Don't Call It Art
Episodes about this book
2 episodes261: Metrics of Success
A host just started reading "Don't Call It Art" by Austin Kleon and describes its opening premise: people asked Kleon to write a creativity book for kids, but he concluded kids are already creative — adults are the ones who need help. The host explains the title's logic: not calling something "art" gives permission to just make things. A second host says they are a "big Austin Kleon fan" who always buys his books in physical form, and both express a desire to have Kleon as a guest.
690: Austin Kleon - Why Activated Leaders Win, The Analog Desk, Don't Call it Art, Stay Light, Professional Noticers, Lead with Curiosity, and How To Steal Like an Artist
The main subject of the interview. Austin Kleon discusses how being schooled by his own children—stepping back and letting them create freely—led him to access raw, unlabeled creative instinct. The title comes from artist John Baldessari's observation that kids don't call what they make art. Kleon also describes holding the finished book for the first time that morning as his real celebratory moment.
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