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Exploring the fascinating minds of creative people. Anthology episodes of The Creative Process’ conversations with writers, artists, and creative thinkers across the Arts and STEM. Arts & Ideas examines important issues of our times and aims to answer the big questions through diverse perspectives: What does it mean to live a good life? How can we solve climate change? What kind of world are we leaving to future generations? Winners of Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Pulitzer, Nobel Prize, leaders, and changemakers share real experiences and offer valuable insights. Notable guests and participating museums and organizations include Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Neil Patrick Harris, Smithsonian, Roxane Gay, Musée Picasso, EARTHDAY-ORG, Neil Gaiman, UNESCO, Mark Seliger, Acropolis Museum, Hilary Mantel, Songwriters Hall of Fame, George Saunders, The New Museum, Lemony Snicket, Venice Biennale, Pritzker Architecture Prize, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Serpentine Galleries, Joe Mantegna, PETA, Greenpeace, Morgan Library and Museum, and many others. To hear our full archive of 1,000+ interviews, visit: www.creativeprocess.info/pod Apple tinyurl.com/thecreativepod Spotify tinyurl.com/thecreativespotify

  1. From Extraction to Regeneration: Redesigning Our Relationship with Nature

    Jun 16

    From Extraction to Regeneration: Redesigning Our Relationship with Nature

    Today, we examine how we will adapt to a changing climate and learn to listen to the Earth.(0:00) Abrahm Lustgarten(Reporter, ProPublica) (3:00) Jon Gertner (Author, The Ice at the End of the World) (5:32) Bill Hare (CEO, Climate Analytics) (6:35) Rob Nixon (Prof. Environmental Humanities, Princeton) (8:12) Louis de Jaeger (Co-founder, Food Forest Institute) (10:06) Kathleen Rogers (Pres., EarthDay.org) (11:31) Rebecca Tickell (Filmmaker, Groundswell) (13:42) Ben Goldfarb (Author, Crossings) (14:56) Jane Madgwick (CEO, Plantlife International) (19:23) Jason deCaires Taylor (Sculptor, Underwater Museums) (21:02) William McDonough (Architect, Cradle to Cradle) (23:19) Euan Nisbet(Scientist, Royal Holloway) (26:06) Roland Geyer (Author, The Business of Less) (28:15) Ron Gonen (CEO, Closed Loop Partners) (29:34) Paul Shrivastava (Co-President, Club of Rome) (30:14) Carlo Ratti (Architect, Dir., MIT Senseable City Lab) (31:24) Osprey Orielle Lake (Founder, WECAN) (32:38) Liza Featherstone (Journalist) (33:41) Yolanda Kakabadse (Fmr. President, WWF) For more, listen to their full interviews Episode Site: https://www.creativeprocess.info/interviews-featured/anth-regen

    36 min
  2. Humans as Storytelling Animals: Poets, Novelists & Musicians on the Power of Writing

    Jun 1

    Humans as Storytelling Animals: Poets, Novelists & Musicians on the Power of Writing

    Why do we write? Is it to capture a memory before it vanishes or to build a bridge between the person we are and the stories we've been told? In this episode of The Creative Process, we explore the practice of writing as an awakening and tool for discovery with a group of celebrated poets, novelists, musicians and thinkers. We hear from neuroscientist, dancer and author Julia Christensen on how literature inspires transformative aesthetic experiences. Award-winning poet and clinical psychologist Hala Alyan discusses navigating displacement through narrative, while bestselling author Andre Dubus III reflects on the honest labor of the writer and the willingness to fail. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Jericho Brown shares how the sounds of American vernacular guide his work and Fmr. US Poet Laureate Ada Limón discusses holding hope within frightening thoughts about the future of our planet. NYT Bestseller Aimee Nezhukumatathil speaks on tenderness towards the natural world and naturalist Sy Montgomery shares how animals have been her greatest teachers. The conversation expands with poet Max Stossel on finding humanity in conflict, Tiokasin Ghosthorse on the ancient energy of the earth and Julian Lennon on art as a collective human endeavor. Finally, composer Erland Cooper takes us to the landscape of his youth, where the sound of the sea informed his creative voice.  To hear more from each guest, listen to their full interviews. Episode Website www.creativeprocess.info/pod Instagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

