Driven To Fail with Sam Smith

Does ambition make us who we are? Can you ever really see yourself as others do? Around 30 years ago, in middle school, I discovered a book called The Stainless Steel Carrot. It tells the true story of a young man once loved by thousands, a 1970s hero whose actions helped kick off a national movement and who now lives a quiet, retired life in Southern California. John Morton got his start sweeping floors for the legendary Carroll Shelby, but he always wanted to get to the top—to open-wheel, to Indy cars, possibly even Formula 1. A goal is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s hard to get anywhere if you don’t know where you want to go. On the other hand, it’s entirely possible to have a successful life without landing the one thing you’ve wanted forever. Does missing a goal like that make you a failure? Of course not. But it can change how you see what you did accomplish. Driven to Fail is a podcast about what happens when things go wrong. What we do when life falls apart, and what we learn when we try to put it back together. Brought to you by the Hagerty Podcast Network. This is the final episode of Season 1. Thank you for listening!

If a dream job ends too early, is it still a dream? How would you feel if you had to rebuild your life from one of those ends . . . twice? John Krewson was a founding editor at comedy landmark The Onion. While there, he cowrote a number-one New York Times bestseller. Chris Farley crashed his wedding. An Emmy-winning writer for Rick and Morty and Community called him “the most talented writer I’ve ever worked with.” When that career began to crumble, he chased another unlikely passion—he became an automotive journalist, at Road & Track. The years that followed held death, heartbreak, depression, job loss, struggle, and, ultimately, a happy ending. Driven to Fail is a podcast about what happens when things go wrong. What we do when life falls apart, and what we learn when we try to put it back together. Brought to you by the Hagerty Podcast Network.

How long would you fight to build something you believed in? Would the answer change if you had to make it up as you went along? In car photography, Larry Chen is about as big as it gets. He has nearly 800,000 Instagram followers*. He is a Canon featured artist whose clients include Toyota, Hoonigan, and Monster Energy. Over 20 years in the business, he has worked in more than 50 countries, shot every form of motorsport imaginable, and covered every 24-hour race on earth. If that weren't enough, he is the only person behind in a camera in this industry whose name means anything to kids in small-town America. And he worked his way up to all of it from a job selling computers out of the back of his Nissan S13. I wanted to talk to Larry because he believes, in a very specific way, that he is not any good. The way he sees holes in his work, his constant drive to move past a weakness—they make him who he is, both in car culture and as a person. And they're why he's made the difference he has. Driven to Fail is a podcast about what happens when things go wrong. What we do when life falls apart, and what we learn when we try to put it back together. Brought to you by the Hagerty Podcast Network. *Note: This episode’s intro gives Chen’s follower count as 675,000—that number was correct at tape time but has since grown to more than 790,000.

If you nearly died, would you want to remember it? Would that moment change how you saw your own shortcomings or the loss of a dream job? What if you had to watch an old friend go through the same thing? James Hinchcliffe is a Canadian, a former IndyCar driver, a broadcaster, and one of the nicest guys in Indianapolis. Eight years ago, when a 220-mph crash drove a suspension tube clear through his leg and femoral artery, he lost 60 percent of his blood. A few years after, he watched from the cockpit as a teammate and childhood friend was paralyzed in another violent crash. Hinch has since come to grips with a lot. How that friend’s talent lit IndyCar on fire when his own just didn’t. The importance of brutal honesty in a course change. And what it really takes, once you reach the top, to stay there. Driven to Fail is a podcast about what happens when things go wrong. What we do when life falls apart, and what we learn while putting it back together. Brought to you by the Hagerty Podcast Network. Note: The pre-taped intro states Hinchcliffe’s age as 35. Due to production delays, this episode was not released until after he turned 36. We apologize for any confusion.