“Stockpiling Hope & Curiosity” with Jarret Keene (GWTW716)

As a creative, what are you stockpiling? For today’s guest, he is not only collecting historical tidbits and fodder but also curiosity, hope, and optimism. Jarret Keene is a professor and author of Hammer of the Dogs, a new novel about a dystopian future set in a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. In this conversation, Jarret shares an unbelievable wealth of wisdom about creativity and why we should be tour guides of our curiosities. He talks about the bright darkness of 1980s pop culture in which he found inspiration and the power of emotion and vulnerability to transform the creative process. He also touches on why you should steal time to write or create, the impact of writing alongside his students, how positive writing can change the world, and why we should be more silly and less serious in a world hell-bent on making us passive consumers of corporate propaganda. Show Links Hammer of the Dogs by Jarret Keene The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga by Stephen Davis James Hetfield apparently apologized to Kip Winger for Nothing Else Matters diss Big Country In A Big Country Werner Herzog – A Guide for the Perplexed by Paul Cronin Werner Herzog on WTF with Marc Maron Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver Getting Work To Work Substack Midjourney prompt for episode art: wasteland las vegas desolate post-apocalyptic cinematic lighting –v 5.2 –stylize 1000