{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Ask A Kansan","title":"Authenticity and Adventure with Rolf Potts | Scripted in Kansas","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3679,"description":"What does it really mean to give yourself permission — to travel, to write, to call a place home?Rolf Potts has spent decades asking that question. A fourth-generation Kansan from Wichita, Rolf is one of the most recognized travel writers working today and the author of Vagabonding, a book that has quietly changed the way a generation thinks about long-term travel. But this conversation goes beyond passport stamps. We talk about how growing up with two schoolteacher parents shaped the way Rolf sees the world, why he thinks curiosity is the most underrated skill a writer can have, and how he's channeling a lifetime of storytelling into something deeply Kansan — a short film and a feature-length documentary called Kansas Never Plays Itself.HighlightsRolf's parents were both schoolteachers, and he credits them with instilling the curiosity that drives his travel writing and storytellingHis first and best-known book, Vagabonding, was essentially a letter to his teenage self about giving yourself permission to travel — without waiting for retirement or the \"right\" circumstancesHe taught English in Korea in the 1990s and entered Europe for the first time via the Trans-Siberian Railway — traveling through 40–50 countries before ever visiting ParisRolf distinguishes between guidebook writing and the kind of literary travel writing he practices — a blend of personal memoir and reported journalismHe has interviewed one travel writer per month on his website, rolfpotts.com, for 25 yearsHe and his wife, actress Kiki, co-wrote and co-executive produced a short film shot almost entirely on their property in KansasHis documentary Kansas Never Plays Itself explores how Kansas is misrepresented — or simply absent — in cinema, drawing on the work of filmmakers like Gordon ParksHis advice to Kansans: stop apologizing for where you're from. Authenticity is a superpowerChapters0:00 — New Mugs1:05 — Meet Rolf Potts2:32 — Curiosity From Teachers3:55 — Travel Bug and Vagabonding5:15 —...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/31uDhQmE-73zaqpWjXtwnyYffNMsUnDPiL6GtjTddEQ/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mNzBm/YzFkNDBkODVjNGM2/MzMwMGViYjhmZTY4/Nzc0Mi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}