Assemblage Jonathan Greene

Today's guest is Ashley Rothstein. Ashley is a writer, podcaster, self-proclaimed thinker, and loves "all things communication." Her work and writing are focused on mental and physical health, existential angst, meaning, impulse control and it’s relation to wellbeing, and getting in touch with one’s own mind and body.
Ashley grew in Hayward, California, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband. Growing up she was an information sponge who loved to learn new things. The way she studied as a child made it harder for her to be creative. But now she is taking her creativity back.
Ashley and Jonathan talk about social media addiction, user feedback, and how it affects us as people. They also talk in depth about the writing process and how self-editing can get in the way of pressing publish.
The conversation reaches a deep lament about how it's getting harder for us to connect in a world of screens. Ashley and Jonathan talk about their introverted tendencies and how they have both taken ownership of it.
Links:
Ashley on Medium
Ashley's Instagram
Ashley on YouTube
Ashley's Twitter
Ashley's podcast, Thought Project, on Apple Podcasts

Today's guest is Dave Roberts. Dave is a retired addiction professional and an adjunct professor in the Psychology Department at Utica College in Utica, New York. He is a featured speaker, workshop facilitator, and coach for Aspire Place.
Dave and Jonathan talk in depth about Dave's daughter, Jeannine, who died 16 years ago, at the age of 18, of a rare form of sarcoma for which there was no cure. Jeannine is a transcending force and topic in much of Dave's writing and life.
Dave's writing is cathartic for him and also a gift to other parents who have lost their children. Dave discusses how he receives messages from his daughter all the time and what they mean to him.
He teaches a class on Death, Dying, and Bereavement, which opens up the dialogue for his students surrounding these topics. Dave and Jonathan discuss how to teach about death and allow all religious beliefs to participate in the spiritual discussion.
Links:
Dave's website, Bootsy & Angel Books, LLC
Dave on Medium
Uncalendared on Medium
Dave on Twitter
Aspire Place

Today's guest is Danny Forest. Danny is your friendly neighborhood Viking polymath. When he’s not madly typing on his computer from a coworking space, you can find him exploring the world and making new connections. His current obsessions include skill development and productivity.
Danny lives a digital nomad lifestyle with his wife, who works for Medecins Sans Frontiere. Since they are often separated while she is on a mission, Danny has figured out ways to improve his life and skill set every month. He stays in most locations for at least three months to get the most out of his personal connectivity in the location.
Danny is an obsessive learner and has created his own plan to learn three new skills every single month, which he has been perfecting for more than a year. Through this process, he has proven to himself, and to others, that you can learn anything if you devote the time to doing it.
Jonathan and Danny discuss Danny's writing process and how he stays creative while traveling the world. It's Danny's dedication to learning that has led to him being described as a polymath.
Links:
Danny's personal website
Danny on Medium
Danny's story, I Reinvent Myself Every 6 Months and So Should You
Danny on Twitter
The Startup on Medium

Today's guest is Elaine Kasket. Elaine is a psychologist and author who's recently left academia to pursue a more flexible, creative life. Her latest book, All the Ghosts in the Machine: Illusions of Immortality in the Digital Age, comes out April 25, 2019.
Elaine started writing at a very young age but veered toward psychology in college when she chose a double major in psychology and journalism. After years of figuring out life playing roller hockey and doing medical transcription, Elaine decided to go back to school for graduate studies.
During graduate school, her focus was on academic writing and that remained the case until recently when she began to let in her creative voice again. Jonathan and Elaine talk about the transition and what it's like now to have found that unique voice again.
Her new book, published by Little Brown, is the culmination of 10 years of Elaine studying death in the digital age and the unintended consequences of our data sticking around after we are gone.
Elaine was also looking for an online platform to write on to showcase some shorter form stories and that's how she found Medium and met Jonathan when she sent a story in for Redoubtable. That story, originally titled Lucky Babies, ended up being showcased as a Member Feature story on the front page of Medium.
Links:
Elaine's personal website
Elaine on Medium
Elaine on Twitter
Elaine's viral story on Medium: Lucky Babies (original title)
Mortified
little, brown Book Group

Today's guest is Mike Arnold. Mike is a 25-year-old creator, writer, and freelancer living in Cambridge, England. Mike wants to live a life with intention and all he wants is to help make the world better.
Mike's life focus changed after he was involved in a fatal accident where someone ran in front of his car on the highway to commit suicide. At that point, he realized just how fragile life can be. It was then that he decided to focus on doing his small part to help people.
Jonathan and Mike talk about content creation, writing online, and the feedback loop. They also talk about how their friends never read what they write, which is why their writing community is so important.
Mike discusses his two main types of content (lessons from his accident and what he's learned as a freelancer) and how he's transitioned some of his creation from writing to video on YouTube.
Links:
Mike on Medium
Mike's YouTube channel
Mike on Twitter
Toastmasters
Mike's story: You Have 30,000 Opportunities to Live Your Life

Today's guest is Fumina Hata. Fumi is a New York-based photographer and a new writer on Medium. She was born in Japan, grew up in Hawaii, spent a gap year in Seattle, and then made it to New York City to pursue her dream of becoming a photographer.
Her earliest childhood memories of creativity are when writing stories. But in high school, she transitioned to photography once she noticed the visceral reactions photography received. Her creativity blossomed in high school, but this also caused her to become a bit apoplectic about traditional school.
Fumi is an advocate of taking a year off between high school and college to learn how to "do life." After one year at SVA in New York, Fumi dropped out of college to learn the things that can't be taught in a school setting.
Fumi and Jonathan discuss the different feelings that Fumi gets as a creative when shooting photography versus writing.
Links:
Fumi's website - fuminahata.com
Fumi's Instagram - @fuminahata
Fumi on Medium