Join us, won't you, as we clear our throats before Season 3 with a Very Special After School Episode of Appointment Listening we're calling "I Might Be Wrong, But... " In this first of two bonus installments we're kicking around the idea that S

Episode 15: Mousetrap

Aug 16th, 2023 34m 31s

In the last episode of Season 2, we're recalling the worst things that ever happened to us as creative people, and trying to excavate whatever lessons we can from the wreckage. Featuring: Murder in Encino, and a near-international incident in B

Episode 14: The Gorgeous Notebook Store

Aug 2nd, 2023 32m 12s

In this episode we're talking about tools of the trade. Every creative trade has them. But they function in a variety of ways: As tools, yes, but also as signifiers of membership in a group, and as objects of desire. Also: Man purses, puppies,

Episode 13: Six Feet From Genius

Jul 19th, 2023 33m 57s

Here's a creativity brain puzzler: Is it better to break new ground or to keep polishing the same act until it gleams? It depends, to a degree, on for whom you create in the first place. Also: Jackie Chan, treading water, private eyes, the chan

Episode 12: Chaotic Playtime

Jul 5th, 2023 30m 2s

This week we're looking at Getting Things Done, and at the cult of productivity that's sprung up around David Allen's original GTD methodology. It looks good, it sounds good -- but is it an aid to creative work or the exact opposite of what cre

Episode 11: Super Auto

Jun 21st, 2023 31m 8s

Can creativity be malign? Or is it always just... creativity? In this episode we're looking at what researchers call "dark creativity," or the use of creative tools to gain an unfair advantage over another person. And yes: We have thoughts. Als

Episode 10: Buzzing Neon

Jun 7th, 2023 32m 47s

This week we're talking about criticism, including the trickiest kind: Self-criticism. We'll also look at the buzzing neon sign hanging outside the hotel room of your mind that spells out your own doubts and insecurities, and how to filter it o

Episode 9: Catch Me If You Can

May 24th, 2023 32m 32s

In this episode we're looking at Impostor Syndrome, the conviction that you've been faking it and are always just inches away from being unmasked. We have a theory about where it came from (hint: it was the '70s), and some thoughts about how it

Episode 8: The Lede (and how to swing it)

May 10th, 2023 31m 50s

How do you get your audience in the tent? And how do you send them home happy at the end? Journalists have the lede and the kicker; entertainers have the opener and the closer. But they're not the only creative people with tricks. Every art for

Episode 7: Struck by Lightning

Apr 26th, 2023 32m 19s

How do we measure success in creative work? Is it about the reception the work gets, or is the scale more elusive? Answering this question takes some clarity of thought and a good grasp of expectations. This week, in the first episode of season

Trailer

Season 2 premieres April 26, 2023

Apr 19th, 2023 1m 3s

Imagination & Junk is coming back! Season 2 premieres Wednesday, April 26. For our listeners in the UK, that's Wednesday, 26 April. (Bill here. I'm the American one, and am pretty sure those are the same day, but why take chances?)We've been w

Episode 6: Elephants in rooms

Sep 6th, 2021 28m 43s

Is it frivolous to do creative work when the world seems to be falling apart around you? Or can it be a palliative -- for both the creator and their audience? In the last episode of Season 1 we're looking at creativity in hard times, and peelin

Episode 5: Angry playtime

Aug 23rd, 2021 24m 21s

A decade ago a group of Dutch researchers postulated that anger may under some conditions be an effective spur to creativity. We’re unpacking that eccentric idea this week, and comparing it with our own histories as creators. Do anger and other

Episode 4: Stupid, stupid genius

Aug 9th, 2021 30m 12s

"Forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable." -- Octavia ButlerIt's almost impossible to get creative work done without discipline, but not all of us are naturally disciplined creators. That's where habit and routine enter the scene -- they'

Episode 3: Gorilla position

Jul 26th, 2021 24m 49s

Style is the beautiful face we put on what we do. It goes hand in hand with technique, but the way they inflect each other is a complicated dance -- technique without style can be dull, but style without technique is something worse; it shreds

Episode 2: The squeeze

Jul 12th, 2021 27m 26s

There's a misconception that creativity means coming up with ideas. But ideas are one thing, results are another, and the distance between them can only be traversed by work. How do creative people sort ideas, develop them and emerge on the oth

Episode 1: Just start

Jun 25th, 2021 29m 35s

There are a million possible ways to start a new creative project, but they can all be reduced to one: Just start. In the premiere episode of Imagination & Junk you’ll meet your hosts: Bill Barol, a longtime professional writer in just about ev

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