    17 min
  3. Listening to the Living World: Ami Vitale, Yann Martel, Carl Safina, David George Haskell & Others on Climate Change & The Rights of Nature

    Apr 16

    Listening to the Living World: Ami Vitale, Yann Martel, Carl Safina, David George Haskell & Others on Climate Change & The Rights of Nature

    Today, we hear from writers Yann Martel, Carl Safina and David George Haskell on the practice of listening to the living world. Tom Chi discusses the dangerous volatility of a one-degree shift. Clayton Aldern explores how climate change alters brain health and behavior, while Ami Vitale,Osprey Orielle Lake and Martín Von Hildebrand remind us of the kinship we share with nature. Fred Pearce discusses 40 years as a journalist reporting on climate from around the world, while Richard Black of the environmental think tank Ember and Paula Pinho, European Commission’s Chief Spokesperson, talk about policy, hope and the radical empathy required to protect the planet for future generations. (0:00) Clayton Page Aldern – Finding awe and beauty in the world (0:40) David George Haskell – On consequences of humans tuning out the sounds of the living world (2:11) Yann Martel – How animals ask us to step out of our humanity (3:12) Carl Safina – The interior lives of non-human animals (5:08) Ami Vitale – Environmental collapse and human conflict (6:37) Martín von Hildebrand – Indigenous views of nature (8:00) Richard Black – Transition to clean energy vs. massive fossil fuel subsidies (10:01) Tom Chi – Climate destabilization (11:07) Paula Pinho – Europe’s vision for energy independence (14:04) Osprey Orielle Lake – Māori concept of "I am the river and the river is me” (16:08) Bill Hare – On limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees (17:19) Fred Pearce – Finding hope in nature’s resilience To hear more from each guest, listen to their full interviews. Episode Website www.creativeprocess.info/pod @creativeprocesspodcast

    20 min
  4. Who Are We? What Makes Us Care? Jim Shepard, Neil Patrick Harris, John Patrick Shanley & Artists Share Their Stories

    Feb 11

    Who Are We? What Makes Us Care? Jim Shepard, Neil Patrick Harris, John Patrick Shanley & Artists Share Their Stories

    Can curiosity and empathy be taught? How can we expand our sense of solidarity through stories? In this episode, we explore the internal dialogues of artists, actors and writers to ask what it means to step into someone else's shoes. (0:00) Novelist  Jim Shepard discusses Literature as a Tool for Emotional Education and Exploring History (2:05) Tony Award-winning Actor Neil Patrick Harris on Being Moved by Theater and its Ability to Bridge Worlds (3:55) Novelist Katie Kitamura on How a Book is Made in Collaboration with the Reader (5:00) Screenwriter, Playwright Laura Eason on Inhabiting the Hearts of Characters Different from Ourselves (6:03) Academy Award-winning Director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy on the Art of Visual Storytelling (6:37) Cinematographer, Director Benoit Delhomme on the Freedom of Handheld Cinematography (7:19) Author Etgar Keret on Looking for Humanity through Shared Intention (8:18) Viet Thanh Nguyen – Opposing Power through Expansive Solidarity (9:27) Adam Moss – Author, Fmr. Editor New York magazine on “The Work of Art” (10:29) John Patrick Shanley – Tony & Academy Award-winning Writer, Director on Finding Value in Ordinary Experiences and the Creative Power of Daydreaming (11:56) Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist Nicholas Kristof on Why Individual Stories are Necessary to Generate Connection To hear more from each guest, listen to their full interviews. Episode Website www.creativeprocess.info/pod Instagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

    14 min
  5. The Wisdom of Nature: Artists & Scientists on The Beauty & Fragility of Our Planet

    Jan 9

    The Wisdom of Nature: Artists & Scientists on The Beauty & Fragility of Our Planet

