Rick Rubin and Mary Karr (#745)

This episode is a two-for-one, and that’s because the podcast recently hit its 10-year anniversary and passed one billion downloads. To celebrate, I’ve curated some of the best of the best—some of my favorites—from more than 700 episodes over the last decade. I could not be more excited. The episode features segments from episode #76 “Rick Rubin on Cultivating World-Class Artists (Jay Z, Johnny Cash, etc.), Losing 100+ Pounds, and Breaking Down the Complex” and episode #479 “Mary Karr — The Master of Memoir on Creative Process and Finding Gifts in the Suffering.”

Please enjoy!

Bios of guests may be found at tim.blog/combo.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.

This episode is brought to you by AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement, Eight Sleep’s Pod 4 Ultra sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating, and LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 1B+ users.

Transcript of the full Rick Rubin episode | Transcript of the full Mary Karr episode | Transcripts of all episodes

Listen onApple Podcasts

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Listen onOvercast

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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SHOW NOTES

• [05:11] Notes about this supercombo format.
• [06:15] Enter Rick Rubin.
• [07:58] How Rick lost over 135 pounds in his late 30s.
• [16:03] How artists can hurdle the obstacles that hinder their best work.
• [19:31] Where to find world-class contemporary music.
• [20:24] Approaching music production with a fan’s-eye view.
• [22:53] Recommended reading.
• [24:22] Helping artists break their creative blocks.
• [26:54] Rick’s advice for his younger selves.
• [29:06] Why practicing self-kindness isn’t just nice — it’s a necessity.
• [32:01] Enter Mary Karr.
• [32:25] Growing up in “The Ringworm Belt.”
• [34:44] The catalyst for Mary expressing herself and publishing to the world.
• [37:47] The role reading played for young Mary.
• [40:31] The feeling that inspired Mary’s desire to become a poet at a young age.
• [44:27] “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.”
• [45:17] How Mary, a high school dropout, got into college and became an A student.
• [49:13] Mary’s struggle with bringing darkness with her even after leaving her traumatic past.
• [53:23] The highly selective process for getting into Mary’s graduate seminar at Syracuse University.
• [54:33] The first day of Mary’s class and what it illustrates about processing memoir-building memories.
• [1:00:20] The value of a commonplace book and helping others find alternative perspectives.
• [1:04:19] The importance and utility of prayer in Mary’s life and sobriety.
• [1:17:09] The significance of Ignatian exercises in Mary’s Catholic faith and gratitude practice.
• [1:23:10] Obligatory Texas talk about weaponry and hunting.
• [1:26:41] The origins of Mary’s unique wordsmithing.
• [1:34:24] Mary’s process of rough drafts, revision, and using past memories for storytelling.
• [1:42:34] How Mary copes with the pain of dredging up memories through writing.
• [1:46:09] Why Mary feels the happiest at 65 and her advice to her younger self about therapy.
• [1:49:26] The most and least effective types of therapy for Mary.
• [1:53:25] Mary’s solution to fear and getting through uncomfortable times.
• [1:58:14] Recognizing the gifts from suffering through difficult times in retrospect.
• [2:06:28] Mary’s billboard.
• [2:07:35] Parting thoughts.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Rick Rubin:

Website | Twitter | Instagram

Connect with Mary Karr:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

• Tropic of Squalor: Poems by Mary Karr | Amazon
• The Liars’ Club: A Memoir by Mary Karr | Amazon
• Cherry by Mary Karr | Amazon
• Lit: A Memoir (P.S.) by Mary Karr | Amazon
• The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr | Amazon
• Nonna (Grandma) | Daily Italian Words
• East Texas Cities, Towns, and Ghost Towns | East Texas Travel Guide
• Ringworm | CDC
• Memento | Prime Video
• Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne | Amazon
• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White | Amazon
• Christianity: Eucharist | BBC
• The Riverside Shakespeare by William Shakespeare | Amazon
• [in Just-] by E. E. Cummings | Poetry Foundation
• The Duty of Newspapers Is to Comfort the Afflicted and to Afflict the Comfortable | Quote Investigator
• To Comfort The Disturbed, and to Disturb the Comfortable: Onward Children of the Sun by Cesar A. Cruz
• When Exactly Did Bansky Say “Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable?” | Reddit
• Macalester College
• Syracuse University
• How I Teach My Students Not to Trust Their Memories | Mary Karr, the Washington Post
• Difference Between Eidetic Memory and Photographic Memory | Better Help
• The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss | Amazon
• The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss | Amazon
• Sobriety Coin | Wikipedia
• Mary Karr Thought Her Whiting Award Call Was a Prank and Hung Up | Literary Hub
• What Are the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius? | Loyola Press
• The Jesuit Mission: Seeking God in All Things | Georgetown University
• Electile Dysfunction: The GOP’s Incredible Shrinking Boehner | Slate
• US Results: How Will This Endless Election End? | BBC News
• 99 Questions to Complete Your Examination of Conscience | The Catholic Company
• Steve Kornacki and John King Are the Election Coverage MVPs We Need Right Now | For the Win
• “Most Likely to Secede” | Tim Ferriss, Instagram
• Rifle Build: 7mm Remington Magnum | Guns and Ammo
• Glock 34 | Glock
• M&P 45 M2.0 | Smith & Wesson
• The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life by Timothy Ferriss | Amazon
• Steven Rinella on Hunting (and Why You Should Care), Reconnecting with Nature, Favorite Trips, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #470
• Boar Hunting with a Knife is Not for the Faint of Heart | Wide Open Spaces
• ‘Lit’ by Mary Karr: The Top 10 Everything of 2009 | Time
• Raining Like a Cow Pissing on a Flat Rock | Tony Goff
• More Colorful Texas Sayings Than You Can Shake a Stick At | Texas Monthly
• Iambic Pentameter Made Easy | Shakespeare Coach
• Mary Karr Interview: Boss of Memoir | The Writer
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez | Amazon
• My Healing Journey After Childhood Abuse (Includes Extensive Resource List) | The Tim Ferriss Show #464
• D-Day: The Allies Invade Europe | The National WWII Museum
• Battle of the Bulge | The US Army
• US Forces Liberate Buchenwald | United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Why Is Quitting Smoking So Difficult? The Science Behind Addiction | American Lung Association
• Commencement Address by Poet Mary Karr | Syracuse University News
• ‘Honeydew’ Turns Road Trip into Bizarre, Hallucinatory Backwoods Nightmare | Bloody Disgusting

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The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it’s been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.