Episode 25: Ghosts in the Machine

Thank you and good night. Mat and Bill will return in the near future with a new podcast under the Imagination & Junk umbrella. Please hang on to your subscription!

Creative people have been chasing perfection since the first painters daubed pictures on cave walls. But is it even possible to reach it? And if not -- why do we bother?Plus: Humidity, ducks, grammar, double espressos, Coffman starters, Run-DMC, LaJethro Jenkins, rhombuses, Paterson NJ, a mug's game, Robert Towne, candy cigars, Previously on America, and Born To Run. Also: Never follow a juggler. 

This week we're looking at the role of rules in creativity -- when to follow them, and when to blow them up with dynamite from the ACME Corporation. Plus: Struggle, drag, Scottish sheep, a good day's work, Jacques Tati, music halls, both-sidesing, humiliation, bankruptcy and Henry Kissinger. Also: Never meet your heroes. And: Is it raining?

This week we're looking at one of art's enduring mysteries: Why is it so hard to call yourself an artist? Also: Thunderbirds, multiple Negronis, Chuck Jones, superspreader events, tiny coffees, Picasso, evolution, self-consciousness, Maya Angelou, a perfectly-cut child-sized waistcoat, gatekeepers, Cybertrucks, and a heavy dose of the side-eye. Plus: The more you say it, the truer it gets.

This week we’re talking about the work we did when we were young and foolish, or at least less experienced. How should we feel about it? Are regret or even shame ever useful? Also: Goth kids, Logan Paul, steel-toed boots, messages (sent and received), a comfortable shoe, go-away heat, The Brill Building, knife-wielding idiots and the biopic of Mat’s life. Plus: Drunk rugby boys (as separate and distinct from knife-wielding idiots)!

This week, in the first episode of Season 4, we're talking about the myth of talent. At least one of us feels a small tickle of resentment when someone, with the best of intentions, tells him he's talented. Why? It's complicated. Plus: Doomsday bunkers, tall people, "air quotes," sizzling fingertips, MREs, espresso machines, gatekeeping, Jumpin' Jimmy Baldwin, London's stabbiest borough, and a beautiful gift for plumbing. Also: Showgirls!

As a tune-up for the premiere of Season 4, we're bringing you another installment of our occasional bonus feature, I Might Be Wrong But... in which one of us argues in favor of a maligned piece of pop culture while the other one reconsiders our friendship. This week Bill's up, and he's making the case for Ron Howard's 1982 "Night Shift," starring Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton as a couple of guys who have the extremely poor judgment to run a call-girl ring out of the NYC morgue. (It's based on a true story, because of course it is!) Trigger warning: This episode contains explicit references to fat phobia, '80s rock group Quarterflash and cowboy underwear.Imagination & Junk returns in its regular, less-ridiculous form on March 11.

As a tune-up for the premiere of Season 4, we're bringing you another installment of our occasional bonus feature, I Might Be Wrong But... in which one of us argues in favor of a maligned piece of pop culture while the other one points and laughs. This week Mat's up, and he's making the case for the 1985 teen comedy "Real Genius," starring the late Val Kilmer. Trigger warning: This episode contains explicit references to popcorn, bad wardrobe and an undergraduate ice show. Imagination & Junk returns in its regular, less-ridiculous form on March 11.

This week we're talking about the things that aren't there. Plus: Trash drafts, Parrot Face, the dog that didn't bark, well-dressed clowns, empty piazzas, terrible silence, Mike Birbiglia, and the smell of space. (It smells like steak, apparently.)    This is the last episode of Season 3. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. In the meantime, keep your ears peeled for two Very Special Episodes™️ of our between-seasons experiment I Might Be Wrong But… , in which one of us tries to convince the other that some fringe cultural artifact he inexplicably loves is actually — y’know: Good?

How do you know if what you're creating is any good? This week: Juggling the internal and external critics. Plus: Humility, shouting at clouds, Idiots vs. Fools, marrying up, Baby Shark, shame, brainwashing, sometimes it's harder to suck, The Well of Metaphor, fact checkers, and getting the brushes back out.