Courtney Kocak grew up a small-town girl in Jackson, Minnesota, dreaming of becoming an actress. But her path to Hollywood led through some unexpected territory: seven weeks on the Girls Gone Wild tour, abusive relationships, an abortion, and eventually OnlyFans. During that time, she also became a celebrated writer, podcaster, and teacher. It's all laid bare in her new memoir, Girl Gone Wild, which chronicles how she transformed experiences she thought defined her shame into a writing career built on radical honesty. In our juicy conversation we talk about:

• Witnessing the exploitation tactics on the Girls Gone Wild bus
• Raising over $32,000 for Black Lives Matter by offering topless photos to donors
• How you can be an exhibitionist but not an extrovert
• Writing dick reviews on OnlyFans as a creative writing exercise
• The difference between sexploitation and empowerment when it comes to monetizing your looks

Jeff Chang, author of Can't Stop Won't Stop, joins the pod to reminisce about when hip hop moved from park jams to mainstream America in the 1980s. From "Rapper's Delight" to Run-DMC's crossover moment to Rakim changing the flow entirely and Public Enemy making it political, Jeff breaks down the turning points. We revisit the so-called golden era debate, why the 80s deserve more respect, and our nomintations for the best rappers of this time.

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Joyce Maynard has been writing for 53 years. At 18, she landed on the cover of the New York Times Magazine, caught the eye of J.D. Salinger, and disappeared into a relationship that would define her for decades—until she finally told her story and was called a "predator" by Maureen Dowd. In this conversation, Joyce talks about being canceled before canceling was a thing, surviving as a Me Too survivor before Me Too became a movement, and why she returned to Yale at 65 only to discover she reads in the 17th percentile.

TIMELINE:

00:35 Being canceled before it was a thing

01:47 The New York Times Magazine cover story at 18

03:29 JD Salinger's letter and the beginning of their relationship

04:30 Moving in with Salinger and giving up Yale

05:39 Keeping the secret for 25 years

06:22 Writing "At Home in the World" and the backlash

08:26 When 18-year-olds dating 53-year-olds was "romantic"

09:41 The Charlie Rose interview (and what happened after)

10:27 Why the culture turned against her in 1998

11:23 Can you separate the artist from the art?

13:25 Teaching memoir to women in Guatemala

15:45 Writing family sagas and "How the Light Gets In"

16:31 Growing up in a problematic family

17:00 Mother's writing bootcamp from age 3

22:23 Including real-world events (Trump, January 6th) in fiction

24:09 Writing is not therapy or catharsis

29:43 Throwing away manuscripts that aren't good enough

30:08 Discovering ADHD at Yale at age 65

32:08 The D-minus French exam that changed everything

34:22 Reading in the 17th percentile

36:39 The gift of ADHD

40:39 "You cannot be a writer if you're not a reader" - and why that's wrong

41:48 Character-first vs. plot-first writing

43:33 Never knowing where the story will end (vs. John Irving)

44:18 No outlines - "outline is for a term paper"

46:22 Finding inspiration in news headlines

47:49 Why some stories are memoir and others are fiction

50:48 On sensitivity readers and the transgender character

51:44 When characters display "politically incorrect" attitudes

52:57 Fear of cancellation from the left

53:29 Trigger warnings at Yale and the softening of everything