Follow Your Curiosity: You didn’t lose your creative spark. You were taught to leave it behind.

Serial podcaster Jesse Jackson hosts shows on topics from Doctor Who to Babylon 5 to John Hiatt to Bruce Springsteen. I met Jesse when I appeared on his show, Set Lusting Bruce, where instead of Springsteen, I talked about my deep affection for the Norwegian band a-Ha. I wanted to hear about Jesse’s creative adventures in both fandom and podcasting, and we talk about why you should stop thinking about trying something new and just do it, what we’ve learned from our podcast experiences, and why everyone has a story that deserves to be heard. And there might be a little dishing about Doctor Who in the mix, too.

Episode breakdown:

06:54 Reading as a safe place, friendship, discovery, transition to e-books.

Check out the full show notes at fycuriosity.com, and connect with me and fellow creatives on Substack.

Please leave a review and in it, tell us how about a time when starting a new creative endeavor made a difference in your life.

Want more? Here are some handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in music and Doctor Who.

Nothing in life is actually straightforward, including your creative process. I explain in this super-short episode.

Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks!

Please leave a review, and in it, tell us about a time when you were grateful for a detour.

Join my free creative community, The Spark! We celebrate each other's creative courage, and I'll be sharing programs for subscribers and listeners there in the coming months.

As you may know, every year I offer two episode replays over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. These are always two of my favorite interviews from the year—conversations that stuck with me and are worth a second listen (though, in honesty, they're all worth a second listen!).

This year, Thanksgiving in the US falls on November 23, 2023—60 years to the day since the premiere of Doctor Who. What could be more fitting, then, than to revisit my conversation with Peter Davison, who played the Fifth Doctor and brought us one of the most beloved Doctor Who anniversary specials of all time ten years ago? 

I hope you enjoy the episode!

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I’m absolutely thrilled to be talking this week with actor Peter Davison, star of All Creatures Great and Small, Doctor Who, At Home with the Braithwaites, West End musicals like Spamalot and Gypsy, and much more. He’s also the author of a delightful memoir, Is There Life Outside the Box: An Actor Despairs, and Doctor Who fans also know him as the creator of the 50th anniversary special, The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot. Peter talks with me about many of those things, plus how he came to write his book, the "rise of the nerds," and more. 

Episode breakdown:

00:01:10 Childhood creativity, music, becoming an actor.

00:10:08 Taking on Doctor Who, and being unsure how to approach the character.

00:17:03 Doctor Who, and playing unpleasant characters well.

00:24:54 All Creatures Great and Small and the lessons learned from Robert Hardy.

00:35:18 Actors fear of being replaced, and the difference between US and UK actors.

00:42:13 Acting as the best job.

00:50:28 Writing his memoir.

00:55:34 The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.

01:03:07 Doctor Who fandom and the "rise of the nerd."

Please leave a review and in it, tell us your favorite Doctor Who experience or memory.

Want more? Here are some handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in theatre and Doctor Who.

Check out the show notes at fycuriosity.com (I have some really cool extras over there for you!)and connect with me and fellow creatives on Substack.

Comparison and self-improvement are great ways to reject yourself. I explain why—and what to do instead—in this short episode.

Read the post from Dr. Kelly Flanagan that inspired this pep talk.

My previous pep talk on comparison and self-rejection.

Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks!

Please leave a review, and in it, tell us about a time when self-acceptance made life easier.

Join my free creative community, The Spark! We celebrate each other's creative courage, and I'll be sharing programs for subscribers and listeners there in the coming months.

What’s it like to doubt the beliefs of the strict religious community you grew up with? What’s it like to leave? Where do you find the courage and strength to make that choice, and to adapt to your new life? Director Scott Homan and writer and musician Ryan Sutter have lived these questions, and collaborated to tell the story in the new documentary, Witness Underground. The film focuses on Ryan’s love of music and the musical relationships within the Jehovah’s Witness community that sustained him as a teen and gave him a safe place to land when he left. We talk about all these questions and the process of making the film, which is now running a Kickstarter to fund distribution to popular streaming services.

Episode breakdown:

[00:05:16] Scott: Wisconsin arts program shaped career in film.

[00:10:19] Change your environment for personal growth.

[00:14:10] Ryan: Creative kids form band with makeshift instruments.

[00:17:39] Creativity and emotional release through music.

[00:26:17] Other connections transcended religion, influencing change.

[00:30:07] Scott reconnects with Ryan.

