Creativity Insights Podcast

Should child prodigies be formally cultivated or managed? Connor Kreitzman asks whether helping children become prodigies is helpful or harmful. He concludes that the anti-developmental methods imposed on child prodigies prevents children from developing internal validation and happiness.

In this episode of the Creativity Insights podcast, Morgan Rhudy introduces two special guests (her sisters!) to a conversation about the ongoing relevancy of the Miss America organization. Miss America is now more than one hundred years old, and it continues to evolve. Listen in as the Rhudy sisters discuss Miss America's contemporary mission of female empowerment and professional development.

Art Therapy helps young people expand their thinking and creativity. In this episode, Katie Dealey talks about art therapy as an alternative hands-on approach to cognitive behavioral therapy for young people in juvenile detention. Dealey explains how art therapy is a good outlet for those who feel trapped, rarely experience beauty, or feel negatively judged by others. 

Tim and Ethan talk about polarization in social media. Tech companies are using big data to divide people in order to fuel usage statistics, which are crucial to these company's advertising incomes. Social media platforms are altering the natural incentives of people, and particularly children. How do we appropriately regulate free speech platforms while nurturing democracy? 

What do the stories of a toy cowboy and American colonists have in common? In this episode of the Creativity Insights Podcast, Rilie and Joaquin examine the similarities found within the tactics of Pixar animators and historical educators - which in many ways are more alike than not! Pushing the boundaries of comfort is key for success in these two creative careers.

Does the business management style of more freedom and less bureaucracy allow all students to flourish? In this episode of the Creativity Insights Podcast, Joaquin and Rilie discuss the direct correlation between management styles and educational fulfillment, specifically with gifted and talented students.

Tovah and Casey talk about Neuroaesthetics and Creativity in Geographic Science. Neuroaesthetics is an important field that is focused on the cognitive functions that promote and nurture beauty and cleverness. Geography is a very broad field; the word "geographia" (Gk. γεωγραφία) literally means "writing about the earth." Geography crosses the borders of many different fields, including the humanities and STEM fields.

MacKenzie and Carl discuss creativity in Finance and Writing and Storytelling this week on the podcast. Carl shows how creative financial minds act with boldness and take some risks. They understand underlying monetary trends and how people interact with money in society. People who are creative in finance are often adept at systems thinking, foresight, and management. MacKenzie talks about how nonfiction and fiction writing require different sorts of creativity. There are endless stories to tell, which means that creative energies will not soon be exhausted in written forms of expression. But the challenge today involves the editing process and teamwork. Can large groups of people protect creative and original means of expression in the modern workplace?

In this episode of the Creativity Insights podcast, Tovah and Aliya discuss the concept of "flow" and creativity in orthopedics. The concept of the flow state can be likened to being in the zone or experiencing a freely moving mental river. Flow, a staple of Positive Psychology, was originally explored by Hungarian-American Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Tovah explores the creativity concept of "team flow" in depth. Aliya is drawn to orthopedics because there are so many ways to be creative in the profession. A super-common injury can sometimes require a super-unusual treatment. Every single patient is different, and what works for one patient won't always work for all patients. Orthopedic surgeons are also often accomplished woodworkers, which may involve a closely related skill set.

In this special episode of the podcast, Ethan and Timothy discuss the correlation between human genius and independence, and its cultivation in contemporary society. The creativity crisis, they suggest, has been amplified by too much standardization and not enough quiet moments. They compare notes on the importance of general education in college instruction, and how they led them to more independent, multidisciplinary thinking over time. The life and work of Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci are referenced as truly independent geniuses who benefitted from multidisciplinary pursuits.

Abby and MacKenzie talk about the importance of storytelling in media arts & design and engineering. They also discuss the unique pressures of project timelines, processes, and lifecycles in filmmaking and engineering projects. Together they talk about struggles related to collaboration, teamwork, and rising up to the needs of project directors' visions.

Abby and Lea talk about creativity in human-animal bonds and creativity in engineering in this episode of the Creativity Insights podcast. Abby and Lea share their perspectives on the importance of therapy animal training and programming robotic hamsters in inspiring their current professional aspirations.

