Episode 29: Desire Lines
This week we’re looking at the role of rules in creativity — when to follow them, and when to blow them up.
This week we're looking at the role of rules in creativity -- when to follow them, and when to blow them up with dynamite from the ACME Corporation. Plus: Struggle, drag, Scottish sheep, a good day's work, Jacques Tati, music halls, both-sidesing, humiliation, bankruptcy and Henry Kissinger. Also: Never meet your heroes. And: Is it raining?
Episode 28: The “A” Word
Why is it so hard to call yourself an artist?
This week we're looking at one of art's enduring mysteries: Why is it so hard to call yourself an artist? Also: Thunderbirds, Negronis, Chuck Jones, superspreader events, tiny coffees, Picasso, evolution, self-consciousness, Maya Angelou, a perfectly-cut child-sized waistcoat, gatekeepers, Cybertrucks, and a heavy dose of the side-eye. Plus: The more you say it, the truer it gets!
Episode 27: Look back in… what?
This week: The work we did when we were younger. Hmm.
This week we’re talking about the work we did when we were young and foolish, or at least less experienced. How should we feel about it? Are regret or even shame ever useful?
Also: Goth kids, Logan Paul, steel-toed boots, messages (sent and received), a comfortable shoe, go-away heat, The Brill Building, knife-wielding idiots and the biopic of Mat’s life. Plus: Drunk rugby boys (as separate and distinct from knife-wielding idiots)!
Episode 26: A Beautiful Lie
Why at least one of us gets a little miffed when someone, with the best of intentions, tells him he’s talented.
This week, in the first episode of Season 4, we're talking about the myth of talent. At least one of us feels a small tickle of resentment when someone, with the best of intentions, tells him he's talented. Why? It's complicated. Plus: Doomsday bunkers, tall people, "air quotes," sizzling fingertips, MREs, espresso machines, gatekeeping, Jumpin' Jimmy Baldwin, London's stabbiest borough, and a beautiful gift for plumbing. Also: Showgirls!
Bonus Episode: I Might Be Wrong, But… (Ch. 4)
It’s Very Special Episode™️ time (again)! Imagination & Junk returns in its usual form on March 11.
As a tune-up for the premiere of Season 4, we're bringing you another installment of our occasional bonus feature, I Might Be Wrong But... in which one of us argues in favor of a maligned piece of pop culture while the other one reconsiders our friendship. This week Bill's up, and he's making the case for Ron Howard's 1982 "Night Shift," starring Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton as a couple of guys who have the extremely poor judgment to run a call-girl ring out of the NYC morgue. (It's based on a true story, because of course it is!) Trigger warning: This episode contains explicit references to fat phobia, '80s rock group Quarterflash and cowboy underwear.
Imagination & Junk returns in its regular, less-ridiculous form on March 11.
Bonus Episode: I Might Be Wrong, But... (Ch. 3)
It’s Very Special Episode™️ time! Imagination & Junk returns in its usual form on March 11.
As a tune-up for Season 4, premiering on March 11, here come two episodes of our Very Special Bonus Mini-Series™️, I Might Be Wrong But… Mat’s up first, making the case for the 1985 teen comedy Real Genius.
Trigger warning: This episode contains references to popcorn, headbands and an undergraduate ice show.
Episode 25: Ghosts in the Machine
This week we're talking about the things that aren't there.
This week we're talking about the things that aren't there. Plus: Trash drafts, Parrot Face, the dog that didn't bark, well-dressed clowns, empty piazzas, terrible silence, Mike Birbiglia, and the smell of space. (It smells like steak, apparently.)
This is the last episode of Season 3. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. In the meantime, keep your ears peeled for two Very Special Episodes™️ of our between-seasons experiment I Might Be Wrong But… , in which one of us tries to convince the other that some fringe cultural artifact he inexplicably loves is actually — y’know: Good?
Episode 24: Cynicism and Coffee
How do you know if what you're creating is any good? This week: Juggling the internal and external critics.
