One of my favourite podcasts of late has been Past Due by Open Mike Eagle and Ama Marie Cox. There’s no central website hosting it, but you can find past eposodes on YouTube, Patreon, or your favourite podcast app.
The podcasts focuses on how people survive in a creative economy in a time of profound technological change, and frequently starts each interview with a really telling question: when did you last worry about paying your monthly expenses?
The answers–especially among people who you may think have “made it”–is pretty telling.
Recommended Episodes
What Happens When the People Building the Technology Stop Being Fans? with Anil Dash
I’ve been high on this podcast for a while, but I’m recommending it now because the latest installment with Anil Dash is outstanding and an episode I wish every writer working today engaged with.
Dash is a writer and technology comptentator I’ve been following since his “Don’t Call It A Substack” essay. He expounds on Substack a little further in the podcast, and lays out why Substack’s problems with nazis are perhaps the least worrying thing about engaging there.
The substack section is useful, but even more useful is his explanation of the philosophy that makes some forms of technologically driven media useful to artists and others…not. I took a ton of notes, and will probably be referencing this episode for months to come.
How Many Jobs Make a Creative Life? with Mary Robinette Kowal
Many years ago, I caught Mary Robinette Kowal’s first guest spot on the Writing Excuses podcast and was blown away with how she looked at a writing through a new lens. She’s routinely been one of hte smartest writers on the topic of writing for years since, whether it’s on her Patreon or becoming a regular Writing Excuses host or teaching courses.
Her episode of Past Due did the same thing with tools like Patreon, taking something I thought I understood and inviting me to think about it new ways.
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