The Unmistakable Creative Podcast

After losing both parents in a car accident at age 20, April Rinne developed a framework for navigating constant change that became her book Flux. She discusses the eight superpowers for thriving in uncertainty—including running slower, seeing what is invisible, and letting go of the future—drawing from her work as a futurist and her deeply personal experience with loss. Hosted on Acast. See acast...

Stanford addiction psychiatrist Anna Lembke explains the neuroscience of dopamine and why our brains respond to social media the same way they respond to drugs. Drawing from her book Dopamine Nation, she shares how a dopamine fast can reset reward pathways and why the solution requires both individual discipline and systemic change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brandeis professor Andy Molinsky breaks down the psychology of why we avoid challenging situations and shares his research-backed framework for pushing past fear. He discusses conviction, customization, and clarity as the keys to taking leaps that feel impossible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Horn shares his journey from nightclub promoter to founder of Tribute and The Junto mens group. He discusses how a pivotal conversation with his father about pride led him to discover purpose through service, and explores how appreciation and emotional vulnerability create meaningful human connection. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Harvard professor Amy Edmondson breaks down the three types of failure—intelligent, basic, and complex—and why most of us never learn from them. She explores why kids lose their natural curiosity about failure as they grow up, how to design experiments that generate useful failures, and the systems thinking required to prevent cascading disasters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in...

Amy Blankson, happiness researcher and author of The Future of Happiness, explains how positive psychology can help us use technology intentionally rather than reactively. She shares practical strategies including tracking phone usage, leveraging wearables for self-awareness, and making conscious micro-decisions about when and why we use our devices. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

Historian and futurist Alex Pang explains why history's most creative people worked in short, focused bursts and took their leisure seriously. He traces the science behind rest, walking, naps, and deep play as tools for creativity, drawing on everyone from Darwin to Stephen King. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

B. Jeffrey, a teacher at Parsons School of Design and author of Creative Careers, discusses how to make a living from your ideas without chasing false definitions of success. He explores the difference between having a vision and proving a concept, why obsession is a necessary condition for building empires like Ralph Lauren or Apple, and how most creative people never ask themselves what success...

David Allen, creator of the Getting Things Done methodology, shares the unconventional path that led him from 35 jobs before 35, drug experimentation, and a childhood fascination with magic to becoming the godfather of modern productivity. He explains why your brain evolved for pattern recognition, not task management, and breaks down his capture-clarify-organize-reflect-engage framework. Hosted o...

Dan Lerner teaches the Science of Happiness at NYU. He explains how to identify your signature strengths using the VIA assessment and why companies that emphasize character strengths see 73% employee engagement versus 9% for those focused on weaknesses. Includes a story about a lawyer who turned down a Fortune 100 job to join Jet.com as their 10th employee. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...

Cyril Bouquet, professor at IMD Business School and lifelong immigrant, explains how creativity requires seeing the world with fresh eyes. He breaks down the ALIEN framework, an acronym for five lenses that help you escape conventional thinking and approach problems like someone from another planet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brad Stulberg returns to discuss his book Master of Change, exploring how the science of allostasis reveals that true stability comes from adapting rather than resisting. He shares practical frameworks like 2Ps vs 4Ps for handling daily disruptions and tragic optimism for navigating life's bigger changes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AJ Leon shares how losing his father at 14 and growing up marginalized shaped his philosophy of defiance over courage. He discusses the Ms. Mitchell moment that catalyzed his career, why context matters when processing grief, and the deliberate thoughtfulness behind building Misfit Inc into a collection of six companies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chase Jarvis, founder of CreativeLive and author of Creative Calling, discusses why creativity is a practical skill everyone possesses from birth that gets systematically suppressed by education and culture. He breaks down his IDEA framework for unlocking creative potential and building a life around the work you were meant to do. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

UCSF neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley explains the evolutionary mismatch between our attention systems and modern technology. He breaks down top-down vs bottom-up attention, the limits of cognitive control, and practical strategies for reclaiming focus in a distracted world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist and Keep Going, returns to discuss how creative work emerges from deep dissatisfaction with the world rather than contentment. He explores why the metaphors we use for creativity matter, how quilting offers a better model than vandalism for making art, and why every book requires learning the craft all over again. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Author and entrepreneur Luke Burgis joins us to explore the invisible architecture of human desire — and how understanding it can radically change our choices, ambitions, and sense of self. Drawing on his book *Wanting* and the mimetic theory of René Girard, Burgis unpacks how most of what we "want" is shaped not by independent reasoning, but by models — people we unconsciously imitate. From adole...

Kristin Neff, pioneering researcher and author of *Self-Compassion*, shares a groundbreaking case for why treating ourselves with kindness isn’t indulgent — it’s essential. Drawing on decades of academic research and personal reflection, Neff outlines how self-compassion transforms mental health, resilience, motivation, and even our relationship to ambition. The conversation spans parenting, educa...

Kate Peterson, artist and author, shares her journey from chasing Instagram validation to defining success on her own terms. After spending 10 months in Greece, she realized that achievement itself was hollow—what mattered was building a life where small joys like pastries and coffee became the reward, not just checkpoints on a path to something else. Peterson explores how growing up across cultur...

Kamal Ravikant, author of "Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It," breaks down the neuroscience and daily practice of self-love as a transformative mental discipline. Drawing from his own journey through depression, Kamal explains how thoughts are just old mental loops running on autopilot, how we can consciously rewrite painful memories by changing their emotional charge, and why self-forgiv...

Justin Connor, filmmaker and musician behind The Golden Age, shares how his saxophonist father and jazz-loving parents never encouraged music yet inadvertently programmed workaholism into his DNA—a double-edged sword that became both his greatest asset for wearing multiple hats on independent films and his potential downfall requiring hard drive reformatting of his life. Connor reveals how cigaret...

Jim Kwik, brain performance expert and author of Limitless, reveals how a childhood brain injury transformed him from the kid with the broken brain into one of the world leading authorities on accelerated learning and memory. Drawing from his immigrant parents sacrifices and his own journey through learning disabilities, Jim breaks down the three forces that limit us mindset, motivation, and metho...

Vanessa Van Edwards, behavioral researcher and author, traces her expertise in human behavior back to being a highly neurotic student council nerd with few friends in high school. That discomfort zone became her comfort zone—teaching, conferences, and analyzing how people communicate. Van Edwards breaks down nonverbal communication patterns, micro-expressions, charisma signals, and what research r...

Tiago Forte, creator of the Second Brain methodology, shares how attending five different schools in five consecutive years obliterated his social circles and forced him to become a chameleon—crossing between student government, cross country, French club, and chess nerds. This adaptability became the foundation for his work on knowledge management and building systems that work across contexts. F...

Susan Magsamen, author of Your Brain on Art, explores creativity through neuroscience rather than philosophy or technique. Born to working-class parents who never attended college—her father worked his way up from nurseries to insurance executive—Magsamen learned management and relentless work ethic early. She explains how art and creative engagement physically change brain structure, why aestheti...