Paul Theroux on self-discovery, escaping your roots, the surf-travel connection, and freedom

Season 02: Episode 04 of Soundings With Jamie Brisick
Paul Theroux is an established travel writer and novelist residing on the North Shore of Oahu. Author of numerous acclaimed works such as The Great Railway Bazaar and The Mosquito Coast, Theroux’s stories are imbued with the virtues of globetrotting and self-discovery. As a child, Theroux recalls fantasizing about the distant worlds he read about in books-destinations of possibility that contrasted to his tribalistic upbringing as one of seven children in a small New England town. Theroux joined the Peace Corps in 1963 and began teaching in Malawi. In this episode, he sits down with Jamie Brisick to talk about what influenced his birth as a writer, the importance of grasping and respecting the nuances of your surroundings on land and at sea, and the relationship between place and self-discovery.
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Produced by Jonathan Shifflett
Music by Gunn - Truscinski Duo
Feature image by Christopher Pillitz/Getty Images

[@davidgough3512]

Refreshing to hear surf life described by someone who may not surf, but "gets it" on a deep level, and doesn't mind saying a lot of what surfers feel deep down, but who usually shyly relegate those feelings to what "goes without saying".

[@equalityforall5620]

I have been interested in Paul Theroux for a long time, and have read many of his books. I come from a geographic place close to him and have a very similar background, but with a very different attitude. So it's very interesting to hear him talking about his roots.

[@terrapinalive6192]

it doesn't sound like his voice...Is there a distortion?