Deviate

"All writing is trying to destroy a stereotype, and the individual that you're writing about -- the figure in the landscape -- is actually the ideal." —Paul Theroux

Paul Theroux's highly acclaimed novels include Blinding Light, My Other Life, and The Mosquito Coast. His 1975 book The Great Railway Bazaar is credited with revitalizing the genre of literary travel writing, and his more recent travel books include Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Dark Star Safari, and The Last Train to Zona Verde.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Paul talk about Theroux's book Figures in a Landscape, and strategies for writing about the "human architecture of a place" (5:30); the attitude and time-investment required for meaningful travel reportage (20:30); the qualities that determine successful travel writing (25:50); the essential discomforts and obstacles of travel (32:45); the uses and shortcomings of paper maps in developing countries (40:15); and where Paul is traveling next (46:00).

Media mentioned in the 2026 intro

Deviate Mini-Essays: Creative Free-Writes for Life's Journey (Substack newsletter)

6 Travel Podcasts to Inspire Your Next Trip (New York Times article)

Kansas Never Plays Itself (non-travel Deviate episode)

2024 Deviate Super Bowl Special (non-travel Deviate episode)

A mixtape (of sorts) about mixtapes (non-travel Deviate episode)

The most 1980s underdog story of the 1980s (non-travel Deviate episode)

A personal history of my grunge-bandwagon band (non-travel Deviate episode)

Nine lessons from my failed van-life memoir (non-travel Deviate episode)

Books, articles, and films mentioned

"Paul Theroux on Blogging, Travel Writing, and 'Three Cups of Tea'" (2011 Atlantic interview)

The Great Railway Bazaar, by Paul Theroux

The Mosquito Coast, by Paul Theroux

The Tao of Travel, by Paul Theroux

Deep South, by Paul Theroux

American Notes, by Charles Dickens

Barbary Shore, by Norman Mailer

Journey Without Maps, by Graham Greene

Sea and Sardinia, by D.H. Lawrence

Travels, by Ibn Battuta

Travels, by Marco Polo

Lafcadio Hearn's Japan: An Ant...

“"When I was in the third grade my teacher announced to our class that Ronald Reagan had been shot. When she asked if we had questions, I raised my hand and asked her if the Indiana - North Carolina basketball game was still going to happen that night.” – Chuck Klosterman

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf, Chuck, and Michael hypothesize about where in Texas the town of "Dillon" is in the TV show Friday Night Lights (2:30); the role of sports and sports movies in how people perceive Indiana, and which sports fandoms are independent of geography (17:00); sports movies (and hypothetical sports movies) set in Michael's hometown of State College, PA, or Chuck's home-state of North Dakota, or Rolf's hometown of Wichita (27:00); working-class sports cities with bad reputations, and how geography determines the sports stories that are told there (40:00); the inherent placelessness of the NFL Scouting Combine and the Super Bowl, how sports are the last media events where the outcome is truly unknown, and what the best hypothetical scenario is for diehard fans watching a big game (50:00).

Chuck Klosterman is a cultural critic known for analyzing pop culture, sports, and philosophy. He is the author of 13 books, including Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, The Nineties, and, most recently, Football.

Michael Weinreb (@MichaelWeinreb) is the author of three sports books, including Bigger Than the Game and  Season of Saturdays. His Substack newsletter is called Throwbacks: A Newsletter About Sports History and Culture.

Notable Links:

Kansas Never Plays Itself (video essay)

The Rewatchables (Ringer Network podcast)

Friday Night Lights (TV show)

Pflugerville, Texas (shooting Location of Friday Night Lights)

Odessa, Texas (setting of the book Friday Night Lights)

Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream (book)

Friday Night Lights (2004 film)

Perfect Strangers (TV series)

Jesse Plemons (actor in Friday Night Lights)

Hoosiers (1986 movie)

Bob Knight (Indiana basketball coach from 1971–2000)

Season on the Brink, by John Feinstein (book)

Gene Hackman (actor in Hoosiers)

Woody Hayes (football coach)

“A joke is kind of like a little life-lesson in addition to being funny. If your joke is really good, there's a little nugget of truth in it.” – Cedar Van Tassel

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Cedar discuss why kids want to be paleontologists and astronauts, and the existential "book" Cedar wrote when he was four (2:00); how Cedar got started reading comics, which ones were his favorites, and his own early comics projects (8:00); the golden age of webcomics, and how Appleguy got started (16:00); the world of Appleguy and Beefwood, and its "roadside attraction" and other geographical subplots (24:00); how Cedar went from drawing an Instagram comic to having a book of comics published by a major North American indie comics publisher, and what his creative process looks like (37:30); and Cedar's four pieces of creative advice: 1) Be opportunistic; 2) Give yourself some rules; 3) Don't torture yourself; 4) People will find your interest in something interesting.

