Q+A ep! It just so happened to be that most of your questions were about our work and writing routines. There are also a few other Q's answered including: how exactly is making art generous, big breaks we've almost had (and why they may not have mattered anyway). Sonja, I'm so sorry, I forgot to answer your question about bilingual artists... please email us with your question again and we'll answer you.

Amie's WNYA events in England:

Oxford Blackwells Saturday 16th of August 3-4PM (tickets essential)

Waterstones Canterbury 18th of August 6:30PM (tickets essential)

Pre-Order To Kill A Queen

Read James' Substack about the guy who steals his friend's crypto

Did you know you can buy PRINTS and ORIGINALS of Amie's love notes? Available on our website now. Stock limited to ten for each large note and fifty of each small.

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