1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,766
Well, well, well, it's Saturday,
the 19th of July, and this

2
00:00:02,766 --> 00:00:05,006
is episode 300  of 3 0 1.

3
00:00:05,006 --> 00:00:09,391
Permanently moved online, a personal
podcast, 301 seconds in length, written,

4
00:00:09,414 --> 00:00:12,032
recorded, and edited by me at the jmo.

5
00:00:13,561 --> 00:00:15,721
I'm flipping switches and tapping dials.

6
00:00:15,747 --> 00:00:16,797
I see landing lights

7
00:00:16,797 --> 00:00:18,237
reflecting in the distance already

8
00:00:18,267 --> 00:00:20,277
as we begin our final approach.

9
00:00:20,349 --> 00:00:21,009
Reflection

10
00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:23,600
is the best word that
describes the last few months.

11
00:00:23,683 --> 00:00:25,312
How does one even land

12
00:00:25,312 --> 00:00:26,782
the biggest creative endeavor

13
00:00:26,782 --> 00:00:28,372
of one's life thus far?

14
00:00:28,514 --> 00:00:31,094
90% of all podcasts ever created,

15
00:00:31,094 --> 00:00:32,754
never made it past episode 3,

16
00:00:32,842 --> 00:00:35,512
another 90% quit before episode 20.

17
00:00:35,587 --> 00:00:36,757
Completing this project

18
00:00:36,805 --> 00:00:38,935
places it in a statistical range

19
00:00:38,995 --> 00:00:41,185
of less than 0.1%.

20
00:00:41,370 --> 00:00:42,390
And after eight years,

21
00:00:42,390 --> 00:00:45,330
I have developed some
understanding of these statistics.

22
00:00:45,429 --> 00:00:46,989
The most important lesson

23
00:00:47,049 --> 00:00:48,279
may sound obvious:

24
00:00:48,464 --> 00:00:49,454
for any artist

25
00:00:49,547 --> 00:00:51,377
finding and maintaining rhythm

26
00:00:51,437 --> 00:00:53,177
is the challenge that must be faced

27
00:00:53,177 --> 00:00:54,167
week after week,

28
00:00:54,186 --> 00:00:55,446
year after year.

29
00:00:55,584 --> 00:00:57,848
I've stressed this on the show many times.

30
00:00:57,915 --> 00:00:59,355
Committing to and attending to

31
00:00:59,355 --> 00:01:00,435
the creative process

32
00:01:00,435 --> 00:01:01,125
is important,

33
00:01:01,238 --> 00:01:03,849
but re-attending to that
commitment is essential.

34
00:01:03,980 --> 00:01:04,791
When you begin,

35
00:01:04,851 --> 00:01:05,931
you imagine that producing

36
00:01:05,931 --> 00:01:07,851
a weekly show would be straightforward.

37
00:01:07,932 --> 00:01:08,883
I certainly did.

38
00:01:09,086 --> 00:01:10,826
Even if I kept the concept simple.

39
00:01:10,861 --> 00:01:11,401
Everything,

40
00:01:11,491 --> 00:01:12,241
sit down,

41
00:01:12,248 --> 00:01:12,668
write,

42
00:01:12,689 --> 00:01:13,019
edit,

43
00:01:13,019 --> 00:01:13,529
record,

44
00:01:13,559 --> 00:01:13,979
edit.

45
00:01:14,041 --> 00:01:15,050
Had to fit inside

46
00:01:15,050 --> 00:01:16,250
a single frantic hour.

47
00:01:16,356 --> 00:01:17,016
Then breakfast

48
00:01:17,016 --> 00:01:18,726
while the file bounced for upload.

49
00:01:18,822 --> 00:01:20,682
After the first 50 episodes,

50
00:01:20,742 --> 00:01:21,432
I was hooked

51
00:01:21,565 --> 00:01:23,099
at 100, exhausted.

52
00:01:23,265 --> 00:01:25,395
So I switched to a
longer production period,

53
00:01:25,434 --> 00:01:26,754
a draft on Thursdays,

54
00:01:26,784 --> 00:01:28,164
a redraft on Fridays,

55
00:01:28,194 --> 00:01:30,024
and the recording and
posting on a Saturday.

56
00:01:30,097 --> 00:01:31,094
It opened things up,

57
00:01:31,094 --> 00:01:31,964
but over time,

58
00:01:31,994 --> 00:01:33,184
a new pressure emerged.

59
00:01:33,321 --> 00:01:33,961
The edit.

60
00:01:34,129 --> 00:01:35,689
I learned to sculpt sentences,

61
00:01:35,738 --> 00:01:36,907
rearrange paragraphs,

62
00:01:36,967 --> 00:01:37,207
test

63
00:01:37,207 --> 00:01:37,297
the

64
00:01:37,297 --> 00:01:37,567
rhythm

65
00:01:37,567 --> 00:01:37,687
of

66
00:01:37,687 --> 00:01:37,747
a

67
00:01:37,747 --> 00:01:38,047
line

68
00:01:38,047 --> 00:01:38,257
over

69
00:01:38,257 --> 00:01:38,737
time.

