Like many people over the course of the pandemic, I’ve been getting more and more into podcasts (I most recently reviewed In Vogue: The 1990s). Personally, I find there’s no better feeling in the world than to pop in my earphones before bed to unwind and catch up on a new podcast episode. Lately, that podcast has been The Creative Process.
The Creative Process was first launched at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, and it’s gone on to have over 300 experts from different areas of the arts and even STEM fields featured on the show. Some of the most prominent guests have included Neil Patrick Harris, Roxane Gay, Delia Ephron, Alan Alda, David Rubin, and a long list of many others. In addition to these artists, college students from all over the world participate in helping to edit podcast episodes and interject interviews to talk about their own artistic work and how it relates to the person being interviewed. Everyone always has something fascinating to contribute, and some students even follow up their features on the podcast by publishing their work on The Creative Process’s Medium page.
When I first met Mia Funk, The Creative Process’s founder, at the beginning of the year, she was interviewing me to be an official part of the podcast as an associate podcast producer. Her work as an artist, from stunning oil paintings of her podcast guests to developing the podcast itself, inspired me to take a shot and apply to be a part of The Creative Process. I was struck by Mia’s kindness, attentiveness, and dedication to sharing so many stories and experiences of both world-renowned experts in creative fields and ordinary college students like myself. She must have seen that same desire in me too, and soon, she asked me to be an official part of the team.
So far, I’ve gotten the chance to help produce a podcast episode with Nano Stern, a Chilean musician with world-renowned acclaim and a moving family history. I also got an opportunity to talk about my own work in relation to how Stern talks about art and our connection to it. It felt extremely freeing to be able to talk about my own process practically for the first time. I’m eager to take part in more episodes like this one, whether it be in my specialized area of mental health and neuroscience or not, and to possibly expand by interviewing other people in my community.
With all that said, I encourage everyone to start listening to The Creative Process, especially if you’re someone who’s interested in the arts. You’ll be genuinely surprised to see who out of your favorite role models and influencers has already been featured on the podcast, and you can listen virtually anywhere, though I mostly listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Additionally, The Creative Process is also moving on to tackle climate change and other environmental issues. If you want to become a part of this journey or talk about possibly participating in The Creative Process in general, you can always contact them at team@creativeprocess.info.
If you’re also interested in learning more about the founding story, check out Mia’s interview on The Creative Process here.