New Creative Era
A podcast exploring how creative people develop their practices and the worlds we live and operate in. Hosted by Joshua Citarella and Yancey Strickler, it delves into the creative process and the broader cultural and economic contexts that shape artistic work. The show is part of the Metalabel community and features conversations with various creatives.
Episodes
How Artist Corporations became law
This week on New Creative Era, we explore the process of how Artist Corporations became law in Colorado.In the first-ever solo episode of NCE, Yancey walks through the detailed process of what it took to turn Artist Corporations into law, including lessons learned and news on what’s next.Read the companion essay at ystrickler.com. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with ot
Cake in a box
We are back. Not yet in our usual weekly cadence (that resumes after the summer), but back for an episode and an overdue catchup after the longest gap we've had in over a year.Josh, ever the jetsetter, talks about being part of the Whitney Biennial and Venice Biennale and a 4:30am call with the European Parliament.Yancey, ever the striver, talks about the latest on Artist Corporations and the path
Forward not back
In the finale of season 02 of New Creative Era, Josh and Yancey take stock of everything we've learned across 12 episodes exploring dark forests, private online communities, and the forces shaping culture online and beyond.We trace the genealogy of the web — from Web2's gatekeeping revolution to the attention economy to the subscription era's rebundling — and arrive at the present moment, where pe
Four countries or a thousand?
Back with part two of our special AMA episodes fielding questions from our NCE DFOS space. This episode covers everything from nationalism to Section 230 to open source software and everything in between. How far will the dark forest take us? Listen in as we debate and discuss IRL. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, v
The two wolves
This week Josh and Yancey sit down in the same room for the first time to answer questions from 250+ people who found their way down the rabbit hole into the New Creative Era DFOS (link here 🤫) after last week’s audio easter egg. In week one there have been more than 900 chats and an organic book club already started.In this episode, we answer five questions from community members covering communi
What if you could start your own internet?
This season of New Creative Era, we’ve been exploring the idea of dark forests. This week we’re exploring one in reality. Together.Listen in as Josh and Yancey give the first-ever tour of Dark Forest OS, a new Metalabel release that creates shared private internets.If you listen closely, you just might hear the breadcrumbs to a new world. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this
The internet has been building to this
In this episode, Josh takes listeners through the concept of teleology: the idea that tools inevitably drift toward outcomes embedded in their design, regardless of intent. What does this say about platform technology, political organizing, and competing visions for the private internet?Drawing on Benjamin Bratton’s “The Stack,” the conversation examines how cloud platforms are assuming functions
The politics of withdrawal
Are dark forests just retreat?Adam Curtis documented how 1970s communes and EST taught people to pursue happiness within themselves rather than pursuing a better society. Are dark forests the same trap?James C. Scott’s work on the “hidden transcript” offers a different frame. Private spaces aren’t just where people hide, they’re where shared understanding forms, where you say what can’t be said pu
Ingroups and outgroups
Is curation actually about exclusion? In this episode, Josh and Yancey explore one of the most uncomfortable questions in creative communities: what it means to draw boundaries around who belongs and who doesn’t. Web2’s promise of open platforms and the death of gatekeeping hasn’t led to creative liberation — it’s produced attention economies driven by sensationalism and the collapse of shared val
Dark forests and antimemetics
A key fact of dark forests: they don’t want to be seen. Dark forests are spaces hidden from public view where outside eyes are not welcome.Why is this the case? And what can we observe about spaces like this?In this week’s episode of New Creative Era, we connect the idea of “antimemetics” — ideas that are intentionally hard to share and see — with dark forests. This is a public episode. If you wo
Do dark forests live forever?
This week on New Creative Era, Josh and Yancey explore the lifecycles of Dark Forest spaces. How do they start? How do they mature? How do they die? Do they die? Listen in to hear how our micro personal experiences and macro group dynamics collide. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit metalabel.substack.com
The philosophy of dark forests
This week on New Creative Era we dive deeper into the world of dark forests and the underlying philosophies and belief systems behind their existence.How should we feel about dark forests? Are they places of threat or respite? Are they spaces of retreat or infrastructure for dissent? Are they inherently revolutionary and counter-hegemonic or are they potential tools for oppression, too? Listen in
The economics of the dark forest
This week in New Creative Era we dive into how exactly Dark Forest spaces support themselves, what it costs to run one, and all the implications of online-native proto-institutions that can create their own economics, currencies, and even tax systems. Why is this happening and where will it lead? After the usual s**t-talking, Josh and Yancey dig in. This is a public episode. If you would like to d
What's a Dark Forest?
