Imagination & Junk – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

Imagination & Junk

Bill Barol & Mat Ricardo

Arts

Society & Culture

Frequency: 1 episode/45d. Total Eps: 28

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.

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RSS

Apple

Data updated on 04/07/2026

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

🇨🇦 Canada - Performing Arts
12/09/2025
#88
🇨🇦 Canada - Performing Arts
11/09/2025
#67
🇬🇧 Great Britain - Performing Arts
26/07/2025
#62
🇬🇧 Great Britain - Performing Arts
03/07/2025
#76
🇬🇧 Great Britain - Performing Arts
02/07/2025
#48
🇬🇧 Great Britain - Performing Arts
26/06/2025
#86
🇨🇦 Canada - Performing Arts
25/06/2025
#80
🇬🇧 Great Britain - Performing Arts
25/06/2025
#57
🇨🇦 Canada - Performing Arts
24/06/2025
#46
🇨🇦 Canada - Performing Arts
23/06/2025
#26

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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http://www.imaginationandjunk.com
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https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/how-does-outer-space-smell-like-burnt-meat-booze-or-rotten-eggs-here-is-what-we-know/articleshow/106736278.cms?from=mdr
1 share

RSS feed quality and score

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RSS feed quality

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Score global : 63%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Year

Latest published episodes

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Episode 25: Ghosts in the Machine

Season 3 · Episode 25

Wednesday, October 16, 2024 • Duration 33:47

This week we're talking about the things that aren't there. Plus: Trash drafts, Parrot Face, the dog that didn't bark, well-dressed clowns, empty piazzas, terrible silence, Mike Birbiglia, and the smell of space. (It smells like steak, apparently.)

This is the last episode of Season 3. We’ll be back soon with new episodes. In the meantime, keep your ears peeled for two Very Special Episodes™️ of our between-seasons experiment I Might Be Wrong But… , in which one of us tries to convince the other that some fringe cultural artifact he inexplicably loves is actually — y’know: Good?

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Episode 24: Cynicism and Coffee

Season 3 · Episode 24

Wednesday, October 2, 2024 • Duration 31:40

How do you know if what you're creating is any good? This week: Juggling the internal and external critics. Plus: Humility, shouting at clouds, Idiots vs. Fools, marrying up, Baby Shark, shame, brainwashing, sometimes it's harder to suck, The Well of Metaphor, fact checkers, and getting the brushes back out.

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Episode 23: Fred and Gene

Season 3 · Episode 23

Wednesday, September 18, 2024 • Duration 34:00

People like to say the great ones make it look easy, but what are we really looking at when we see a great creator showing what looks like effortlessness? Plus: Spectacular failures, concerned murmurs, Jenny from the block, beautiful aliens, Henri Matisse, rubber band balls, drifting toward the abyss, ha cha cha and hot dogs by the sea.

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Episode 22: Watch Out For The Shoe

Season 3 · Episode 22

Wednesday, September 4, 2024 • Duration 33:11

This week we're talking about doing what you're bad at. Why do some people charge blindly full speed ahead, and others try to shrink into their own shoes? And what's to be gained from what can be a traumatic experience? Also: Noble pain, sociopaths, Norma Desmond, tinnitus, bad steak, Christmas island, horrifying plunky sounds and more Mel Cooley.

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Episode 21: Somebody Hold Me Back

Season 3 · Episode 21

Wednesday, August 21, 2024 • Duration 33:14

This week we're looking at limitations in creative work. When do they hurt? When can they help? And how can we become more agile creators by learning how to work with them, rather than around them? Also: Fake expertise, low ceilings, ukuleles vs. bowling balls, rich idiots, guitar control, speed wounds, bourgeois sharpnress, and I Kid Because I Love.

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Episode 20: Brigadoonish

Season 3 · Episode 20

Wednesday, August 7, 2024 • Duration 35:07

This week we're looking at a part of the job that comes hard for many creative people -- self-promotion. Is there a way to be an effective promoter without feeling awkward and cheap? We suggest that there is, and tell you a way forward. Also: Big asks, mug's games, the SEO scam, wide boys, Chelmsford, crying in coffee shops, lost luggage, bonbons and juggling for Jesus.

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Episode 19: Less

Season 3 · Episode 19

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 • Duration 33:24

It's one of the paradoxes of creative life: the longer you do it, the more tools you acquire, the more it becomes the goal to get simpler. To do less. This week we're talking about the quest for simplicity, and about finding the sweet spot between brevity and clarity. Plus: Slow TV, phantom limbs, Robot Thatcher, greening, a blow to the head, Wesley Van Wesleyson, promises and threats, and content cubed.

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Episode 18: Salad Bar

Season 3 · Episode 18

Wednesday, July 10, 2024 • Duration 31:41

Every creator likes think they're shiny and golden, dancing with their muse in a singular act of invention. But is that true? Is that how it works? Or is all creativity an act of remix? Are we inevitably treading on ground others have walked before us? And if there's no such thing as originality -- why do we bother?

Also: Brain fizz and sparky fingertips, Woz, falling down, Pinwright's Progress, high blood pressure, how to breathe, grand larceny, DJ Kool Herc, Muskification, and 400,000 years ago (a Tuesday).

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Episode 17: Stupid o'Clock

Season 3 · Episode 17

Wednesday, June 26, 2024 • Duration 32:59

This week we're looking at one of the hardest decisions a creator can make: When is it time to admit an idea isn't panning out and move on? It can be agonizing to put aside a piece of work in which you've invested time and care and effort, but sometimes it's not just the best choice, it's the only one that makes sense.

Plus: Loud noises, Labrador footwarmers, Italian getaways, toboggans of regret, beans on toast, the world's longest putt, unconscionable delays and a big steely swan-like metaphor in the sky.

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Episode 16: Plagiarism Robot

Season 3 · Episode 16

Wednesday, June 12, 2024 • Duration 35:29

When Apple announced its plans for artificial intelligence earlier this week, the presentation failed to make a minor point: AI, as currently constituted, doesn't work very well. Also, not for nothing, it's theft on a grand scale. So: Here comes the future, we guess?

This week, we're kicking off our third season with a deep dive on the role of artificial intelligence in creativity. Auto-summarized version: You can keep it.

Plus: Eliza, angry ducks, carnies, strike snacks and idea smoothies, rat snakes, juggling fatalities, bullet-headed Bond villains, clean smart data, the Eternal Return and alt-right Seinfeld.

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Imagination & Junk – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Imagination & Junk – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other2

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other2

Apple Podcasts

Spotify