode, Jarrod and I talk about the ups and downs of van life, loneliness, helpful resources, the current van building bubble and how to get decent internet in your van.

Jarrod Tocci is a YouTube content creator, a comedian and one of those crazy people who decided to live in a self built van. He's a proud enabler for people who are not only considering van life, but also considering building their own van homes with no previous experience, myself included, which sounds like it's equal parts exciting and ripe for disaster. His YouTube channel focuses on van life, particularly walk-through tours of other people's vans and chatting about van life in general, like how to stealth camp in a city.

Jarrod's YouTube channel

Jul 16, 202101:31:37
The state of travel blogging in 2021 with Tim Leffel
Jul 01, 202150:33
The Statesider US domesitc travel newsletter with Doug Mack

The Statesider US domesitc travel newsletter with Doug Mack

The Statesider is a wonderful email newsletter that shares curated and original stories about America and Americana, including many topics you didn't know you cared about 10 seconds earlier. It's a treasure trove of great storytelling.

Doug Mack is a Minneapolis-based writer and the author of The Not-Quite States of America, published by Norton in 2017. He also wrote the super fun Europe on Five Wrong Turns a Day.

He has written for The New York Times, Slate, and Time. He also writes Snack Stack, a newsletter about snacks from around the world.

Jun 17, 202151:02
I have two big announcements that will change the world forever (not for you, for me)
May 16, 202109:43
What's the deal with travel in 2021 with Johnny Jet
May 12, 202123:29
The post-covid remote working boom with Nora Dunn

The post-covid remote working boom with Nora Dunn

In this episode, I talk to Nora Dunn about the post-COVID remote working boom and the tantalizing options this trend presents for people.

Nora Dunn (aka The Professional Hobo) is one of the original Lifestyle Travel Bloggers, having sold everything she owned in 2006 to travel full-time. She traveled full-time for 12 years, and while she now has a home base in Toronto, she continues to take short and long-term trips (pandemics notwithstanding). She combines her expertise as a former Certified Financial Planner with her lifestyle travel experience, to teach people how to travel full-time/long-term in a financially sustainable way, which has allowed her to live and travel in over 60 countries.

She also saved over $100,000 getting free accommodation around the world, and she has documented that expertise in her book “How to Get Free Accommodations Around the World” which is now in it's third edition.

Apr 20, 202152:17
A reading from "The First (Failed) Travel Food Show"

A reading from "The First (Failed) Travel Food Show"

In which I read a short deleted section from my new ebook The First (Failed) Travel Food Show. 

In 2003, Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations premiered on the Travel Channel, unleashing a deluge of travel food shows that continues to this day.

Nearly a decade earlier, a ragtag group of marginally qualified noobs landed in Morocco to shoot the pilot for the first (failed) travel food show. I was one of those noobs.

*The link above is an affiliate link. Please use it 

Mar 25, 202106:03
I got the COVID vaccine, now what? with Jill Burcum
Feb 10, 202101:04:44
Middle-aged and single during COVID with Theresa Benoit

Middle-aged and single during COVID with Theresa Benoit

In this episode we talk about dating while middle-aged, dating during COVID and dating while middle-aged during COVID. Theresa had some great insight and suggestions that hadn't ever occurred to me, despite my many years in the dating pool. Best of all, you get a keyhole view of the nonstop thrill ride of dating me. (Spoiler Alert: It's less those things and more of a slow, low-pitch escalator that needs frequent repairs.)

Theresa M. Benoit –Theresa is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the Co-Founder of the Relationship Therapy Center, a place dedicated to helping people grow in health and happiness in their important relationships. Through the integration of empirically informed couples therapy, VIP customer service, and a willingness to go beyond the normal bounds of couples therapy – the therapists at The Relationship Therapy Center tailor their services to the needs of each individual client and relationship. Theresa is also the Co-Creator of the trademarked Intensive Couples Counseling program, the Relationship Therapy Center's highest level of service, provided by their most experienced therapists for couples who need change now.


Jan 20, 202155:29
Odd Jobs: Professional poker player Jan Fisher

Odd Jobs: Professional poker player Jan Fisher

In this episode we hear about Jan's incredible career in poker, spanning more than 40 years. We also learn how poker has changed in that time, what it takes to go pro and some advice as to what NOT to do. (Basically everything you see the hat-on-backwards kids doing on "World Series of Poker.")

Jan Fisher began her poker career in 1977 as a dealer. She has worked in many cardroom positions and is currently a partner in Card Player Cruises. This is where she currently spends most of her "working" time and she loves every minute of it.