How do you know if what you're creating is any good? This week: Juggling the internal and external critics. Plus: Humility, shouting at clouds, Idiots vs. Fools, marrying up, Baby Shark, shame, brainwashing, sometimes it's harder to suck, The Well of Metaphor, fact checkers, and getting the brushes back out.
Episode 23: Fred and Gene
People like to say the great ones make it look easy. But what are we really looking at when we see a great creator showing what looks like effortlessness?
People like to say the great ones make it look easy, but what are we really looking at when we see a great creator showing what looks like effortlessness? Plus: Spectacular failures, concerned murmurs, Jenny from the block, beautiful aliens, Henri Matisse, rubber band balls, drifting toward the abyss, ha cha cha and hot dogs by the sea.
Episode 22: Watch Out For The Shoe
This week we're talking about doing what you're bad at. Why do some people charge blindly full speed ahead, and others try to shrink into their own shoes?
This week we're talking about doing what you're bad at. Why do some people charge blindly full speed ahead, and others try to shrink into their own shoes? And what's to be gained from what can be a traumatic experience? Also: Noble pain, sociopaths, Norma Desmond, tinnitus, bad steak, Christmas island, horrifying plunky sounds and more Mel Cooley.
Episode 21: Somebody Hold Me Back
When do limitations on creative work hurt the project? When can they help? And how can we become more agile creators by learning how to work with them, rather than around them?
This week we're looking at limitations in creative work. When do they hurt? When can they help? And how can we become more agile creators by learning how to work with them, rather than around them? Also: Fake expertise, low ceilings, ukuleles vs. bowling balls, rich idiots, guitar control, speed wounds, bourgeois sharpnress, and I Kid Because I Love.
Episode 20: Brigadoonish
Is there a way to be an effective promoter without feeling awkward and cheap? (Yes.)
This week we're looking at a part of the job that comes hard for many creative people -- self-promotion. Is there a way to be an effective promoter without feeling awkward and cheap? We suggest that there is, and tell you a way forward. Also: Big asks, mug's games, the SEO scam, wide boys, Chelmsford, crying in coffee shops, lost luggage, bonbons and juggling for Jesus.
Episode 19: Less
It's one of the paradoxes of creative life: the longer you do it, the more tools you acquire, the more it becomes the goal to get simpler.
It's one of the paradoxes of creative life: the longer you do it, the more tools you acquire, the more it becomes the goal to get simpler. To do less. This week we're talking about the quest for simplicity, and about finding the sweet spot between brevity and clarity. Plus: Slow TV, phantom limbs, Robot Margaret Thatcher, greening, a blow to the head, Wesley Van Wesleyson, promises and threats, and content cubed.
Episode 18: Salad Bar
Is all creativity an act of remix? And if there's no such thing as originality -- why do we bother?
Every creator likes think they're shiny and golden, dancing with their muse in a singular act of invention. But is that true? Is that how it works? Or is all creativity an act of remix? Are we inevitably treading on ground others have walked before us? And if there's no such thing as originality -- why do we bother?
Also: Brain fizz and sparky fingertips, Woz, falling down, Pinwright's Progress, high blood pressure, how to breathe, grand larceny, DJ Kool Herc, Muskification, and 400,000 years ago (a Tuesday).
Episode 17: Stupid o’Clock
It’s one of the hardest decisions a creator can make: When is it time to admit an idea isn't panning out and move on?
This week we're looking at one of the hardest decisions a creator can make: When is it time to admit an idea isn't panning out and move on? It can be agonizing to put aside a piece of work in which you've invested time and care and effort, but sometimes it's not just the best choice, it's the only one that makes sense.
Plus: Loud noises, Labrador footwarmers, Italian getaways, toboggans of regret, beans on toast, the world's longest putt, unconscionable delays and a big steely swan-like metaphor in the sky.
Episode 16: Plagiarism Robot
This week, we're kicking off our third season with a deep dive on the role of artificial intelligence in creativity. Auto-summarized version: You can keep it.
