Are Animals Creative? (2006)

Spoiler alert: “Yes, yes they are. That was easy.” This piece is such a buffet for the senses. It evokes cartoonish images of animals painting and playing music, delivers that music to your ears (including a whole minute of it at the end that could be a Brian Eno track or something you’d hear at a Bushwick nightclub, and seasons it with Cole’s signature wit and insight. You can hear the question - are animals creative? - but the answer occupies the space between the ears. It’s a stellar example of the curious journalism that has driven Cole’s work.