Devin Dabney is a rock climber, routesetter, rapper, music producer, writer, and creator of The American Climbing Project podcast. We talked about using humor to talk about uncomfortable subjects, inviting people into conversations, how climbing saved his life after considering suicide, breaking down barriers to climbing, how competition makes us better, and making a difference in the climbing community.
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Show Notes:
thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/devin-dabney
Nuggets:
0:08:20 – Green screens and SpongeBob
0:12:52 – How Devin and I connected, and binging his podcast
0:17:41 – Devin’s vision for The American Climbing Project (ACP)
0:23:30 – Using humor to poke at difficult subjects, and inviting people into conversation
0:28:37 – Devin’s target audience, exposing listeners to different perspectives about race, and my (Steven’s) ignorance having grown up as a white kid from the PNW
0:32:22 – Climbing as an escape, and connecting to the world around us as climbers
0:33:50 – Plans for season 2 of ACP, and covering gender and sexual orientation in climbing
0:35:03 – Rob, and the ACP blog
0:38:23 – The skits
0:39:40 – Devin and Rob’s mission to provide a tool to grow and improve the climbing community and redistribute wealth
0:41:52 – The mixtape format of the ACP
0:45:22 – The Black Square skit
0:47:26 – Creativity, and sprints of inspiration
0:48:44 – How Devin puts together one of his episodes
0:52:10 – Growing up playing the violin, and getting into music production and rap
0:55:58 – Devin’s 7 different jobs
1:00:03 – The Great Equalizer, and Devin’s introduction to climbing
1:07:13 – Feeling lost, drafting a suicide note, and how climbing changed his life
1:09:15 – Studying architecture, traveling around the world, and sharing the real shit
1:14:29 – Why providing access to climbing feels important to Devin, and the many reasons climbing is awesome
1:17:09 – Barriers that keep climbing from being accessible/welcoming to marginalized groups of people
1:24:27 – The discomfort of climbing, the civil rights movement, and why the history of climbing is white
1:28:37 – Trading weed for moonshine, and the different experience of being with other white vs. black climbers
1:31:24 – “I would never go hunting without a white person.”
1:33:48 – The Halloween episode story, and photo releases in gym waivers
1:41:58 – How the podcast has been received, and responding to criticism
1:48:25 – Being reactive to headlines
1:52:40 – Topics that Devin hopes to cover in future seasons of the ACP podcast
2:00:12 – How to support the ACP
2:05:28 – Plug Tone Audio, why Devin loves competition, and shared inspiration
2:17:15 – Who Devin looks up to
2:20:50 – Guests that Devin would love to hear on The Nugget
2:23:48 – The depth we have as rock climbers
2:25:45 – Climbers are leaders
2:26:35 – What’s next for ACP
Follow-Up: Emil Abrahamsson — Gaining Weight to Climb His First V15, Overhauling His Training, and Thinking Long-Term With Projects (Teaser)
EP 161: Sam Stroh — Botching It and Sending Anyway, and Biggest Lessons from Hard Boulders to Free Climbs on El Cap
EP 160: Fundamentals — How to Pick a Project
EP 159: Tom Randall & Sam Van Boxtel — Why YouTube is the Future of Climbing Media, and How Much $$ YouTubers Make
EP 158: Fundamentals — How to Improve Your Technique
Follow-Up: Tim Emmett — Lessons From 80+ Days on Era Vella 9a, and Changing His Diet to Thrive at Age 48 (Teaser)
EP 157: Jeannie Wall — Getting Stronger in Her 50s, the Value of Doing Challenging Things, and Slowing Down to Go Fast
EP 156: Fundamentals — How to Go on a Sport Climbing Trip
EP 155: Caleb Robinson — Reaching V13 in Four Years, Biggest Lessons From Competitive Soccer, and the Power of Consistency
Follow-Up: Aidan Roberts — Sending Alphane, Training for V18 Projects, and Listener Q&A (Teaser)
Announcing YouTube + Win a Training Bundle!
EP 154: Fundamentals — How to Go on a Bouldering Trip
EP 153: Ollie Torr — The Secret to Finger Strength, How to Climb Like Aidan Roberts, and Staying on the Bus
Follow-Up: Jordan Cannon — Sending ‘Wet Lycra Nightmare’ on the Leaning Tower (Teaser)
EP 152: Fundamentals — How to Go on a Climbing Trip
Announcing Fundamentals!
EP 151: Anna Hazelnutt — Toe Training for the World’s Hardest Slabs, and Giving Others Permission to Be Real
Follow-Up: Tyler Nelson — Cutting Edge Finger Training Ideas, and the Difference Between Active Recruitment vs. Passive Tension (Teaser)
EP 150: Luke Mehall — How Climbing Gave Him His Life, Creating The Climbing Zine, and Sustaining Creative Work
EP 149: Steven on Kegels and Coffee — We Are Not Robots, As It Turns Out
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