Always Choose Orange
Episodes
#83: Mean It Always
23 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You know what they say, “you can’t spell artificial without art!” …What? What do you mean you haven't heard that? I'm sure someone, so...
#82: This Episode Could Have Been an Email
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever been in a meeting that just as easily could have been an email? Have you slogged through a personal development book only to realize tha...
#81: The Book as a House — A Short Musing on Mindfulness, Narrative Structure, and the Illuminating Nature of Really, Really Good Prose
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After a two month hiatus, Always Choose Orange is back with a new episode! But here's the question — what exactly is it? A quiet manifesto? A...
#80: Favorite Reads of 2025 | Part 1 (with Andrew Drake)
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We're a little more than halfway through 2025 and it’s time for a six-month reading check-in! In this episode, my brother Andrew joins me to dis...
#79: Cut, Tear, and Reassemble — Andrea Burgay on Collage as a Way to Process What Words Can't Touch
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Andrea Burgay is a visual artist from Syracuse, New York, currently based in Brooklyn. Her practice centers on collage, sculpture, and mixed-media ass...
#78: How To Better Recall Your Dreams and Solve Creative Problems While You Sleep — with Dr. Deirdre Barrett
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Deirdre Barrett is a renowned psychologist, author, and dream researcher affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Serving as a Lecturer in Psycholo...
#77: Alex Eckman-Lawn - Why He Makes Time for Experimentation, the Best Places to Source Collage Images, and What He Learned From Studying Dave McKean
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Alex Eckman-Lawn is a Philadelphia-based artist and illustrator known for his intricately layered, hand-cut paper collages. His work explores themes o...
#76: Mastering the Art of the Epigraph — How To Set the Tone for Your Story
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A single sentence at the start of a book can set the tone for everything that follows. In this week's episode, we dip our toes into the mysterious...
#75: Making Monday Morning Prayer Music — Jon Guerra on Honest Devotion and Creative Patience
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jon Guerra is a singer-songwriter based in Austin, Texas, renowned for his distinctive style of devotional music. Jon describes his work as "less ...
#74: Tara Sellios on Making Art With Bones, Insects, and Powerful Symbolism
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tara Sellios is a Boston-based artist whose monumental photographs highlight the beauty of the grotesque. She creates still life vignettes from organi...
#73: Caroline Shaw - Voice Memo Roulette, the Magic of Old Janky Instruments, and the Story Behind Ringdown's Lady on the Bike
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Caroline Shaw is a musician who moves among roles, genres, and mediums, trying to imagine a world of sound that has never been heard before but has al...
#72: How to Enjoy Art & Everything Else More | Part 5: Passing It On
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the conclusion to our five-episode series on enjoyment, we examine the relationship between understanding and sharing. Using the coffee taster'...
#71: How to Enjoy Art & Everything Else More | Part 4: Getting Lost
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Getting lost is often thought of as a bad thing. However, when it comes to art, it can be a major contributor to our sense of enjoyment. This week'...
#70: How to Enjoy Art & Everything Else More | Part 3: Inverting Resistance
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Resistance is futile! At least, it will be after this episode. In part three of our series on enjoyment, we look at four common ways we resist pieces ...
#69: How to Enjoy Art & Everything Else More | Part 2: Moving Beyond
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In part two of our series on enjoyment, we're looking at a quick and easy way to deepen your appreciation of a piece of art — moving your attent...
#68: How to Enjoy Art & Everything Else More | Part 1: A Learnable Skill
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Enjoyment is not only a creative superpower; it's also a valuable life skill. And thankfully, it's one that any of us can learn. Using this b...
#67: Peter Adamson's History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps — The Story Behind the 14+ Year Podcast
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Peter Adamson is a philosopher and intellectual historian. He holds two academic positions: professor of philosophy in late antiquity and in the I...
#66: Matt Bucher - Thoughts on A.I. and Art, Staying Creative at a Corporate Job, Wikipedia Rabbit Holes, and Writing The Belan Deck
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Matt Bucher is the author of The Belan Deck and co-host, with Dave Laird, of The Concavity Show podcast. He is one of the founders of the Internatio...