When Apple announced its plans for artificial intelligence earlier this week, the presentation failed to make a minor point: AI, as currently constituted, doesn't work very well. Also, not for nothing, it's theft on a grand scale. So: Here comes the future, we guess?
This week, we're kicking off our third season with a deep dive on the role of artificial intelligence in creativity. Auto-summarized version: You can keep it.
Plus: Eliza, angry ducks, carnies, strike snacks and idea smoothies, rat snakes, juggling fatalities, bullet-headed Bond villains, clean smart data, the Eternal Return and alt-right Seinfeld.
Bonus Episode: I Might Be Wrong, But... (Ch. 2)
Is the 1973 blaxploitation flick “Willie Dynamite” worth a second look? We might be wrong, but… we have thoughts.
This week, in the second of two Very Special Episodes™️, we're wrapping up our mini-series "I Might Be Wrong, But... " with a look at the 1973 blaxploitation demi-classic "Willie Dynamite." Bill takes the position that it's worth a second look; Mat argues the contrary, taking the classic dialectical stance he identifies as "Nuh uh." Wherever you come down on this cultural question, surely we can all agree on one thing: This episode is 33 minutes long.
Imagination & Junk returns for its third season on June 12.
An Imagination & Junk Bonus Episode: “I Might Be Wrong, But… ” (Ch. 1)
…Steven Seagal’s “Out For Justice” is — good?
Welcome back! This is Season 3 of Imagination & Junk, and we’re kicking it off with a Very Special Episode™️! It’s the first of two episodes we’re calling “I Might Be Wrong, But… ” We do this to give ourselves a flimsy gossamer layer of deniability, because some of what we have to say in this episode is definitely very wrong. We are arguing (by which I, Bill, mean that my partner, Mat, is arguing) that Steven Seagal’s 1991 shoot-em-up “Out For Justice” is… well… good? I guess? And yes, it’s this “Out For Justice” that we’re talking about:
Think of this episode and the one that follows as the soft opening of Season 3. Think of it as the throat-clearing we do before we get down to the real work of the show on June 12. Think of it as your podcast pals Mat and Bill inviting you in to the kind of conversation a couple of guys have late at night after a few pints — a conversation in which there are no right or wrong opinions but they are nonetheless expressed with A GREAT DEAL OF FIRMNESS AND CERTITUDE. And just so you don’t think it’s only Mat who’s gone right off his head, wait until you get a load of the cultural artifact I strive to make a case for in two weeks. (Hint: It’s from the ‘70s. Enough said.)
So with that, we give you an Imagination & Junk bonus episode: I Might Be Wrong, But… Ch. 1, “Out For Justice.”
Hey, one more thing: No. Wait. Three things.
Thing 1: We’d appreciate it if you’d subscribe. This gooses the algorithm, which encourages the robot overlords for whom we all now work to expose the show more widely. It’s also a big boost to us when you share the show across your socials.
Thing 2: This show continues to cost us real American/British cash money, so your material support of it will help us keep making it.
Thing 3: Was this episode a good idea? Or was it, alternately, and hear us out here, the best idea? We’d love to hear from you. And we’ll see you back here on May 29 for one more Very Special Episode™️ before Season 3 launches in earnest with episode 16 on June 12.
As always, thanks for listening. /BB
Episode 15: Mousetrap
What’s the worst that could happen? No, seriously: This is the worst that could happen.
In the last episode of Season 2, we're recalling the worst things that ever happened to us as creative people, and trying to excavate whatever lessons we can from the wreckage. Featuring: Murder in Encino, and a near-international incident in Beijing.
We'll be back with a new season of Imagination & Junk after a short break.
Episode 14: The Gorgeous Notebook Store
Every trade has its tools. But they serve a variety of purposes, from signifiers of status to objects of desire.
In this episode we're talking about tools of the trade. Every creative trade has them. But they function in a variety of ways: As tools, yes, but also as signifiers of membership in a group, and as objects of desire. Also: Man purses, puppies, promiscuous scribbling, snappy suits, Japanese dining tables, Toots Thielemans, custom juggling balls and cricket.