That Old Trope with Nathaniel Kressen

Jackanoid Paralope
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Arts

What happens when an artist leans all the way into the cliché - burnout, heartbreak, reinvention - and decides to build something real from it? ... That Old Trope is the living, breathing voice of a mission-driven media company in the making: the wins, the blind spots, the ego checks, and the quiet persistence it takes to keep going. Hosted by founder-CEO Nathaniel Kressen – an author, actor, musician, fine artist, and public speaker – this weekly show blends radically honest personal storytelling with practical insights on artist-entrepreneurship, creative leadership, and building community from the ground up. Part field notes, part personal reckoning. Tactical and whimsical, earnest and self-aware. Reflections on grief, growth, and creative risk; unvarnished looks at what it actually takes to turn big artistic ambition into sustainable impact. That Old Trope is for listeners who want more than inspiration – they want the truth behind the process. No gurus, no tidy arcs, just the work and a familiar story worth telling differently.

  1. 2d ago

    Mustard Orange

    Nathaniel navigates the season of having built toward a big life change and put that change into action, only to remember the outcomes take time to manifest.

  2. Oct 22

    Why Not Now?

    There's an allure to the unfinished symphony: one can spend the entire day flirting with infinite outcomes, each one wearing a nicer dress than the last. And yet, there comes a time when the possibilities have narrowed into one unassailable course of action, when enough of the incremental steps are done that there's little room for excuse, when a conclusion is, at last, in sight. One can continue on flirting with those foreign symphonies while the true heartsong waits on the wings. One can search for further notes beyond the inevitable, but why? There's a fatigue that comes with delaying what one knows to be true. But how do we surrender to the unknown? How do we let ourselves finish something that genuinely might carry care and vulnerability? It won't be without fear, but we can find courage. When is the time to start caring? When is the time to start living fully? Why not now? Mentioned in this episode: The Artist-Led Podcast What if artists weren’t just shaping culture—but helping redesign the systems that shape our lives? Artist-Led introduces a new class of creative practitioners working at the intersection of community, capital, and systems change. Some are embedded within communities—listening deeply, surfacing shared values, and helping translate them into action. Others are working at the structural level, rethinking how community development is funded and who gets to lead. Rooted in the work of CultureBanq, the series follows three place-based projects as proof of concept—offering a ground-level look at how artist-led enterprises can drive meaningful social outcomes while modeling new approaches to community investment. Both intimate and expansive, Artist-Led makes the case for artists not as afterthoughts, but as essential collaborators in building more responsive, human-centered systems.

  3. Oct 15

    Building a Greenhouse in this Era of Masculinity

    Nathaniel is building upward, outward, and inward whilst striving to not lose his nuts amidst the gravel. Mentioned in this episode: Jackanoid Paralope Learn more about our podcasts at jackanoidparalope.com

  4. Oct 8

    Kill Conrad: Volume 2

    Nathaniel wraps up reading Joseph Conrad's The Secret Sharer.

  5. Oct 1

    The Feeling of Floating

    Examining the dual myths of "perfect" and "good enough," finding the magic in what is, and freeing ourselves from the prison of becoming. .::..::..::..::..::.. That Old Trope is hosted by Jackanoid Paralope's Founder-CEO Nathaniel Kressen – an author, actor, musician, fine artist, and public speaker. This weekly show blends radically honest personal storytelling with practical insights on artist-entrepreneurship, creative leadership, and building community from the ground up. .|. Theme song "Old Man's Custard" by Growl Honey. Company website: Jackanoid Paralope.

  6. Sep 24

    Kill Conrad: Volume 1

    A stormy day brings a new friend ._.~._.~._. That Old Trope is the living, breathing voice of a mission-driven media company in the making: the wins, the blind spots, the ego checks, and the quiet persistence it takes to keep going. Hosted by Jackanoid Paralope's Founder-CEO Nathaniel Kressen – an author, actor, musician, fine artist, and public speaker – this weekly show blends radically honest personal storytelling with practical insights on artist-entrepreneurship, creative leadership, and building community from the ground up. .|. Theme song "Old Man's Custard" by Growl Honey. Company website: Jackanoid Paralope. Join our Substack community Mentioned in this episode: Jackanoid Paralope Learn more about our podcasts at jackanoidparalope.com

  7. Sep 17

    Ten of Pentacles

    Draw (((*))) That Old Trope is the living, breathing voice of a mission-driven media company in the making: the wins, the blind spots, the ego checks, and the quiet persistence it takes to keep going. Hosted by Jackanoid Paralope's Founder-CEO Nathaniel Kressen – an author, actor, musician, fine artist, and public speaker – this weekly show blends radically honest personal storytelling with practical insights on artist-entrepreneurship, creative leadership, and building community from the ground up. .|. Theme song "Old Man's Custard" by Growl Honey. Company website: Jackanoid Paralope. Join our Substack community Mentioned in this episode: The Artist-Led Podcast What if artists weren’t just shaping culture—but helping redesign the systems that shape our lives? Artist-Led introduces a new class of creative practitioners working at the intersection of community, capital, and systems change. Some are embedded within communities—listening deeply, surfacing shared values, and helping translate them into action. Others are working at the structural level, rethinking how community development is funded and who gets to lead. Rooted in the work of CultureBanq, the series follows three place-based projects as proof of concept—offering a ground-level look at how artist-led enterprises can drive meaningful social outcomes while modeling new approaches to community investment. Both intimate and expansive, Artist-Led makes the case for artists not as afterthoughts, but as essential collaborators in building more responsive, human-centered systems.

  8. Sep 10

    Incomplete and Beautiful

    It's not about the unfinished symphony .:':. .:':. .:':. That Old Trope is the living, breathing voice of a mission-driven media company in the making: the wins, the blind spots, the ego checks, and the quiet persistence it takes to keep going. Hosted by Jackanoid Paralope's Founder-CEO Nathaniel Kressen – an author, actor, musician, fine artist, and public speaker – this weekly show blends radically honest personal storytelling with practical insights on artist-entrepreneurship, creative leadership, and building community from the ground up. .|. Theme song "Old Man's Custard" by Growl Honey. Company website: Jackanoid Paralope. Join our Substack community

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What happens when an artist leans all the way into the cliché - burnout, heartbreak, reinvention - and decides to build something real from it? ... That Old Trope is the living, breathing voice of a mission-driven media company in the making: the wins, the blind spots, the ego checks, and the quiet persistence it takes to keep going. Hosted by founder-CEO Nathaniel Kressen – an author, actor, musician, fine artist, and public speaker – this weekly show blends radically honest personal storytelling with practical insights on artist-entrepreneurship, creative leadership, and building community from the ground up. Part field notes, part personal reckoning. Tactical and whimsical, earnest and self-aware. Reflections on grief, growth, and creative risk; unvarnished looks at what it actually takes to turn big artistic ambition into sustainable impact. That Old Trope is for listeners who want more than inspiration – they want the truth behind the process. No gurus, no tidy arcs, just the work and a familiar story worth telling differently.

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