#65: David Benjamin Blower - Writing Narrative Music, Processing Hope and Grief Through Art, and Leaving the Creative Process Open to Chaos
12 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
David Benjamin Blower is a prolific musician, a writer of theological books, a podcaster, and an activist from Birmingham, UK. His writing, like his m...
#64: In Case of Haters, Break Glass - Overcoming the Fear of Judgment
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Putting your art out for the world to see is a vulnerable thing. It often means leaving yourself open to criticism, and in some cases, outright hate. ...
#63: How to Concisely Start a Chapter in Six Words or Less
29 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s possible to start a chapter in six words or less AND have your reader want to keep reading. How do I know? I analyzed the opening sentence of e...
#62: Noam Oxman - The Composer Who Transforms Your Pet Into a Beautiful Piece of Music
22 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Noam Oxman is a composer who turns portraits of beloved pets into beautiful musical compositions. His “sympawnies” have garnered thousands, and in...
#61: Kreg Yingst - Block Printing as a Spiritual Practice, Recontextualizing Parables, & Illustrating Psalms, Saints, and Prayers
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kreg Yingst is an illustrator specializing in block printing, with original works created from carved blocks of wood, linoleum, or other materials, an...
#60: Favorite Reads of 2024 | Part 2 (with Andrew Drake)
08 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Now that 2024 is behind us, it’s time for a six-month reading check-in! My brother Andrew is back and we each discuss six books that affected us dur...
#59: Nothing is Lost - Creative Abundance, Recycling Material, and the Unpublished Novels of Brandon Sanderson
01 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
To kick off the new year, let's talk about two ways of viewing and experiencing creativity — the first is scarcity, a white-knuckled clinging to...
#58: The Gift That Keeps On Giving - How to Reflect Back on Your Creative Year
25 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The year is coming to a close and it's a great time to reflect back and celebrate your creative accomplishments. This episode is one part highligh...
#57: Don't Find Your Voice, Your Voice Will Find You
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most common sources of anxiety for budding creatives is the struggle to find a unique voice. Should you spend your apprentice years by imit...
#56: A Few Ideas About Ideas
11 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Where do ideas come from? How do they grow? How do you know which ideas to pursue and which to save for later? In today's episode, we'll explo...
#55: Claire Luxton - Creating Her Own Muses, Embracing Isolation, and Finding Inspiration in Everything
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Claire Luxton is a British contemporary multi-disciplinary artist working with photography, immersive installation, and poetry. She works from her rur...
#54: Kate Woodman - Photo Concepts That Make You Say WTF, Visual Hooks, and Reinventing the Wheel With Every New Project
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kate Woodman is a Portland, Oregon-based commercial photographer specializing in conceptual and narrative imagery. A structural engineer by trade, Kat...
#53: Simon Van Booy - Facing Your Weaknesses as a Writer, How To Find an Editor, and Living Out Parts of Your Own Stories
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Simon Van Booy is the award-winning, bestselling author of more than a dozen books for adults and children, including The Illusion of Separateness, T...
#52: Rob Bell, Part 2 - Writing Plays, Following Curiosity, and the Creative Freedom of Self-Publishing
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rob Bell (New York Times Bestselling author) is back to continue last week's conversation on creativity, the craft of writing, and his latest book...
#51: Rob Bell, Part 1 - Trusting the Creative Process, Beginner’s Mind, and the Comfort and Durability of Paul Smith Socks
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rob Bell is the New York Times Bestselling author of fifteen books and plays which have been translated into 25 languages. He creates visual art that ...
#50: One Year of Choosing Orange - Lessons From 50 Episodes of Podcasting
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One year ago, I released the first episode of Always Choose Orange using my built-in MacBook microphone, a story about a stack of paint samples, and a...
#49: I Rewrote the First Five Pages of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and This Happened
23 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Creative exercises are one of the most powerful ways to hone your craft, refine your voice, and try out new techniques to see if they fit your process...
#48: Thinking Like a Curator - How to Manage Your Creative Input
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As of 2024, there are over 100 million songs on Spotify, 3.9 billion videos on YouTube, and tens of millions of books on Amazon — that's a whole...
