The Creative Condition podcast
Welcome to 'The Creative Condition' podcast: an ongoing exploration of human creativity to help you navigate an increasingly automated world with your story and soul. The show is hosted by creativity coach, Founder of The Creative Condition, author and illustrator Ben Tallon. Creativity is an often misunderstood pillar of human happiness, something far bigger than artistic talent and crucial for fulfilling lives and careers. But in a data and efficiency-obsessed world, self-awareness, story and soul are more important than ever.
Featuring exclusive interviews with experts and thought leaders, including illustrators, designers, artists, founders, rock stars, sensitivity experts, musicians, emergency service workers, Olympic gold medal winners, comedians, microbiologists, photographers, fighters, and many others. Supported by founding sponsor Illustration X, Paradiso Institute the Ukrainian Institute.
For more creativity resources or coaching opportunities with Ben, head to The Creative Condition official website.
If you wish to support the show's cause of elevating creativity in our societies, please consider telling a friend about the show and rating, reviewing, or subscribing wherever you get your podcasts!
Listen on:
Episodes
Wednesday May 06, 2026
Wednesday May 06, 2026
I reminder to self, and to all artists that we are artists, and this is our way of life.
Supported by https://illustrationx.com - the show's founding sponsor
Join the Paradiso Institute and a new wave of creative leaders at https://paradisoinstitute.org/
Music for the show is by Dirty Freud https://www.instagram.com/dirtyfreud/
To coach with Ben, https://thecreativecondition.com/coach
To support the Ukrainian creative community https://ui.org.ua
Wednesday Apr 29, 2026
Wednesday Apr 29, 2026
The latest instalment of The Creative Condition's Creativity Diary.
Covered in this edition:
Fear over AI ignorance and analog loyalty
Being unafraid of disorder and acknowledging the messy ways of creativity
An old friend returns in a second-hand bookshop
Supported by https://illustrationx.com - the show's founding sponsor
Join the Paradiso Institute and a new wave of creative leaders at https://paradisoinstitute.org/
Music for the show is by Dirty Freud https://www.instagram.com/dirtyfreud/
To coach with Ben, https://thecreativecondition.com/coach
To support the Ukrainian creative community https://ui.org.ua
Wednesday Apr 22, 2026
Wednesday Apr 22, 2026
Owen Smith was delighted to see I'd discovered and had begun using Stoicism teachings to improve my mental health and creativity. He told me so, and we hopped on a call to talk about getting active in your own rescue and the exhilarating feeling of being the author of the career you want to live.
We cover:
Responding, not reacting
Recognising what you can impact
Being the author of your next chapters
The upsides of shitty situations life throws our way
https://abbyandowen.com/
Supported by https://illustrationx.com - the show's founding sponsor
Join the Paradiso Institute and a new wave of creative leaders at https://paradisoinstitute.org/
https://www.instagram.com/dirtyfreud/
To coach with Ben, https://thecreativecondition.com/coach
To support the Ukrainian creative community https://ui.org.ua
Wednesday Apr 15, 2026
Wednesday Apr 15, 2026
Humans have finite mental energy.
Creativity thrives when our battery is well-managed.
But we live in a world drowning in information and data.
Some thoughts on the mental battery.
Hear the full episode of Do Radio on the mental battery now at https://thedoradio.com
Supported by https://illustrationx.com - the show's founding sponsor
Join the Paradiso Institute and a new wave of creative leaders at https://paradisoinstitute.org/
https://www.instagram.com/dirtyfreud/
To coach with Ben, https://thecreativecondition.com/coach
To support the Ukrainian creative community https://ui.org.ua
Wednesday Apr 08, 2026
Wednesday Apr 08, 2026
The creative industry is deep in a damaging obsession with the external. We're terrified of the tools, spending our energy arguing in black and white about artificial intelligence, starting the design process trapped in programmes before we've considered what will serve the idea.
But really, we should be starting with the internal, and that's all grounded in self-awareness. Only then can we truly connect in the wider world.
Supported by https://illustrationx.com - the show's founding sponsor
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2c5NcXidirDDqL3sc3vW8S?si=bL3qx6zWQn6Mn03anHRPfQ
https://www.instagram.com/dirtyfreud/
To coach with Ben, https://thecreativecondition.com/coach
To support the Ukrainian creative community https://ui.org.ua
Monday Apr 06, 2026
Monday Apr 06, 2026
We all need to DO something.
I'm doing a new radio show. Here's what, why, and where you can listen.
https://thedoradio.com
Supported by https://illustrationx.com - the show's founding sponsor
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2c5NcXidirDDqL3sc3vW8S?si=bL3qx6zWQn6Mn03anHRPfQ
https://www.instagram.com/dirtyfreud/
To coach with Ben, https://thecreativecondition.com/coach
To support the Ukrainian creative community https://ui.org.ua
Wednesday Apr 01, 2026
Wednesday Apr 01, 2026
Dirty Freud takes time out of composing an opera to talk about the many directions his music career has taken him. We discuss the need to evolve, how variation or specialising fits different people in different ways, and the role of personality in proceeding in a way that's right for you.
Supported by https://illustrationx.com - the show's founding sponsor
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2c5NcXidirDDqL3sc3vW8S?si=bL3qx6zWQn6Mn03anHRPfQ
https://www.instagram.com/dirtyfreud/
To coach with Ben, https://thecreativecondition.com/coach
To support the Ukrainian creative community https://ui.org.ua
Wednesday Mar 18, 2026
Wednesday Mar 18, 2026
A few years ago, I wrote a silly, speculative science fiction story about a teenager getting stuck in Snake 2. Now we live in a world where it's dated because someone in Silicon Valley has put a fruit fly's brain on a chip and it's doing fly things in the insect matrix.
Let's sit with that and consider what it means for our mental health and creativity.
Supported by https://illustrationx.com - the show's founding sponsor
To coach with Ben, https://thecreativecondition.com/coach
To support the Ukrainian creative community https://ui.org.ua
Guardian article in this episode:
https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/mar/16/petri-dish-brain-cells-playing-doom-cortical-labs
My short story: https://www.bentallonwriter.com/shortstories/snake2-b7mew
Wednesday Mar 18, 2026
Wednesday Mar 18, 2026
As the world gets noisier and our heads fill up quicker by the day, there's a growing appetite for quieter, intimate, real-life connections.
All Flows and Pooleyville co-founders Richard Wiggins and Simon Wright have cultivated a wonderful creative industry scene in Milton Keynes, and they join me to discuss the power of local collaboration and the personality of a place ahead of All Flows 2026, which is on 13th-15th May. Find out more here!
https://pooleyville.uk/
Visit the founding sponsor's stunning global roster of illustrators and animators.
Support the Ukrainian creative community.
Coach one-to-one with Ben Tallon and access more creativity resources.
Wednesday Mar 11, 2026
Wednesday Mar 11, 2026
Do you get excited? As we grow into adult life, the glee of childhood changes. But do you stay attuned with what excitement is for you now, or get trapped in routines and habits?
This is one of creativity's biggest blind spots.
Covered in this show:
Excitement's role in creativity
The sense of wonder and magic
The dangers of habituation, routines, and being a passenger in our story
As ever supported by the show's founding sponsor, Illustration X
Support the Ukrainian Institute here
Coach directly with Ben