Secretly Sporty

Essayist and poet Hanif Abdurraqib, author of They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us and Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest, discusses how running transports him through time and space, and how it helps him manage anxiety and depression. He goes in depth on his running playlist, and details what types of songs work for what mile of your run—and he and Sebastian bond over why shoegaze is perfect running music. He also shares what he hopes to accomplish when he writes about music, what he’s working on right now, and why gratitude is so important to him. Plus, he reveals the real reason he started lifting weights.

Former politician Jason Kander, author of Invisible Storm and host of the podcast Majority 54, joins Sebastian to discuss playing high-level baseball (not softball!). He shares how joining the team changed his relationship to fitness, made him a more empathetic father, and opened up community in his life. He also goes in depth on his experience living with untreated PTSD, how that affected his physical health, and how he was eventually able to treat it. Plus, he reveals the writing advice President Obama gave him — and explains why he refuses to swim in the ocean!

Celebrated author Laura van den Berg, writer of The Third Hotel and State of Paradise, discusses how she became a competitive boxer — and the intense training regimen she maintains to be ready to get in the ring at a moment’s notice. She shares with Sebastian the ways in which competing helps her manage her anxiety, how being a writer makes her a better boxer, and how partaking in the sport has inspired her upcoming novel. Plus, she and Sebastian discuss the one exercise they’re surprised they can do.

VMA-award-winning music video director Dano Cerny speaks with Sebastian about his journey from being an artsy kid who hated sports to someone who prioritizes physical activity, and he reflects on what he wishes he’d understood about fitness earlier.  He describes how he found the inspiration for the Sia x Kylie Minogue collab video “Dance Alone” (on one of his daily hikes).  Plus, he shares the pros and cons of getting shredded for his 40th birthday.    

The first Thursday of each month, Secretly Sporty takes a recovery day and releases an episode of Rest Day Radio.  And in our first edition, Electric Lit editor and author Halimah Marcus comes on the show to talk about her love for cycling and horseback riding.  She and Sebastian reminisce about their time in college together, trade stories of traumatic moments involving horses, and discuss how writing is a lot like a long uphill bike ride (in a good way!).  They’re also joined by podcast producer and host Liam Billingham, who swaps notes with Halimah on the best Peloton classes.

Acclaimed writer R.O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries and Exhibit, tells Sebastian about her love for bouldering, why she stopped, and what brought her back. She also talks about her passion for powerlifting, and how those two activities are the best antidote to anxiety she’s found to date. She also shares her approach to revisions and the precise metric she uses to know when a novel is finished. Plus, she reveals the ways in which she’s like a vampire.

Internationally bestselling author Soman Chainani, writer of The School for Good and Evil series and the forthcoming Young World, talks to Sebastian about his weightlifting practice and tennis game. He discusses how getting what he calls “deadlift drunk”’ helped him through a rough year and how the joy of playing tennis with college students keeps him young. He tells Sebastian that it was only by getting physically stronger that he had the stamina to keep up with his creative ambitions. Plus, he makes the case for what he believes is the best protein bar on the market. 

Comedian Chris Duffy, host of TED’s How to Be a Better Human podcast and author of Humor Me, speaks with Sebastian about his years-long devotion to the scientific Seven Minute Workout, his love of swimming in community pools, and how comedy and laughter are an essential element of good health.  He also fills Sebastian in on a war raging among the world’s demographers, and explains why he always (always) eats before working out.