We’re celebrating National Poetry Month a month too late, but we think it’s always time to celebrate poetry. To that end, we’ve invited Jay Newton, long-time listener and Erasable Poet Laureate, onto the show to talk about his new chapbook, Effigies, and how he thinks about and creates poetry. We also celebrate silly little poems by pitting Jay against ChatGPT to write extremely specific pencil limericks.
Read MoreEpisode 194: It's Almost a Blurple
We’re here, smack in the middle of National Poetry Month, to read and discuss a few of our favorite poems. We also rap about the latest Field Notes and Blackwing releases, and more!
Read MoreEpisode 193: Illicit Blackwing Ring
Every once in a while, we like to update one of the most popular features on our website: Our personal Top Five Pencils list. As we stare down nine years on the airwaves, see how much — or how little — has changed.
Read MoreEpisode 192: The Coptic Kid
Join us as we discuss some truly cool things from Musgrave, a delightful weird two-color pen, Jimmy Smits’s rise to galactic political fame, and why the Bic Cristal doesn’t deserve the hate it’s been getting on the internet.
Read MoreEpisode 191: The Musgrave Train
Tonight, we’re recapping 2022 on a positive note. We’ll be talking about our favorite things about the year, both in the Pencil World and out.
Read MoreEpisode 190: Where's Wasem?
At the end of Autumn, Andy and Johnny gather to give thanks and to chat about some recent news and developments in the stationery world, including the latest from Field Notes and Blackwing.
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Episode 189: Harvesting Fresh Points
This week on Erasable, Johnny and Tim get together to chat about a bevy of Tools of the Trade and a whole pencil cup full of Fresh Points — from Blackwing’s and Field Notes’s fall releases to the awesomeness being perpetrated by Musgrave over the last three years. Check it out!
Episode 188: All Aboard the Creativity Train (with special guest Joey Cofone)
Tonight, we’re joined by special guest Joey Cofone, co-founder of Baronfig and author of The Laws of Creativity: Unlock Your Originality and Awaken Your Creative Genius which comes out on October 18, 2022. Joey talks to us about how he turned his belief that creativity is not magic, it’s a skill that needs to be practiced. We discuss some universal truths — or laws — to creative work, and how he pulled them together into a book.
Read MoreEpisode 187: Fickle Tim
In this episode, we name names — discussing specific examples of books that we turn to when we need a creative boost. Find out about new careers, the SF Pen Show, Musgrave’s sharpener, and more!
Read MoreEpisode 186: An Embarrassing Amount of Knowledge
This week, we kick off a multi-episode discussion about creativity, and in particular, books about creativity and the creative process. Today, we’re discussing what we look for in such books: Do we want practical tips? Do we want to be inspired? Maybe a little of both?
Read MoreEpisode 185: Six Too Many Abs (with special guest Harry Marks)
Join Johnny, Tim, and Andy as we invite a long-time friend of the show Harry Marks on, to talk about his new novel, The Library at the Center of the Earth, and his new job as a staff writer for Grim and Mild, a historical storytelling podcast network. We talk about creative writing, the importance of routines, and of course, frequent screaming on social media.
Read MoreEpisode 184: David Sedaris at Walmart
It’s hot as all get out, and that means it’s summer. It also means that the new editions from our favorite stationers have come out. Over the last few weeks, the big summer releases from Blackwing and Field Notes have been garnering smiles, frowns, and jumping up and down. Aside from Tools of the Trade and Fresh Points, we’re going to share our hot takes and iced takes on these new toys tonight.
Show Notes:
Episode 183: I Can Heal Your Soul, But Not Your Foot
Being ecologically-minded citizens of the world, we don't like the idea of just throwing away perfectly good paper and pencils. This is especially salient this time of year, when kids are bringing home piles of stuff from their desks and lockers. Tune in this week for a discussion of what to do with all that material.
Read MoreEpisode 182: Rob Thomas Over Here
It’s the unofficial start to summer in the United States, and we’re here with white pants and pencils to check in before school is out and everyone starts going on vacations. We cover lots of summer goodness, from Baronfig’s latest journal to cross-country hitchhiking.
Read MoreEpisode 181: That Qualifies as a Quest (with special guest Caroline Weaver)
Before our upcoming book club, Caroline Weaver was kind enough to join us for an invigorating discussion about contemporary book clubs, and updates us on what’s going on in her world. Don’t forget to read up on Matthew Battles’ Palimpsest before the next episode in mid-May!
Read MoreEpisode 180: How the Sausage Is Made
We’re getting ready to launch into a few episodes discussing our book club book, Palimpsest, but before we do that, let’s have a short little episode to talk about Fresh Points and some cool stuff we’re reading, seeing and hearing. Plus, a poem for Johnny by Erasable Poet Laureate Jay Newton.
Read MoreEpisode 179: I am Also Pro Tree
Happy International Pencil Day, folks! It’s officially spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and we have some fun spring releases to discuss in all of their copper and yellow glory. Tune in for our quarterly look at the seasonal releases from some of our favorite brands.
Read MoreEpisode 178: It's Awl Good (with special guest Ashleigh Coaxum, owner of The Paper Herald)
Tonight, the guys are joined by Ashleigh Coaxum, the proprietor of Baltimore’s newest stationery shop, The Paper Herald. Ashleigh talks about her stationery origin story, what it’s like to open a shop during the pandemic, and some of the cool stuff she stocks. Plus: new Field Notes, a book club announcement, and — don’t worry — plenty of bad puns.
Read MoreEpisode 177: I Love the Feel of Cellulose in the Morning
Tonight, we are talking about the morning — morning pages, to be precise. We take a deep dive into Julia Cameron’s prescription for an enhanced creative life and talk about our own experiences with this practice.
Read MoreEpisode 176: We Don't Talk About BuJo
We’re well into 2022, so we would be remiss if we didn’t talk about planners! We discuss how we keep track of appointment and to-dos, and whether or not we can avoid digital calendars (answer: no).
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