Clever Creature Jason Gots

Descend a few rungs on the old evolutionary ladder with us in this, the season 2 finale of Clever Creature.

Mordant, multitalented Australian songwriter and actor Tim Minchin, the lyricist of the musicals MATILDA and GROUNDHOG DAY, talks with Jason about creative evolution, cultural devolution, and not taking yourself too seriously. There's short fiction by Jason that takes us to the outer limits of optimism. And a song by the one and only Jerm Boor, a deep soul with a deep voice. 

Special thanks to Emre Gots for the theme music, to Jerm Boor for the song, and to the ever-evolving (and never devolving) Nathan Gelgud for the episode art. 

“If your castle’s made of sugar, don’t blame the rain when it melts.” 

Sometimes, you’ve just got to kill your darlings. You're a cuttlefish, say, and something’s got your arm in its jaws? No worries. Just eject it! It’ll grow back later . . .

In biology, that’s called “autotomy”.

In this episode, legendary theater director Andre Gregory talks to Jason about acts of self-reinvention and past selves left behind. There's short fiction about a utopian Christian community that keeps its peace at a hideous cost. And a rousing techno-barn-burner of a song—a lyrical and musical act of autotomy that defies description. 

Special thanks to Chris Dunlap for the word of the episode, to Adil Sadak for music and production on the song, to Emre Gots for the theme song, and to Nathan Gelgud for the episode art. 

“He will come back with scars and with stories to tell…”

This episode is about new beginnings that lead to surprising outcomes. Poet and essayist Ross Gay talks to Jason about precious things beheld and forgotten. There’s a twisted fairytale about weed farming, big box stores, and grand designs. And Jason goes solo with a tune of prayer and self-forgiveness. From warm, dark places, something new is born.

Special thanks to Jamie Mayberry for the word of the episode. To Emre Gots for the theme song. To Adil Sadak for mixing and mastering the song. And to the weirdulous Nathan Gelgud for the episode art.

Word by word, a story emerges. Neuron by neuron, consciousness emerges. The story, song, and conversation of this episode are about that mysterious process whereby things become bigger than the sum of their parts. Cambridge mycologist Merlin Sheldrake talks with Jason about how fungal networks solve complex problems, and how LSD and polyphonic music have helped him understand them. There's fiction by Jason about an unhappy man who finds freedom from the outside in. And a hypnotic instrumental blues whose patterns emerge, evolve, and bloom...

Special thanks to Jeffrey Cufaude for the word of the episode, to Adil Sadak for musical wizardry on the song, to Francis Mancini for flute magic, to Emre Gots for the theme song, to Robert MacFarlane for the introduction to Merlin, and to the emergent phenomenon known as Nathan Gelgud for the episode art. 

From the reassuring sound of our mother's heartbeat to our last breath, our lives are bounded by rhythm. In music, poetry, meditation, and prayer, rhythm is the trance that lets the spirit fly. In grounding us, it can free us. And it can sometimes become a dangerous drug, lulling us to sleep. 

In this episode Jason talks with anthropologist Bia Labate of Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines about the rhythms of ancient indigenous life and of life in the global north as they relate to the use of psychedelics for emotional and spiritual healing. There's a story by Jason about two brothers whose lives are out of sync. And a father-son musical collaboration (the second one this season) about rhythm as a refuge from doubt and self-destruction. 

Special thanks to Nicole Reed Caskey for the word of the episode, to Adil Sadak for the  song production, to Emre Gots for the song of the episode (to which Jason added lyrics and vocals), and for the Clever Creature theme song, and to Nathan Gelgud for the episode art.

At first glance, the word of this episode is impossibly, mind-bogglingly big. "Transition" applies to everything. There's nothing in the known universe (or anywhere else, for that matter, I'd bet) that isn't, at some level, in a state of change. But as always, god, the devil, and everything in between is in the details . . .

This week, Ajahn Amaro, a Buddhist monk of 45 years in the Thai Forest tradition talks to Jason about his transition from skeptical rebel to rule-bound monk. There's a story by Jason about coming of age in the racist, classist suburbs of '80's Washington, D.C. And, with music by Adil Sadak and lyrics/vocals by Jason, a tune full of unexpected musical transitions, rocking way harder than anything this show has seen before. 

Special thanks to Weusi Baraka for the word of the episode, to Adil Sadak for the music and song production, to Emre Gots for the Clever Creature theme song, and to Nathan Gelgud for the episode art.