Introducing: Pioneers of AI
We’re excited to launch WaitWhat's newest weekly series, Pioneers of AI — your guide to the latest technological frontier. Hosted by AI thou...
Radio and PodcastLive Radio & Podcasts
Arts
Spark & Fire: Epic Creative Stories
Creativity. It’s as mysterious and elusive to humans as love. We stalk it. We crave it. We try to bring it out in ourselves. Every creative work you’ve ever loved has a hero’s journey behind...
Episodes
20 of 38 episodes
Introducing: Offsite Adventures
From the team behind Spark & Fire, we're happy to share the first episode of Offsite Adventures, our newest show uncovering the gems, magica...
Create from joy: Writer Phoebe Robinson on "You Can’t Touch My Hair"
There’s a commonly held belief that great creative work comes from pain. But comedian and writer Phoebe Robinson says that this is a myth. I...
5 ways to handle creative conflict
Creative conflict can destroy a work-in-progress — or it can push your work beyond good to great. What matters is how you respond. We’re goi...
Get to the fun part: Game creators Matthew Inman and Elan Lee on Exploding Kittens
To make something irresistible, get to the fun part — fast. That’s how Exploding Kittens became one of the world’s most popular games. When...
Trust creates gold: Comedian David Cross on “Arrested Development”
Behind every masterpiece — comedic, artistic, or otherwise — is a deep well of trust. Case in point: the legendary sit-com, Arrested Develop...
Let emotion be your North Star: Composer Kris Bowers
This episode follows the composer Kris Bowers’ personal story about composing the score for the culture-shifting and emotionally devastating...
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 experiencin...
Fight for your dream: Comedian Cristela Alonzo
When the ABC show Cristela premiered in 2014, Cristela Alonzo made U.S. history, the first Latina to write, produce, and star in her own pri...
Find the people who see your dream: Actor Aasif Mandvi
In the 1990s, Aasif Mandvi was a struggling actor looking for roles that didn’t seem to exist. So he wrote Sakina’s Restaurant — a solo show...
Always be iterating: Pomplamoose’s Jack Conte & Nataly Dawn
Nataly Dawn and Jack Conte started the band Pomplamoose together in 2008. The band found success with their viral YouTube videos, which have...
Take responsibility for your creativity: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a creativity master. Many of us know him as an actor and director, but Joseph also co-created the collaborative medi...
5 strategies for starting something new
There’s an intimidating blank page. A blinking cursor staring you down. A looming deadline for a project you haven’t touched. Sometimes, sta...
Tell a universal truth: “Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz has a motto for songwriting: Tell the truth, and make it rhyme. In this episode, Stephen tells the story of composing the B...
Sweat the details: Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett
Felix Barrett, MBE, is the artistic director of Punchdrunk, a British theater company that specializes in immersive storytelling. In this ep...
Embrace your inner weirdo: Pixar’s Domee Shi on “Turning Red”
When Pixar asked Domee Shi to create a feature film, she ran to her friend’s office and rolled on the floor with joy. It was a dream come tr...
Generosity creates magic: “Frozen” songwriters Robert Lopez & Kristen Anderson-Lopez
Finding the right collaborator, and growing together, is a creative feat. While songwriting duo Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez were...
Replenish your sense of meaning: Musician Kayhan Kalhor on “Silent City"
Musician Kayhan Kalhor shares the story of composing and performing “Silent City,” his epic 25-minute piece for the kamancheh (Persian spike...
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...
Commit to your best work (always!): Novelist Ann Patchett on “The Dutch House”
When Ann Patchett sat down to read through her first draft of The Dutch House , she realized she had made a terrible mistake. A wrong turn,...