Friday, Feb. 28, 2025
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Become a Patron!There isn’t much Chandlor Henderson (nywele_hendo) doesn’t do. He’s an editor, a writer, a journalist, a filmmaker, a comic book writer, a student at the University of Oregon, a Google Scholar, so it was a great pleasure to speak with him in the first in a series of quarterly live podcasts, this one recorded at Gratitude Brewing in Eugene.
(Allow me the space to thank Jesse Springer for letting me borrow his speakers for this event).
This was a great conversation and what Ruby McConnell and I hope will be a regular thing in Eugene, to turn the city into the same kind of draw that Portland is for many authors coming through the PNW.
Chandlor talks about how learning skills is the fastest way to career mobility. I’d add career nimble-ity, so learning audio, video, etc. His career, to date, is a cornucopia of skill. Maybe one day he’ll lean into one, but for now, his skill set is diversified.
We also talk about what brought him out to Oregon from Washington, D.C., what he teaches his young reporters as EIC of The Torch, the student newspaper of Lane Community College, and a whole lot more. Real excited about what’s TK with these live podcasts.
Chandlor’s work has appeared in Flux Magazine, Eugene Weekly, and Business Insider, among others. He’s a fearless creator and someone I’m really excited for you to meet.
Chandlor brought up his love of Anthony Bourdain, which was a great time for to recommend this profile on him, from Patrick Radden Keefe.
Chandlor’s new podcast
The 400-Year Nightmare
Parting Shot: On Presentations
I’m hard at work on my presentation on unauthorized biography and it’s kinda giving me an ulcer. Not really, but maybe.
I don’t have a fear of public speaking, but it stresses me the fuck out. I’ve given a few presentations in my life, mainly at Hippocamp and the thought of speaking in front of an audience for 45 minutes is daunting. The teachers and lecuturers out there are like, “That’s nothing, bro.”
I know.
Which is why teaching has no appeal for me because the thought of being in front of a group of people who don’t want to be there fills me with so much dread I can’t begin to describe it. Also, when I got feedback from my Hippocamp talks and more than a few people were asked, “Would you attend another talk by this presenter?” and they were like “No.” That fucking hurts. I might retire from this shit after this summer. I don’t have the rizz, as they kids say.
Then, this summer, I have a five-hour workshop I need to plan on podcasting. Five hours! I’m actually kinda hoping not enough people sign up for it because I don’t think I can make it interactive enough. I’m flattered that I was invited to pitch something, but I’m already panicking about how the fuck to fill up that much time. If the numbers bear out, people don’t really seem to care about podcasting much these days anymore. It’s a sinking ship, so it would seem. But we paddle our little canoe while bailing buckets of water overboard into the ocean of obscurity.
