Getting Work To Work

It's 3:00 in the afternoon and I just finished the second leg of my journey to Tredegar, Wales. Initially, the plan was that after the plane and train, a taxi would take me to my hotel. But things were changing fast, so I sat down on a bench and waited to hear from my travel companions. A random stranger sat next to me, and for over an hour, we talked about politics, geography, and classic rock. Leading up to the trip, anxiety kept me up at night. I feared situations like this. But the deeper I got into the trip, the freer I felt. We eventually got to the hotel after planes, trains, automobiles, and a brief tour of an ironworks museum. It was a memorable trip, for a lot of reasons, but don't worry, I'm not going to bust out the slide projector and share everything. However, I do want to share seven lessons I learned traveling way beyond my comfort zone. 7 Lessons I Learned Traveling Beyond My Comfort Zone: Sometimes you have to leave your day-to-day reality to find a new one. The least likely of places can have a massive impact. Multi-tasking is creative death. Digital connection is great, but it will never be as impactful as being in the same space as your creative mentors, guides, and muses. It's one thing to need isolation to think, write, and produce creative work, it's another thing to isolate yourself from other people entirely. What you can actually control is pretty clear when you are thousands of miles away from your normal life. It's okay if the dream is gone as long as you follow the clues to a new future. Show Links Rules to Live By: How Extraordinary Lives Define What Really Matters by Jimmy Chin Project Spark Studio The Blaenau Gwent Film Academy

It's that time of the year when gough, a blind filmmaker from Australia, rolls out a new project at BeernutsProductions.com and shows up on Getting Work To Work to tell me all about it. With linens and orchids in hand, he makes his 28th appearance on the show to talk about Alien Invasion, an audio piece that showcases an alien's perspective of humans, panda bears, horses, whales, and hyenas, not to mention the absolute absurdity of Earth. We talk about our favorite alien-themed shows, why he normally doesn't have bloopers, why the best comedy is rooted in truth, celebrating 20 years of Beernuts Productions and what he's most proud of, and as always, a glimpse into how he comes up with joke after joke, project after project. Show Links Beernuts Productions on Getting Work To Work Beernuts Productions Alien Invasion Reflections – Where is Chris? Radio 20 Years of Beernuts Productions The World's Greatest Fart Joke! Australia Zoo Paul Hogan Dagwood Dog Deep-fried butter Deep-fried Mars bar Food Network Australian Open Souvlaki Dolma Bluey Brian Henson Ayahuasca Men in Black (1997) ALF (TV Series 1986–1990) ALF's Special Christmas Those Alf Hand Puppets From Burger King Resident Alien (TV Series 2021–2025) Alan Tudyk Paul (2011) The World's End (2013) Absolutely Anything (2015) Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) Vegemite Groucho Marx Karl Marx Classic Kool-Aid Man Commercial Compilation Mozzarella sticks Stephen Lynch The Social Reckoning (2026) I Play Rocky (2026) How to Rob a Bank (2026) Coyote vs. Acme (2026) Trainwreck (2015) Argylle (2024) John Cena on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Episode photo from Envato Elements: Cosmic Nebula with Bright Orange and Purple Clouds

What does art restoration have in common with the search for meaning, traumatic memories, and writing? Today's guest is Julie Esther Fisher, a fiction writer and poet, and she answers that question through telling stories about her creative journey through writing poetry, short stories, and now a novel. Her latest book, A Pearl is Just an Accident, is a novel-in-stories that, as described on her website, centers on "Eliza James, a paintings conservator whose work restoring damaged art mirrors her search for meaning within the fractures of her own past." In our conversation, Julie connects her curiosity to her childhood and learning to see both for survival and sustenance. She shares her fascination with what lies beneath the surface, the importance and reverence of silence, nature as a refuge, becoming an art restoration apprentice, looking for clues in her work that tell her what it wants to be, the two jobs of writing—explorer and critic—and why they should be separate, how lived experience fuels art, and why the novel-in-stories structure mirrors the way traumatic memory works. No matter what types of creativity you wield, Julie's wisdom in this episode will speak to you and help you find what you need. Show Links Julie Esther Fisher A Pearl is Just an Accident by Julie Esther Fisher Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales by Yoko Ogawa and translated by Stephen Snyder Episode photo from Envato Elements: Variety of Spring Flowers in Natural Light

Where do ideas come from? When do you know an idea is worth bringing to life? What if you aren't qualified? How do you keep going in the face of endless rejection? These are but a handful of questions at the heart of my conversation with inventor, businessman, and founder of Leatherman, Tim Leatherman. His latest project, The Leatherman Book: Stories, Lessons, and Advice from the Inventor of America's Original Multi-Tool, just hit the shelves and it's honestly one of the best business books I've ever read. It's got practical advice that actually helps, stories from Tim's perspective as well as his customers, and that extra bit of encouragement that entrepreneurs need when they set out to bring their ideas to life. In our conversation, Tim also shares insights into writing the book, wisdom he has earned from his own entrepreneurial journey, what we often forget to do when setting goals, and the value of a positive attitude and a sense of humor. Show Links The Leatherman Book: Stories, Lessons, and Advice from the Inventor of America's Original Multi-Tool by Tim Leatherman with Chris Kornelis Leatherman Chris Kornelis Jungle Jim's International Market The Interview – The New York Times Podcast Episode art from Envato Elements: Riveted Metal Texture Background, Abstract Industrial Design

Have you ever read a non-fiction book and wondered, "Why haven't I learned about this before?" Molly Guptill Manning's new book, A Librarian's War: The Man Who Fought World War II with Books and Brought the Joy of Reading to Millions, had me saying that from page one as I learned about Ray Trautman, Chief Army Librarian in World War II, and how he brought books to millions of soldiers in the war. It's the power of books that this conversation is all about. Books not only have a net positive effect on our lives, but a literate and well-read society is essential for the survival of democracy. Molly and I also talk about where her love for reading and history come from, how curiosity, trust, and patience help her to discover overlooked history and unknown stories to write about, why history is relevant to today, why our mind diet is just as important as what we eat, and the value of a good education. Show Links Molly Guptill Manning A Librarian's War: The Man Who Fought World War II with Books and Brought the Joy of Reading to Millions by Molly Guptill Manning When Books Went To War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II by Molly Guptill Manning Men at War with an introduction by Ernest Hemingway American Library Association PEN America Library Journal The End of Reading is Here by Rose Horowitch Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil Postman No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN ON THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT (14 DECEMBER, 2015) Episode photo from Envato Elements: Library interior featuring a wall of bookshelves filled with various books. Stockholm