724 - Ryan Norbauer (Retro-futurist)

724 - Ryan Norbauer (Retro-futurist)

From Tangentially Speaking with Christopher Ryan by Chris Ryan

May 19, 2026 · 1h 52m

About this episode

Ryan Norbauer discusses his diverse career and the disillusionment with status-driven accomplishments.

Ryan is an aspiring underachiever. He’s worked for NASA, planned and conducted his own scientific research at the CDC, and served as a foreign affairs analyst/speechwriter in the British Parliament; he’s founded four companies and he’s published peer-reviewed scholarship in fancy-pants journals across two separate academic disciplines. All this misguided, insecure early-life ambition mostly just taught him how disappointing and anticlimactic status-driven accomplishments can be. (His words.) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

People in this episode

Host: Christopher Ryan

Guest: Ryan Norbauer

Topics covered

  • retro-futurism
  • ambition
  • disappointment
  • career paths
  • science
  • society

Keywords

  • NASA
  • CDC
  • British Parliament
  • ambition
  • retro-futurism
  • underachievement
  • career
  • disappointment

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NASA, CDC, British Parliament

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