Spark & Fire: Fuel Your Creativity

WaitWhat

Every creative work you’ve ever loved has a hero’s journey behind it. On Spark & Fire, you'll hear creators tell the story of bringing one beloved work to life.

Iconic creatives — like Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz, Pixar director Domee Shi, comedian Patton Oswald, musician Wynton Marsalis, and novelist Isabel Allende — share the endless iterations, the inevitable setbacks, and the breakthrough ideas along the epic process of creation. But this isn’t an interview show. It’s a story — told entirely in the artist's own words.

With host June Cohen, co-founder of WaitWhat and the former executive producer of TED Talks.

Transcripts and images for every episode are available at sparkandfire.com

Sign up for the weekly Spark & Fire newsletter.

read less

Our Editor's Take

Spark & Fire: Fuel Your Creativity has a simple mission-to inspire creativity. Each week, the podcast interviews artists and creators to help inspire its listeners.

The host of Spark & Fire: Fuel Your Creativity is a creative force herself. June Cohen is the cocreator of media company WaitWhat. Before that, she was an executive at TED, home of the famous TED Talks. Cohen's creative outlet of choice is entrepreneurship. But she is also passionate about the arts. That passion comes through in this podcast.

Each episode of Spark & Fire: Fuel Your Creativity is a close look at one piece of art. June starts the podcast with a casual conversation with a creator. They discuss the context and the process that led to the work they're highlighting. With this format, Cohen is able to get details about the wisdom and the act of creating. In each episode, there are two key moments in each interview. First, they discuss the spark-or how an idea came to be. Second, they reveal the fire-or what it took to turn the spark into something bigger.

In one episode, David Cross, who plays David Fünke in Arrested Development, reveals the importance of trust in making comedy. In her episode, author Susan Orlean describes how forward momentum helps overcome uncertainty. Composer Stephen Schwartz talks about adaptation, readaptation, and distillation in search of truth. Artistic Director Felix Barrett shares how small details lead to the big picture.

Every few weeks, Spark & Fire: Fuel Your Creativity focuses on practical advice, too. In those episodes, Cohen talks about strategy instead of interviewing. For example, she'll share five strategies to start something new or to get unstuck. In another, she talks about five strategies to overcome failure. These episodes provide practical advice for creators that face familiar challenges.

The premise of the podcast is that everyone is a creator. For Cohen, it's just a matter of taking that spark and using it to make a fire. People who find motivation in stories may find Spark & Fire: Fuel Your Creativity to be a powerful inspiration. Episodes release once a week.

read less
ArtsArts

Episodes

5 strategies for overcoming failure
Feb 27 2023
5 strategies for overcoming failure
Failure is a normal part — even an essential part — of any creative journey. But that probably isn’t what you want to hear after experiencing failure yourself. It’s easy to just want to crawl into a hole for a while. Today on Spark & Fire, we’re going to crawl out of that hole long enough to hear from 5 iconic creatives who have learned how to overcome failure to create something truly great. Featuring actor and writer Randall Park on Always Be My Maybe, novelist Ann Patchett on The Dutch House, songwriting duo Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez on Disney’s Frozen, producers Allan Scott and William Horberg on the hit series Queen’s Gambit, and singer/songwriter Ben Folds on the breakout album Whatever and Ever, Amen.Follow along (with transcript and photos) at sparkandfire.com/overcomingfailureListen to the full episodes that inspired this mixtape:“Always Be My Maybe” writer and actor Randall Park: https://sparkandfire.com/randallpark/ “The Dutch House” author Ann Patchett: https://sparkandfire.com/annpatchett/“Frozen” songwriting duo Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez: https://sparkandfire.com/frozen/“Queen’s Gambit” producers Allan Scott and William Horberg: https://sparkandfire.com/queensgambit/Singer/songwriter Ben Folds: https://sparkandfire.com/benfolds/ Subscribe to the Spark & Fire weekly newsletter for images, stories and creative prompts: http://eepurl.com/hkmyMrSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Find what you need to fuel your work: Mark Bradford’s “Unicorn Tapestries”
Dec 7 2022
Find what you need to fuel your work: Mark Bradford’s “Unicorn Tapestries”
Deep in the pandemic, visual artist Mark Bradford began work on an epic series called “The Unicorn Tapestries.” It’s inspired by the iconic medieval work of the same name, but created with everyday materials that speak to Mark’s experience: comic book papers, caulk, and other materials from the hardware store, layered and glued and then scratched and etched away to create a tapestry like no other. As he shares each stage of his process in his own words, Mark also shares a mindset that every creative person can apply to their own work: Find what you need to fuel your creativity. Mark Bradford is one of the most renowned visual artists working today, working in painting, printmaking, video, sculpture, and installation. He was the United States’ 2017 representative to the Venice Biennale, and his work is collected by museums around the world, from LA to Hong Kong. In 2009 he was awarded a MacArthur “genius” grant, among many awards and honors. He is based in Los Angeles and is represented by Hauser & Wirth. Learn more about Mark Bradford: https://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/2838-mark-bradford/Visit the Agora Exhibition to see Mark's body of work in an expanded context, along with several other works from 2019–2021. And, check out Museu de Serralves to learn more about “The Unicorn Tapestries” premiere in Porto, Portugal.Follow along, with transcript and photos, at sparkandfire.com/bradfordSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.