S7 E1: Using Creativity to Make a Difference

Chasing Creative

We’d be remiss in trying to continue on with the podcast acting as if nothing is happening around us. 2020 has been an upheaval year for just about every single person on the planet, and while we are both privileged, middle-class white ladies in Midwestern states who are faring quite well during the pandemic, all things considered, our lives do still look very different than they did in March.

So this season, rather than continue to explore how we fit creativity into our daily lives -- something we are largely unable to do right now as we have in the past -- we wanted to explore a topic that has emerged as one we both care about deeply: How do we use creativity to make a difference?

We’re going to be interviewing people who use their creativity to create change in directions that matter to them. We hope you’ll get to hear from a wide variety of artists who hold a variety of views. None of them will be identical to our own, and we don’t believe that they have to be. In this episode in particular, we’re going to be talking about the pandemic and what our lives look like right now. The choices we’ve made for our families may not be the same as yours, and that’s okay! We know that in this time, everyone is doing what they think is best.

However, we do want to be upfront and say that race and issues of equality are not “too political” to talk about on a podcast that discusses creativity. Everything is political, first of all. And second: the issue of equality for all people is a human rights issue, not something we are willing to debate.

We hope you gain some ideas from our guests this season about how you can create change around the things that matter to you, regardless of where your personal views land.

Got someone you’d love to hear from this season about how they make a difference with their creative gifts? Email us at [e-mail].

Resources we mentioned in this episode:

Andy Slavitt on Twitter

King Gutter Baby on Instagram (infectious disease expert)

1619 Podcast Series

Pantsuit Politics Podcast

Home Cooking with Samin Nosrat and Hrishikesh Hirway

The Lazy Genius Podcast with Kendra Adachi

Lisa Hensley on Instagram

Mini Book Club:

Best Summer Reads:

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

The Selection by Kiera Cass

Harry Potter (of course)

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Nonfiction that’s changed our perspective:

Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson

The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place by Andy Crouch

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Books that have spurred us onto action in some way:

Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest, and Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms by Erin Benzakein

Visions of Vocation by Steven Garber