Pushkin

Today the interviewer becomes the interviewer.

In nearly 40 years as a producer, Rick Rubens helped unlock creativity and inspire musical genius time and again.

The artist he's worked with often say one of Rick's superpowers is his expert ability to listen deeply.

This month, Rick released his first book called The Creative Act Away of Be.

In it, he shares practical principles on how anyone can generate creative authenticity and ultimately find their voice.

The book also explores how a state of openness and belief can help inspire creative ideas and break down obstacles that limit artistic momentum.

Malcolm Gladwell talks to Rick on today's episode about The Creative Act.

Together, they break down principles in the book that are applicable to feelings of stagnation even beyond artistic life.

Rick talks about why he believes creativity comes from external forces rather than internal ones.

And he explains why he believes self-expression is not about you.

This is Broken Record, liner notes for the digital age. I'm just a rich man.

Here's Malcolm Gladwell with Rick Ruben.

Rick.

Hey, so I have a million questions.

I thought the fun thing to do would be to go through and I would just read you things I underlined.

Because there are things that I would love for you to talk or that we could talk about, but to you in particular.

One of the fantastic things about this book is that I've almost rarely read a book where I felt like I was being invited to contribute.

Do you know what I mean? Every time you made a point, I was like, oh, I have something to add about that.

Or this, I mean, I've never read a book like that where I'm like half a time I'm talking to myself as I'm reading it.

So that's what I thought we would get into that as well a little bit.

That's great. That's great.

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