70
00:01:38,798 --> 00:01:40,898
Instead of against the ticking of a clock.

71
00:01:41,028 --> 00:01:43,690
But effort crept upward
and benefits tailed off.

72
00:01:43,816 --> 00:01:46,076
Quality, is a curve that flattens quickly

73
00:01:46,159 --> 00:01:48,109
and you must learn to
spot this pivot point.

74
00:01:48,259 --> 00:01:48,859
Years ago,

75
00:01:48,927 --> 00:01:50,453
I made an episode called the doing

76
00:01:50,605 --> 00:01:52,985
where I divided the
creative process into three:

77
00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:55,274
the dream the doing and done.

78
00:01:55,432 --> 00:01:56,722
When I started making the show,

79
00:01:56,763 --> 00:01:58,533
and at the time of writing that episode,

80
00:01:58,568 --> 00:01:59,317
I still preferred

81
00:01:59,317 --> 00:02:00,943
the dreaming and having done.

82
00:02:01,043 --> 00:02:01,733
The doing

83
00:02:01,822 --> 00:02:04,582
the graft, rather than
the craft of creating

84
00:02:04,639 --> 00:02:05,464
was the obstacle.

85
00:02:05,678 --> 00:02:08,078
301 has been a relentless bootcamp

86
00:02:08,078 --> 00:02:09,158
in spotting the pivot.

87
00:02:09,158 --> 00:02:10,028
It has taught me that

88
00:02:10,028 --> 00:02:11,918
the real goal of the creative process

89
00:02:11,978 --> 00:02:14,232
is to simply be done, enough.

90
00:02:14,459 --> 00:02:17,309
All long-term artistic
endeavors also need a container.

91
00:02:17,383 --> 00:02:19,513
Fixing the length at 301 seconds

92
00:02:19,543 --> 00:02:21,223
inspired by an offhand comment

93
00:02:21,223 --> 00:02:23,173
by Warren Ellis all those years ago

94
00:02:23,192 --> 00:02:24,482
defined the content.

95
00:02:24,552 --> 00:02:26,652
Making it weekly was another constraint.

96
00:02:26,750 --> 00:02:28,460
It wasn't until 2023,

97
00:02:28,504 --> 00:02:29,069
well after

98
00:02:29,069 --> 00:02:30,809
I'd dropped the manic production period

99
00:02:30,839 --> 00:02:33,170
that I realized the Wisdom of Seasons.

100
00:02:33,339 --> 00:02:34,276
And broke production

101
00:02:34,306 --> 00:02:35,566
into 4 blocks of 10.

102
00:02:35,687 --> 00:02:38,747
A huge reduction in both
creative and cognitive load.

103
00:02:38,902 --> 00:02:42,622
301 started at the beginning of
the second wave of podcasting.

104
00:02:42,701 --> 00:02:43,331
At the time,

105
00:02:43,381 --> 00:02:44,581
I genuinely believed

106
00:02:44,581 --> 00:02:46,681
that more and more short
shows would emerge,

107
00:02:46,730 --> 00:02:48,740
things with their own shape and container.

108
00:02:48,863 --> 00:02:51,353
But the opposite happened,
and runtimes stretched.

109
00:02:51,423 --> 00:02:52,953
A five minute weekly essay show

110
00:02:52,953 --> 00:02:54,903
was genuinely novel in 2018,

111
00:02:54,957 --> 00:02:57,357
in 2025 with every newsletter platform,

112
00:02:57,357 --> 00:02:59,067
now sprouting a podcast feature,

113
00:02:59,205 --> 00:03:00,045
not so much.

114
00:03:00,161 --> 00:03:02,891
It's also way less effort
to turn on Zoom and

115
00:03:02,891 --> 00:03:04,781
record a bro-cast for 2 hours

116
00:03:04,781 --> 00:03:06,671
than writing and recording and editing

117
00:03:06,706 --> 00:03:07,924
a weekly personal essay.

118
00:03:08,159 --> 00:03:09,275
As a complete project,

119
00:03:09,358 --> 00:03:10,348
this show represents

120
00:03:10,348 --> 00:03:11,398
an enormous amount of

121
00:03:11,398 --> 00:03:12,328
effort and discipline.

122
00:03:12,421 --> 00:03:14,581
It's been a serious creative commitment.

123
00:03:14,581 --> 00:03:16,861
Sustaining any single format for 8 years

124
00:03:16,861 --> 00:03:18,301
is achievement enough for me.

125
00:03:18,433 --> 00:03:19,513
Knowing that this iteration

126
00:03:19,513 --> 00:03:20,413
of the show's format

127
00:03:20,413 --> 00:03:21,643
is coming to a close,

128
00:03:21,681 --> 00:03:23,061
I've been experimenting more.

129
00:03:23,131 --> 00:03:26,191
For a while each episode has
started life as a voice note.

