Episode Details

“If you go through your life expecting moral purity from every artist you love, you’re going to have a very lonely life, aesthetically.” – Tom Bissell

Tom Bissell is an American author, journalist, and critic. He co-authored the book The Disaster Artist, which has been adapted into a movie starring James Franco, Seth Rogen, Dave Franco, and Alison Brie.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Tom discuss Metallica and thrash metal (5:25); violence in music and video games (23:30); how one’s relationship to one’s own writing transforms over time (28:10); the shallowness of cultural criticism in social-media (33:55); the dubious concept of “authenticity” as applied to food, music, and travel (42:00); co-writingThe Disaster Artist with actor Greg Sestero, and making sense of The Room (58:50); and finding joy and contentment within the creative process (1:06:00).

Articles, books and movies:

• The Geto Boys, by Rolf Potts
• Slayer’s Reign in Blood, by D.X. Ferris
• Some Kind of Monster (documentary film about Metallica)
• The Defiant Ones (documentary about Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre)
• Straight Outta Compton (movie about N.W.A)
• “My Holy Land Vacation,” by Tom Bissell
• “Euphorias of Perrier: The Case Against Robert D. Kaplan,” by Tom Bissell
• “One Man’s Odyssey into ‘Eat, Pray, Love’,” by Rolf Potts
• Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture, by David Kushner
• Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads, by Paul Theroux
• “The Mystical High Church of Luck,” by Rolf Potts (about Las Vegas)
• “Humor Doesn’t Translate Internationally,” by Rolf Potts (about The Asylum)

Bands, songs, and albums mentioned

• Metallica (thrash-metal band)
• Anthrax (thrash-metal band)
• Slayer (thrash-metal band)
• Testament (thrash-metal band)
• The Exploited (punk band)
• Public Enemy (rap group)
• NWA (rap group)
• “Angel of Death” (song, by Slayer)
• “Wake up Dead” (song, by Megadeth)