Podcast: He Produced "House of Cards." Then a Power Outage Forced Him into the Desert.
Why engineering discomfort out of modern life is making us fragile—and how to reclaim your resilience.
Adventure has been engineered out of modern life.
We pick the fastest route, the safest places, and the most efficient schedule. The problem is that what adventure brings—new situations, discomfort, uncertainty, the things going sideways—is exactly what makes us more resilient, and exactly what makes life interesting.
Our first guest is Jay Carson. For 25 years, Jay operated at the top of two of the most spin-heavy industries in America: politics and Hollywood. He was Bill Clinton’s communications director. He produced Netflix’s House of Cards and wrote Apple TV’s The Morning Show. Jay was even the inspiration for Ryan Gosling’s character in the 2011 political drama Ides of March.
Then COVID hit, the power went out, and Jay realized he had absolutely no idea what to do in an emergency. So he signed up for a 14-day wilderness survival course in the Utah desert with Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS). It changed his life—so much that Jay is now an instructor with BOSS. And what he learned out there might inspire you to change yours.
Then we’ll hear from Sinuhe Xavier, a professional ski mountaineer turned photographer, filmmaker, and overlander. A few months ago, Sinhue sold his house, packed his truck, and started driving across the American West.
Adventure doesn’t have to be a long ordeal in the backcountry. It’s available almost anywhere. You just have to be willing to stop taking the most efficient route.
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Show notes
Boulder Outdoor Survival School (Check it out. I highly recommend it)
Watch House of Cards
Watch The Morning Show
Watch Ides of March (Gosling’s character is based on Jay).
Sinhue’s Instagram (an amazing feed)
Sinuhe Xavier’s Substack: The Department of Scenarios
Have fun, don’t die, get outside,
Michael
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Outstanding episode! I truly appreciate you doing this. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am the director of our county EMS system and a paramedic for 25 years. A large part of what I do is frequent public speaking and training engagements. I am always trying to convince people to step out of their comfort zones and learn a new skillset such as CPR, wilderness first aid or even just basic first aid. Unfortunately, through the years this is getting harder and harder to accomplish. Most people think 911 is simply a phone call away, when I explain 911 may not always be an option, the look of bewilderment is mind boggling. Anyway, not to drone on as there were so many positive aspects of the podcast to speak about. Thank you as always for what you do! Keep up the great work.
Hey Michael, can we get some book recommendations outdoor survival skills (for while we wait to do BOSS one day)?