Matt Conner
The Resistance
There's a force at work that keeps you from being you. We feel it, too. It's the reason we avoid making the call, the reason we put off the diet. It's why we've done nothing about that entrepreneurial idea, that creative endeavor, that new relationship. In his book The War of Art, Stephen Pressfield defines this universal force as Resistance. Welcome to The Resistance, a new podcast featuring honest interviews with creative persons about this force and the forms it takes.
Author
Matt Conner
Category
Podcast website
Latest episode
Mar 5, 2026
Where to listen?
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Episodes
Madi Diaz: Optimism as a choice 05.03.2026 27:52
Madi Diaz didn't set out to make her rawest record. She just stopped hiding. The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter joins The Resistance to talk about Fatal Optimist , the heartbreak and isolation behind it, and what it actually means to choose yourself when everything else falls apart. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Natalie and Meegan Closner of Joseph on the pains of creative evolution 12.02.2026 34:12
At a moment of real transition, Natalie and Meegan Closner of the band Joseph talk about loss, resilience, and learning how to let something evolve without letting it go. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Paloma Young on the cost of always being available 28.01.2026 38:38
Paloma Young is a Tony Award–winning costume designer whose work spans Broadway and London, including Peter and the Starcatcher , Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 , & Juliet , The Notebook , Bandstand , and Real Women Have Curves . In this episode of The Resistance , Paloma reflects on how motherhood changed the cost of availability in an industry built on endurance, and wha...
Steven Tracey on the surprising echoes between roles and real life 05.12.2025 30:45
Actor Stephen Tracey ( Invasion , Anne with an E ) joins The Resistance to talk about finding flow in the work, the surprising echoes between his roles and his own life, and why he feels drawn to create something from his own point of view. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata on the creative power in all of us 04.11.2025 31:33
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata talks about her new album Starlit Alchemy , the healing power of creativity, and how transformation often begins with surrender. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Suzanne Vega on the lifelong work of finding her voice 22.10.2025 36:41
From smash hits like "Luka" and "Tom’s Diner" to her new album Flying With Angels , Suzanne Vega reflects on journaling as survival and how, even after four decades, she’s still discovering new depths in her songwriting. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Tony winner Lauren Patten on finding her story in the creative work 30.09.2025 32:42
Tony-winning actress Lauren Patten ( Jagged Little Pill, Death and Other Details ) opens up about identity, perfectionism, and pushing past fear to explore new creative lanes—from writing and music to producing her first short film. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Kathleen Edwards on quitting, returning, and rewriting Her Story 16.09.2025 35:30
Celebrated songwriter Kathleen Edwards reflects on the career leaps that didn't happen, the unexpected joys she’s embraced, and the creative armor that allows her to keep showing up for the work that matters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dominic Lewis on the Work We Do vs. the Work We Want 03.09.2025 36:23
From his restless ambition to create to the challenge of finding balance, Dominic Lewis takes us inside the life of an in-demand composer whose work spans Bullet Train , The Fall Guy , Nobody 2 , and more, all while still chasing deeper artistic fulfillment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Composer Raashi Kulkarni on creative focus and pioneering new paths 21.08.2025 31:39
Before Raashi Kulkarni ever scored a feature film, before she ever composed music for well over 300 television episodes (including The Flash, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow ), before her multiple solo releases that have dominated World Music charts, she learned one valuable lesson from her parents: to focus solely on the work. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Bel-Air co-creator Rasheed Newson on crafting the stories he could never find 30.07.2025 31:54
Rasheed Newson , the co-creator of Bel-Air and writer for shows like The Chi, Narcos , and Lie to Me , opens up about the difficulties of finding a voice like his growing up and how that longing shapes where he wants to go next. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Amy Millan (Stars, Broken Social Scene) on motherhood, creative blocks, and a new solo LP 15.07.2025 29:04
As a member of beloved bands Stars and Broken Social Scene, Amy Millan has spent decades shaping some of the most defining sounds in Canadian music. These days, however, are rooted in a commitment to unearth her own voice. Her latest solo record, I Went To Find You , is her first in over 15 years, and the journey to write and record it was a deeply personal one. See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...