    In this special edition, we hear from our guests from across the arts and sciences. From composers and poets to forest ecologists and climate envoys, they tell the story of our planet. Moving beyond the data of destruction, we explore the intelligence of nature, the ethics of what we eat, and the empathy required to save our future. MAX RICHTER, Composer, Sleep, The Blue Notebooks CARL SAFINA, Author, Becoming Wild ADA LIMÓN, 24th US Poet Laureate CYNTHIA DANIELS, Grammy Award-winning Sound Eng. SUZANNE SIMARD, Finding the Mother Tree JOELLE GERGIS, Lead Author, IPCC 6th Assessment Rpt NOAH WILSON-RICH, CEO, Best Bees Company INGRID NEWKIRK, PETA Founder BERTRAND PICCARD, Solar Impulse Foundation DAVID FARRIER, Author, Footprints KATHLEEN ROGERS, Pres, Earth Day Network ODED GALOR, Unified Growth Theory PETER SINGER, Philosopher GEOFF MULGAN, Another World Is Possible CLAIRE POTTER, Welcome to the Circular Economy CHRIS FUNK, Dir. Climate Hazards Car. JENNIFER MORGAN, Special Envoy, International Climate Action To hear more from each guest, listen to their full interviews. Episode Website

    18 min
  6. The Writer's Voice: Novelists, Poets, Memoirists & Editors Share Their Stories

    12/13/2025

    The Writer's Voice: Novelists, Poets, Memoirists & Editors Share Their Stories

    How do writers develop their voice, showing us what is important in life? ADA LIMÓN (24th U.S. Poet Laureate, Startlement, The Carrying) explains that her poetry begins with a bodily sensation or curiosity, not an idea. She values the space and breath poetry offers for unknowing and mystery, finding solace in the making and the mess, not in answers. She discusses being free on the page to be her whole, authentic, complicated self. JAY PARINI (Author, Filmmaker, Borges and Me) calls poetry the prince of literary arts—language refined to its apex of memorability. He recounts how his road trip with Borges around Scotland restored him from depression and anxiety following the Vietnam War death of his friend. JERICHO BROWN (Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet, The Tradition, How We Do It: Black Writers on Craft, Practice, and Skill) discusses the rhythm of black vernacular and capturing "symphonic complexity of black life". He shares how he’s found a way not to think about personal risk as he’s writing. ADAM MOSS (Fmr. Editor, New York Magazine; Author, The Work of Art) relates David Simon’s concept of the bounce, in which creativity gains momentum as it is passed between people. VIET THANH NGUYEN (Pulitzer Prize-winning Author, The Sympathizer; To Save and to Destroy) discusses his path to expansive solidarity and capacious grief and how it works against the state's power to divide and conquer. He emphasizes that literature is crucial because authoritarian regimes abuse language; a commitment to the beauty of language is a commitment to truth, and fear is often an indicator of a truth that needs to be spoken. To hear more from each guest, listen to their full interviews. Episode Website www.creativeprocess.info/pod Instagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

