I’m no longer surprised at the caliber of guest Hardwick and company can and do land. Tom Hanks has done the podcast twice. That’s right, two, hour-plus interviews with one of Hollywood’s most respected and charismatic actors. Even still, Guns N’ Roses/Velvet Revolver guitarist and rock icon, Slash, still seemed like a pretty good get. But I wasn’t expecting any surprises from the guy. I mean, he’s Slash.
Publicly, Slash isn’t known for much more than guitars and hedonism. He’s kind of just the quiet drunk guy with the Les Paul, the dark glasses, the Phil Lynot hair, and the top-hat. I figured his interests fell in line with his accoutrement. I was wrong.
Slash’s Garage Sale Items
Guess what this archetypal rock star is into. Just guess. Here’s a hint: it rhymes with shmynosaur. Yep, he’s a Mesozoic junkie, and Slash, born Saul Hudson, can tell you the difference between a Jeholopterus and a Thrinaxodon with surprising clarity and confidence. He’s invested millions into dinosaur art. Recently, he unloaded a ton of it at a “garage sale,” so he could make room for more.
That auction was kind of the kick-off point for Chris, Jonah, and Slash’s 30-minute journey into the land of the lost.
I’m assuming Jonah was as surprised as listeners to hear Slash’s cogent argument for the “protofeather.” Chris could only barely keep up, as Jonah ate Slash’s Cretaceous dust for the first half of the episode.
What was really great about this one was that Slash, through his stories about his own history with dinosaurs, revealed bits and pieces of his childhood in England, where he was introduced to natural history.
There are times in this interview where the rock star, bolstered by paleontological confidence, gets a little out of his depth, and starts talking theology and other heavy subject matter. But all in all, it was a surprisingly informative episode. Who knew?
