Black Enso: Recent Episodes
Mikaal Sulaiman
An Enso is part of the Zen practice of drawing a circle in a single stroke and the resulting imperfections of the sphere represent a person’s inner emotional and creative life imprinted on the canvas. Black Enso, a podcast hosted by Mikaal Sulaiman, is an audio Enso that reveals and reflects on all of the interesting imperfections of our creative community by way of sonic essays and special guests. Official website: www.blackensomedia.com
Why do your best ideas come in the shower, never at your desk? Maybe you're approaching creativity backwards. In this episode, Mikaal discusses why your creativity isn't hiding inside you, but is circling you, waiting to be invited in. Learn why you don't possess creativity but should be possessed by it, and how artists like Rick Rubin and John Coltrane mastered this ancient secret. Your biggest breakthroughs happen when you stop forcing and start flowing, when you become still enough to be the vessel that lightning strikes within. Stop chasing inspiration. Start letting it chase you.
Host: Mikaal Sulaiman
Studio: Black Enso Media
Black Enso is a sacred society for creatives, offering evergreen reflections for artists seeking clarity, depth, and creative precision in their work.
Watch on YouTube / Instagram / X
Listen on your Podcast app
Read on Substack
Support on Patreon
All are @blackensomedia
blackensomedia.com
mikaal.com
Artists are understandably worried about being replaced by AI, but the real threat isn’t artificial intelligence, it’s your fear of your own idiosyncrasies. In this meditation on rigor, imitation, and presence, Mikaal dissects the quiet resistance we build against our most original selves. From Move 37 and James Brown to Elmyr de Hory and Spike Lee, this episode is a manifesto for artists ready to transcend the algorithm, not by competing with it, but by daring to be unmistakably human. Creativity isn't solvable.
Host: Mikaal Sulaiman
Studio: Black Enso Media
Black Enso is a sacred society for creatives, offering evergreen reflections for artists seeking clarity, depth, and creative precision in their work.
Watch on YouTube / Instagram / X
Listen on your Podcast app
Read on Substack
Support on Patreon
All are @blackensomedia
blackensomedia.com
mikaal.com
JJJJJerome Ellis is an interdisciplinary artist who has an incredible capacity to create as a musician, writer, and actor. Yet the best way to describe JJJJJerome is as an enigma. Not because he is so mysterious but because his brilliance is so difficult to truly understand. He and I talk through what inspires him to make art that acts as a healing balm and how he wears his stutter like a crown on a tilt. You can find JJJJJerome Ellis on Instagram @ellisjerome & jeromeellis.com. Additional information on www.blackensomedia.com
Amir Sulaiman, Mikaal’s older brother, is a world renowned poet, screenwriter, theologian, and abolitionist. Amir discusses his brief and bitter crisis involving an Emmy nomination for his screenwriting work on Hulu’s Ramy show. He also breaks down his unique point of view on reality and how we might be living in a screenplay. Amir's short poem you'll hear at the end of the episode is from a short poetry film collaboration he and I worked on. You can see it at https://www.blackensomedia.com/episode-2. You can also find Amir on Instagram @amirsulaiman.
In this first episode of the Black Enso podcast, Mikaal Sulaiman, the Black Enso host, works through his thoughts on Agoraphobia. His stream of thought essay relates Agoraphobia to his health, his blackness, and his ego.
link to post-accident photo: https://www.blackensomedia.com/episode-1