Home Podcasts The Creative Process · Arts, Culture & Society: Books, Film, Music, TV, Art, Writing, Creativity, Education, Environment, Th
The Creative Process · Arts, Culture & Society: Books, Film, Music, TV, Art, Writing, Creativity, Education, Environment, Th

The Creative Process · Arts, Culture & Society: Books, Film, Music, TV, Art, Writing, Creativity, Education, Environment, Th

Mia Funk 1254 Episodes Jun 24, 2026

The Creative Process explores the minds of creative people through conversations with writers, artists, and thinkers across the arts and STEM. Guests include Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Pulitzer, and Nobel Prize winners, as well as leaders from organizations like the Smithsonian, UNESCO, and Greenpeace. Hosted by Mia Funk, the interviews delve into their life, work, and artistic practice, offering valuable insights. The podcast also features participation from students and universities worldwide.

Episodes

Taking Back Control in the Age of AI: Creativity, Transhumanism & The Myth of Machine Consciousness Jun 24, 2026 1873 It is an ordinary human impulse to find a reflection of ourselves in the machines we build. But what happens when the lifeless begins to talk back, to paint, to compose and to simulate our emotions? How do we hold on to what makes us human? Today we hear from philosophers and writers Siri Hustvedt, C. Thi Nguyen, and Bayo Akomolafe on the myth of machine consciousness. Artist Jonathan Yeo, playwri
Reincarnation, Food & Memory: AMITAV GHOSH on What Connects Us in an Age of Climate Crisis Jun 22, 2026 2509 “Imagining with precision is a very fundamental part of my work. When I sit down to write about anything, whether it be The Hungry Tide in the Sundarbans, or let's say The Shadow Lines, or Ghost-Eye. It's very important for me to get the topography right, to get the outlay of the streets or the house exactly right so I can actually picture all of that in my head. It's very important for me to have
The Body in Motion: Art, Science & Healing w/ Siri Hustvedt, Master Shi Heng Yi, Anil Seth, Noelani Pantastico… Jun 21, 2026 1283 How much of our consciousness is shaped by our bodies? That rhythmical reality that Siri Hustvedt describes is something we often take for granted until it is disrupted by grief or illness. Much of what we consider the mind is happening in the body.Today, we're looking at embodied cognition, the idea that we think with our limbs, our breath and our physical interactions with the world. We will hea
From Extraction to Regeneration: Redesigning Our Relationship with Nature Jun 15, 2026 2147 Today, we examine how we will adapt to a changing climate and learn to listen to the Earth.(0:00) Abrahm Lustgarten (Reporter, ProPublica) (3:00) Jon Gertner (Author, The Ice at the End of the World) (5:32) Bill Hare (CEO, Climate Analytics) (6:35) Rob Nixon (Prof. Environmental Humanities, Princeton) (8:12) Louis de Jaeger (Co-founder, Food Forest Institute) (10:06) Kathleen Rogers (Pres., EarthD
There is No Freedom Without a Free Press: Journalists, Writers, Activists, Political Scientists, Economists & Filmmakers Discuss Democracy & The Fight for Truth Jun 8, 2026 2352 Today we explore the collapse of the journalism business model, the rise of spin dictators and how disinformation has become the new censorship. As empires struggle and media consolidates, the pursuit of truth remains an act of hope. We hear from foreign correspondents and journalists Nicholas Kristof, Abrahm Lustgarten, Michael Maren, Richard Black and Jacob Ward. They're joined by scholars and e
Creativity, Improvisation & Learning to See with DR. KEITH SAWYER May 29, 2026 3876 “I've discovered in my studies of creativity in general that creativity is not about starting with a brilliant idea and then following a linear path to an execution of your idea. What I see in art and design is a much more iterative, wandering, exploratory process where the ideas emerge from the act of engaging in the work.”Dr. Keith Sawyer’s work focuses on creativity and human ingenuity. With ov
The Future of Architecture & Cities of Tomorrow w/ CARLO RATTI, Director of MIT's Senseable City Lab May 28, 2026 1405 "What we need to do is learn from nature. If you think about how nature progresses through trial and error. I'm really a fan of how we can do open designs that citizens can respond to, and use the feedback in order to create similar systems to what happens in nature."Our guest today is Carlo Ratti, an architect, engineer, and academic who is deeply engaged with the critical questions facing our pl
The Cognitive Cost of AI: Surveillance Capitalism, The Future of Work & Democracy May 25, 2026 1523 Look closely at the screen in front of you. It is no longer just a passive device; it is actively shaping your perception. Today, we investigate the cognitive and ethical costs of offloading our reason to algorithms and ask what happens when our tools begin to train us? We explore the rise of surveillance capitalism with those documenting the shift—technologists Jaron Lanier, Henry Ajder, and Anto
MUSKISM—Its Roots, Nature & How to Fight It w/ QUINN SLOBODIAN & BEN TARNOFF May 22, 2026 3696 “ Musk interestingly has this way of excluding the majority of the population from consideration, what he variously calls non-playing characters or NPCs, which is a category from video games, or sometimes bots, vampires. And this is a much more stark version of insider and outsider group creation than even hierarchies of race because it takes this one step further by taking very seriously the idea
LAND GRAB UNIVERSITIES: Dispossession, Indigenous Futures & the True Cost of Higher Education w/ TRISTAN AHLONE, ANDREW HERSCHER, ROBERT WARRIOR May 21, 2026 3149 “I think in terms of the Land-Grab project: looking at that history and really beginning to learn more about the history of education in the United States—and especially Indian education—a lot of that was new to me. So, our project that we did about two years ago, building on Land-Grab, was our Misplaced Trust investigation at Grist. We wanted to go back to those universities and start looking at
The Atlas of Resonance: How does architecture  shape the way we think, learn & remember? SALWA & SELMA MIKOU - Highlights May 19, 2026 1333 Salwa and Selma Mikou are the founders of Paris-based Mikou Architecture. Born in Fez, Morocco and educated in Paris, they have spent the last two decades reimagining the relationship between the built environment and the cultural landscape.After honing their craft under two of the world’s most iconic architects, Jean Nouvel and Renzo Piano, they founded their own studio. For them, architecture is
Building Bridges Between Memory, Nature & Architecture with SALWA & SELMA MIKOU May 18, 2026 4729 “Architecture should bring a true sensation of wellbeing. We were really lucky to experience that as children, and now as architects, we try to bring all that we learned into our practice.”Salwa and Selma Mikou are the founders of Paris-based Mikou Architecture. Born in Fez, Morocco and educated in Paris, they have spent the last two decades reimagining the relationship between the built environme

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