The Creation Stories Podcast: Recent Episodes
Creation Stories Media, hosted by Jack Lancaster
The Creation Stories Podcast brings you lessons from creative thinkers of all types, aiming to demystify the creative process that help you tackle your next creative project. We regularly interview new creatives to share their lessons learned and personal anecdotes, and we hope you subscribe to get the latest creation stories
Hugh is a writer, historian and curator focused on all things queer and New York city. His debut book When Brooklyn Was Queer received numerous accolades, including writeups as an editor's pick in the New York Times and it was listed as one of Harper Baazar's best LGBTQ books of 2019.
His most recent book, The Woman's House of Detention was discussed with none other than Terry Gross of NPRs fresh air and talks about the 20th century women's house of detention in the West Village. S It has already received numerous praise from many outlets, and by some of my own personal favorite writers like Melissa Febos. Hugh is a fantastic writer and also an educator now back teaching at Bennington College, where he received his MFA.
And you can get some of that education through our conversation, as I sure did. Make sure to stick around for his recommendations on some craft picks to read.
Evan started his food journey after undergrad and grew as a chef at Egg in Williamsburg with owner George Weld, which would continue into various ventures in both Brooklyn and beyond. His ventures into building a community of folks interested in the intersection of food and literature led to the creation of Tables of Contents, a collaboration between creatives of all types including writers, musicians, and of course, food, which host meals and events in NYC. In 2021 the tables of contents team launched their first print cookbook with contributors including Alexander Chee, Emma Straub, Paul Lisicky, and more. The cookbooks profits supported the work of FIG NYC a group supporting food security in NYC communities.
Welcome back to the Creation Stories Media podcast, where we make each day, a day to make. I know there's been a bit of a hiatus so thanks for joining us again with a really exciting episode with writer Mallika Rao. As I was in need of some creative community and support while feeling a bit burned out, Mallika was such an energetic breath of fresh air and I know you will enjoy this episode. Mallika is a freelance writer, whose creative nonfiction has been featured in the top outlets of the genre including Vulture, NY Mag, Huffington Post, Jezebel, The Believer. The Believer piece, Three Bodies in Texas, we talk about the most in this episode and it was part of the last volume of that great magazine. Her work has been recognized by the LA Press Club for best industry feature for her writing on Apu from the Simpsons and Longreads best of the year for a piece on Dallas Strip Mall Restaurants. She herself has done a podcast, called HiberNation, set in the realm of sleep which was Ambie nominated. You can check out some of her most recent work at Vulture and the link to her full website mallika-rao.com for more work on our website - I'll link some of the great work she mentions throughout this episode online.
Hello everyone and welcome back to yet another episode of the Creation Stories Media Podcast. For this podcast I am doing something a little bit different as I go back through and soak in the lessons I've learned in the first ten episodes of the podcast and revisit some of what I hope you have all gained from the podcast. As any creative type knows reflection and really mining into your own psyche can be so helpful in the creative process but for me with the podcast it's a way to really honor the impact that the guests I've had so far on my time on the show have had on me.
For today's episode I've selected a segments of the podcast that have been meaningful to me and we'll hear some of those and my own reflections on them throughout.
If this podcast has helped with your own learning at all please feel free to reach out to me directly at jack@creationstoriesmedia.com as some of you have already done, it's been so meaningful to me or you can reach out to me on instagram @creationstoriesmedia.
Today's episode I am joined by professor and author Dr. Charlan Nemeth. Charlan is an expert in creativity and dissent, and her book, In Defense of Troublemakers has been used by public and private sector leaders alike to rethink how they foster innovation and the role authentic dissent can have in our public and private lives.
Charlan has taught at UC Berekley and her work has been features in Wired, the New Yorker, Ode, and many other news outlets. If you consider yourself a trouble maker or someone who challenges norms, I really encourage you to listen to this podcast. You can find her at www.charlannemeth.com to learn more and explore more of her research.
Today's podcast guest Angela aka @Angeless a streaming sensation where she presents a unique voice in the gaming world as a queer woman of color and is an especially unique creative to me personally as someone who has managed to build an incredible online presence and community all while working a full time job.
In this episode Angela gives me a streaming 101 lesson and you can see my lack of knowledge on this front very clearly, but we talk about the stigma people place around gaming and the tendency of the public to diminish the hard work that goes in to what Angela has created. Nevertheless, she recently reached over 100K subscribers on YouTube and is continuing to grow every day. You can find her on @Angeless on Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch, and @Angeless.IG on Instagram. Check her content out even as a non-gamer I find her presence on video to be so magnetic as you'll see in our episode today.
