Episode
Austin Kleon: Don't Call It Art
- Podcast
- The Chase Jarvis LIVE Show
- Published
- Jun 3, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4297
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://chasejarvis.com/blog/austin-kleon-dont-call-it-art/
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-chase-jarvis-live-show-743154/episodes/austin-kleon-don-t-call-it-art/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-chase-jarvis-live-show-743154/austin-kleon-don-t-call-it-art.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
Hey friends, Chase here Austin Kleon is back on the show, and this conversation is exactly the kind of reminder every creative person needs. You probably know Austin from Steal Like an Artist , Show Your Work! , and Keep Going , the books that have helped millions of people rethink creativity, sharing, influence, originality, and what it actually means to make things in public. But Austin's new book, Don't Call It Art: 10 Ways to Create Like a Kid Again , goes somewhere even more fundamental. It asks a question that feels especially urgent for creators, entrepreneurs, artists, writers, photographers, parents, and anyone trying to make meaningful work in a world that wants to turn everything into content: What if the way back to your best creative work is not becoming more serious, but becoming more playful? That question matters because most of us have made creativity too heavy. We have wrapped it in identity, pressure, productivity, platforms, metrics, perfectionism, and the fear of being judged. We get stuck asking whether we are real artists, serious writers, successful creators, or legitimate professionals. We worry about the noun before we do the verb. Austin's message is simpler, deeper, and more freeing: "Don't call it art. Don't worry about being an artist. Forget the nouns. Do the verbs. Just make stuff." That idea is the center of this episode. We talk about what kids can teach us about creativity, why play is not frivolous, how to build the conditions for your best work, why attention is your most valuable resource, and why some of the most important ideas in your life might come from goofing off. This conversation is about loosening the grip. It is about getting back to the part of you that makes before it judges, explores before it explains, and follows th…