Field of Streams
Audio readings of original writing from the creative newsletter, The Stream, written by Janeen McCrae and designed to inspire you to get out and make the thing. Subjects range from writing and art to just some generally odd stuff about what it is to be creative. Sometimes essays, sometimes humor, sometimes creative exercises.
Episodes
180 episodes
Are we not trees?
Part travelog, part love letter to trees, in this episode I take you on a seven-day motorcycle trip and wax poetic about the glory of the ancients (and how we are alike).Related links: Walk the Methuselah Loop with me and che...
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29:44
How+L (Poem for Minneapolis)
Make art. Write history down. Sing the times. It is your job.Stay sane with Heather Cox Richardson. Read her Substack: https:...
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9:46
The Mark Maggiori Art Safari: Look at clouds from both sides. Now!
I'm a huge fan of what I call the "Art Safari" where you travel somewhere to go look at art and experience something creative. In today's episode, I talk about my first ever Art Safari in 2023 to go see some of artist, Mark Maggiori's paintings...
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15:36
Bitching in a Forward Direction
On the healing powers of a gentle bicycle ride. One that is NOT for exercise purposes and simply for tootling about and enjoying the day.This is an audio reading of the post ...
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13:57
Catch of the Day
Inspired by the Japanese print style of Gyotaku ('fish print'), today I'm talking about how we all desire to leave an impression on others. What will yours look like?This is an audio reading of the post
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11:52
Absolutely Sweet Dreams
I had a dream. Bob Dylan was in it. What does it all mean? Time for some armchair dream analysis. This is an audio reading of that post "Absolutely Sweet Dreams",...
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15:24
You cannot fact check poetry
If all poetry had to be fact checked before it got published, there would be no joy. The David Sedaris interview with Mike Birbiglia where he talks about The New Yorker fact...
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14:35
The time it takes is the time it takes
Slow down. Don't get mad. There are things you can control and things you can't and you can't escape time. Lemme explain what I mean.This is an audio reading of the post "The time it takes is the time it takes" from April...
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11:23
I am not a brand. I am a body of work.
You are what you make. Listen in to ten minutes of me reframing what failure and success look like for me going forward, then launch into a spirited reading of my new mantra. If you want to skip straight to that, hit 11 mins and 18 seconds and ...
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19:52
If Your Heart Beats Like a Hammer, Find a Nail
Today I read a piece of my writing triggered by Justin Hawkins, frontman of The Darkness, describing a certain type of drummer as a "shed builder." I take that term and give it a positive spin in relation to creativity and what it takes to be a...
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9:17
The Taste of Yuck: An Incomplete Oral History
Komodo dragons have an 'iron' coating on their teeth, protecting them and keeping 'em sharp. In today's episode, I make a connection between the idea of the damage negative emotions have on us and how we must eat them to learn how to digest and...
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9:15
Take a hike
In a time of doomscrolling and constant distraction via the rectangles in our hands and the insanity of the churning of content butter it is ever more important to step away. In this episode, I urge you to take a hike, actual or in the imagined...
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12:50
Prime time in the time of Primus
On a warm night in Santa Cruz, California, I entered the Quarry Amphitheater at UCSC to watch one of my favorite bands, Primus, play as part of the “Onward and Upward” tour, 2025. It got me to thinking about a moment in time, 30 years ago, when...
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39:40
The Book of Hurt, Now Available at your Local Library
Do the things that hurt us shape us? Should we try to forget or rewrite the hurt found in our personal histories so that it doesn’t continue to hurt us all our lives? What can we learn from our scars? And is the "book of hurt" one of the most i...
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11:15
"Hello, You Have Reached the Plug and Play Connection Hotline"
Can we be taught how to connect with art, be it a painting, music, writing, or whatever? Let’s talk about it. LA Story “looking at art” scene: https:...
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11:35
Resurrect Yourself Before you Wreck Yourself
Every day is a new day. An opportunity to hit the reset button on ourselves and be different than we were the day before. Let's talk about it!Bonus link: The cherries scene
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8:59
Appetite for Disruption
When things aren't sticking - when you're not breaking through - it can be tempting to try what others are doing. No! Don't be same same. Be you you. That's the real disruption. This is an audio reading of the post
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9:27
The bird who must be aubade
An aubade is a parting song, often sung at dawn as lovers farewell. This idea of singing our loves away was the inspiration for this episode, where the love is our creation - our work - and we must sing it on its way to find roost in the world....
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9:51
The Steps in Between
Just like the 400 meter hurdles, you cannot complete a creative project without completing the steps in between. The Intelligencier article I reference in the intro “
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9:22
The calm before the storm within
Have we simply forgotten how to sit in the nothing of the moment? To sit in the silence without reaching for a phone? Sit. Take note of what's around you. Don't let frivolous things take you out of it. This is an audio reading of th...
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11:52
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
Inspired by the phrase, “Use the whole buffalo” today’s episode encourages you to use the whole ‘buffalo’ of your life and experience to create your art. Here’s the TED video explaining how the title of this episode is grammat...
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12:19
This horse has a name and its name is…
Are you right or left brained? Is that even a thing? And would you trust how your brain responds to an optical illusion to tell you so? Here’s something I wrote inspired by a little animation of a horse walking backward… or is it forward? ...
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11:39
Six Degrees of Ideation
Have you ever heard of vitrification? Crudely put, it’s the process where super-hot liquids cool rapidly and turn to glass. In this episode, I explore how hot ideas, if cooled too quickly, turn to glass and shatter. You need to cool those ideas...
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9:34