Wild Rivers on staying artistically honest in the face of success 25.06.2025 27:07
On this episode of The Resistance, we sat down with two-thirds of the trio known as Wild Rivers to gain a rare inside look at their creative chemistry. It’s a conversation about the ongoing challenge of staying artistically honest in the face of success and their commitment to keep showing up, even when the doubts are as loud as ever. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Andy Allo on the challenges of spinning myriad creative plates 11.06.2025 32:07
From her soulful music career as a member of Prince’s New Power Generation to her breakthrough acting role in the hit series Upload to her recent dive into the culinary world, Andy Allo has never confined herself to a single path. In the face of a culture that worries about personal brands and instant categorization, Andy’s only focus is expansion—staying true to herself while fo...
How Mai Der Vang turns uncertainty into poetry 27.05.2025 40:06
Pulitzer finalist Mai Der Vang opens up about the courage it takes to be a poet, the discipline required to stay with uncertainty, and the weight of writing for a community long silenced. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Thrice's Dustin Kensrue holds a holistic view of his creative priorities 13.05.2025 33:52
When we typically speak with artists about the idea of resistance, we discuss their creative endeavors, but Dustin Kensrue (Thrice) has a more holistic view of it all. From creative freedom to family priorities, from the pull of side projects to the quiet cost of ignoring what really stirs the soul, he was kind enough to unpack what it means to make honest work in a world that demands constant out...
Composer Carlos Rafael Rivera (Hacks) on casting aside his creative crutches 29.04.2025 35:12
Emmy and Grammy-winning composer Carlos Rafael Rivera ( Hacks , The Queen's Gambit ) details the painful lessons required to get to a healthy space of being less precious about his creative work. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Author/screenwriter Ben Winters on the challenge of distraction 15.04.2025 31:02
Despite the best-selling books and hit TV shows, author/screenwriter Ben Winters (CBS' hit show Tracker , The Last Policeman ) says distraction and anxiety remain very much a part of the creative process—even in the face of his ever-growing run of successes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Poet/author Tina Cane on the importance of congruent creativity 01.04.2025 40:12
Tina Cane's work as an activist and educator has kept her work as an author and poet (including a long stint as the former Poet Laureate of Rhode Island) so close to the earth. It’s beautiful and accessible and meaningfully grounded. After spending some time in conversation with her, it’s clear that her ability to be so authentic in her craft is the important result of being so intenti...
Behind the open-handed creativity of Tony Dekker and Great Lake Swimmers 18.03.2025 38:23
Tony Dekker has had the right posture from the beginning. Of course, it probably helped that he was never trying in the first place. The central figure of Great Lake Swimmers has made a career in the music industry for more than two decades now, but as Dekker tells the story, that first self-titled record was never intended to be anything more than a personal passion project—to be hear...
Hip-hop pioneer Lyrics Born on changing long-term paths 19.06.2024 32:34
Acclaimed artist and actor Lyrics Born speaks about finding a new identity beyond hip-hop, what he’s learned in 30 years as a recording artist, and the importance of saying yes when unexpected gifts come your way. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Joan Osborne reflects on the organic origins of her musical career 04.06.2024 35:43
Acclaimed songwriter Joan Osborne says the artist will never stop pushing against the Resistance, but the doubts that arise will take on different forms. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Land of Talk's Lizzie Powell on spurned opportunities and protecting the work 15.05.2024 33:36
Land of Talk's Lizzie Powell talks about spurned opportunities, lessons learned to protect the work, and the upsides of being a slow burn of a band—all of which has made them one of Canada’s most respected artists of the last 20 years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ben Nichols (Lucero) on creation and boot camp experiences 24.04.2024 31:22
Lucero front man Ben Nichols talks about the acclaimed band's desire for boot camp experiences in the studio, the lessons learned over a quarter century of piling in a van for another tour run, and how/why he's so keen to face the resistance in the first place. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Director Ron Underwood on the importance of fear and what it signals 27.03.2024 29:17
On this episode of the Resistance, acclaimed TV/film director Ron Underwood joined us for a meaningful conversation about the importance of fear and what it signals, the work of stewarding creativity in a team setting, and the throughline of a long career in Hollywood. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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