The podcast for midlevel creatives with delusional ambitions

Pat Dobie and James Buchanan, two experienced creatives earning a living in their fields, explore the paradox of making art that makes money, doing what you love, and getting past the middle rungs of the career ladder.

Are you:

• doing creative-adjacent work to make ends meet?
• running so low on time and energy that your own stuff gets sidelined?
• wondering what’s different about the A-listers?
• looking for an angle to get your work seen?

Gifted Underachievers is for writers, actors, visual artists, comedians—anyone who’s made a career out of thin air. Explore with us what it takes to ‘level up,’ make more money pursuing your creative projects, expand your work with collaborators, and avoid the stench of privilege.

What’s in it for you?

You’ll get an email once a week with links to two or three short podcast segments, just the right length for your commute, your spot in the donut lineup, or whatever you do regularly.

Regular segments include:

• Interviews—smart thoughts from people smarter than us
• Sneaking one past the goalie — when and why a project gets the green light
• Now what? — you got one or more book deals / shows / roles / gigs … keep it together and build on the momentum!
• If them, why not us? — we unpack the bags of the A-listers and see what’s inside
• Uncomfortable stories — compromising situations in the arts
• What are you sitting on? — the nuances of running a creative business
• The stench of privilege — sometimes clever people say dumb things and we ask them to explain themselves
• The reek of desperation — when you’re career’s a hoopti, what to doopti?
• Plus movie reviews, working from home, dumb jokes and other treats.

Be part of a community of people who share your interests. Participate in the comments section, or support this work with a subscription.

As a paid subscriber, you’ll get extra content and access to limited series on creative experiences…like launching a book.

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