Spark & Fire: Fuel Your Creativity
Every creative work you’ve ever loved has a hero’s journey behind it. On Spark & Fire, you'll hear creators tell the story of bringing one beloved work to life.
Iconic creatives — like Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz, Pixar director Domee Shi, comedian Patton Oswald, musician Wynton Marsalis, and novelist Isabel Allende — share the endless iterations, the inevitable setbacks, and the breakthrough ideas along the epic process of creation. But this isn’t an interview show. It’s a story — told entirely in the artist's own words.
With host June Cohen, co-founder of WaitWhat and the former executive producer of TED Talks.
Transcripts and images for every episode are available at sparkandfire.com
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- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 33 minutes
- Episodes
- 38
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2024
Introducing: Pioneers of AI
We’re excited to launch WaitWhat's newest weekly series, Pioneers of AI — your guide to the latest technological frontier. Hosted by AI thought leader, scientist, and investor Rana el Kaliouby, tune …
00:01:58 |
Wed 18 Sep 2024
Introducing: Offsite Adventures
From the team behind Spark & Fire, we're happy to share the first episode of Offsite Adventures, our newest show uncovering the gems, magical moments, and unique learnings in iconic business travel d…
00:20:35 |
Wed 17 Apr 2024
Create from joy: Writer Phoebe Robinson on "You Can’t Touch My Hair"
There’s a commonly held belief that great creative work comes from pain. But comedian and writer Phoebe Robinson says that this is a myth. Instead, Phoebe believes great creative work comes from a pl…
00:32:32 |
Wed 19 Apr 2023
5 ways to handle creative conflict
Creative conflict can destroy a work-in-progress — or it can push your work beyond good to great. What matters is how you respond. We’re going to hear from 5 creators in 5 very different fields who s…
00:23:20 |
Thu 30 Mar 2023
Get to the fun part: Game creators Matthew Inman and Elan Lee on Exploding Kittens
To make something irresistible, get to the fun part — fast. That’s how Exploding Kittens became one of the world’s most popular games. When cartoonist Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal) and game developer E…
00:35:17 |
Thu 23 Mar 2023
Trust creates gold: Comedian David Cross on “Arrested Development”
Behind every masterpiece — comedic, artistic, or otherwise — is a deep well of trust. Case in point: the legendary sit-com, Arrested Development. As Comedian David Cross shares the story of bringing …
00:30:38 |
Wed 15 Mar 2023
Let emotion be your North Star: Composer Kris Bowers
This episode follows the composer Kris Bowers’ personal story about composing the score for the culture-shifting and emotionally devastating work When They See Us. This award-winning series follows t…
00:28:49 |
Wed 08 Mar 2023
5 strategies for overcoming failure
Failure is a normal part — even an essential part — of any creative journey. But that probably isn’t what you want to hear after experiencing failure yourself. It’s easy to just want to crawl into a …
00:28:09 |
Mon 27 Feb 2023
Fight for your dream: Comedian Cristela Alonzo
When the ABC show Cristela premiered in 2014, Cristela Alonzo made U.S. history, the first Latina to write, produce, and star in her own prime-time comedy. But this dream didn’t come easy: Cristela h…
00:33:19 |
Wed 22 Feb 2023
Find the people who see your dream: Actor Aasif Mandvi
In the 1990s, Aasif Mandvi was a struggling actor looking for roles that didn’t seem to exist. So he wrote Sakina’s Restaurant — a solo show about an Indian immigrant family who owns a restaurant in …
00:33:01 |
Wed 15 Feb 2023
Always be iterating: Pomplamoose’s Jack Conte & Nataly Dawn
Nataly Dawn and Jack Conte started the band Pomplamoose together in 2008. The band found success with their viral YouTube videos, which have hundreds of millions of views. And while we usually tell t…
00:39:14 |
Wed 08 Feb 2023
Take responsibility for your creativity: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a creativity master. Many of us know him as an actor and director, but Joseph also co-created the collaborative media platform HitRECord. Joseph shares the journey of developi…
00:33:09 |
Wed 25 Jan 2023
5 strategies for starting something new
There’s an intimidating blank page. A blinking cursor staring you down. A looming deadline for a project you haven’t touched. Sometimes, starting something new is the hardest part of the creative pro…
00:19:09 |
Mon 23 Jan 2023
Tell a universal truth: “Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz has a motto for songwriting: Tell the truth, and make it rhyme. In this episode, Stephen tells the story of composing the Broadway musical Wicked. Not only does Stephen reinvent a be…
00:41:11 |
Wed 18 Jan 2023
Sweat the details: Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett
Felix Barrett, MBE, is the artistic director of Punchdrunk, a British theater company that specializes in immersive storytelling. In this episode, Felix shares the story of Sleep No More, Punchdrunk’…
00:38:38 |
Wed 11 Jan 2023
Embrace your inner weirdo: Pixar’s Domee Shi on “Turning Red”
When Pixar asked Domee Shi to create a feature film, she ran to her friend’s office and rolled on the floor with joy. It was a dream come true. But Domee had to learn how to own her unique creative v…
00:33:44 |
Wed 04 Jan 2023
Generosity creates magic: “Frozen” songwriters Robert Lopez & Kristen Anderson-Lopez
Finding the right collaborator, and growing together, is a creative feat. While songwriting duo Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez were writing the iconic songs to "Frozen," they discovered the …
00:42:58 |
Wed 21 Dec 2022
Replenish your sense of meaning: Musician Kayhan Kalhor on “Silent City"
Musician Kayhan Kalhor shares the story of composing and performing “Silent City,” his epic 25-minute piece for the kamancheh (Persian spiked fiddle) and ensemble. It’s a specific story about writing…
00:35:52 |
Wed 14 Dec 2022
Find what you need to fuel your work: Mark Bradford’s “Unicorn Tapestries”
Deep in the pandemic, visual artist Mark Bradford began work on an epic series called “The Unicorn Tapestries.” It’s inspired by the iconic medieval work of the same name, but created with everyday m…
00:35:34 |
Wed 07 Dec 2022
Commit to your best work (always!): Novelist Ann Patchett on “The Dutch House”
When Ann Patchett sat down to read through her first draft of The Dutch House, she realized she had made a terrible mistake. A wrong turn, on page 36, sent the entire rest of the novel careening down…
00:36:33 |
Wed 30 Nov 2022
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