This week, we decided to do something different. 

We are still in a reflective mood having just passed two hundred newsletters. We wanted to give you more of an intimate behind the scenes look at both the history and how we write the newsletter. And as most of the newsletters begin as a conversation – really a series of conversations – it felt only fitting that we would record a conversation between the three of us on the newsletters. 

This week Jason, Andrew, and I hopped into the virtual world and talked about our individual and collective experiences of writing two hundred newsletters. It was a really exciting conversation that touched upon everything from the evolution of our approach to creativity, the importance of starting without a clear end in mind, and how our experimental practices and ongoing dialogues have shaped the newsletters. We go on to talk about the role of series in exploring complex topics, the politics of language, and the rhythms of the creative process. Then there is a fascinating digression into the topic of qualitative time (which will certainly now become a future series).

It's a longer and looser conversation than we have previously recorded, and we wanted to share with you in a lightly edited form, because in this form it gives you a sense of both how things evolved, and how we work. We hope that you enjoy it and that it gives you new insights into both the newsletter and creative processes in general.

Overview

00:00: Introduction and initial reflections on 200 Newsletters

2:34: The beginnings: From books to newsletters

3:32: Experimenting with content and format

8:14: The role of drawings and visuals

14:35: Emergent authorship and collaborative creativity

18:59: Feedback Loops: The importance of dialogue and reader Interaction

29:50: On series and the evolution of topics

36:43: Maintaining a trust in creativity and future directions

39:39: Dealing with anxiety and the emotions of creativity

40:37: Philosophical speculations on creativity

43:50: The non-transactional logic of creative practice

45:52: On the language of creativity and its need to change

54:13: Qualitative speeds and quantitative clock-time in Creative Practices

1:08:54: Future directions and final reflections