In this solo episode of Writing Remix, Dan brings the audience along for a reflective stream-of-consciousness evening walk. This is a raw and unedited episode to capture the essence of the environment, his thoughts, and humanity of conversation. Dan reflects on the changing landscape of podcasting and how it’s gone from being an accessible Punk rock modality to its current polished commercialized commodity. He then meanders into his favorite topics: nostalgia, creativity, and artistic freedom, and his growing concerns about AI’s impact on human expression. Then the episode takes swerves into the emotional depth of 90s grunge singers like Layne Staley & Chris Cornell, maintaining that human element in art and writing, and Jack Kerouac.
If you have thoughts & questions about this episode, or an idea for a future “Walking with Dan” episode, email at writingremixpodcast@gmail.com
Approximate Show Notes
00:00 Introduction to the Walking Podcast
00:42 The Evolution of Podcasting
02:20 The Impact of Technology on Creativity
03:46 Nostalgia and the Human Element in Art
05:28 AI and the Future of Creativity
12:20 Reflections on Walking and Community
13:33 Kerouac and the Search for Truth
16:37 Engaging with the Podcast Community
Daniel Dissinger is an Associate Professor in the Writing Program at the University of Southern California, creator & host of the award-winning podcast Writing Remix, host & creator of The Nostalgia Test Podcast a poet, Kerouac scholar, and writing coach. In 2021, he co-created an international network of academic podcasters called The Humanities Podcast Network, which has hosted workshops at Stanford, UCSB, and Macalester College, published an online handbook on teaching podcasts in the classroom, has a book contracted by Palgrave, and has held an annual symposium since 2021. Dan is the Chair of the 5th symposium for 2025.
People, Texts & Podcasts Mentioned in the Episode
- Podcasting
- Punk rock
- AI (Artificial Intelligence)
- Oasis (band)
- “Theory and Play of The Duende” by Federico García Lorca
- Alice In Chains (band)
- Soundgarden (band)
- Layne Staley
- Chris Cornell
- AI Band called The Velvet Sunset
- Chat GPT
- Desolation Angels by Jack Kerouac
- On the Road by Jack Kerouac
- Visions of Cody by Jack Kerouac
“[Podcasting] is such an amazing thing where anyone with any sort of microphone, any sort of recording device can do this and put their ideas out to the world.”
-Daniel Dissinger
“Podcasting isn’t as punk rock as it used to be.”
-Daniel Dissinger
“What’s gonna happen if we don’t have to do our own writing anymore or don’t have to put our own words together? I love writing, I love language, I love being able to paint with words and create these huge landscapes of ideas and experiment”
-Daniel Dissinger
“Creativity is messy [and] that’s what makes it fun. What happens when you take that away?”
-Daniel Dissinger
“If we consume mediocrity, we will put out mediocrity. If the bar is so low for creativity, for literature, for writing, for music, for art, then the bar is low for how we communicate with one another [and] how we love each other.”
-Daniel Dissinger
“[Jack Kerouac was] a writer who was not afraid to be publicly emotional and publicly flawed. [He was] someone who just put it [all] out there, all of his humanity, the scars, the wounds, his pain, his happiness, all the things.”
-Daniel Dissinger
“Podcasting is a participatory medium […] it goes out to the audience and the podcaster wants to hear from the audience […] That’s the main thing about what makes it such a great modality [because] there’s a community, like you are building one as a podcaster, and that’s how you know your podcast is doing what it’s supposed to do.”
-Daniel Dissinger
Transcript: 116. Walking with Dan: Podcasting, Creativity, & AI
The theme song is “4 am” by Makaih Beats. You can follow the podcast & all social media: Linktree, join the newsletter/Follow Dan’s Medium or Writing Remix Substack for “A Note From Dan”, episode-specific writing prompts, and book recommendations.
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