Today's podcast guest are the hosts of @StoopingNYC, a supportive online community of “stoopers” which share free things left out on NYC stoops and sidewalks, all shared through the account run by a couple living in Brooklyn
@StoopingNYC has reached over 250K followers through its several daily posts where community members across the five boroughs can find unique and nice things for their home. The account has been featured in numerous news outlets including NPR, Vogue, and Time Out. They have developed a community where folks share their stooping successes, including the creative projects they have turned out of items that were left for the trash. In this episode we talk about what it means to build an online community which actually serves a community, how creativity builds balance in our daily lives, and the many unique things that have come to their accounts straight from NYC streets.
Today's podcast guest is Pamella Rolland and we're excited to have such an illustrious designer on the podcast and dressmaker for the stars. Pamella is the founder and designer behind the eponymous brand Pamella Roland, a couture fashion label that is featured in retailers like Bergdorf Goomdan, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Pamella's work is often spotted on the red carpet, with celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Taylor Swift, Karlie Kloss, Jennifer Hudson, Emmy Rossum, Lily Collins, Hillary Rhoda, Eva Langoria, Madonna, and many many more. The brand received the prestigious gold cost award in its second year of operations and Pamela herself was inducted into the council of fashion designers of America. On top of that, she received an award for being the top-woman owned business in her home state of Michigan, and has raised three children, Cassandra, Sydney, and Nicholas with her husband Dan.
Today's guest is Molly Reeder. Molly is a food and botanical painter and stylist based out of Richmond, Virginia, her work, which is done with pencils and watercolor captures the gorgeous details of foods, plants, and the inner life of one's kitchen.
Her work has included collaborations with Rancho Gordo Beans and the baker Erin McDowell, and she was featured by Samin Nosrat, author of Salt Fat Acid Heat as an excellent place to buy unique prints for the holidays. In our episode Molly talks about the importance of building a creative community and leveraging these collaborations as a way to promote your art.
She talks about her experiences in baking, which informed her approach to creating and how she built a sustainable business from her own work. You can find her at www.mollyreeder.com and on her Instagram at @Mollyreeder. One exciting new development that I want to push is that she's working on a new monthly newsletter called the Recipe Box, where she's actually working with her mother to create illustrations of her mom's recipes that have roots in the Eastern Shore, Chesapeake Bay food traditions.
Today's podcast guest is Daniel Emilio Soares. Daniel is the founder of Alimentari Flaneur, an upscale specialty market in New York City's Lower East Side which sells unique produce and on top of that, a way of living. Alimentari of course means food, while flaneur refers to a stroller, and stroll you will want to do through the shop. Daniel learned his showmanship approach to grocery through the family business - his grandparents and parents ran Balducci's and Grace's, both specialty grocers within NYC. But Alimentari does not rest on these laurels and uses Daniel's time living in Paris and work as a real estate broker to define a newfound respect and love for food and retail. This comes through not only how he connects with visitors in the store, but anyone who goes to their instagram or website. The Alimentari has been featured in Timeout and the New York Times, receiving praise for being a delightful, unordinary grocery store, and is a truly remarkable experience for anyone who lives in New York. We talk about his distinctive style and how it was curated, how this influences how he manages his own life, and a more sustainable vision for retail. Follow @Alimentariflaneur on Instagram to learn more
Today's episode is an interview with Jim Feeley is an animator and character designer whose work can be seen on the shows American Dad and Big Mouth. Originally an ad man, he brought his talent for drawing to life while working and learning the animation craft at the Legendary Film Roman, where the shows King of the Hill and the Simpsons were made.. As always, you can stay up to date on the latest Creation Stories @creationstoriesmedia on instagram or on our website, www.creationstoriesmedia.com
Today's episode is an interview with Olivia de Recat, illustrator and writer for The New Yorker and more. She brilliantly covers the experience of living in your 20s and trying to make sense of our contemporary world. Here she talks about being comfortable with your own mediocrity and how to balance your day job while pursuing creative projects. You can see more of her work @drawingolive on Instagram and www.oliviaderecat.com
Today's episode we have on a great leader and communicator McKeel Hagerty. McKeel is the CEO of Hagerty, an automotive enthusiast company which has created a community through insuring vintage and classic cars. Beyond Hagerty, he has also served as the International Chairman of the Young Presidents Organization, or YPO, which represents thousands of executives from around the world, where he interviewed the late Secretary General Kofi Annan, President of Rwanda Paul Kigame, and Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, to name a few. We chat with him about leading yourself first and many other lessons on creativity and leadership that we know you'll enjoy.
Welcome to the Creation Stories Podcast, where we feature creatives and share their lessons on the creative process. Today's podcast features Abra Berens, cookbook author of Ruffage and Grist, and chef at Granor Farms in Southwest Michigan.