This season on New Creative Era, we’re diving into the world of Dark Forests. But what exactly is a Dark Forest? What’s the origin of the term, and what does it describe? In this episode, Josh and Yancey walk through what a Dark Forest is and why they’re increasingly central to not just our digital lives, but society at large. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other
The return
You thought it was over. But we’re so back.Welcome to a new season and focus for New Creative Era.This year we’re diving deep into the world of dark forests: private online spaces hidden from outside view. Why do Dark Forests exist? What goes on in them? What are their economics? What are their philosophies? We’ll be exploring all of this, and much more. But first, we have a lot to catch up on. Th
Artist Corporations: new podcast and early traction
Last week our TED Talk introduced Artist Corporations (A-Corps) — a legal and economic structure for creative work. So far there have been:* 200k+ views of the TED video * 600+ artists and creators joining the waitlistListenOn a special episode of New Creative Era (embedded above), Josh Citarella grills me on the nuts and bolts:* How A-Corps would work* What doesn’t work about the status quo* What
Why talk about the creative life?
This week marks the final episode of the first season of New Creative Era, as well as the release of a new book that collects all our conversations into printed form: On the Creative Life: Conversations Towards a New Creative Era.In this episode, Josh and Yancey discuss why even have conversations like ours? What is this moment in our collective creative journey?Though this is the last episode of
Seven things we want out of a new creative era
In the penultimate episode of the first season of New Creative Era, Josh and Yancey each come to the table with their list of seven things they most want in a new status quo.These are our answers. What about yours? What do you want in a New Creative Era? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit metalabel.substack.com
What we wish we knew then
What lessons do we keep with us from our creative journeys so far?This week Josh and Yancey turn back the clock and take turns sharing seven things they know now but wish they knew then. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit metalabel.substack.com
How to develop a creative career
What does it mean to build a creative life — especially when the rules keep changing?In this episode, Josh and Yancey reflect on the nonlinear paths of creative careers, from publishing forgotten essays that suddenly go viral to jumping formats, industries, and identities. We talk about true norths, timestamping your work, outsider paths, and the strange long game where your weirdest traits become
Is there such a thing as artist-format fit?
This week Josh and Yancey dive into the question of formats. How do we as artists find the right format for our work? What if we work well in one format but not another? Is there such a thing as artist-format fit?Listen in as we discuss. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit metalabel.substack.com
Creative economic case studies (with actual numbers!)
Many creative conversations are more ethereal and emotional. What a work references, what it feels like to experience it.In this week’s episode of New Creative Era, we do the opposite and deal strictly with the numbers. How much does it cost to print a book, to run a community, to make and produce work? How much does someone make? How do those economics actually work out?Josh and Yancey walk throu
How to decide where to invest your creative time
In this week’s episode of New Creative Era, we answer a listener question. Jamie Reddington (Sound of Fractures) writes:“Creators struggle to choose a place to focus on — it would be good to hear from someone like Josh or you how you make the combination of platforms out side of traditional social media ones work, what you use them for. So for Josh for example: patreon, Substack, Metalabel — I thi
Labels: creative support structures of the past and future?
Labels: the out-dated horse-and-buggy of the cultural sphere, or a still-underexplored structure that could lead to greater resource sharing and collective liberation among creative people ?In this episode of New Creative Era, Josh and Yancey talk through the idea of labels. What were they before? What are they now? How are they being reimagined as new tools of the future?Listen to Josh and Yancey
How do you decide what platforms to use?
This week on New Creative Era, Josh and Yancey open up the topic of platforms. Are they good? Are they bad? What does it mean to depend on one? What are the risks and what are the upsides? We talk through our personal experiences posting work on platforms, the political and economic theories behind them, and how platforms themselves see the world. This is a public episode. If you would like to dis
Why collaboration should feel like a fun conspiracy
This week in New Creative Era with Josh and Yancey, we dive into the topic of collaboration. How have we found ourselves in collaborative projects? What went well? What didn’t? Tune in for a deep and wide-ranging conversation that covers everything from emotions to economics to breakups to logistics. Thanks for listening and subscribing! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this
How to tell the story of your work
When someone asks you at a party what you do, how do you answer? Do you fumble for words or do you have a compelling hook ready that makes them lean in and want to know more?In Episode 02 of New Creative Era, co-hosts Joshua Citarella and Yancey Strickler explore the art of narrativizing creative projects. Josh shares practical insights from launching his hit YouTube series Doomscroll, while Yance
How to create context and release your work
Today we’re happy to introduce a new podcast from Joshua Citarella, Yancey Strickler, and Metalabel: New Creative Era.New Creative Era is a bi-weekly mini-series exploring how creative people release work and develop their creative practices. Each episode features a casual conversation between Josh and Yancey exploring their own experiences and lessons from others.The goal is to create an open, ca
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