Rick Rubin — Magic, Everyday Mystery, and Getting Creative

On Being with Krista Tippett

On Being Studios

Society, Spirituality, Society & Culture, Sociology, Culture, Science, Religion & Spirituality, Krista Tippett, Social Sciences, On Being, Arts

4.7 • 10.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2023

⏱️ 65 minutes

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Summary

The flow and the ingredients by which an idea becomes an offering — and life practices which call that alchemy forth. The mystery of it all that can only be named and wondered at — and the ordinary mystery that creativity is a human birthright, a way of being rather than doing, that beckons to us all, in everything we do, from crafting something to conversing to the arranging of furniture in a room. This is where Krista goes with the rock star music producer Rick Rubin. It's not a conversation about the creative process of the many great musicians he's worked with — but a conversation that is for and about us all. There are some surprises, too, in his lovely, soothing voice — like the way he finds a metaphor for all of life in pro wrestling. And he leaves the doors of his studio wide open as they speak, so there is a soundtrack of ocean waves.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for On Being with Christa Tippett comes from the Fetzer Institute.
0:04.4	Fetzer supports a movement of organizations that are applying spiritual solutions to
0:08.6	society's toughest problems.
0:11.2	Learn more at Fetzer.org.
0:14.6	I'm in conversation today with the rock star music producer Rick Rubin, but I'm not
0:19.8	really going to talk to him about music.
0:23.3	Yes, he has been a singular transformative creative muse for artists across genres and
0:30.1	generations.
0:31.7	From the Beastie Boys to Johnny Cash, from public enemy to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, from
0:37.3	Adele to Jay-Z to name it just a few.
0:41.6	But Rick has been looking back these past few years at what he's learned about the
0:46.1	creative process itself.
0:48.5	And he's published his first book, The Creative Act, about that.
0:53.5	The flow and the ingredients by which an idea becomes an offering.
0:59.6	Life practices which call that alchemy forth, the mystery of it all that can only be named
1:06.3	and wondered at, and the ordinary mystery that creativity is a human birthright, a way
1:13.9	of being rather than doing that beckons to us all in everything we do, from crafting
1:20.8	something to conversing, to the arranging of furniture in a room.
1:26.5	I remember the first time I saw Rick Rubin in a documentary about a record he was producing
1:31.9	with the then Dixie Chicks.
1:34.5	He sat with his eyes closed, listening with his entire body.
1:39.9	He was palpably taking them to new places in themselves that they hadn't known how to
	...

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