We're talking:

When the internet gives you the ick

The flattening of culture by algorithms

How social media sows the seeds of its own destruction when it prioritises attention over quality

And more!

Pre-order To Kill a Queen, Amie's queer detective novel set in Elizabethan London. Remember, this is literally the most important thing you can do for an author!

Order We Need Your Art or get a SIGNED copy here

Enshittification was coined by our mate Cory Doctorow which we should have known!

Hello friends! Today we're talking about the rise of the middle class artist. Based on Amie's substack post.

Buy Amie's book for F***'s sake!

ALSO you can pre-order Amie's queer Elizabethan detective novel, To Kill a Queen!

References:

Hollywood is Broken. Can YouTubers Fix it? Colin and Samir interview Max Reisinger.

Brandon Sanderson podcast about AI

Come hang out with us as we talk shit.

Very chatty, casual episode today with lots of ranting about things like: what annoys us in the gym, whether or not audiobooks count as reading, leaf blowers and, of course, the case of the Australian bloke who got a 2-book publishing deal for being hot without having written anything.

Don't forget to check out our episode on the Bewildered podcast with Martha and Rowan on youtube or your fave podcast player

Don't forget, you can buy as many copies as you like of We Need Your Art and gift them to random strangers.

Gary's Economics

Gary on DOAC

Bryan Johnson the guy who wants to live forever

I'm so sorry everyone but it's another AI episode :(Listen to us, two people who aren't experts on anything really, talk about AI, climate change, utopias, the housing crisis, Australian politics and what's wrong with the left these days.⁠

Would love it if you bought We Need Your Art!⁠

Things mentioned:⁠

Review of Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson⁠

⁠Basic Income: And How We Can Make it Happen, by Guy Standing⁠⁠

TikTok’s annual carbon footprint is likely bigger than Greece’s, study finds⁠⁠

Hank's video about the state of renewable energy⁠

Anthony Albanese buys a $4.3 million home

Australian Housing Crisis compared to other countries

We had so much fun recording a very fancy in person episode with THE Martha Beck and Rowan Mangan!

How 'bout those production values?

Don't forget Amie's new book, We Need Your Art is out now in Hardcover, Audio, and E-book

In today's episode we discuss:

The amazing power of creativity to banish anxiety

How art and community building creates ripples that extend far beyond our personal practice and help the whole world

Why society is so afraid of art and artists

And so much more!

If you want more chats from Rowan and Martha, you can listen to them on the hilarious and wise Bewildered podcast. You can also follow Bewildered on Instagram.

We will be dropping by Bewildered soon so make sure you're following them to get the Amie and James episode!

Martha is on Instagram @themarthabeck

And Rowan at @rowanmangan

If you want to dive deeper into all things Martha Beck, you can check out her linktree, but you should really read her new book, Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life's Purpose! We absolutely loved it.

Join us as we remind you how important it is to celebrate your own art (coz no one's gonna do it for you!).

Fully raw ep today. No music (sorry to our composer/intro creator Matilda Eyre) I ran out of time.

The Collective is open for 5 days only!

WNYA is our now everywhere

00:00 Introduction and First Impressions of New York City01:20 The Inspired Collective Membership03:57 Challenges with Book Launch Planning05:32 Grassroots Book Events and Community Support06:17 Reflections on the Publishing Industry (oh-oh!)13:23 Celebrating the Book's Success19:30 We love our agents!20:51 Iconic New York Moments24:19 The Importance of Celebration29:36 (More) Publishing Industry Frustrations36:51 Gratitude and Farewell

BOOK OUT THIS WEEK

BOOK OUT THIS WEEK

BOOK OUT THIS WEEK

BUY BOOK BUY BOOK BUY BOOK

00:00 Introduction and Holiday Hat00:30 Book Tour and Podcast Plans03:05 The Importance of Art04:05 Creative Blocks and Overcoming Them12:00 Role of Patience in Creativity25:31 Art reset challenge26:10 Rice Cakes26:44 Book Promotion and Blurbs33:18 Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing36:24 Expectations for the Book43:15 Podcast Reflections and Upcoming Events

BOOK TOUR INFO

USA EAST COAST

The BookMark Shoppe Brooklyn 11th March 2025 7pm - BUY TICKETS HERE

Head House Books, Philly, 13th March 2025 6:30pm - BUY TICKETS HERE

Taylor Co Books, Brooklyn, 14th March 2025 7:30pm - BUY TICKETS HERE (just scroll down the home page!)

