“I should have picked up Steal Like an Artist a long time ago.”
That was the thought that ran through my mind as I read the 10th anniversary edition of this work by Austin Kleon from cover to cover to prepare for this very special bonus episode of A Productive Conversation.
Austin Kleon is the New York Times bestselling author of Steal Like an Artist, Show Your Work!, The Steal Like an Artist Journal: A Notebook for Creative Kleptomaniacs, and Keep Going. His work has been translated into over twenty languages and featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, PBS NewsHour, and in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. New York magazine called his work “brilliant,” the Atlantic called him “positively one of the most interesting people on the Internet,” and the New Yorker said his poems “resurrect the newspaper when everybody else is declaring it dead.” He speaks about creativity in the digital age for organizations such as Pixar, Google, SXSW, TEDx, and the Economist.
In previous lives, he worked as a librarian, a web designer, and an advertising copywriter. But we didn’t talk about those lives.
Instead, we talked about what picking this book up now meant to me – and what the book means to him now ten year later. We talked about how to know what to steal, his long-standing affection for rituals, the importance of wonder, and – perhaps most importantly – what movie is his favourite sequel.
I only had a short time to speak with Austin this time around, but we made the most of it. I think you’ll agree.
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Show Notes
- Connect with Austin: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
- Get the book: Steal Like an Artist (10th Anniversary Edition)
- THAT scene in “Get Back”: Watch it here
- My Last Chat with Austin: Episode 238: How to Keep Going with Austin Kleon
- Related Conversation: Episode 407: Rob Walker talks about The Art of Noticing
- Related Blog Post: The Smart Ones
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Thanks again for listening to A Productive Conversation. See you later.
