Actor Michael Urie is a breath of fresh air. He talks to us about his journey in acting from the suburbs of Dallas, Texas to the Broadway stage. It was an unlikely path filled with generous doses of hard work, talent and passion. Urie explains how he first fell in love with musical comedies and how it changed everything for him. Even if you’ve never been a fan of the genre before, his love for it is truly infectious. In this episode, Michael Urie breaks down his creative process behind his...

Singer-songwriter Conor Oberst talks to us about the joy of making music. He describes his music and artistic mission as both a “release of negative feelings” and “a way to rejoice.” With their new album, “Five Dice, All Threes,” Oberst’s work with his band Bright Eyes is as emotionally expressive as ever. He breaks down the collaborative process behind that record and the joy it brings to simply have fun making art with friends. In this episode, we also learn about Conor Oberst’s history...

Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner jokes that “family is a chronic condition,” but eventually, we all figure out that we are lucky to have it. She talks to us about this theme in her newest novel and its sprawling exploration of how a Jewish family from Long Island contends with their own intense intergenerational trauma by simply surviving together. It’s called “Long Island Compromise,” and despite the heavy elevator pitch, it is a biting satire with a lot of laughs, too. Taffy Brodesser-Akner...

Actor Minnie Driver talks to us about how she took on the role of one of the most powerful women in history. In the Starz series, “The Serpent Queen,” she plays Queen Elizabeth I, who reigned over England and Ireland for nearly 45 years in the 16th and 17th centuries. It’s a role that demands a larger than life presence, and Driver explains how she brought her own physicality to the part and also a sense of humor to add new dimensions to the iconic figure. She talks about the joy of acting in...

Annie Baker talks to us about her directorial debut, “Janet Planet.” Her film explores the intimate relationship between a single mother and her daughter told over a long and hot summer break in Western Massachusetts. Baker shares her “intuitive” approach to making the film and the ways in which her work defies easy categorization. She also talks about what she strives for when she’s writing, the “trippy” power of nature sounds, and the “whole point of making art.” We even have a brief lesson...

Singer-songwriter Jewel talks to us about her love of learning and the joy of making art across multiple disciplines. She recounts her journey navigating a traumatic childhood and channeling its challenges into better understanding herself. She reminds us that “trauma does change us, but we get to choose how it changes us.” Jewel talks about how the internet gives “power to the creator” and the importance of her having a direct relationship to her community and listeners. She describes a...

Joseph Gordon-Levitt talks to us about the vast “spectrum of realism” in his line of work. He might be one of the most adaptable actors working today. Whether it’s the recently released Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Lincoln, 3rd Rock From the Sun, The Dark Knight Rises, Mysterious Skin, 500 Days of Summer, or one of the dozens of other projects he’s starred in, Gordon-Levitt really shows his range.  In this episode, Joseph Gordon-Levitt unpacks his creative approach to building characters and...

We're back! Our first new episode drops Thursday, July 25th, and every other Thursday after that. First up: Joseph Gordon-Levitt talks with us about his creative process as an actor who is able to mold himself to any and all film genres, including this month's new film, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. How do the world’s finest artists – from actors to musicians and beyond – create work that moves audiences? What challenges do they overcome in their creative process? American Masters: Creative...

We’re sharing a bonus episode from our friends at The Plot Thickens, a podcast from TCM about movies and the people who make them. Their new season is all about John Ford, the most influential filmmaker in cinema history. In this episode, we’re exploring Ford’s early days, when he rose to fame by being one of the most reckless, independent directors in Hollywood.

Novelist Ling Ma doesn’t shy away from taking risks with her writing. Her 2018 debut novel, “Severance,” is an apocalyptic satire that won the Kirkus Prize for Fiction and squarely put her on the map as an exciting, off-beat new writer.  With her newest collection, “Bliss Montage,” Ma has turned her attention to the short story format. The collection is described as “eight wildly different tales of people making their way through the madness and reality of our collective delusions: love and...

We think you’ll really enjoy this podcast from our friends over at Young and Indigenous, which amplifies indigenous knowledge, storytelling and history. In this episode of Young and Indigenous, Washington State Poet Laureate and award-winning author Rena Priest explores the beauty of childhood and the nurturing element of culture. Priest also recites some of her poems! Rena Priest encourages future writers, especially fellow Lummi Nation members, to take the creative leap. In her words, “the...

It’s been announced! Writer Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Sympathizer” (2015) is now getting the prestige TV treatment on HBO’s newly rebranded Max streaming service. To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we revisit our interview with Nguyen. In it, he talks about not just “The Sympathizer,” but about growing up in the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam, and how writing and reading helped him cope with its many challenges. He breaks down how his...

Actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is one of the busiest people in Hollywood. His recent films include “Aquaman,” “The Matrix Resurrections,” “Ambulance,” and “Candyman.” But most recently, he made his Broadway debut in "Topdog/Underdog."  In this episode, Abdul-Mateen II gives a masterclass on his acting process. The graduate of the Yale School of Drama describes how he prepared for his critically acclaimed performance in Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play. He reveals the physical and...

In her eighth feature film, “Showing Up,” Kelly Reichardt takes pleasure in thinking about “life on the level outside of commerce.” Her films often explore working-class characters living life on the margins. Movies like “First Cow,” “Certain Women,” “Wendy and Lucy,” and “Old Joy” have established Reichardt as one of the most fiercely independent filmmakers working today.  In this episode, Reichardt discusses how inherently collaborative filmmaking can be, the pleasure she takes in...

A compelling novel can transport us into worlds unknown. Novelist Jennifer Egan has mastered this inventiveness of fiction with her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "A Visit from the Goon Squad," and in her newest book,"The Candy House." In this episode, Egan breaks down her writing process behind "Lulu the Spy, 2032," a chapter from "The Candy House." She pulls from life experiences to deftly forge playful and imaginative stories that bend the formal limits of the novel. Ultimately, she reminds...

“Top Gun: Maverick” is filled with booming jet engines and layered sonic storytelling. Since this publication, it won the award for Best Sound at the Oscars, largely due to the work of Al Nelson, sound designer and supervising sound editor at Skywalker Sound. Hear how he and his team spent time on aircraft carriers to capture the film’s iconic sounds. Al Nelson may be known affectionately by some as the “dinosaurs and jets” guy for his work on “Jurassic World” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” but his...

K-pop is a genre full of catchy music and elaborate choreography. It’s a natural fit for the Broadway stage. As a lifelong fan of K-pop, writer Jason Kim (“Girls,” “Barry,” and “Divorce”) was interested in the personal lives of the global superstars from Korean pop bands like BTS and BLACKPINK. How do these artists deal with the pressure of making music that represents not just your industry but your entire country?  In this episode, Jason Kim breaks down the creative process behind “KPOP The...

What does it mean to create futuristic costumes from the past? Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter’s Afrofuturistic designs imagine the fictional African nation of Wakanda without the influence of colonialism. In “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” she takes this theory to another imagined world that draws on Mesoamerican history. In this episode, Carter breaks down the creative process behind her unique approach to costume design. Since this publication, Ruth E. Carter has won the...

John Waters loves to break the rules and make you laugh along the way. The iconoclast has been doing just that over the past six decades with provocative and perverse films like “Pink Flamingos,” “Hairspray,” and “Female Trouble.” Now enshrined as the king of transgressive cinema, Waters is taking on new challenges with his talents. In this episode, he breaks down the creative process behind his first novel, “Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance.”   Watch and listen to more from American...

Actor John David Washington loves to talk about his craft. The star of films like “BlacKkKlansman,” “Tenet” and “Amsterdam” has now set his sights on Broadway with August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson.” Performing for the stage requires a different skill set from acting for film, and in this episode, Washington describes the intensive process he undertook for this new challenge. To add more layers to his performance, Washington explores the time he spent as a youth in North Carolina with his...

Buffy Sainte-Marie is one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of the past century. For 60 years her music has quietly reverberated throughout pop culture, and provided a touchstone for Indigenous resistance. Buffy is a five-part series from CBC Podcasts hosted by Mohawk and Tuscarora writer Falen Johnson and explores how Buffy’s life and legacy is essential to understanding Indigenous resilience. We are proud to share this excerpt from that five-part series, which gives a glimpse into...

How do the world’s finest artists – from actors to musicians and beyond – create work that moves audiences? What challenges do they overcome in their creative process? American Masters: Creative Spark explores what makes a master by interviewing diverse artists and cultural icons from the worlds of music, comedy, poetry, film, and more in a new season premiering January 12th, 2023. Each episode in the new season presents an interview that goes in-depth with a thought-provoking artist about...

Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Cree musician, artist and activist, has always been ahead of the pack. For six decades, she has fought for Indigenous rights and visibility through her work. She spoke out against the Vietnam War with her song “Universal Soldier,” foresaw the opioid crisis with the eerily prescient “Cod’ine,” and wrote iconic love songs like “Until It’s Time for You to Go.” Her music is always doing something new and bending the limits of the form. In this episode, we talk with...

Comedian Jo Firestone was leading a weekly remote comedy workshop with a group of senior citizens from New York’s Greenwich House when something magical happened. Through in-person sessions, one-on-one interviews and a live public performance, a documentary special emerged called "Good Timing." Join Firestone and her crew of funny seniors as they find joy in the creative act and show how important it is to “make each other laugh in a really scary time.”