#47: Beyond Cheeto Dust & Mountain Dew - Debating the Artistic Merit of Video Games (with Tim from Earbuddies)
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It may be hard for newer generations to imagine but there was a time when video games were not commonly seen as a legitimate cultural medium. In this ...
#46: Any Austin - Enjoying the Hyper-Mundane Aspects of Video Games, Following Your Interests, Finding What People Actually Care About, and More
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Austin is, in his own words, 'making the worst video game content on the internet by far'. His YouTube channel, Any Austin, features content ...
#45: Meg Loeks - Self Portraits as Self Care, Inspiration vs. Imitation, Photographing Chickens, Refusing to Rush, and More
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Meg Loeks lives in Michigan's Upper Peninsula with her husband and five children. She is an international award-winning fine art and portrait phot...
#44: (Almost) Unreadable Books
11 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why would a novel require the use of two bookmarks? What does a 957-word sentence sound like? Is it humanly possible to understand Finnegans Wake? We&...
#43: Robin Fox - Location-First Photography, Finding Your Visual Voice, The Art of Self Teaching, and More
04 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Robin Fox is a self-taught photographer residing in Hamilton, Ontario. Fox began her study of photography seven years ago and credits her close examin...
#42: Jacob Montague - Film Scoring, Setting Rigid Perimeters for Maximum Creativity, Writing Good Cover Songs, and More
28 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jacob Montague is a producer and multi-instrumentalist by day (Branches, Tsutro, Dream Cassettes, Far Friends, figuers, MVVE) and cinematic folk compo...
#41: M.L. Silverline - The Poetry of People & Places, Editing Using the “Cringe Factor”, Experimenting With Words, Refining Your Writing Over Multiple Drafts, and More
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hailing from Washington and Oregon, M.L Silverline has spent 25 years as a student of the spoken, written, and experienced word – traveling the ...
#40: Pieper Bloomquist - Contemporary Scandinavian Folk Art, Growing Up in a Town of 44 People, Cataloguing Color Palettes, “Perfect Practice”, and More
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pieper Bloomquist is a contemporary folk artist based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. She studied Swedish Dalmålning and Bonadsmålning, and has been p...
#39: Erothyme - Developing a Musical Archive, Machine Learning & A.I. Generated Music, Field Recordings as Time Travel, Narrative Structure, and More
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Erothyme is the electronic music solo project of Bobby West. Erothyme is best known for emotive downtempo and for the musical use of field recordings,...
#38: Talking Tolkien (with Craig Hanks from the Legendarium Podcast)
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In part three of the Body of Work series, Craig Hanks from the Legendarium Podcast joins me to talk about the timeless work and legacy of J.R.R. Tol...
#37: David Gungor of The Brilliance - Musical Empathy, Psychedelic Research Studies, and the Difference Between Craftspeople & Tastemakers
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
David Gungor is an artist, songwriter, pastor, speaker, and music producer based in New York City with his wife Kate and their four children. David i...
#36: Daily Routines
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Inspired by Mason Curry’s book, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, this episode explores the power in forming a creative routine. In Curry’s words,...
#35: Appreciating Poetry
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Interested in poetry but feel like you don’t really understand it? It took me longer than I'd care to admit for it to finally click. In this wee...
#34: Favorite Reads of 2024 | Part 1 (with Andrew Drake)
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's time for a reading check-in! Join my brother Andrew and I as we discuss some of our favorite books we read so far in 2024. The two of us use ...
#33: Wilder Adkins - The Importance of Strong Lyrical Imagery, Solo Music vs. Collaboration, Learning Dulcimer, and More
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wilder Adkins is a singer-songwriter based in Birmingham, Alabama. With influences spanning from Appalachian folk ballads to Indian devotional music t...
#32: Michael Gungor - Shutting Off Your Inner Editor, Getting Into a Flow State, Group Singing, and More
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Gungor is a creative mystic living in Pasadena, California. Primarily known for his music, Michael is the co-founder and primary songwriter of...
#31: The Creative Power of Question-Asking
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Can the quality of your art be improved by the questions you ask as you make it? Will the right questions help you get unstuck? How do you make sure t...
