Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Bruce Wagner is a novelist, a former student of Carlos Castaneda, and author of "Amputation." We discuss Hollywood as a laboratory for human behavior, transgression and transcendence, his decade with Castaneda, writing after the LA fires, and why fiction is our most potent vehicle to truth. READ MORE👉🏼bit.ly/richroll964
✌🏼🌱 – Rich

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00:00:00 Start
00:00:49 Entering the Wagner Universe
00:01:31 The Scent of a Writer & Literary Influences
00:05:10 Buddhist Suffering & Transcendence
00:08:26 Personal History & Family Dynamics
00:09:27 Predetermination, Spiritual Teachers, and Leonard Cohen
00:13:56 Childhood in Beverly Hills
00:15:12 Love Affair with Language & Reading Habits
00:18:35 AD BREAK 1
00:22:24 Artistic Process & The Puzzle of Creation
00:24:50 Psilocybin, Mystical Experiences, and Storytelling
00:35:41 Truth, Artifice, and Reality
00:38:24 Infernal and Transcendent: Darkness and Light
00:38:48 Addiction, Migraines, and Post-Migraine States
00:41:49 Popularity of True Crime & Human Nature
00:43:35 AD BREAK 2
00:48:57 Castaneda, Sorcery, and the Second Attention
01:01:42 Recapitulation, Lucid Dreaming, and the Mind
01:09:21 Writing Process & Silence
01:18:11 AI, Identity, and the Future of Writing
01:22:57 The Fires, Amputation, and Artistic Response
01:39:23 Empathy, Fatalism, and Enlightenment
01:50:04 Mortality, Aging, and the Illusion of Control
01:54:37 Transformation, Intent, and Everyday Art
01:57:13 Memorable Events & The Fading of Art
02:00:18 Closing Reflections & Farewell

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Hi I'm Rich Roll. I'm a vegan ultra-endurance athlete, author, podcaster, public speaker & wellness evangelist. But mainly I'm a dad of four. If you want to know more, visit my website or check out these two the NY Times articles:
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