In this conversation, Professor Arthur I. Miller discusses artificial intelligence and creativity, including his book The Artist in the Machine. We discuss the essence of creativity, exploring its interdisciplinary nature and the connections between art and science. Dr. Miller emphasizes the importance of visual imagery in both science and art, and he identifies the key characteristics of highly creative individuals. We talk about the role of AI in creativity, the future of human-machine collaboration, and we end with practical advice for enhancing your own creativity.

Takeaways

• Breakthrough creativity comes from interdisciplinary connections.
• Visual imagery underlies creativity in both art and science.
• The future of creativity will be in the collaboration between humans and machines.
• Creativity can be cultivated through practice and new experiences.

For further information:

Arthur I. Miller's web site

Professor Miller's book The Artist in the Machine: The World of AI-Powered Creativity

Music by license from SoundStripe:

"Uptown Lovers Instrumental" by AFTERNOONZ

"Miss Missy" by AFTERNOONZ

"What's the Big Deal" by Ryan Saranich

Copyright (c) 2026 Keith Sawyer

Every January, millions of people make New Year's resolutions—and just as many abandon them weeks later. But where did this ritual come from? In this episode, Dr. Keith Sawyer traces the surprising 4,000-year history of New Year's resolutions, from ancient Babylonian vows to Roman civic promises, Christian moral reflection, early American self-engineering, and modern consumer culture. Along the way, he shows that resolutions were never inevitable or instinctive. They're a powerful example of collective creativity: a social tradition that slowly emerged as each generation added something new. Even when resolutions fail, we still grow from reflecting on our past and thinking about the future.

Five Key Takeaways

• New Year's resolutions are a tradition that emerged over thousands of years.
• The earliest resolutions were about social trust, not self-improvement. In ancient Babylon, people made public vows to repay debts and keep promises to maintain social order.
• Christianity turned resolutions inward. Over time, public civic vows evolved into private moral commitments focused on personal character and self-examination.
• Modern resolutions were shaped by early American self-tracking--a science of the self. Figures like Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin treated the self as something that could be systematically improved through intention and measurement.
• Failure doesn't mean resolutions are pointless. Even when resolutions aren't fully kept, the act of reflection helps people clarify values, imagine future selves, and move toward personal growth.

Chapters

• Intro
• Why do we make resolutions? Reflection and self-improvement.
• The First Resolutions: Babylon, 2000 BCE. Vows to the gods as public tools for social trust and stability.
• Rome Invents January 1. How Julius Caesar, Janus, and Roman vota reshaped the calendar and the meaning of promises.
• Christianity Turns Resolutions Inward. From public ritual to private moral self-examination.
• Jonathan Edwards Invents the Modern Resolution. Seventy intense resolutions and the birth of systematic self-engineering.
• Benjamin Franklin Tracks His Failures. Virtue charts, black dots, and the idea that character can be optimized.
• Newspapers Start Making Fun of Resolutions. By the 1800s, some people were already making fun of how often they failed.
• Radio and Psychology Take Over. How 20th-century media transformed resolutions into intimate self-help.
• Advertising Discovers Resolutions. When self-improvement became a January sales strategy for gym memberships and Weight Watchers.
• How to Make Resolutions that Stick. Research on resolutions: when they fail and what you can do to be more likely to succeed.
• Collective Creativity. Resolutions are a social innovation that emerged over the centuries.
• Outro
• Closer

Music by license from SoundStripe:

"Sparkling Eyes" by AFTERNOONZ

"Uptown Lovers Instrumental" by AFTERNOONZ

"Velvet" by AFTERNOONZ

"Miss Missy" by AFTERNOONZ

"Blue Molasses" by Renderings

"Corner Trio" by Renderings

"What's the Big Deal" by Ryan Saranich

Copyright (c) 2025 Keith Sawyer

You've heard about Steve Jobs, the Wizard of Cupertino. They say he invented the iPhone. Some people called him the iGod. But the iPhone was not created by a single genius, not Jobs and not anyone else. The real story is more surprising, and more interesting, than a myth about a single man. In this episode, Dr. Keith Sawyer reveals the true history behind Apple's groundbreaking invention. It was years of secret teams, failed prototypes, competing visions, and the collective creativity of hundreds of people.

Before the iPhone, cutting-edge techies carried all sorts of devices--phones, PDAs, and music players. If your device had a screen, it was tiny. If you could touch that screen, you had to use a plastic pointer. Touching on glass with your finger seemed impossible. Top executives in the business thought that a phone without a keyboard was a ridiculous idea.

In 2007, Apple introduced a device that changed everything. It was more than a technological innovation; it changed entertainment, travel, and social life. Steve Jobs stood on stage at MacWorld, and said "We are calling it iPhone," but he wasn't the inventor. You'll hear that clip in this episode--he didn't say the iPhone, he said simply "iPhone."

This is the creation story of the iPhone. Not the myth, but what really happened. It's a wonderful example of group genius.

Five Key Takeaways

• The iPhone wasn't invented by one person—its creation emerged from years of ideas, prototypes, failures, and contributions from thousands of people.
• The breakthrough wasn't the hardware—it was the ecosystem: multitouch, iTunes, the App Store, cloud services, and developers all working together.
• Apple's first attempt at a phone, the Motorola ROKR, was a failure—and that failure was essential fuel for the true iPhone project.
• Cultural impact matters as much as technological innovation—smartphones fundamentally changed how humans navigate, create, communicate, and even remember.
• The iPhone is one of the most powerful examples of social innovation: a collective, emergent creation shaped by engineers, designers, users, markets, and culture.

Music by license from SoundStripe:

"Uptown Lovers Instrumental" by AFTERNOONZ

"Miss Missy" by AFTERNOONZ

"What's the Big Deal" by Ryan Saranich

Copyright (c) 2025 Keith Sawyer