The Neurocomplex Creative

Autistic Culture Podcast Network
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Arts
  • Series

The Neurocomplex Creative is a podcast about what it really takes to create when your brain and body don't cooperate. Hosted by Vicki Peterson — screenwriter, educator, late-diagnosed autistic person, and proud everything bagel — this show is a living record of recovering from burnout, reclaiming a creative life, and figuring out how to do it in a way that actually fits. Featuring intimate conversations with other creatives who accommodate and inspire. Creating again, on generator power. 🎧 The Neurocomplex Creative is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms. 🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com 🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com 📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. Episode 1

    Going Off Script

    Creating again means going off script — in a lot of other people's stories — in order to claim your own. In the Season Two premiere of The Neurocomplex Creative, Vicki Peterson reflects on what it actually takes to create while recovering from autistic burnout and living with chronic illness. From working in "low battery mode" to creating from a recliner, she explores what happens when conventional expectations around productivity no longer fit your brain or body. Vicki examines masking, late diagnosis and the process of stitching together the different versions of ourselves we've developed throughout our lives. At the heart of the episode is the double bind of being a neurocomplex creative: when creating is fundamental to your identity and purpose, but the work itself can exceed your available capacity. Through burnout recovery, friendship and rediscovering the silly, theatrical parts of herself, Vicki finds something worth building towards — autistic joy, and a creative life designed around who she actually is. Plus, she introduces some of the friends and family joining her throughout Season Two. 📝 Go deeper on Substack: https://ahatonahatonahat.substack.com/ ☕ Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/vickipeterson 🎧 The Neurocomplex Creative is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms. 🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com 🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com 📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  2. Episode 2

    Open Eyes, Open Heart

    Two California girls, one meditation university in the middle of an Iowa cornfield, and a friendship that can only be described as cosmic. In this episode of The Neurocomplex Creative, Vicki Peterson reconnects with her first-ever roommate, visual artist Summer Love, whom she met at Maharishi International University when they were just seventeen. Together, they revisit coming of age in an unconventional world of golden domes, mandatory meditation, yogic flying and rules that shaped their everyday lives. They reflect on finding friendship and belonging within that environment, being seen for who they were rather than who they were connected to, and developing a bond built on understanding, shared experience and a lot of laughter. Summer also reflects on her life as a visual artist, staying true to her own creative lens and finding beauty in the world around her. It’s a conversation about self-definition, creativity and the rare friendships that allow us to be completely ourselves — even when they begin in the strangest of places. 📝 Go deeper on Substack: https://ahatonahatonahat.substack.com/ ☕ Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/vickipeterson Produced for the Autistic Culture Podcast Network. 🎧 The Neurocomplex Creative is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms. 🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com 🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com 📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  3. Episode 3

    Safe to Be Seen

    He put more care into choosing a corsage than most of us put into ourselves — and that same attention shaped a whole life. In this episode of The Neurocomplex Creative, Vicki Peterson reconnects with her high school prom date and longtime friend Jesse Keene to explore sensitivity, intuition and the survival skills we carry with us from childhood into adult life. Together, they reflect on growing up highly sensitive in difficult environments, learning to read the people around them, and how those early adaptations can develop into people-pleasing, masking and losing ourselves in order to feel safe. Jesse traces his own journey through corporate success, meditation and spiritual communities towards a more intentional life rooted in Ayurveda, healing and wellness. Vicki and Jesse also explore childhood trauma, neurodivergence, recovery and the exhaustion that can come from constantly adapting ourselves to different people and environments. At its heart, this is a conversation about friendship, intuition and what happens when we finally find relationships and communities where it feels safe to be seen. 📝 Go deeper on Substack: https://ahatonahatonahat.substack.com/ ☕ Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/vickipeterson Produced for the Autistic Culture Podcast Network. 🎧 The Neurocomplex Creative is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms. 🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com 🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com 📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  4. Episode 4

    Your Seat Is Still Warm

    When your body says you have to pause, your seat is still warm. You don't have to start over from zero. In this episode of The Neurocomplex Creative, Vicki Peterson sits down with her executive producer Angela Kingdon, co-founder of the Autistic Culture Podcast Network, for a behind-the-scenes conversation about creating when your brain and body no longer allow you to work the way you once did. Vicki and Angela explore skill regression, autistic burnout and the grief of changing capacity, alongside the importance of building creative practices around real human needs rather than conventional ideas of productivity. Angela shares how her own experience of burnout changed the way she thinks about supporting creatives, and why podcasting can offer neurodivergent creators greater autonomy over how, when and where they work. Together, they explore what it means to build a sustainable creative life — one where taking a break doesn't mean giving up your place, and where being met with understanding on your hardest day can make it possible to return when you're ready. 📝 Go deeper on Substack: https://ahatonahatonahat.substack.com/ ☕ Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/vickipeterson Produced for the Autistic Culture Podcast Network. 🎧 The Neurocomplex Creative is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms. 🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com 🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com 📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  5. Episode 5

    Lucy Lane's Story

    She was born on Sunset Boulevard and has had an agent since she was four — but if you ask her, she hasn't done much in Hollywood. And that's kind of funny. In this episode of The Neurocomplex Creative, Vicki Peterson sits down with her daughter, Lucy Lane, a young actor, singer and musical theatre performer beginning her professional career in New York City. Lucy reflects on growing up as a child actor in Hollywood, discovering acting techniques that helped her feel more grounded, and what she's learning about building a creative life around a brain and body that don't always work like everyone else's. She and Vicki discuss EDS, dysautonomia, advocating for invisible needs and navigating the physical demands of professional performance without allowing a medical record to define what's possible. They also explore Lucy's relationship with music, why singing can make her ADHD brain feel quiet, and how performing offers a way to express emotions that aren't always accessible through words alone. It's a warm conversation between mother and daughter about creativity, self-advocacy, autistic joy and finding the thing that allows your whole nervous system to rest. 📲 Follow Lucy on Instagram: @the_lucylane 📝 Go deeper on Substack: https://ahatonahatonahat.substack.com/ ☕ Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/vickipeterson Produced for the Autistic Culture Podcast Network. 🎧 The Neurocomplex Creative is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms. 🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com 🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com 📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • 1 Trailer
    4 Episodes

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

The Neurocomplex Creative is a podcast about what it really takes to create when your brain and body don't cooperate. Hosted by Vicki Peterson — screenwriter, educator, late-diagnosed autistic person, and proud everything bagel — this show is a living record of recovering from burnout, reclaiming a creative life, and figuring out how to do it in a way that actually fits. Featuring intimate conversations with other creatives who accommodate and inspire. Creating again, on generator power. 🎧 The Neurocomplex Creative is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms. 🌈 Celebrate autistic voices with early access, ad-free listening, and our full archive at AutisticCulturePlus.com 🌐 Visit www.autisticculturepodcastnetwork.com 📲 Follow us on Instagram: @autisticculturepodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Autistic Culture Podcast Network
  • Episodes
    10
  • Seasons
    2
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Autistic Culture Podcast Network
  • Show Website
    The Neurocomplex Creative