The 21st Century Creative Podcast

Helping you thrive as a creative professional

Hosted by creative coach and award-winning poet Mark McGuinness, The 21st Century Creative podcast helps you succeed as a creative professional amid the demands, distractions, and opportunities of the 21st century.

Each episode features insights from Mark and interviews with outstanding creators – including artists, writers, performers, commercial creatives, directors, producers, entrepreneurs and other creative thought leaders.

The perfect podcast to get you inspired, motivated, and actually out there DOING the stuff you’ve been putting off.
~ Evercast: 15 must-hear podcasts for creatives

Never miss an episode

The 21st Century Creative

Mark McGuinness

Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidRSS

You can subscribe to The 21st Century Creative on all the major podcast channels, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

And if you want every episode sent to you via email, plus the free 21st Century Creative Foundation Course, you can join the mailing list.

Explore your favourite topics on the YouTube channel

If you want to do a deep dive on a topic of particular interest, you can do this via The 21st Century Creative YouTube channel.

There you will find playlists of all my interviews with writers, designers, filmmakers, musicians, performers, creative entrepreneurs and other creative disciplines.

You’ll also find playlists on topics such as creativity, leadership, marketing and personal development for creatives, unconventional career paths, and more.

Browse the podcast archive

Season Six

The Creative Disruption season: ten stories of artists, entrepreneurs and creative teams responding to the shock of Covid-19 with imagination, resilience and reinvention. From theatre, music and global film production to parenting, deep work, tattoos, NFTs and launching a new podcast, this season explores what happens when the familiar creative path disappears – and creators have to make a new one.

Season Five

Featuring Marcus du Sautoy on AI and creativity, Joanna Penn on productivity and audio, Steve Lawson on sustainable music-making, Naomi Dunford on marketing, and Michael Bungay Stanier on the ‘advice trap’ for creative leaders. Along the way we explore traditional craft, illustration, writing, art and writing a world-changing book.

Season Four

Highlights include Brian Clark on career advice for the unemployable, Alastair Humphreys on a life of adventure, Erik Bork on story, Robert Vlach on freelancing, Ilise Benun on marketing, and Monique DeBose on finding your voice – plus conversations on fear, money, mindfulness, children’s books and creative excuses.

Season Three

Steven Pressfield returns to talk about The Artist’s Journey, Tyler Hobbs explores art and code, Joanna Penn discusses creative health, Rich Litvin examines high performance, and Emily Cohen offers brutally honest advice for creative businesses. Other episodes cover entrepreneurship, storytelling, resilience, and finding the heart to start.

Season Two

Guests include Tina Roth Eisenberg on labours of love, Todd Henry on leading creative teams, Mimi Khalvati on poetry, Josh Szeps on media and podcasting, Gabriela Pereira on DIY professional development, and Patricia van den Akker on building a business you can be proud of.

Season One

The opening season sets out the core territory of The 21st Century Creative: community, mindset, communication, technology, voice, work and meaning. Guests include Scott Belsky on creative communities, Steven Pressfield on truth and fiction, Joanna Penn on the successful creative mindset, Michael Bungay Stanier on better conversations, Jocelyn K. Glei on email anxiety, and Kristin Linklater on freeing the natural voice.

Hosted by Mark McGuinness, Poet and Creative Coach

The 21st Century Creative podcast is hosted by Mark McGuinness – an award-winning poet and a creative coach since 1996.

He is the author of four books for creatives and also hosts the acclaimed poetry podcast A Mouthful of Air.

Contact Mark

You can use the form below to send Mark feedback on the show and suggest questions or topics for future episodes.

For coaching enquiries, please use the coaching application page.