Humanitou: Exploring Humanness + Creativity

Victoria Stracke is the curator and publisher of "The Last Hundred Miles: The Diary of Larry Waite." And she has remained anonymous in that role. Until now.  Larry was a gay man who grew up in the Midwest during the 1950s and 60s. He prolifically documented his life for more than 30 years, with intimate and sometimes brutal, raw honesty. Those diaries ended up in Victoria's hands. I n this convers...

Lisa Congdon is an illustrator, and the author of eight books, most recently (as of original episode release on Aug. 2, 2020): “Find Your Artistic Voice: The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic.” Her client list runs deep, including  the Obama Campaign, the United Nations, Lululemon, Crate & Barrel, MoMA, REI, AirBnB, Martha Stewart Living and many more.  I n this conversation, we t...

Steven Pressfield is the best-selling author of The War of Art, The Artist's Journey, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Gates of Fire and, his newest novel, which was published earlier this month, A Man at Arms. In this conversation, we talk about Resistance with a capital-R, that diabolical enemy within each of us that tries to keep us from connecting with our highest Self (and each other). We talk fea...

In this solo episode (ep 154), Adam Williams makes the case for artists/creators being valued for their work as mystic builders of worlds rather than widget-makers on the clock. Read, listen to more and view the full artwork, "All My Sins," used in the episode thumbnail at humanitou.com .

In this solo episode (ep 153), Adam Williams talks about the building blocks of the creative process, using the intuitive flow of his "scrawl abstracts" artwork, like his digital painting “Don’t be fucking ridiculous … I just wear stars! (General Baron Jacques),” as an example. Read, listen to more and view the full artwork, "(General Baron Jacques)," at humanitou.com .

In this solo episode (ep 152), Adam Williams connects the dots of two creative works he made years apart. And he shares "Catch," his poem of nostalgia and wondering about his last game of catch with "good 'ol Dad." Read, listen to more, and view the artwork, "Baseball," talked about in this episode at humanitou.com .

In this solo episode (ep 151), Adam Williams speaks to the misconception non-artists have who walk into galleries and dismiss artists' work with a flippant, " I could do that," with the help of musician Jack White. He talks about the difference between "I could do that" and "I did that!" Read, listen to more, and view the full artwork, "So Pretty the Flower," used in the episode thumbnail at human...

Overview: In this solo episode (ep 150), Adam Williams takes a look around and reflects on who he is in this moment, with the aid of legendary music producer Rick Rubin. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this solo episode (ep 149), Adam Williams cites psychotherapist Barry Michels' line, "It is a tragedy to die with our song unsung." He then lays out the simple and meaningful questions we all owe it to ourselves to ask to keep that tragedy from happening. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this solo episode (ep 148), Adam Williams talks about his not-quite-forgotten chapbook of poetry and photography, San Agustinillo . He shares two very short poems -- "The Palm" and "The Moon" -- from that project several years still in the making. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this solo episode (ep 147), Adam Williams refers to Richard Rohr's (and Carl Jung's) spiritual philosophy of the two halves of life. Adam talks about his internal struggles as a creator and human with the external validations and gatekeepers we're socialized to obey. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this solo episode (ep 146), Adam Williams gives into the intruding thoughts that came to him during meditation. Thoughts on God, being "good/bad" at meditation, vulnerability and connecting with each other through sharing what we've got to share. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this short solo episode (ep 145), Adam Williams shares his failed attempt at collaboration with ChatGPT, and his fear that getting a Nintendo would be the death of his family. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this short solo episode (ep 144), Adam Williams relates the shared DNA of he and his son's habits of thinking time. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

Based on a listener's timely and meaningful email, this episode revisits a focus of building a path of purpose one step at a time by applying the Zen philosophy of chopping wood and carrying water. Humanitou creator Adam Williams digs into some thoughts, resources and ideas about recognizing life purpose and cultivating success through the Zen Buddhist koan, "chop wood, carry water." Along the way...

In this short solo episode (ep 142), Adam Williams considers the phrase "life practice" and why it's not more widely used in society. He considers how honoring the process of practicing at life creates space for learning, compassion and evolution. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this short solo episode (ep 141), Adam Williams reflects on a line poet Jorie Graham gave in a recent interview in The New Yorker and digs into his own mission of self-expression. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this short solo episode (ep 140), Adam Williams adds to his occasional series, "A Poet Was There," and features poet Brian Turner and work from his first collection, "Here, Bullet" (2005). He also reads three of Turner's poems from that book, including the title poem. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this short solo episode (ep 139), Adam Williams talks about the essential value in stepping up to our stories and vulnerably sharing them, with some inspiration from Fat Joe, Dax Shepard and Shaun White. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this short solo episode (ep 138), Adam Williams pulls out a helpful piece of the best-selling author Steven Pressfield's book, "The War of Art," noting key distinctions between worldviews of the artist and the fundamentalist. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this short episode (ep 137), Adam Williams shares forward a life-changing question. It's the key to breaking down our reactive, defensive postures when someone says something that triggers us.   Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this episode (ep 136), Adam Williams weaves stories of his two young sons throwing head locks and left hooks, and finding confidence amid their tears and rage, with his own challenges as a boy raised to never fight. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this episode (ep 135), Adam Williams shares his approach to self-expression, including as a podcaster. It's about self-study and facing fears, putting life questions and the things he thinks he thinks, for now, into the sunlight to see what's what. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this episode (ep 134), Adam Williams takes a positive life practice from David Choe and his Choe Show podcast. 5-3-1 ... That's five gratitudes, three things to work on today, and one positive thing about yourself. Read and listen to more at humanitou.com .

In this short solo episode (ep 133), Adam Williams steps further into self-honesty. He deviates from his usual Humanitou focus on creative expression, spirituality and so on with a semi-rant, airing some truths he feels in this era of fantastic social and political mindfuckery. He's also been making some simple artworks as a practice in facing blatant contradictions rather than glossing over the l...