Cedar Van Tassel (@appleguy_comix) is the author of Appleguy and Beefwood, which was published by the iconic Montreal comics press Drawn & Quarterly in May of 2026. A lifelong plant and prairie lover, he does work on ecological restoration projects throughout the Great Plains.

Notable Links:

Seinfeld (TV show)

Souvenir, by Rolf Potts (book)

The Misadventures of Wenamun, by Rolf Potts (comic book)

Paleontology (using fossils to study the past)

Calvin and Hobbes (daily comic strip)

The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (comics anthology)

Scott McCloud (cartoonist and comics theorist)

The Simpsons (animated TV sitcom)

Webcomics (comics published directly online)

Garfield (daily comic strip)

"The Dark Side of Travel Romance" (Deviate episode)

Ents (tree humanoids in Lord of the Rings)

S.P. Dinsmoor's Garden of Eden (roadside attraction in Kansas)

World's Largest Belt Buckle (roadside attraction in Kansas)

World's Largest Czech Egg (roadside attraction in Kansas)

World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things

Biggest ball of twine (roadside attraction in Kansas)

Marshall McLuhan (media theorist)

“When we don't foster local filmmaking traditions, we end up making movies about what we think life is like in the cities we do see movies about.” – Jason Bailey

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Jason talk about how being from Kansas influenced their careers as travel writers and film critics, and the long cultural shadow of The Wizard of Oz (2:30); how Jason's career started by making independent movies in Wichita, what those movies were like, and how he remembers them now (9:00); how many New York movies were shot in Los Angeles in the early part of the 20th century (19:00); how filmmaking moved back to New York during a less-than-glamorous time in the city's history, and how it's important to tell one more story about a place (26:00); and how technology might change the way movies are made and watched in the future (32:00).

Jason Bailey (@jasondashbailey) is an author and film critic, whose writing has appeared in such publications as the New York Times and Rolling Stone. He is the author of six books, including Fun City Cinema: New York City and the Movies that Made It, and Pulp Fiction: The Complete Story of Quentin Tarantino’s Masterpiece. 

Notable Links:

Kansas Never Plays Itself (video essay)

Celebrating the genius of Pulp Fiction (Deviate episode)

Joan Didion (American author and essayist)

Lady Bird (2017 film)

Fargo (1996 film)

The Wizard of Oz at Sphere (4D AI film in Las Vegas)

Alissa Wilkinson (American film critic)

Richard Brody (American critic)

Pauline Kael (American critic)

My Day in the Barrel (1998 Jason Bailey movie)

Salvage anthropology (method of documenting declining cultures)

Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003 essay film)

Actuality film (early type of nonfiction motion picture)

Martin Scorsese (American filmmaker)

The Naked City (1948 film)

Fame (1980 film)

Jim Jarmusch (American filmmaker)

John Cassavetes (American filmmaker)

Media 100 (video editing system)

Microdrama (serialized short-form online video)

Mumblecore (subgenre of independent film)

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017...

“I asked everyone if they were lonely. All the guys my age said 'no, I'm too busy; too much going on.' When I answer that quickly I'm either lying or it's something I'm afraid of.” – Andrew McCarthy

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Andrew talk about why Andrew took a USA road trip to reconnect with his friends (2:15); what kinds of friends Andrew sought out, why none of them were public figures, and how loneliness is bad for men's health (8:00); the kinds of men Andrew spoke with in passing on the trip, why Andrew sought out Elvis Presley sites on the road, and how women's friendships differ from men's (17:30); Andrew's takeaways from his road trip, why "showing up" for people is important, and how travel can be the "university of life" (28:00); audience questions about friendships between younger men, the rumored possibility of a St. Elmo's Fire sequel, the task of recording an audiobook, creepy things that happened on the road, and how travel inevitably makes us more open and curious (35:30).

Andrew McCarthy (@AndrewTMcCarthy) is an actor, television director and writer of such books as The Longest Way Home, Brat and Walking with Sam. His newest book is Who Needs Friends: An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America.

Notable Links:

Tips for telling travel stories, with Andrew McCarthy (Deviate episode)

Paris Writing Workshops (summer learning-vacation classes)

Travels with Charley in Search of America, by John Steinbeck (book)

Brat Pack (group of young 1980s actors)

Elvis Presley Birthplace (museum site in Tupelo, Mississippi)

Camps Promising to Turn You into an Alpha Male (article)

Comstock, Texas (incorporated community)

Joshua Speed (close friend of Abraham Lincoln)

St. Elmo's Fire (1985 movie)

Geoff Dyer (English author and travel writer)

Strawberry Hill (neighborhood in Kansas City, Kansas)

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.