6 episodes
Hello Unknown Jonathan Wright
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- Society & Culture
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4.7 • 57 Ratings
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A podcast exploring the hidden parts of the human experience. Host Jonathan Wright re-examines stories from culture and history that tell us about the feelings we avoid and the big questions we don’t know how to answer. Contact at hellounknownpod@gmail.com.
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Cheater
In episode 1 Jonathan Wright tells the story of Enron and takes a trip to Vietnam to ask what Enron's disgraced CFO, and Jonathan, can learn from the spirit of the cheater.
Sources
Lauren Muskett, "First Person: Andy Fastow and Me", CFO Magazine, https://www.cfo.com/corporate-finance/2019/04/first-person-andy-fastow-and-me/
Sharron Watkins, "The corporate conscience", The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/business/2003/jun/21/corporatefraud.enron
Emily Primeaux, "Numbers manipulator describes Enron's descent", Fraud Magazine, https://www.fraud-magazine.com/article.aspx?id=4294991880 -
Windows
In this episode Jonathan Wright confronts OCD and his fear of death, telling the stories of a lawyer who bounced against windows and a near-death experience for Jonathan’s son.
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Sleep to Dream Her
You probably hate Dave Matthews Band. We don’t blame you. But Dave knows what it takes to create.
In this episode Jonathan Wright tells the story of one particularly terrible DMB song and also bares his soul about what it took to write his novel.
Sources
David Fricke, "Everyday", Rolling Stone, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/everyday-251759/
Sal Cinquemani, "Review: Dave Matthews Band, Everyday", Slant, https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/dave-matthews-band-everyday/
Christopher John Farley, "And the Band Plays On...", Time, http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2047891,00.html
David Browne, "Everyday", Entertainment Weekly, https://ew.com/article/2001/02/26/everyday/
David Marchese, "In Conversation: Dave Matthews", Vulture, https://www.vulture.com/2018/05/dave-matthews-in-conversation.html
Ray Waddell, "An American Band", Billboard, https://books.google.ca/books?id=xg4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32&dq=%22When+five+guys+in+Charlottesville,+Va.,+started+making+a+joyful+noise+in+1991,+the+Grateful+Dead+was+still+a%22%22&source=bl&ots=hq8dDrlpNk&sig=ACfU3U3xMEghVNqQurbRPTDenhCVEqKcRw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj3577K1JL6AhU4GjQIHdj1DPMQ6AF6BAgEEAM#v=onepage&q&f=false -
Good Lost/Bad Lost
What do the TV Show Lost and Jonathan’s dating history have in common?
In this episode Jonathan Wright watches the first 10 episodes and last 10 episodes of Lost (why??) and also delves into his extremely anxious dating history to answer the question of whether it might, sometimes, be good to get a little lost.
Sources
Chris DeVille, "Lost Was The Best Before It Was The Worst", Deadspin, https://deadspin.com/lost-was-the-best-before-it-was-the-worst-1635804502
Jen Chaney, "No, They Weren’t Dead the Whole Time", Vulture, https://www.vulture.com/article/lost-series-finale-oral-history-the-end.html -
The 6th Dalai Lama
A monk sees footprints in the snow. He follows the footprints, belonging to his teenaged religious leader, to the home of his forbidden lover. Buddhist Tibet explodes.
In this episode Jonathan Wright tells the history of his favourite Dalai Lama and reads his old notebooks to try and answer the question of how we tell our life stories.
Sources
Mark Tatz, "Songs of the Sixth Dalai Lama", The Tibet Journal, https://www.jstor.org/stable/43300034
Geoffrey Waters, "White Crane: Love Songs of the Sixth Dalai Lama", White Pine Press, https://www.amazon.ca/White-Crane-Songs-Sixth-Dalai/dp/1893996824 -
Hawaiian Mall
In the final episode of season 1, Jonathan Wright confronts the unknown, telling the stories of two Hawaiian malls: one in a pineapple cannery in Lahaina and the other in Jonathan’s mind.
Sources
Sarah Ruppenthal, "The Sweet and Sour History of the Pineapple in Hawai'i", Flux Hawai'i, https://fluxhawaii.com/hawaii-pineapple-the-sweet-and-sour-history-of-the-island-fruit/
Duane P. Bartholomew, Richard A. Hawkins, Johnny A. Lopez, "Hawaii Pineapple: The Rise and Fall of an Industry", HortScience, https://journals.ashs.org/hortsci/view/journals/hortsci/47/10/article-p1390.xml
Thos. G. Thrum, "Hawaiian Annual for 1927 - The Refernece Book of Information and Statistics Relating to the Territory of Hawaii", chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10524/32424/1927.pdf
"Labor in the Territory of Hawaii 1939", United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/files/docs/publications/bls/bls_0687_1940.pdfhttps://www.google.com/search?q=labor+in+the+territory+of+hawaii+1939+bulletin+no+687&oq=labor+in+the+territory+of+hawaii+1939+bulletin+no+687&aqs=chrome..69i57.11412j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Customer Reviews
Brilliant, thought-provoking storytelling
Like John Green’s Anthropocene Reviewed, Jonathan Wright in “Hello Unknown” combines stories from contemporary culture with his own personal stories to explore universal themes. He delves into the hard work of creativity; learning to live with mystery; the pros and cons of breaking the rules; death; and life after death. Worth the listen. You’ll find yourself thinking about this podcast later as you reflect on your own life’s journey
Great podcast
Just what I wanted! Great storytelling from someone with a lovely way of telling the story. What, he’s Canadian too? Bonus.
Provocative personal essays for your ear
Intelligent, introspective, real, vulnerable, thoughtful and thought-provoking: in each episode of the season, Jonathan gently took my hand and led me into a story (or two) from his readings and gleanings of this world, and braided that story (or two) with an even more compelling revelation of what a complicated, surprising and resilient person looks and sounds like, feels and does. That human is him. And quite possibly you’ll recognize yourself in him. Well worth a listen.