Creativity in the Time of Capitalism

About Creativity in the Time of Capitalism

A podcast for creatives navigating the wilds of late stage capitalism while attempting to stay true to their process and themselves. Approached with honesty and candor, the premise of this project is intimate conversation and connection that shines a light on the lesser known aspects of running a creative business. Hosted by Miranda Bennett.

Publisher

Miranda Bennett

Category

arts · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

2 Feb 2025

Latest episode

1 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

31 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   1 Oct 2026

   A Conversation with Marisa Mender, Part Two

   Today we are back with part two of my conversation with Marisa Mender, owner of Midtown Bramble & Bloom, a Memphis-based flower farm, floral studio, and retail storefront. Marisa, formerly a teacher, started her business with a post to her local Buy Nothing group asking to grow flowers in other people's yards. She did not anticipate what would happen next: within minutes, the offers came pouring in. A year and a half later, florals became her full-time job — and the farm still grows across borrowed backyards all over the city.

2. 

   24 Sept 2026

   A Conversation with Marisa Mender, Part One

   Today I am sitting down with Marisa Mender, owner of Midtown Bramble & Bloom, a Memphis-based flower farm, floral studio, and retail storefront. Marisa, formerly a teacher, started her business with a post to her local Buy Nothing group asking to grow flowers in other people's yards. She did not anticipate what would happen next: within minutes, the offers came pouring in. A year and a half later, florals became her full-time job — and the farm still grows across borrowed backyards all over the city. We discuss how she runs three separate businesses as one entity, and how her raging ADHD makes that possible rather than impossible. Marisa came to business ownership under capitalism reluctantly, and she has since built something on her own terms: a staff of ten with hours she keeps steady through the slow season, and a company whose stated purpose is creating good jobs in a way that honors her commitment to justice. Her word for that approach is not "soft." It's "radical."

3. 

   27 Aug 2026

   A Conversation with Alex Elle, Part Two

   New York Times bestselling author Alex Elle (https://www.alexelle.com/) did not plan on any of this, on any of what she's known for today. She was an only child who wrote, as she puts it, cringy novellas and sad poems. She was a college dropout who still wondered where her incisive and inquisitive mind would land. She was a mother at 18 trying to figure out how to make rent, but also how to model a version of personhood that would break generational cycles. And become an anchor for her daughter to fully realize her own life. She was a 19-year-old in therapy after struggling with anxiety and depression when she received the suggestion that would change her life, to try writing herself notes of compassion instead of notes of grief. What Alex now calls "love notes to self". That small redirection ultimately became a body of work, and 14 years later, with several self-published books that led to a traditional publishing career, and millions of copies of books now sold. She's become a New York Times bestselling author whose latest book, The Company We Keep (https://www.amazon.com/s?hvadid=694150110946&hvdev=c&hvexpln=67&hvlocphy=9028290&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=12104011090065427027--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=12104011090065427027&hvtargid=kwd-296768187771&hydadcr=17046_13576049&k=the+company+we+keep&language=en_US&linkCode=ll2&linkId=210288cf03a21ab84eecdb5e84c2b2cb&mcid=4c531a2f6b483365a67ce10f16bd5c4f&ref_=as_li_ss_tl&tag=milkytime04-20), is a national bestseller. Alex joined me for Creativity in the Time of Capitalism to answer the question I ask everyone here. How did you come to support yourself through your creativity? What followed was one of the most candid answers I've received. She tells the story of quitting a nonprofit job on the spot after a manager called her quote, "a low-budget employee" and of standing on a corner in DuPont Circle with her MetroCard, now deactivated out of spite by the same manager, saying to herself, "I'm either gonna fly or I'm gonna fail, but I'm not going to not try." Two weeks later, she booked her first paid speaking engagement. "No one believed in me but me," she says. "My whole career path has been a practice in believing in myself." Alex is now the mother to three girls, and we also talk about how her oldest, an 18-year-old now herself, is leaving for art school at the same age Alex was when she became a mother to her, and the mantra that she returns to anytime they're in conflict:" "That before I am your mother, I am a woman, and before you are my daughter, you are your own." Inspired by her latest book, we also get into the power of pruning in both our gardens and our relationships.And we land somewhere I keep thinking about. Self-care not as a purchase, but as a practice, not as an indulgence, but as an act of community care. How the mundane, unrem ar how the mundane, unmarketable stuff that creates real life, the routines and rituals, are all that we have at the end of the day. And how we move through them matters. Alex reminds us that we are the only ones who can guarantee that our needs make it to the top of our daily to-do lists and that in doing so, we can help to lift not only ourselves, but our families, our friends, and our communities in the process. Let's dive into our conversation.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

10 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 16 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

13

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

51

Contact Creativity in the Time of Capitalism

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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