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 Jul 22, 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

Surviving the AI Hype Cycle Without Losing Your Mind (or Your Job) w/ NACHO DE GREGORIO - Highlights
Surviving the AI Hype Cycle Without Losing Your Mind (or Your Job) w/ NACHO DE GREGORIO - Highlights Jul 22, 2026 1055  "I'm a believer in this technology. I believe that the cheaper it is, the more people will use it. So, even if we assume that models will get smaller for the same level of intelligence, the demand to actually have more compute is going to be enormous. And the reason why you want to have the compute close to you is not only in terms of performance. As a national security threat, I'm not saying thi
The $7.5 Trillion Gamble on AI Domination & The Future of Humanity w/ NACHO DE GREGORIO
The $7.5 Trillion Gamble on AI Domination & The Future of Humanity w/ NACHO DE GREGORIO Jul 21, 2026 6207 For over a decade, technology has promised to make life easier. Social media was meant to connect us, we were told smartphones would simplify our lives, and now artificial intelligence promises to lift even more daily burdens. Yet these advances also raise an important question: when do tools enhance human creativity, and when do they replace the very experiences that give life meaning? While AI h
Our Wild Familiars - DR. DAN WERB on Animals that Live Among Us & Urban Wildlife Conservation - Highlights
Our Wild Familiars - DR. DAN WERB on Animals that Live Among Us & Urban Wildlife Conservation - Highlights Jul 17, 2026 1454 If you live in a city, you’ve probably had that moment in the middle of the night. You hear a scratching in the walls, or you catch the glowing eyes of a raccoon peering out from a dumpster, and for a second, the concrete world feels a lot less 'controlled' than we like to pretend. We’ve been taught to think of cities as 'biological deserts'—places where nature goes to die. But my guest today, Dan
How Animals Are Adapting to Cities & Reshaping the Natural World w/ Author & Epidemiologist DAN WERB
How Animals Are Adapting to Cities & Reshaping the Natural World w/ Author & Epidemiologist DAN WERB Jul 15, 2026 6030 "So synanthropes are animals that have adapted to human-modified environments, and the Greek translation essentially is together with humans, so synanthrope. And they're a fascinating subset of wild animals that they're all around us, but we don't really notice them. And so in this new book, I was excited about writing something that had to do with the natural world. I was excited about writing so
Taking Back Control in the Age of AI: Creativity, Transhumanism & The Myth of Machine Consciousness
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
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…
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
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
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
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
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
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

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