The Spark File with Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien
Your one stop shop for creative ideas and inspiration. Each week on The Spark File podcast, Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien reach into their spark files and share stories, ideas and fascinations to ignite your imagination. Learn more at thesparkfile.com.
All Episodes
S7E12 - Creating Community
This episode of The Spark File Podcast, Creating Community is your reminder that creativity doesn’t thrive in a vacuum — it thrives in connection. This week, Susan and Laura talk about why community isn’t just “nice to have”… it’s essential to our mental health, our physical health, and our creative longevity.
S7E11 - Creation By Recombination
What if creativity isn’t a lightning bolt… but a mashup? In this episode, Laura shares a Blue Man Group–born concept that can instantly dissolve the “I’m not original enough” spiral: Creation by Recombination—the idea that most innovation comes from connecting existing things in a way no one’s connected them before.
S7E10 - I Love You vs. Small Talk
In this week’s episode of The Spark File, “I Love You vs. Small Talk,” Laura opens up a BIG spark (100 pounds of topic in a five-pound bag): love—romantic love, friend love, family love, self-love, love of strangers, love of pets… the whole sprawling, life-saving universe of it.
S7E9 - Making For Minnesota
In “Making for Minnesota,” we’re asking a question that feels both tender and urgently practical: when the world is loud and scary, what can you make? Susan shares what happened after our free workshop Be the Change, But How—and how (per Martha Beck) creativity can interrupt anxiety by flipping a different switch in the brain.
S7E8 - Words We Love
This week on The Spark File, we’re cultivating delight with an episode we’re calling “Words We Love.” Susan went spelunking through her massive digital spark file and emerged with a glittering haul: words that crack us up, words that soothe, words that make you feel—dare we say—carbonated.
S7E7 - A Good Cry
In this episode of The Spark File, Laura and Susan celebrate the art, science, and deep humanity of a good cry. Sparked by poems, personal stories, and a lovingly unofficial “research study,” they explore why tears are not a weakness—but a powerful form of emotional intelligence and creative release.
S7E6 - How Easy Can It Be?
This week on The Spark File, we’re asking a question that might just unclench your whole nervous system: How Easy Can It Be?
S7E5 - A Window Not A Mirror
A Window; Not a Mirror is your new permission slip. In this episode, Laura shares a line she overheard in a NYC café that snapped her nervous system into clarity: “You cannot walk into the asylum and let it convince you that you’ve gone mad.
S7E4 - The Alchemist
Life attracts life. So if you want more creativity, more connection, more possibility… you can’t wait it out on the couch. In this episode of The Spark File Podcast, Laura revisits The Alchemist and uncovers why pursuing your creative calling isn’t about chasing a guaranteed outcome—it’s about choosing aliveness.
S7E3 - A Spooky Winter Story
In this wintery, true-crime-meets-ghost-story episode, Susan shares the chilling tale of the 1892 “hex murder” at the Stone Arch Bridge. A poor farmer accused of witchcraft, a family convinced they’re cursed, a killing “three ways over water,” and a graveyard full of family members.
S7E2 - From Strength to Strength
In this episode of The Spark File, Susan shares a spark that hit her straight in the nervous system: From Strength to Strength by Arthur C. Brooks — a book recommended by the late, beloved Gavin Creel.
S7E1 - Immaculate Perception
Welcome to Season 7 of The Spark File podcast with Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien! On this episode, Laura and Susan discuss the wisdom of neuroscientist Dr. Dan Siegel and the fact that there is no such thing as Immaculate Perception.
S6E7 - Sara Bareilles / The Town Hall Spark Sessions
This week on The Town Hall Spark Sessions - a podcast collaboration between NYC's Town Hall and The Spark File, we welcome the iconic singer, songwriter, actress and composer, Sara Bareilles.
S6E8 - Melay Araya / The Town Hall Spark Sessions
This week on The Town Hall Spark Sessions, we welcome Melay Araya, Artistic Director at the Town Hall. In addition to her work as Artistic Director, Melay is a writer, archivist, and multimedia artist with three decades of experience.
S6E6 - Laura Benanti / The Town Hall Spark Sessions
This week on The Town Hall Spark Sessions, we welcome luminary actress and singer Laura Benanti. Best known for her revolutionary performance in the 2008 revival of Gypsy, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Benanti made her broadway debut at 18 playing Maria in the Sound of Music on Broadway.
S6E5 - Sofronio Vasquez / The Town Hall Spark Sessions
This week, we welcomed the golden-voiced Sofronio Vasquez, winner of NBC’s The Voice Season 26. With his championship win, Sofronio became the first Filipino and Asian man to win a major singing competition in the United States.
S6E4 - Griffin Newman / The Town Hall Spark Sessions
In this week’s episode of The Town Hall Spark Sessions, we were thrilled to welcome Griffin Newman. For a decade, with his co-creator David Sims, Griffin has hosted the wildly popular podcast Blank Check with Griffin and David.
S6E3 - Sean Mayes / The Town Hall Spark Sessions
In this week’s Town Hall Spark Session, we welcomed Sean Mayes, the visionary conductor and founder of Pops of Color, as he takes us behind the scenes of creating an orchestra that’s building bridges and breaking barriers.
S6E2 - Eisa Davis / The Town Hall Spark Sessions
For our second round The Town Hall Spark Sessions award-winning actor, writer, and singer-songwriter, Eisa Davis. In addition to co-writing the Warriors concept album with Lin-Manuel Mirana, she wrote and starred in Angela’s Mixtape, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for her play Bulrusher.
S6E1 - Lin-Manuel Miranda / The Town Hall Spark Sessions
Surprise! We’re back, with some hot, fresh creative sparks for you—and this time, we’re at the Town Hall! In the first episode of The Town Hall Spark Sessions, we’re thrilled to feature a new conversation with Lin-Manuel Miranda about legacy, creativity, and the upcoming Spring Shout at the Town Hall—a benefit performance honoring him!
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