The Henry Miller Memorial Library is an oasis, a little heaven right off Highway 1 in Big Sur, a shrine devoted to one of the many gods of American literature. Shaded by magnificent redwoods, it comprises not only a bookstore but also a venue for literary and music events.
Unless you have Patti Smith performing to a decent-size outside scene, the place is peaceful, immediately soothing. But there are times when it becomes even quieter, when the gate is locked and not even Jack, the library cat, dares to issue a meow. That’s a sign that “Magnus [Torén] is recording,” a caregiver of the property whispers, sitting with a silent leaf blower in hand, his sight on the sky, waiting his turn.
It sounds like a serious operation and it is – with 30 episodes already available on any platform you use for audio. A Big Sur Podcast is all about “maintaining spontaneity,” Torén says. It’s “not beholden to anything.”
“This place is the noblest thing I have ever seen,” Introduction to A Big Sur Podcast (episode #1) starts, with Miller’s voice describing Big Sur in an archival recording. Torén chose the name A Big Sur Podcast because “hopefully it will be one of many voices from this small but important community. If I had a podcast as Magnus Torén no one would care, but this place” – Torén means not only the library, but Big Sur in general, wild and rural, with a small, controlled population that invites people in or rejects them straight out – “this place is a platform.” With Big Sur on his side, Torén can compete with Joe Rogan, he says with a laugh.
There are a lot of stories in Big Sur, and a lot of wisdom. The subject of the podcast episodes can be anything remotely related to the Big Sur’s natural and cultural history. The core of it are people whose voices you might not find online otherwise, such as Butch Kronlund from the Community Association of Big Sur (#6), who tells the fascinating story of building the baths at Esalen or Peggy Horan (#3), a massage therapist and author, recalling times when she would drop acid every weekend in Big Sur.
“Some of them are dear neighbors of mine,” Torén says about his guests. “We are provincial here,” he adds, not without pride. Still, many fascinating people visit the library, and therefore “the content generates itself.”
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