Dream Chasers and Eccentrics – Details, episodes & analysis

Sung J. Woo is the author of "Lines," a novel I recently read and loved.

His short stories and essays have appeared in The New York Times, PEN/Guernica, Financial Times, and Vox. He has written five novels, Lines (2024), Deep Roots (2023), Skin Deep (2020), Love Love (2015), and Everything Asian (2009), which won the 2010 Asian Pacific American Librarians Association Literature Award. In 2022, his Modern Love essay from The New York Times was adapted by Amazon Studios for episodic television. A graduate of Cornell University with an MFA from New York University, he lives in Washington, New Jersey.

We talk about New York City (where Lines takes place), how he got started writing, Stephen King's books, other books we love, his inspiration for the novel, developing characters, creativity, writing technique, his muse, the novel, the ending, his MFA, and more.

Podcast shownotes can be found here https://www.paultrammell.com/dream-chasers-and-eccentrics

Support the show here https://www.patreon.com/DreamChasersandEccentrics

Erden is one of two people to have circumnavigated under human power, and Erden is the only to have done it solo, and he did it by rowing, cycling, kayaking, and hiking. He holds an amazing 18 Guiness World Records. 

We talk about rowing across oceans, bicycling across continenets, hiking across Papua New Guinea, his route around the world, training, dealing with difficult situations, eating coffe grounds, sharks, whales, tuna, sea turtles, birds, recording whale sounds along the way, the benefits of unplugging from society and spending time at sea, entering the 2026 Golden Globe Race, and more.

We talk about the Golden Globe Race on my other podcast Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell

Podcast shownotes are here https://www.paultrammell.com/dream-chasers-and-eccentrics

Support through Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/DreamChasersandEccentrics

David Buck is the author of “The Time-Optimized Life.” He has over 35 years of organizational and time-management experience, which led him to start Kairos Management Solutions, and the Infinity Lifestyle design program. David empowers business professionals to overcome the struggles of a lack of flexibility in life. He helps his clients craft a strategy to optimize their time that defines a lifestyle focused on meaning, purpose, and joy.

We talk about all sorts of ways to optimize our time so we can be more productive, waste less time, set better goals, be more happy, and make more money.

Shownotes are here https://www.paultrammell.com/dream-chasers-and-eccentrics

Support through Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/DreamChasersandEccentrics

In 2018, while sailing in The Bahamas, I had a terrifying encounter with an oceanic whitetip shark, a known maneater, and one of the most feared sharks in the ocean. I described the encounter in my book Journey to the Ragged Islands. In this episode is a chapter in the audiobook, where I read from the book about my time at Cat Island. I encountered the shark while on a paddleboard at the north end of the island. In the following days, I sailed south to New Bight and hiked up Mt. Alvernia to the Hermitage of Father Jerome. 

Shownotes are here https://www.paultrammell.com/dream-chasers-and-eccentrics

Support through Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/DreamChasersandEccentrics

A short story about a magical island, based on a real place - Isla Escudo de Veraguas, read by the author.

Support the podcast through Patreon here  http://patreon.com/DreamChasersandEccentrics

Martina is the author of the book Hello Flower: A real life story of narcissistic love and invisible abuse.

We talk about living in Italy, learning foreign languages, teaching and building schools in Nicaragua, selling coffee, falling in love with a covert narcissist and suffering narcissistic abuse, defining a narcissist, avoiding them, the importance of seeking your own happiness, and more.

Shownotes are here https://www.paultrammell.com/dream-chasers-and-eccentrics

Support through Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/DreamChasersandEccentrics

This episode features the first two chapters of the audiobook Journey to the Ragged Islands, by Paul Trammell, as read by the author (and the host of this podcast).

Shownotes are here https://www.paultrammell.com/dream-chasers-and-eccentrics

Support the podcast through Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/DreamChasersandEccentrics

Brodie Farber was a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter from 2002 to 2018. 

We talk all about fighting, various martial arts and which ones work, training, injuries, preventing injuries, what it's like to be knocked out, the benefits of learning a martial art, travelling, and much more.

Show notes are here https://www.paultrammell.com/dream-chasers-and-eccentrics

Support through patreon here https://www.patreon.com/DreamChasersandEccentrics

Aiden Gabor was recruited into the mafia at a young age, led a life of crime, and became an enforcer. He was later coerced into being an informant for the Department of Justice, who convinced him to become a police officer in order to bring down corrupt cops. He wrote a book about his life, Conflicting Loyalties, which I read in three days since I didn't want to put it down.

* If you are offended by violence, you might want to skip this one.

Podcast shownotes are here https://www.paultrammell.com/dream-chasers-and-eccentrics

Support the podcast through Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/DreamChasersandEccentrics

Frank Healy is one of 100 people in the entire world who has hyperthymesia. He remembers every day of his life, starting at six years old. He is now 64. He is also an author and a therapist, and we talk about memory, his obsession with weather, school, social life, how to control and minimize bad memories, astrology, OCD, controling emotions, reliving fond memories, emotional intelligence, forgiveness, meditation, his therapy practice, and much more.

Podcast show notes are here https://www.paultrammell.com/dream-chasers-and-eccentrics

Support through Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/DreamChasersandEccentrics