In this episode of the Creativity Insights podcast, Tina and Mackenzie discuss the creativity of child composers in the 18th century and how they mastered musical improvisation. They then turn their attention to creativity among nursing professionals. Tina explains how training for improv is creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition. It combines theory, training, and performance with intuition, communication of emotions, and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous responses of other musicians. Creativity in nursing involves meeting patients where they are at while nurturing their own passions and individual expertise. Mackenzie shares her observations on interviews with nursing professors. She discusses how nurses see patients as more than problems, and show compassion to those in need. 

In this podcast, Kristina and Georgia talk about Creativity in Psychology and Poetry. Kristina discusses research on genetic factors that are associated with creativity. She suggests that one of the best ways to foster and encourage creativity in American life is to encourage focus and flow in the formative years. Imaginative and creative play is not childish. Indeed, sometimes a fixed curricula at school can be suffocating to a child's creativity. Adults too can teach themselves to be less rigid and logical in their thinking. Georgia explains how poetry is an inherently creative medium for expression. However, the creative limits of short-form poetry and spoken word is an interesting problem. Georgia explains how the rigidities and rules of poetry can serve as unique challenges to the poet.

Carl and Erica talk about Multiple Intelligences and Communications Sciences and Disorders in this episode of the Creativity Insights podcast. Carl explains the model for multiple intelligences created by Howard Gardner in the 1980s. Multiple intelligences suggests that human intelligence is differentiated in several modalities, rather than one generalized intellectual ability. Most people possess multiple modalities and use them in their everyday lives. Erica defines Communications Sciences and Disorders as a major and profession. Thinking about the myriad possible ways to treat a disorder requires a great deal of creativity and problem-solving skill. Erica explains how creativity can increase the possibility space for treatment and rehabilitation activities.

Grady and Paige interview one another on Creativity in Drawing and Creativity in Political Science. Is drawing a truly subjective experience? Is it something that some people are inherently "better" at than other people? Paige explains how drawing ability can rely on both talent and cultivation. The magic comes from working on your craft in a nurturing environment. Paige describes how she uses her bullet journal to doodle while listening in class and taking good notes. Grady discusses how partisan politics might be addressed through creative management and response. Partisan politics oftentimes is about groupthink and fierce defense of positions, rather than critical and creative thinking and problem-solving. We need to use our creativity to bring people together to solve the grand challenges of our time.

Sophie and Georgia discuss creativity and drugs and creativity among musicians. Sophie explains how drug use and addiction is romanticized in our society. The drug use of Amy Winehouse and Steve Jobs are described, as well as how their experiences may have affected their creative output in the music industry and the computer industry respectively. Psychedelic retreats, increasingly popular in America, are also described. Georgia describes how great musicians "steal" in achieving their ambitions, and this can actually relieve pressure on artists, boost their creativity, and help them find their original voices. 

It's Sports and Sociology Day on the Creativity Insights Podcast! Developing creativity to enhance human potential in sport is important. Terek and Lea explain how communication is especially crucial to tactical creativity and innovation in team ball sports. Nurturing inspirational leadership is a sometimes overlooked aspect of creative development among players.

Grady and Tina discuss the Maker Movement, DIY, and Music Education on the Double Bass. The Maker Movement is contemporary trend that empowers people to be independent inventors, designers, and tinkerers. Grady describes it as a celebration of invention, curiosity, and hands-on learning that empowers producers, consumers, and other creators. Tina talks about the double bass, her life and mentors, and her particular creative musical path. 

In this podcast episode Kristina and Paige join us to talk about research on the relationship between mental illness and creativity, and also some of the ways that theatre majors are especially creative. Some of the questions considered in this episode: A number of notable celebrities suffer from mental illness. Can mental illness contribute to celebrity talent and accomplishments? Does theatre make people creative? Or are creative people inexorably drawn to theatre because it ? Does creative storytelling contribute to novelty in theatrical writing, design, and performance? What are the rules of the theatrical arts and how are they mindfully broken?

Casey and Aliya discuss lucid dreaming and anthropological research in the field of human creativity. Aliya explains that lucid dreams may not make a person more creative, but lucid dreamers tend to be creative people. Casey notes that anthropologists have studied the experience creativity in cultures across the world. Anthropologist Victor Turner's idea of liminality applies to cultural concepts of creativity. Liminality describes a transitional or threshold moment in a person's life; because it is transitional, the opportunity for creativity in these moments is heightened. 

