Ben Westhoff on Synthetic Drugs, Dive Bars, and the Evolution of Rap

Conversations with Tyler

Society & Culture, Education

4.8 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2019

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ben Westhoff has written some of Tyler’s favorite books on everything from dive bars to the evolution of American rap music to how fentanyl is driving the opioid epidemic. So how does he get it done? Not from the outside in, by finding exotic experiences as he originally thought. Instead he found that it comes from the inside out: eating right, exercising, getting sleep, and journaling. Do those things, Ben says, and you’ll be in a much better position to notice the good stories happening all around you.

He joined Tyler to discuss those many stories, including the proliferation of synthetic drugs, China’s role in the crisis, the merits of legalization versus decriminalization, why St. Louis is underrated, New Jersey hip-hop, how CDs changed rap, what’s different about Dr. Dre, whether the entourage is efficient, the social utility of dive bars, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded September 11th, 2019

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University,
0:08.3	bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems.
0:12.5	Learn more at mercatis.org.
0:15.2	And for more conversations, including videos, transcripts, and upcoming dates, visit
0:20.4	ConversationsWithT Tyler.com.
0:29.8	Today I'm here with Ben Westoff, and two of the very best books I've read this year
0:34.8	are by Ben.
0:36.4	The first is recently appeared Fentanyl Inc., how rogue camists are creating the deadliest
0:42.4	wave of the opioid epidemic.
0:45.0	And the other one is a book about rap music titled Original Gangsters, Tupac Dr. Dre, EZE,
0:51.4	Ice Cube, and the birth of West Coast Rap.
0:54.2	So I thought anyone who had two such excellent books on such disparate topics was an ideal
0:59.2	guest for conversations with Tyler, and so today we have with us Ben Westoff.
1:04.3	Ben, welcome.
1:05.3	Thanks for having me here.
1:06.5	I'm such a big fan of your writing and your podcast, and I'm grateful for all of it.
1:13.1	Let's start with the topic of drugs and Fentanyl.
1:16.4	Why is there such a strong geographic component to drug use in sales?
1:20.5	So certain drugs seem to be very popular in New Hampshire, but they're not popular in Florida.
1:25.8	Most of choice vary across countries.
1:29.2	Fentanyl sales don't seem to be that high as far as we can tell in Florida.
1:32.9	What accounts for that?
	...

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