New Creative Era

What does it mean to build a creative life — especially when the rules keep changing?

In this episode, Josh and Yancey reflect on the nonlinear paths of creative careers, from publishing forgotten essays that suddenly go viral to jumping formats, industries, and identities. We talk about true norths, timestamping your work, outsider paths, and the strange long game where your weirdest traits become your biggest strengths.

This is an episode about navigating the shifting terrain of creative work — and what it really takes to find your way.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit metalabel.substack.com

This week Josh and Yancey dive into the question of formats.

How do we as artists find the right format for our work? What if we work well in one format but not another? Is there such a thing as artist-format fit?

Listen in as we discuss.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit metalabel.substack.com

Many creative conversations are more ethereal and emotional. What a work references, what it feels like to experience it.

In this week’s episode of New Creative Era, we do the opposite and deal strictly with the numbers. How much does it cost to print a book, to run a community, to make and produce work? How much does someone make? How do those economics actually work out?

Josh and Yancey walk through the economic structures of two of their own projects: Do Not Research and the Dark Forest Collective.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit metalabel.substack.com

In this week’s episode of New Creative Era, we answer a listener question.

Jamie Reddington (Sound of Fractures) writes:

“Creators struggle to choose a place to focus on — it would be good to hear from someone like Josh or you how you make the combination of platforms out side of traditional social media ones work, what you use them for. So for Josh for example: patreon, Substack, Metalabel — I think for me for example I’m looking at Patreon, because although Substack has been a good step I find people more likely to pay for information there. While patreon is more of an established language normal people understand. The fear is… not more platform 😭😩 how do you provide enough value to make these things work?”

Listen in an as Josh and Yancey spend thirty minutes discussing where, how, and when we choose to post our work and why.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit metalabel.substack.com

Labels: the out-dated horse-and-buggy of the cultural sphere, or a still-underexplored structure that could lead to greater resource sharing and collective liberation among creative people ?

In this episode of New Creative Era, Josh and Yancey talk through the idea of labels. What were they before? What are they now? How are they being reimagined as new tools of the future?

Listen to Josh and Yancey explore.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit metalabel.substack.com

This week on New Creative Era, Josh and Yancey open up the topic of platforms. Are they good? Are they bad? What does it mean to depend on one? What are the risks and what are the upsides? We talk through our personal experiences posting work on platforms, the political and economic theories behind them, and how platforms themselves see the world.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit metalabel.substack.com

This week in New Creative Era with Josh and Yancey, we dive into the topic of collaboration. How have we found ourselves in collaborative projects? What went well? What didn’t? Tune in for a deep and wide-ranging conversation that covers everything from emotions to economics to breakups to logistics. Thanks for listening and subscribing!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit metalabel.substack.com

When someone asks you at a party what you do, how do you answer? Do you fumble for words or do you have a compelling hook ready that makes them lean in and want to know more?

In Episode 02 of New Creative Era, co-hosts Joshua Citarella and Yancey Strickler explore the art of narrativizing creative projects. Josh shares practical insights from launching his hit YouTube series Doomscroll, while Yancey reflects on both his failures and successes in pitching ideas throughout his journey with Kickstarter, Metalabel, and collaborative projects.

This conversation is intended for creators who want to transform how they present their work and for collectors seeking to understand the stories behind what they support. Discover why a release strategy is part of the creative process itself.

Topics include:

* Identifying the most compelling narrative hook for your creative work

* Different mediums have different audiences

* Using details as opportunities for depth ("Don't just choose blue. Choose a specific blue with a story")

* Crafting a 3×3 information structure to organize your talking points

* Leading with clarity instead of burying your thesis (and why most people put their best line in the third paragraph)

* Why your work isn't complete until it reaches an audience

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit metalabel.substack.com

Today we’re happy to introduce a new podcast from Joshua Citarella, Yancey Strickler, and Metalabel: New Creative Era.

New Creative Era is a bi-weekly mini-series exploring how creative people release work and develop their creative practices. Each episode features a casual conversation between Josh and Yancey exploring their own experiences and lessons from others.

The goal is to create an open, candid space to explore the nitty-gritty of making and releasing creative work in 2025.

Episode One dives into how to release your creative work while building the rich context around it that it deserves. New episodes will appear every other week.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit metalabel.substack.com