[00:32:56] Ryan's wrestling with beliefs through writing, recording music, and live performance = enhanced creative thinking.

[00:40:22] How authoritarian regimes suppress artists.

[00:44:37] "Coming out."

[00:50:51] Seeing life through Ryan's eyes.

[00:57:20] Amazing connection to music; influential, undiscovered collection.

[01:03:08] Ryan: Therapy, new albums, and a goal: move on and heal.

[01:09:26] Music connects people in amazing ways.

[01:15:05] Scott: Filmmaker's struggle with distribution, potential exploitation.

[01:19:24] Kickstarter campaign funding distribution of the film, which has amazing perks including music and written work.

Check out the full show notes at fycuriosity.com, and connect with me and fellow creatives on Substack.

Please leave a review and in it, tell us how your creativity has given you strength when you’ve needed it most.

Want more? Here are some handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in music.

The Rolling Stones have a new album, and Mick Jagger has some great creative advice for us all. I explain in this short episode.

Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks!

You can read the interview with Mick Jagger here.

Join my free creative community, The Spark! We celebrate each other's creative courage, and I'll be sharing programs for subscribers and listeners there in the coming months. https://fycuriosity.substack.com

Director, animator, and author Kevin Jon Davies grew up enthralled by Doctor Who and Spike Milligan’s The Goon Show. When he discovered the original Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio show, it seemed like the best of both worlds. Before long, he was doing animation for the TV series. Kevin tells me how he got into animation, how he moved from animation into directing—including directing 30th anniversary documentaries for both Doctor Who and Hitchhiker’s in the same year—and all about the process of writing his new book, 42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams. 

Episode breakdown:

[00:07:22] Learning to direct through osmosis on set. Enjoyed being with others in live action. Lucky breaks in animation and directing.

[00:14:58] Early Doctor Who, Spike Milligan's comedy influence.

[00:17:53] Douglas Adams: famous for procrastinating.

[00:24:42] Making 30 Years in the TARDIS.

[00:28:48] The BBC's unfortunate habit of throwing things away.

[00:32:32] The Alchemists of Sound documentary and unsung genius Delia Derbyshire.

[00:39:20] Complex copyright issues for BBC staff artists.

[00:43:06] Following in Douglas Adams's footsteps while researching the new book.

[00:50:31] Adams's an increasing interest in science toward the end of his life.

[00:55:48] Last Chance to See.

[01:03:02] Adams's untimely death, and the continued celebration of his work.

[01:08:05] Readers' sense of connection with Adams's work.

Check out the show notes at fycuriosity.com, and connect with me and fellow creatives on Substack.

Please leave a review and in it, tell us how a childhood influence has stuck with you.

Want more? Here are some handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in writing and publishing and Doctor Who.

We don't talk about it much in creative circles, but it's really important to know when and why to let go of your creative work. I'll tell you more in this short episode.

Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks!

Join my free creative community, The Spark! We celebrate each other's creative courage, and I'll be sharing programs for subscribers and listeners there in the coming months.

My guest today is Hilary Hattenbach, a freelance writer based in LA. Hilary majored in magazine journalism but ended up working in entertainment marketing for studios like Disney and 20th Century Fox before a chance meeting in a bakery led her to do-author The Kitchen Decoded Cookbook. Hilary tells me about that meeting and the cookbook that resulted, why being in an “artistic adjacent” field didn’t work for her, and how she began working as a freelance writer instead. She also has some great insight and advice into how working with editors as a freelancer really works—some of which might surprise you—and the pros and cons of writing for others vs. writing on your own platform, like Substack.

Episode breakdown:

[00:08:10] Storyteller at heart, not traditional career writer.

Check out the show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join the conversation on Threads and BlueSky!

Please leave a review and in it, tell us about how a surprise connection changed your life.

Want more? Here are some handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in writing and publishing.

If you'd like weekly updates, plus a chance to see where my curiosity is leading me, check out my new (free!) Substack newsletter.

You need a strong NO in order to have a strong YES in any part of your life, including your creative process. I'll tell you why in this short episode.

Please leave a review, and in it, tell us about a time when saying no made a difference.

I'm experimenting with my own writing over on Substack! It's called The Spark, it's free, and I hope you'll join us!

Want more tips? Check out this playlist with all my previous Creative Pep Talks!

I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, and experience with these ideas! Send me a note at fycuriosity.com, or say hello on Threads!