Jan was the statistician for the World Poker Tour for its first six seasons and taught WPT Boot Camps around the country. She co-founded the Tournament Directors Association and was on the Board of Directors for the Poker Players Alliance and even lobbied on "the hill" for internet gaming on many occasions. She co-founded Poker Gives, a charity to assist poker players to easily donate to those less fortunate and travels extensively as a host for the Ladies International Poker Series and the Senior Poker Tour. Her accomplishments in poker were honored when she was inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame in 2009.

Books to read if you want to learn more about poker:

Please support this podcast by using the affiliate links above.

Jan 05, 202156:29
Odd Jobs: Contortionist Leah Orleans

Odd Jobs: Contortionist Leah Orleans

In this episode, Leah explains how she got into contortion, how it takes phenomenal patience (and a little pain) for even small improvements in contortion and how even adults can explore contortion. Not me, mind you, but normal people.

Leah Orleans has traveled the country teaching fitness and flexibility while performing contortion and partner acrobatics in her comedy circus show, Acrobatrix! With a passion for making people laugh, she's performed to standing ovations on cruise ships, festivals and military bases. A Chicago native, she began training Mongolian contortion technique at 9 years old and has continued to study under coaches all across the world including Montreal, San Francisco, and New York.

Acrobatrix Patreon

The ABCs of Fitness

Cheryl Birch (contortionist)

Dec 16, 202055:08
Odd Jobs: Burlesque performer Annemarie Dooling
Dec 09, 202056:19
How juggling literally makes you smarter

How juggling literally makes you smarter

In this episode I flog my juggling memoir, THROWING UP: NOTES FROM 35 YEARS OF JUGGLING, by reading a section of the "Let's get mental" chapter, which summarizes studies indicating that juggling causes development in gray and white brain matter. 

Buy the book!

Please support this podcast by using the affiliate links above.

Dec 02, 202008:27
Odd Jobs: Circus Performer with Gena Shvartsman Cristiani
Nov 24, 202001:08:45
Burst appendix: Worst pain ever or just living nightmare?
Nov 19, 202026:41
Odd Jobs: Travel Writer/Editor Spud Hilton

Odd Jobs: Travel Writer/Editor Spud Hilton

In this episode, we talk about Spud's time as the travel editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, traveling with sex toys, why SEO is effectively con to get people to read stuff they wouldn't otherwise read, the origin of the word “staycation,” and how humor makes writing more memorable.

Spud Hilton is a travel expert, consultant, featured speaker and editor for the SF Bay Area edition of the WHERE Traveler guide. In 20 years at the San Francisco Chronicle he earned 13 Lowell Thomas Awards for travel journalism. He hosts the Inappropriate Traveler podcast, which was named one of the “Ten Best Travel Podcasts” for 2020 by the London Telegraph. He has been featured on CNN International, “Good Morning America,” and NPR.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Bill Bryson

Shakespeare: The World as Stage

In a Sunburned Country

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

Tim Cahill

Road Fever

Jaguars Ripped My Flesh

A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg

Pecked to Death by Ducks

Please support this podcast by using the affiliate links above.

Nov 17, 202001:09:09
The (uncut) story of how my father made the first recording of Bob Dylan
Nov 12, 202010:59
Odd Jobs: Professional Entertainer with Mark Hayward

Odd Jobs: Professional Entertainer with Mark Hayward

In this episode we discuss how Mark got into yo-yoing, juggling and spinning tops, how/why he decided to go pro, the day-to-day of being a full-time performer and finally advice for people thinking of breaking into performing themselves. 

Mark Hayward has been a variety arts performer since 1990. He is a World Yo-yo Champion, a member of a World Champion Juggling Team, and a Spin Top Champion. His mom is proud. Mark has traveled the world on the strength of his mad yo-yo skills and has made appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman (twice), The Late Late Show with James Corden, America’s Got Talent, and the NBC Nightly News (and he didn't even have to commit a crime). Someday Mark hopes to perform for both the President and the Queen. Not being a convicted criminal should help with that.

Mark's YouTube channel

The best 12 yo-yo tricks for a beginner, from a world champion (1.1 million views!)

Nov 10, 202001:03:44
Pam Mandel talks about her new book, The Same River Twice

Pam Mandel talks about her new book, The Same River Twice

Pam's new, and first, book is being released TODAY: The Same River Twice: A Memoir of Dirtbag Backpackers, Bomb Shelters, and Bad Travel. As such, in this episode, we talk about her journey from artist to travel writer, the unusual circumstances that vaulted her straight from draft to landing a publisher (no literary agent stage), the Herculean task of writing a book without much in the way of encouragement, and the bizarre circumstances of releasing a book during a raging pandemic, on what is probably the most important election day in our lifetimes.

