Driftwood Conversations

In this episode of Driftwood Conversations, Hilary Sloane speaks with writer and spiritual seeker Tova Citrin, author of Ten Seconds to Midnight, a spiritual thriller inspired by Jewish mysticism, Kabbalistic prophecy, archaeology, and questions about the coming of a new consciousness.
Originally from Detroit, Citrin moved to Israel more than two decades ago after illness sent her on a spiritual search that eventually led her to Jerusalem.
Their conversation moves through Kabbalah, prophecy, and spiritual practice into Tova's experience of living in Israel during war.
But the conversation ultimately becomes something more intimate: two highly sensitive women talking about empathy, intuition, nervous-system overwhelm, meditation, grief, and the difficult practice of knowing what belongs to us—and what does not.
How do we remain open without absorbing everything around us? How much control do we really have? And when the world feels impossible to understand, listening to another person's story matters.
This conversation is about uncertainty, resilience, consciousness, and learning to stay present in a complicated world.
For more information about Tova Citrin and her Book Ten Seconds to Midnight, go to https://www.tovacitrin.com.

An Ecology of Exchange, an artist residency in Joshua Tree.
Artist E. Mark Gross became one of the first participants in a new Joshua Tree residency called An Ecology of Exchange, created by filmmaker and choreographer Jenifer Yeuroukis.
Gross has followed an unusual path—from law and game design in New York to an art practice based partly in the Philippines. In the Mojave Desert, he found the landscape’s openness, color, negative space, and slower rhythms beginning to enter his abstract work.
When Jennifer joins us in conversation, the discussion expands beyond art and residency programs into something deeper: the relationship between art and science, why curiosity matters, what creativity does for us, the importance of stillness, and our increasingly urgent need for genuine human connection.
We also talk about story, nature, the body, the strange difficulty of knowing when a work of art is finished—and why Joshua Tree may reveal itself only to people willing to stay long enough to notice.
  https://jeniferrom.wixsite.com/ecologyorexchange 
EmarkArtist.com
Hosted by Hilary Sloane for Driftwood Conversations.

C. Von Hassett — Awareness, Death and the Practice of the Pause
Writer and longtime meditation practitioner C. Von Hassett joins Hilary Sloane for a wide-ranging conversation about awareness, fear, death, meditation, and learning to be present in an increasingly distracted world.
Hassett has practiced Dzogchen, a Tibetan contemplative tradition, for more than thirty-five years. From his home in Rimrock near Pioneertown, California, he now devotes much of his life to meditation and contemplative practice.
The conversation moves through his childhood in the San Fernando Valley, his early love of literature, years in Los Angeles and New York, teaching, writing, and the books and teachers that eventually led him to Dzogchen.
Chris and Hilary also explore what spiritual practice looks like in ordinary life: watching the mind, living with fear, finding stillness in a city, growing older, making room for death, and discovering the extraordinary possibilities contained in something as simple as a pause.
They also discuss the practical side of choosing a contemplative life: Chris's decision to step away from much of contemporary media, his relationship with his wife, Rachel Reid Wilkie, and his writing on meditation and end-of-life practice.
C. Von Hassett is the author of Entering the Mind, The Boundary Stone, and Awakening in the End. Links to the books are here.
Driftwood Conversations is hosted by Hilary Sloane.

Jeff Hafler has spent more than twenty years building an unusual life in California's high desert.
He owns the Beauty Bubble Salon and Museum in Joshua Tree and is a musician, former yoga teacher, collector, husband, and father. He also believes deeply in synchronicity and in paying attention when life seems to point you in a particular direction.
Jeff and I talk about leaving West Hollywood for Wonder Valley, raising a son with his husband Michael, building the Beauty Bubble, surviving the pandemic, becoming the subject of the documentary Inside the Beauty Bubble, and the strange coincidences that have shaped his life.
We also talk about what happens when optimism meets a more difficult world—and why Jeff keeps returning to a simple piece of advice:
Follow your bliss and keep showing up.
https://insidethebeautybubble.com/
https://kinema.com/films/inside-the-beauty-bubble-ndm5aq
Driftwood Conversations is hosted by Hilary Sloane.