130
00:03:26,212 --> 00:03:28,136
Its transcription, the zero draft,

131
00:03:28,247 --> 00:03:30,347
then a first pass becomes draft one,

132
00:03:30,387 --> 00:03:30,987
then another

133
00:03:31,044 --> 00:03:32,964
followed by the final edit for word count

134
00:03:32,964 --> 00:03:33,894
before recording.

135
00:03:34,050 --> 00:03:35,040
Recently however,

136
00:03:35,067 --> 00:03:37,827
I've just been recording the
second draft in a single take

137
00:03:37,834 --> 00:03:39,304
and editing that raw audio

138
00:03:39,334 --> 00:03:40,504
into the final version.

139
00:03:40,612 --> 00:03:41,152
This year,

140
00:03:41,152 --> 00:03:43,312
three episodes have been skeleton scripts

141
00:03:43,317 --> 00:03:44,397
recorded off the cuff,

142
00:03:44,397 --> 00:03:45,027
and edited.

143
00:03:45,209 --> 00:03:46,319
Dan Carlin records

144
00:03:46,319 --> 00:03:47,189
hardcore history,

145
00:03:47,189 --> 00:03:48,389
just from his notes too,

146
00:03:48,454 --> 00:03:50,314
exposition as jazz.

147
00:03:50,423 --> 00:03:51,203
A notion that's been

148
00:03:51,203 --> 00:03:52,583
rattling around in my head.

149
00:03:52,678 --> 00:03:54,088
Freed from the time box,

150
00:03:54,092 --> 00:03:55,562
I want to chase that energy.

151
00:03:55,734 --> 00:03:57,684
The machinery of the program has evolved

152
00:03:57,744 --> 00:03:59,214
from raw one hour sprints

153
00:03:59,274 --> 00:04:01,224
to more relaxed multi-session drafts

154
00:04:01,446 --> 00:04:02,814
to the recent experiments,

155
00:04:02,852 --> 00:04:03,002
and

156
00:04:03,002 --> 00:04:05,596
each phase has taught lessons
for what's coming next.

157
00:04:05,715 --> 00:04:06,675
Keeping the container,

158
00:04:06,675 --> 00:04:07,755
but dropping the speed run

159
00:04:07,755 --> 00:04:09,075
may have improved the work,

160
00:04:09,075 --> 00:04:10,108
but it doubled the effort.

161
00:04:10,179 --> 00:04:10,779
Again,

162
00:04:10,833 --> 00:04:13,533
more work often yields
diminishing returns.

163
00:04:13,554 --> 00:04:14,713
Constraints save you

164
00:04:14,803 --> 00:04:17,353
and your process will
set its own priorities.

165
00:04:17,455 --> 00:04:18,715
The video version of this show

166
00:04:18,775 --> 00:04:21,775
exists only because it fits
neatly into my process.

167
00:04:21,814 --> 00:04:22,684
And despite gathering

168
00:04:22,684 --> 00:04:24,154
a small audience on YouTube,

169
00:04:24,180 --> 00:04:26,190
it has clarified my priorities.

170
00:04:26,332 --> 00:04:27,082
I realize

171
00:04:27,142 --> 00:04:29,002
I have no desire to be a YouTuber.

172
00:04:29,281 --> 00:04:30,841
The flight plan for our next journey

173
00:04:30,871 --> 00:04:31,711
already contains

174
00:04:31,711 --> 00:04:33,271
a long lecture on creativity,

175
00:04:33,314 --> 00:04:35,414
accompanied by an 8,000 word zine

176
00:04:35,444 --> 00:04:36,614
to release alongside it

177
00:04:36,644 --> 00:04:38,234
whilst I work on what's next.

178
00:04:38,278 --> 00:04:39,268
Audio and print

179
00:04:39,268 --> 00:04:40,408
will become the twin pillars

180
00:04:40,408 --> 00:04:41,578
of my creative life.

181
00:04:41,647 --> 00:04:43,161
New issues of start select reset

182
00:04:43,161 --> 00:04:44,481
will appear for sale on my blog

183
00:04:44,481 --> 00:04:45,471
in limited numbers,

184
00:04:45,561 --> 00:04:46,461
and of course in

185
00:04:46,461 --> 00:04:47,931
the hands of paid subscribers.

186
00:04:48,173 --> 00:04:49,433
I've learned so much

187
00:04:49,433 --> 00:04:50,093
about writing

188
00:04:50,093 --> 00:04:50,903
and performance,

189
00:04:51,053 --> 00:04:52,193
rhythm and production,

190
00:04:52,305 --> 00:04:53,145
and above all

191
00:04:53,265 --> 00:04:54,135
about myself

192
00:04:54,165 --> 00:04:55,935
over the last 300 episodes.

193
00:04:56,023 --> 00:04:57,433
So with the landing gear down,

194
00:04:57,497 --> 00:04:59,537
I'll save my thanks and final reflections

195
00:04:59,537 --> 00:05:00,737
for touchdown next week.

196
00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:01,709
I'll speak to you then.