Why Re-Creative?

What’s in a name, anyway? To paraphrase the Bard: a podcast with another name would sound as sweet.

Mark and Joe spent some time coming up with the concept and the name. The opening idea was going to be Nonsense and Drivel. This was inspired by Joe’s website, which is called “Assorted Nonsense” and Mark’s standard bio, which he ends with: “He pens short stories, squibs and other drivel. (Some pure, and some quite tainted with meaning.)”

But that wasn’t really what the podcast was about. Sure, they want to be lighthearted, but they didn’t want to be lightweight.

Think: Show and Tell for Artists

Once they figured out that the podcast should be about the creativity that inspires artists, they started zeroing in on the title. Both Joe and Mark are Canadian writers, and they know lots of other writers, so there was definitely going to be tons of literary conversations. But they wanted more. They wanted all the arts to be represented. Media too.

At the time of launching this site, they’d already interviewed writers, musicians, academics and visual artists about books, paintings, theatre, ballet, music, design and cinema, but they know that is just the beginning.

The show is very much like show and tell for creative adults to explain what piece of art blew their mind. And of course, what blows a person’s mind at eleven years of age will be very different from what does it at seventy.

In essence, the podcast is about re-creating that magical moment when inspiration happens. 

Those moments also lead to fascinating discussions about how art-begets-art in the creative process. And all the parts of life that go into making things!

Joe and Mark hope you enjoy the show.