84: Every Genie is an Actuary

TOPIC: Superpowers, Madness, and the Pursuit of Interesting Problems Dan and Merlin talk about the superpowers you have and can't control as well as the demons and drivers that our heroes have and can't control. How sometimes we find ourselves craving the screaming in someone else's head. Because, we surely do love and revere our Beautiful Losers and Genius Lunatics. Entered into evidence: Hunter S. Thompson, The Incredible Hulk, Sylvia Plath, Brian Wilson, Nightcrawler, Van Gogh, Syd Barrett, Tom Waits, Robert Lowell, Howard Hughes, and Corporate Stooges (n.b.: Dan said that; not Merlin). The upshot? Try not to get too obsessed with someone else's ether in the convertible or, for that matter, the cake in your own conference room. Get excited about constantly releasing that "better version of yourself"—and make the world a happy beneficiary of your own particular madness.