I don’t do many podcasts. I love the format, but I don’t have much time to spare outside of Lost Art Press these days. But Jonathan Pritchard doesn’t ask the typical questions, and he’s not afraid to roam outside of the woodworking realm.
So last week I sat for a 50-minute interview for his “Mind Reader University” podcast and we covered a lot of ground, including my thoughts on wooden spoons (you might be surprised) and why it’s vitally important to continue to explore woodworking’s shadowy past.
It was a fun talk, until I stumbled over the last two questions. You can check it out via these links:
Direct from the Mind Reader website.
On Apple Podcasts.
And Spotify.
— Christopher Schwarz
You were great, Chris. I like to hear where your brain goes when you’re surprised a bit. It would be a pleasure to hear more of it.
I also loved this part. He was a very good interviewer; he knew how to push their interviewee out of their comfort zone and how to wrangle them back in, without making it about themselves. I was impressed and will listen to more for sure, but yeah, Chris, great work all around. I think sometimes the moments we are most frustrated by in the moment, especially in a live recorded situation, are often the best in hindsight. The most revealing, the most personal. I would imagine interviewing a journalist who’s married to a journalist would make a extra tough subject; if they had their guard up. I’m glad you didn’t have yours up, and appreciate you taking the time to record this. In a vulnerable time, and over the past five or seven years, you’ve shown a commitment to first principles and an ingenuity and risk taking creativity, and it’s nice to check in and hear that your principles are working, if almost to your astonishment. It’s the kind of thing that puts wind in my wings, so thank you for letting us all be a part.
Go do a podcast with the Hand Tool Book Review podcast at some point. Cheers
I’m excited to hear more about your thoughts on children’s woodworking books. Will they be of the fiction variety (Grandpa’s Workshop is excellent!), or instructional? Richard Starr and Jack McKee both have fantastic books that I have leaned on heavily in my teaching.
We have two titles in the works right now. Both are non-fiction and deeply historical.
Other publishers have covered the instructional aspect of working with children. Our aim is directly at the children themselves. Kara Gebhart Uhl is heading up this initiative and will be writing more about it when things solidify.
That sounds great Chris! I’m always looking for more ammo in convincing schools that they need my program.
Im excited for the children’s books. I am expecting my first one in August. Hopefully he or she will enjoy working with their hands.
That was a good interview. I’m also glad about the children’s books, it is important to keep all of this knowledge alive and shared with the younger generations.
I, too, enjoyed listening to this – which I did, fittingly enough, while doing the initial traversing of a bench top laminate blank …
Thank you, and Happy New Year!
Mattias
Great interview, Chris. I love to read. LAP has given me so much more to work with to help me learn with my hands. Follensbee, Fitz, Savage, Roubo and Schwartz have taught me much that would otherwise be inaccessible. Pre-COVID my job had me traveling abroad at least monthly. The pdf’s made many a 12-hour coach flight bearable. Grounded by a pandemic, I can now spend much more time in my shop to feel, flub and craft the endless little choices into a piece. I appreciate the luxury of feeding my brain and honing my skills. Happy New Year to all of you at LAP!
Merry new year all
A really great listen. Thanks Chris. I’ve followed too often the siren’s call of the theoretical woodworker and the podcast reminds me again the importance of diving in. I’ll gain more skill and insight in to woodworking when I’m forced by time to build a stool in 3 hours than I will by researching chair building for 3 days. This is your fault, of course, not mine.
Great, but really loved what you had to say about teaching and that ah ha moment you see in a persons eye when the dopamine mixes with the Qi.