Imagination & Junk

About Imagination & Junk

Thomas Edison said: "To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." Join writer Bill Barol in the US and variety performer Mat Ricardo in the UK for a freewheeling transatlantic conversation about creativity -- what it is, where it comes from and why it matters.

Publisher

Bill Barol & Mat Ricardo

Category

arts · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

25 Jun 2021

Latest episode

12 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

7 of 36 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   12 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 31: Just Stop

   Mat and Bill announce the end of "Imagination & Junk" and hint at a future podcast project.

2. 

   6 May 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 30: A Slightly Dangerous Idea

   Creative people have been chasing perfection since the first painters daubed pictures on cave walls. But is it even possible to reach it? And if not -- why do we bother?Plus: Humidity, ducks, grammar, double espressos, Coffman starters, Run-DMC, LaJethro Jenkins, rhombuses, Paterson NJ, a mug's game, Robert Towne, candy cigars, Previously on America, and Born To Run. Also: Never follow a juggler.

3. 

   22 Apr 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 29: Desire Lines

   This week we're looking at the role of rules in creativity -- when to follow them, and when to blow them up with dynamite from the ACME Corporation. Plus: Struggle, drag, Scottish sheep, a good day's work, Jacques Tati, music halls, both-sidesing, humiliation, bankruptcy and Henry Kissinger. Also: Never meet your heroes. And: Is it raining?

Inside a recent episode

Episode 31: Just Stop

Published 12 Jun 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Also, it's hard to stick a finish. If you're deciding that you're at the end of an arc, you have to find a satisfying way to land it. Nobody wants to be Game of Thrones, who, famously in its final season, flashed forward to Milan in the 1980s and concerned itself with the cutthroat, glamorous world of international fashion. Or something. I don't know. I never watched it. And for the record, I think we're doing not a bad job of that. I mean, when your first episode is called Just Start and is about starting something, you don't need to pay a branding consultant to realise that your last episode should probably be about the art of endings and be called Just Stop. […]

Reach and audience

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

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

39 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

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

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