Morocco Bound Bookshop", 25th March - BUY TICKETS HERE

Scheltema, 5th April, 2pm - BUY TICKETS HERE!

I am going to be all up and about your business. Please stay tuned.

UNITED KINGDOMAMSTERDAMBERLIN, SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE!

00:00 Introduction 02:13 Housekeeping and Upcoming Events03:39 25 Things to Avoid 03:45 Obsessing Over Details04:57 The Pitfalls of Excessive Research09:09 Setting Unrealistic Goals10:16 Managing Expectations and Pressure15:40 The Importance of Planning16:48 Guarding Your Creative Time19:31 Sharing Ideas and Seeking Validation22:38 Avoiding Comparisons and Judgments28:32 Over-Education and Procrastination31:30 Finding Your Own Rhythm33:23 The Importance of Consistency35:16 Navigating Critique and Feedback39:14 Embracing the Challenges of Writing46:28 Balancing Creativity and Well-being50:38 Avoiding Distractions and Staying Focused58:01 The Growth Mindset in Writing01:00:26 Wrapping Up and Final Thoughts

USA EAST COAST

The BookMark Shoppe Brooklyn 11th March 2025 7pm - BUY TICKETS HERE

Head House Books, Philly, 13th March 2025 6:30pm - BUY TICKETS HERE

Taylor Co Books, Brooklyn, 14th March 2025 7:30pm - BUY TICKETS HERE (just scroll down the home page!)

UNITED KINGDOM & AMSTERDAM

Morocco Bound Bookshop", 25th March - BUY TICKETS HERE

Scheltema, 5th April, 2pm - BUY TICKETS HERE!

BERLIN TBA

Today we're talking to the boys! Or, given our audience demographics, we're talking to the girls and gender non conforming folks about the boys...

Buy We Need Your Art here and be our best friend forever!

00:00 Introduction and Preamble00:47 Discussing Men and Creativity00:49 Housekeeping and Personal Updates03:13 How we're trying to be less tired07:10 Book Launch and Pre-orders12:12 The Importance of Men's Art27:37 The Gendered Nature of Art and Craft27:48 Men's Role in Art: Historical Context29:13 The Struggle of Monetizing Art for men and women32:33 Cultural Influences on Art Monetisation 33:33 The Australian Male and Creativity35:10 Encouraging Men to Embrace Art40:53 Breaking Gender Norms Through Art50:13 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

TOUR DATES

BROOKLYN event at the Bookmark Shoppe on the 11th of March ( I refuse to bow to the ludicrous American style of writing the date)

PHILLY Event at Head House books on the 13th

BROOKLYN event at Taylor & Co on the 14th (scroll down home page and you'll find it!)

Note those dates are actually different to the ones I've been talking about... misread an email!

Save the date for LONDON: 25th of March at Morocco Bound

And the 27th of March at the Marlow Book shop (our local!)

Save the date for Amsterdam: April 5th, 2-3pm at Scheltema

Yes I kept Amie's preamble in on purpose because I thought it was funny!

Today we're talking about locking in, getting stuff done, and thriving as creatives. Expect a discussion about how to treat ourselves and our bodies well, not striving for perfection, and how to go from small steps to big goals.

TOUR THINGS:

We have LOCKED IN two bookshops in Brooklyn in the evenings of the 11th and 13th of March, so if you're in the NYC area, please save those dates. Plus we'll be in Philly on the 12th also in book stores. More to come as well as official links to the events.

We'll be hitting the UK hard after getting home on the 18th. So expect AT LEAST a London event and an event in the South Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire area.

Berlin will be something between the 31st of March and the 3rd of April. Amsterdam probably either the 4th or the 5th of April.

Sydney and Melbourne will happen some time between the 9th and the 23rd of April.

Sorry we can't give you more info. We are organising most of this ourselves and there are lots of balls in the air as we have to liase with each book shop individually.

We are excited though!

00:00 Introduction and Podcast Setup02:24 Book Tour Announcements03:54 Locking In and Productivity23:26 The Myth of the Perfect Day29:53 The Illusion of Freedom for Successful Creatives30:56 Balancing Offers and Autonomy31:24 Media Consumption and Influences35:51 The Level System for Creative Productivity38:07 Maintaining Creative Identity43:38 Navigating Different Levels of Productivity47:55 The Challenges of Professional Creativity52:45 Wrapping Up and Future Plans