You can have it ft. Rachelle Toarmino and Aidan Ryan
Notas del episodio
Aidan Ryan and Rachelle Toarmino—two award-winning writers who are also married—join Laura Federico to explore desire, ambition, and creative partnership. They discuss the ecstatic "adrenaline rush" of making art, the relationship between absence and wanting, and how they navigate power dynamics in both their work and relationship. From Rachelle's viral poem "You up?" to Aidan's examination of his aunt and uncle's art world journey, they reveal how desire evolves from abstract wanting to deep connection, why intimacy matters more than fame, and what it means to think through writing as two people building a life together.
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I Am Here You Are Not I Love You
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TIMESTAMPS
05:14 — Is it better to desire or to be desired?
06:23 — Desire as the engine of creative work
07:51 — The relationship between absence and desire
08:53 — Desire vs. ambition in the life of an artist
10:00 — Aidan's early encounters with publishing and fame
12:32 — The discomfort of being desired and misinterpreted
13:24 — Rachelle on rejecting careerist poetry tracks
14:56 — "I want to be read because I want to be felt and understood"
16:59 — What ecstasy feels like when writing a poem
18:21 — How Aidan and Rachelle met
21:41 — "Our understanding of our desires improves as we age"
22:06 — What changes as the relationship evolves
23:46 — The intimacy of direct address in Rachelle's poetry
25:15 — Finding the out-loud voice of new poems
27:07 — The story behind "You up?" the viral Tumblr poem
29:38 — Gender roles in creative relationships
33:41 — Power dynamics beyond patriarchal stereotypes
34:52 — Where desire and power intersect
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Our music, Hit Her Up, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.