Best Of: Learning From Silence / Comic Roy Wood Jr.
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What happened to Pico Ayer during the 1990 wildfire?
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That's coming up on Fresh Air Weekend.
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This is Fresh Air Weekend. I'm Sam Brigger. Terry has our first interview. I'll let her introduce it.
When we first booked today's interview weeks ago, we had no idea how timely it would be and for such a tragic reason. My guest, Pico Ayer, has written a new memoir about what he's experienced and learned in the more than 30 years that he's been going on retreats in a Benedictine monastery to practice silence and for contemplation. to get both out of himself and the world, and deeper in. But the book begins with fire, and fire is a theme throughout. The monastery is surrounded by 900 acres of trees, and on one side, the ocean. It's in California's Big Sur, one of the most beautiful places in the U.S. On the first page, a monk is describing to Iyer a wildfire that came close to burning down the monastery. It wasn't the first time, and it wasn't the last time.
At one point, the road was blocked and there was no way out. A little later in the book, we learn that Iyer's family home in Santa Barbara, where they had lived for about a quarter century, where he was living at the time with his mother, that burned to the ground. At the time, that fire was part of the worst fire in California history. He was at home, alone with his mother's cat, when he was suddenly surrounded by flames five stories high and had no way out. After three hours of terror, he was rescued by a Good Samaritan traveling around in a water truck with a hose. He and his mother lost everything, but he survived and the cat survived. His memoir is titled A Flame, Learning from Silence.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What happened to Pico Ayer during the 1990 wildfire?
1:10–15:47
2
How did silence change Pico Ayer's writing?
15:47–23:04
3
Why does Pico Ayer find monasteries appealing?
23:04–24:13
4
What insights did Pico Ayer gain from his experiences in silence?
24:13–37:37
5
How does Roy Wood Jr. address societal issues in his comedy?
37:37–39:17
6
What themes are present in Roy Wood Jr.'s comedy special?
39:17–39:59
7
How does Roy Wood Jr. navigate sensitive topics in his stand-up?
39:59–51:54
Speakers
7 identifiedMore from Fresh Air
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