    14 min
  7. Writers on Memory, Language & the Power of the Unconscious

    12/12/2025

    Writers on Memory, Language & the Power of the Unconscious

    How can we use negative spaces in fiction to engage with readers’ imaginations? How are memory and trauma passed onto us through language? How do we become more than the stories we tell ourselves? KATIE KITAMURA (Author, Audition, Intimacies) emphasizes that a book is created in collaboration with the reader, using negative spaces in the narrative structure to allow for reader interpretation, paralleling the space between audience and actor in performance. PAUL LYNCH (Booker Prize-winning Novelist, Prophet Song) discusses the richness and slipperiness of the English language in Ireland, shaped by the overlay of English onto Irish grammatical constructions, resulting in unique phrasing and a capacity to create new constructions. DANIEL PEARLE (Screenwriter, Playwright, The Beast in Me) shares that audiences are fascinated by the unfettered, uncensored ID in characters, reflecting the universal fantasy of acting without consequences. He advises writers to put people who deeply irritate them into a play, as those characters often become the audience's favorites. HALA ALYAN (Novelist, Poet, I’ll Tell You When I’m Home: A Memoir) describes her work as an excavation of the darkest hours and intergenerational trauma carried by her lineage, which has endured repeated exile. She links exile from the body to the larger patterns of not having a place in the world. T.C. BOYLE(Novelist, Short Story Writer, Environmentalist) shares that the creative process involves a magic in reaching for the unconscious and the surprise of the creative process. He emphasizes that art and nature are our salvations, over money. He advocates for solitude in nature—alone on a beach or in the woods—to connect with the natural world. ADAM ALTER (Author of Anatomy of a Breakthrough) discusses the axioms of creativity, noting that being around more people, even those who are "deeply incompetent," is generally beneficial for creativity by providing diversity of opinion and information, preceding the necessary time for solitary focus. SHEHAN KARUNATILAKA (Booker Prize-winning Author of The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida) explains his decision to write in the second person as a way of exploring the spiritual dimension of the internal voice. He posits that the "you" could be a spirit whispering thoughts, leading people (and nations) astray. DANIEL HANDLER A.K.A LEMONY SNICKET (Author, A Series of Unfortunate Events) argues that his books for children and adults are not fundamentally different and says everyone's childhood is full of powerful emotions derived from ordinary injustices, noting that we cry hardest over hurt feelings, not global catastrophes. ADA LIMÓN (24th U.S. Poet Laureate, Startlement, The Carrying) talks about her responsibility as a writer to honor her ancestors, specifically her grandfather, who had to sublimate his creative spirit for safety and belonging, leading her to prioritize grace and freedom in her own writing. To hear more from each guest, listen to their full interviews. Episode Website www.creativeprocess.info/pod Instagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

    12 min
  8. Listening to the Planet - Writers' Perspectives on Nature, Place & Interconnectedness

    10/18/2025

    Listening to the Planet - Writers' Perspectives on Nature, Place & Interconnectedness

    How do our environments shape who we are and how we care for the world and each other? There are many solutions to climate change, inequality, and poverty around the world. How can we learn from them and transform our society? Eiren Caffall (All the Water in the World) discusses the importance of embracing complexity and emotional flexibility in facing ecological grief. Irvin Weathersby Jr. (In Open Contempt) discusses the transformative power of meditation and nature, drawing inspiration from Emerson and Thoreau. Jay Parini (Biographies of Steinbeck, Frost, Faulkner…) on the significance of place in literature and life. Natasha Hakimi Zapata (Another World Is Possible) explores the generosity and hope in people’s efforts to build better societies. Audrea Lim (Free The Land) on how personal experiences with public lands influence our views on conservation. Katie Kitamura (Audition, Intimacies) reflects on the role of landscape and memory in her novels. Dr. Bayo Akomolafe (Philosopher, Founder of Emergence Network) discusses his awe for mountains, using them as a metaphor for humility and the search for meaning beyond oneself. For more from each guest, listen to their full interviews. Episode Website www.creativeprocess.info/pod IG @creativeprocesspodcast

    13 min
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About

Exploring the fascinating minds of creative people. Anthology episodes of The Creative Process’ conversations with writers, artists, and creative thinkers across the Arts and STEM. Arts & Ideas examines important issues of our times and aims to answer the big questions through diverse perspectives: What does it mean to live a good life? How can we solve climate change? What kind of world are we leaving to future generations? Winners of Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Pulitzer, Nobel Prize, leaders, and changemakers share real experiences and offer valuable insights. Notable guests and participating museums and organizations include Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Neil Patrick Harris, Smithsonian, Roxane Gay, Musée Picasso, EARTHDAY-ORG, Neil Gaiman, UNESCO, Mark Seliger, Acropolis Museum, Hilary Mantel, Songwriters Hall of Fame, George Saunders, The New Museum, Lemony Snicket, Venice Biennale, Pritzker Architecture Prize, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Serpentine Galleries, Joe Mantegna, PETA, Greenpeace, Morgan Library and Museum, and many others. To hear our full archive of 1,000+ interviews, visit: www.creativeprocess.info/pod Apple tinyurl.com/thecreativepod Spotify tinyurl.com/thecreativespotify

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