In this podcast episode, Terek describes how creative interpretation works in the field of history. He explains that collaboration is valuable in understanding and interpreting history, despite a long heritage of working individually. Erica talks about how creative problem-finding and problem-solving are important aspects of exploration in any academic field. Creativity often shows up, she argues, when a problem is approached in a different way. She shares an example related to testing clients in communications sciences and disorders. 

In this Super Bowl episode of the Creativity Insights podcast, Sophie and Mackenzie discuss heightened creativity among synesthetes, and also examples of creative expression in biology and medicine. Syn- denotes together, and -esthesis means perception, so the full definition of the word suggests "human perceptions that are mushed together." Creative outlets for biologists and physicians often involve nature. Chemists are known to enjoy baking, cooking, and beer-making. Orthopedic surgeons gravitate towards hands-on building tasks.  

Alex Dumouchelle speaks with Jacob Fujioka about the role of rules in inspiring musical creativity. Fujioka argues that limitation breeds creativity through cohesion. 

Gabika Watson talks about Environmental Systems Theory. Environmental Systems Theory is a framework for understanding environmental problems as a fundamentally human problem. The theory also encompasses a wide variety of complex systems, including the driving forces behind environmental problems.

Michael Agren talks about the music of Mississippi John Hurt. Hurt was one of the greatest blues musicians of all time. He inspired many legendary guitarists, including Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, and "Doc" Watson. 

A musical interlude by Michael Agren.

Paige and Saleem talk about creativity in law and government, and also the opposite of creativity -- boredom. What are the four basic types of boredom? Could there be something like "existential boredom"? Why are people bored with the law and governance? 

Ally and Catherine discuss the history of creativity, and the life and work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. What have researchers discovered about the factors that affect our creativity, and what have they learned about how to stretch our minds in productive, original, or useful ways? How have we thought about the idea of "creativity" over the ages?

Emily and Maria talk about creativity in theatre, as well as the relationship between creativity and gender and sexuality. Theatre people commonly take risks and tend to be very open minded. It's all about self-disclosure and self-expression. Theatre meets the need to create. Can your gender or sexuality or individual agency affect the way you express yourself creatively? How so? What does that mean for theatre in America?

Kelsey and Sarah speak this week about creativity in ethics and spirituality, and creativity in the field of forensic accounting. Can past trauma lead to creative activity? What about criminality? Is taking down the "bad guys" a sort of creative outlet? Forensic accounting deals a lot with ethical dilemmas. Is there a correlation between creative people and lying? Thinking from multiple perspectives is creative, but it can lead to poor decisionmaking and a skewed view of reality. 

Saleem and Amy talk about creativity in accounting and creativity in children. How do children benefit from learning about money? Can children learn basic ideas of accounting at a very early age? Is knowledge of mathematics required? What are the misconceptions about accounting? Is it a creative enterprise?

Sarah and Joe talk about creativity in engineering, as well as the general public's perceptions of what it means to be an engineer. What are the stereotypes of the engineer with respect to creativity, and are they accurate?

Tess and Catherine talk about the possible links between drugs, writing, and creativity. What do we know about how famous authors used (and misused) drugs to be creative? Does it take creativity to write? What about the creative process in technical writing?

Haley and Matthew discuss generational creativity and innovative ideas in the culinary arts. How do the four generations alive today think about their own forms of creative expression? What will the next generation think about their shared or collective creative spirit? Does generational creativity apply to innovations in the culinary arts? 

Jazmin and Ally speak about creativity across cultures and creativity in international affairs. Intercultural communication is very difficult, and creative expression can help. Listen to Ally share stories of creative solutions in diplomatic and informal situations. Plus, can we rank the creativity of different cultures? Consider Jazmin's critique of the Global Creativity Index (GCI).

Kelsey and Jazmin take a look at creativity and innovation, and specifically, at creativity in international business. Creativity plays a role in nearly every aspect of innovation, which involves improving everyday life. International business is more than innovating, however. It requires attention to culture, human desire, and motivation.

In this episode, Haley and Katie talk about creative cities, dealing imaginatively with urban challenges, and political creativity.

Successful businesses don't have to be hierarchical. Visionary spirit doesn't always come from the top. Listen to Jocelyn and Kristina explore creativity in groups, and explain how to overcome productivity loss.

John and Michael discuss creativity in advertising and the fashion industry. What's the difference between advertising, marketing, graphic design, branding, and public relations? What do advertising and branding have to do with fashion? Is fashion about inspiring creativity? Or is it mostly about business?