# Season 5 Ep 6 | Sara Stibitz | A Ladder to the Stars

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/some-things-considered-with-sean-murphy-7026430/season-5-ep-6-sara-stibitz-a-ladder-to-the-stars
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/some-things-considered-with-sean-murphy-7026430/season-5-ep-6-sara-stibitz-a-ladder-to-the-stars.md
Podcast: [Some Things Considered with Sean Murphy](https://stenobird.com/podcast/some-things-considered-with-sean-murphy-7026430)
Published: 2026-02-03T13:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://murphlaw.substack.com/p/season-5-ep-6-sara-stibitz
Audio file: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/185966237/e83366bca45b86eade4c2dbc4ab743c5.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/some-things-considered-with-sean-murphy-7026430/episodes/season-5-ep-6-sara-stibitz-a-ladder-to-the-stars
Duration seconds: 3992

## Resource

In this episode of Some Things Considered, I had the pleasure of speaking with Sara Stibitz —NYT-bestselling collaborative writer, author of Writing on Purpose , and creator of the Substack A Ladder to the Stars —about creativity, narrative, and how story shapes everything we do. We went deep and wide, and some of the highlights include: * Sara’s relationship to story: Why storytelling is central to human meaning, healing, and creative practice. * A Ladder to the Stars: Helping writers navigate craft, publishing, emotional resilience, and building a sustainable creative life. * Creativity as connection: Why Sara rejects the isolated “lone genius” model and embraces community, teaching, and collaboration. * “What’s Your Favorite Story Really Selling You?” Her essay on how stories bypass our defenses, sell identities, and shape behavior—whether in art, marketing, or politics. * Story as persuasion: Apple and Nike as master storytellers; no such thing as neutral narrative; all stories have intentions. * Politics as storytelling: Campaigns run on narratives, not policy papers; the immigrant as threat vs. dreamer; how story shapes interpretation of facts. * Why Democrats struggle with narrative: Lack of clarity, emotion, and message discipline compared to the GOP’s storytelling instincts. * “Refusing to niche down”: Sara’s stance against creative confinement; embracing curiosity and multi-genre exploration. * Making a creative life sustainable: Money, balance, boundaries, and the realities of getting paid as a writer. * AI & the content flood: It’s easier than ever to create content, harder than ever to stand out; humans win through voice, depth, insight, and intention. Sara is a New York Times bestselling collaborative writer and coach. Many of her clients’ books have won…

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## Transcript

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