Mandi Leigh: Leaving the Life You’re Good At
Mandi Leigh spent years working in the film industry, beginning as a production assistant on Supernatural and eventually becoming an assistant director. She was good at the work. She loved it. But another part of her life was becoming impossible to ignore.
“I love working in film, but I love life more.”
Mandi had always been a singer, but when she began playing guitar and writing her own songs, music started pouring out of her. In 2024, she packed her guitars, her dog and a mattress into her Dodge Journey and toured through British Columbia. She discovered that traveling from town to town, sharing music and connecting with people, felt more like herself than anything she had done before.
Eventually, she took a much bigger leap, leaving British Columbia and moving across Canada to Toronto to build a life around her music.
In this episode of Driftwood Conversations, Mandi and I talk about what it means to leave something you’re good at, the fear and uncertainty of beginning again, family expectations, self-worth, songwriting, touring, and the strange moment when you realize you may have stepped into the life that feels like your own.
We also talk about her EP, Emotional Highs; the full-length album she is recording; her family's leatherwork tradition; and the two words tattooed on her hands: contradiction and balance.
Mandi didn’t leave film because she failed at it.
She left because another part of her was asking to be lived.
Driftwood Conversations is hosted by Hilary Sloane
https://www.mandileigh.com/

Seattle artist Cristina Martinez creates work rooted in memory, resilience, community, and the beauty that can emerge from difficult beginnings. In our conversation, we talk about the women who shaped her, her unexpected path from fashion school to painting, and why storytelling and human connection are at the heart of her work. Cristina shares how art has become a way of honoring where we come from while imagining who we might become. To see more of Cristina’s paintings, murals, and public art, visit cristinamartinezart.com or follow her on Instagram @sew_trill.

Dr. Priyanka Upadhyai: Science, Story, and the Human Search for Meaning
What happens when a scientist who studies rare genetic disorders also becomes a thoughtful observer of what it means to be human?
In this episode of Driftwood Conversations, I sit down with Dr. Priyanka Upadhyai, a professor of biomedical sciences in India whose work explores the mysteries of genetics and disease. Beyond the laboratory, Priyanka is a writer whose reflections on identity, curiosity, and everyday life have attracted readers around the world.
Our conversation moves easily between science and storytelling, childhood and culture, research and creativity. We talk about growing up in India, the discipline of scientific inquiry, the role of imagination, and why stories matter just as much as data when we're trying to understand ourselves.
Despite the complexity of her work, Priyanka approaches life with warmth, humility, and an openness that makes this conversation feel less like an interview and more like two people exploring what it means to pay attention.
If you've ever wondered how science and creativity can exist side by side—or why curiosity may be one of our greatest human gifts—I think you'll enjoy this conversation.

Field guid for Being Human, Episode 1 - Story 
In the first episode of Field Guide for Being Human, Hilary Sloane and Jungian therapist, writer, and coach Brenda Littleton explore the nature of story. Together they discuss memoir, dreams, trauma, identity, and why the stories we tell ourselves can both limit us and set us free.
As the conversation unfolds, they discover that perhaps story isn't something to cling to or erase, but something that continues to evolve throughout our lives. What happens when we stop asking who we've been and begin asking who we're becoming?
If you've ever written, remembered, questioned your past, or wondered how meaning emerges from experience, this conversation is for you.

Musician, poet, and community organizer Palo Xanto joins Hilary Sloane for a conversation about creativity, music, and life in the California high 
desert.
Drawing inspiration from hip-hop, rock, poetry, and the desert’s unique culture, Palo discusses his evolution from a young rapper in Northern California to the frontman of a genre-blending band that combines conscious lyricism with groove-driven music. He shares how writing became his first creative language, why community matters, and how independent artists are navigating a rapidly changing creative landscape.
The conversation explores the desert as a source of inspiration, the role of creativity in finding one's voice, and the power of building authentic communities around art.
Learn more about https://paloxanto.com/home

Show Notes
Guest: Sean Kennerly
Sean Kennerly is a writer, musician, and founding member of the influential California punk band Samiam. He is also the vocalist for the Brooklyn experimental noise band Ice Balloons. His debut novel, Memoir of a Hyena, combines years of research with an imaginative first-person narrative that invites readers into the life of one of nature's most misunderstood animals.
In this episode, we discuss:
Growing up surrounded by books, music, and the arts
Experimental music and the influence of John Cage and Robert Wilson
Creativity, curiosity, and following unconventional ideas
The remarkable social world of spotted hyenas
Why Sean chose to tell a hyena's story from its own perspective
Making art for the love of creating rather than commercial success
Learn more:
Memoir of a Hyena — Some People Press
Instagram: @deathfluff
Music: Samiam
Experimental music: Ice Balloons
If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe to Driftwood Conversations, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who loves thoughtful conversations about creativity, storytelling, and the unexpected paths that shape our lives.