Pam Mandel launched her career as a travel writer with her blog; www.nerdseyeview.com. She's since had her stories published by AFAR, Lonely Planet, AAA, Seattle Met, Sunset, and across the web. She's been to all seven continents and is as surprised by that as anyone. She lives in Seattle, Washington, with a rescue dog named Harley and too many ukuleles.

Jane Friedman: How to write a book proposal

The Same River Twice playlist

Fields and Stations travel magazine

We mentioned our pal Doug Mack a few times, so here are his books:

Please support this podcast by using the affiliate links above. 

Nov 03, 202001:00:18
Odd Jobs: Podcasting with Gary Arndt

Odd Jobs: Podcasting with Gary Arndt

In this episode, we talk about how Gary went from award-winning travel blogger and photographer to taking on the relentless pace of a daily podcast. (Short answer: The complete, hopefully temporary, collapse of the travel industry.) 

Gary tells us about his production duties, advice for audience growth, possible revenue streams, the arc from Step 1 to resounding success (an abundance of patience and resilience), and idle, unresolved pondering about why the travel industry hasn't embraced advertising on podcasts. 

Gary Arndt is an awarding winning blogger and travel photographer who has been traveling around the world since 2007.

His travels have taken him to over 130 countries and he has also visited over 400 UNESCO World Heritage sites and all 50 US states.

Among the many acknowledgments and awards for his writing and photography, his blog, Everything Everywhere, was named one of the Top 25 Blogs in the world by Time Magazine.

Since 2009 he has been the co-host of This Week in Travel, an award-winning podcast that covers travel industry news. He's been involved with several other podcasts as well, but he recently launched the pandemic-inspired, bite-sized Everything Everywhere Daily podcast, which has virtually nothing to do with travel.

Links mentioned in the show:

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History

Overcast

Audry.io

Oct 29, 202001:09:06
Interview with Dax Stokes from The Vampire Historian podcast
Oct 27, 202001:06:59
An interview with Dacre Stoker, author and great grand-nephew of Bram Stoker – Part 2

An interview with Dacre Stoker, author and great grand-nephew of Bram Stoker – Part 2

In this episode, we talk about vampires in popular culture, how/if Prince Vlad Dracula ever stayed in Bran Castle (famously mis-designated as “Dracula's Castle”), Romania's tourism struggles and wondrous offerings, and the time 88,000 people applied to spend the night with Dacre in Bran Castle as part of an Airbnb promotion.

A native of Montreal, Dacre Stoker is the great grand-nephew of Bram Stoker and the international best-selling co-author of Dracula the Un-Dead, the official Stoker family endorsed sequel to Dracula. Dacre is also the co-editor of The Lost Journal of Bram Stoker: The Dublin Years. Released in 2018, Dracul, a prequel to Dracula, was the UK’s # 1 Bestselling Hardcover Novel in Horror and Supernatural in 2018, and a top 5 finalist by the Horror Writers Association for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel. Before that excitement, Dacre spent more than two decades as a teacher, athlete, specifically the Modern Pentathlon, and coach for the Canadian Olympic Team.

Dacre Stoker's Website

Facebook

Bram Stoker Estate website

Bram Stoker Bobblehead

Please support this podcast by using the affiliate links above.

Oct 20, 202051:28
An interview with Dacre Stoker, author and great grand-nephew of Bram Stoker – Part 1

An interview with Dacre Stoker, author and great grand-nephew of Bram Stoker – Part 1

In this episode, we talk about Dacre's adventure documentary, "The Search for Bram Stoker's CASTLE DRACULA," which is being released today (Oct 18, 2020), his Dracula sequel and prequel novels, and why it's dangerous to mess with super-popular literary canon. 

A native of Montreal, Dacre Stoker is the great grand-nephew of Bram Stoker and the international best-selling co-author of Dracula the Un-Dead, the official Stoker family endorsed sequel to Dracula. Dacre is also the co-editor of The Lost Journal of Bram Stoker: The Dublin Years. Released in 2018, Dracul, a prequel to Dracula, was the UK’s # 1 Bestselling Hardcover Novel in Horror and Supernatural in 2018, and a top 5 finalist by the Horror Writers Association for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel. Before that excitement, Dacre spent more than two decades as a teacher, athlete, specifically the Modern Pentathlon, and coach for the Canadian Olympic Team.

Dacre Stoker's Website

Facebook

The Search for Bram Stoker’s CASTLE DRACULA - trailer

Please support this podcast by using the affiliate links above.

Oct 18, 202045:16
A snarky summary of the novel DRACULA from my book BACKPACKING WITH DRACULA
Oct 15, 202016:52
There's something about Vlad - A reading from BACKPACKING WITH DRACULA
Oct 13, 202011:26
A reading from my book BACKPACKING WITH DRACULA - Part 1 - Introduction
Oct 11, 202012:36