{"podcast":{"title":"Some Things Considered with Sean Murphy","slug":"some-things-considered-with-sean-murphy-7026430","podcast_index_feed_id":7026430,"rss_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/2705524.rss","website_url":"https://murphlaw.substack.com/podcast","image_url":"https://substackcdn.com/feed/podcast/2705524/1dcb9834cc07af6c954e233002d8bf60.jpg","author":"Sean Murphy","episode_count":56,"summary":"Sean Murphy, a cultural critic and rebel advocate covering the world, one story at a time.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-01T02:20:54.561431+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/some-things-considered-with-sean-murphy-7026430"},"episode":{"title":"Season 5 Ep 6 | Sara Stibitz | A Ladder to the Stars","slug":"season-5-ep-6-sara-stibitz-a-ladder-to-the-stars","published_at":"2026-02-03T13:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/some-things-considered-with-sean-murphy-7026430/season-5-ep-6-sara-stibitz-a-ladder-to-the-stars","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/some-things-considered-with-sean-murphy-7026430","url":"https://murphlaw.substack.com/p/season-5-ep-6-sara-stibitz","audio_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/185966237/e83366bca45b86eade4c2dbc4ab743c5.mp3","summary":"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…","meta_description":"In this episode of Some Things Considered, I had the pleasure of speaking with Sara Stibitz —NYT-bestselling collaborative writer, author of Writing on Pu…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3992,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"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/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/some-things-considered-with-sean-murphy-7026430/season-5-ep-6-sara-stibitz-a-ladder-to-the-stars.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}