Chopping Wood & Carrying Water

Looksmaxxed Realities | CW&CW EP05

You thought we would never bring you looksmaxxing, but here we are. Five years after R.S. Benedict diagnosed a cinema full of perfect bodies and zero eroticism, the diagnosis has migrated offscreen. For this EP we are going into the phenomenon of looksmaxxing: young, beauty obsessed men who broke out of private forums into the world wild web. Who take Patrick Bateman (American Psycho) as their patron saint, their vocabulary from Dungeons and Dragons, and their jawlines from a surgeon in Istanbul. Along the way we discuss beauty within, sesame oiling the feet and why we're chasing 1,000 rejections before the year is over. All in all - when your whole life is one stat, the game gets ruined… mAxXx ReSpOnSiBlYyy…. seekelsewhere.substack.com

Hildegard von Bingen a.k.a. medieval bomb | CW&CW EP04

Exploring the legacy of Hildegard von Bingen: a 12th century nun who saw visions from God and dedicated her life to healing through art. Who advised Kings, Emperors and Popes, who built convents with her own hands, dressed her sisters in otherworldly clothing, invented her own language, wrote the first musical, and started her greatest work at age 43. Along the way we discuss vomiting in Lithuanian churches, Blink-182 vs the organ, and whether Christ is coming back as AI. All in all - when God is telling you exactly what to do everything becomes eEeASSYYY….

Conquest of the Useless ? | CW&CW EP03

Werner Herzog dragged a 300-ton steamship over an Amazonian mountain for his film Fitzcarraldo. In this episode we use this film and its making-of documentary The Burden of Dreams — as a lens for one of the oldest questions: what does it cost to live by an impossible vision? You'll hear us talk about Herzog's improvised recipe for finding harmony in the overwhelm, what it means to conquer something witnessed only by yourself and God, and the people in our own environment who won't stop either. Just Fitzcarraldin'. You can subscribe to our Substack at seekelsewhere.substack.com [https://seekelsewhere.substack.com/]

On Zen, Golden Toilets and Looong Intros | CW&CW EP02

When one knows that something important is happening in their life, they get goosebumps. In this episode we unveil the intentions and inspirations behind this podcast. You'll hear us — Jon and Jurgis — talk about koans, Zen, Alysia Liu, and how the alchemy of unlikely combinations forms something that can only be felt in the body. You can subscribe to our freshly baked substack at: seekelsewhere.substack.com

The Vegetarian Typesetter on the $100 Bill | CW&CW EP01

In this inaugural episode of CW&CW, we turn to Benjamin Franklin, exploring the ascetic realities behind the man who became the face of American capitalism. Drawing on his early years as a disciplined, vegetarian typesetter, we question the easy opposition between the practical and the profound, exploring instead how cheap diets and curated social engagement can foster genuine self-creation, and how intentional systems may shape reality from within.