#30: The Myth of Flow
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What is the relationship between creativity and the flow state? What happens when we don't feel inspired to make art? In this episode, we'll d...
#29: Guards! Guards! (And How To Write a Character Introduction With Personality)
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1989, Sir Terry Pratchett released Guards! Guards!, the eighth entry in his Discworld series. In 2024, I read that book for the first time while s...
#28: Building a Second Brain - Some Notes on Digital Notetaking
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode, I share my thoughts and key takeaways from Tiago Forte's book Building a Second Brain, which focuses on digital notetakin...
#27: Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“Have ye seen the white whale?” It's a great question, but it's not the one we’ll be investigating in this week's episode. Instead, ...
#26: Talking Coldplay (with Tim from Earbuddies)
25 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Body of Work series continues! Join Tim from the Earbuddies podcast and I as we blast off into the stratosphere and share our thoughts on Coldplay...
#25: Feverkin - Ideas as Stepping Stones, Spending a Year on One Song, Recording the Calendar Project, Going Viral in Russia, and More
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Orfale, aka Feverkin, is a music producer and composer based in Portland, OR. Drawing inspiration from trip hop, future garage, lo-fi, jazz, and ...
#24: Turning The Gem - Getting Creatively Unstuck
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Feeling creatively stuck? In this short episode, I share one simple perspective that can help you breathe new life into the thing you're working o...
#23: Manatee Commune - Making Danceable Music, Balancing Acoustic and Organic Textures, Creativity As a Muscle, and More
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Grant Eadie, aka Manatee Commune, is a musician based in the Pacific Northwest. His music combines field recordings, textures from nature, surfy guita...
#22: The Immersive World of Piranesi
27 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I finally read Susanna Clarke's Piranesi, and (no surprise) it blew my mind. Rather than a straightforward book review, I spend this episode rumi...
#21: Talking Sanderson (with Bookborn)
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Join Bookborn (@bookborn.reviews) and I as we explore Brandon Sanderson's bibliography, including his characters, writing style, main themes, and ...
#20: Body of Work
13 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Artists of every kind — writers, musicians, painters, sculptures — spend their lives creating pieces of art that become their legacy, their body o...
#19: Lyric Breakdown: Middle of June by Noah Gundersen
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we'll embark on a line-by-line breakdown of "Middle of June" by Noah Gundersen from his 2009 EP Saints & Liars. We&#...
#18: One Hundred Frogs - Translation as an Art Form
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1686, Matsuo Bashō wrote a short poem about a frog jumping into a pond. That poem ended up becoming arguably the most well-known haiku of all-tim...
#17: The Glory Days - Yellowcard, Bowling for Soup, and Handling Fan Expectations
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Back in the summer of 2014, I went to Warped Tour and watched the pop-punk bands Yellowcard and Bowling For Soup play back-to-back sets. Seeing how ea...
#16: Going Deep - Learning to Enjoy the Creative Process
14 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a recent Q&A about his new novella The Narrow Road Between Desires, author Patrick Rothfuss talked about his extremely intricate editing proce...
#15: Leaning Into Discomfort - Cold Showers, Affirmations, and the Key to Creative Growth
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do you find yourself getting distracted easily when trying to complete creative tasks? One moment you're writing, or drawing, or songwriting, and ...
#14: Walkie-Talkies - Letting Different Pieces of Art Talk to Each Other
31 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When talking about his reading practice, author Richard Powers once said, "I like to keep one work of fiction and one of nonfiction going at once,...
#13: Favorite Reads of 2023 (with Andrew Drake)
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, my brother Andrew joins me to talk about our favorite books we read in 2023. The two of us use the six questions below to guide our discuss...
#12: Eat These Words - The Power of Context
17 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever experienced a moment where you were sure you understood something and suddenly, a whole new world opened up based on something someone s...
#11: New Year, New You | Part 2 - Ten Years Later
10 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we'll look at goal-setting from another angle - what are some simple things we can do that will have a ten-year impact? Tune in to hear me ...
#10: New Year, New You | Part 1 - Footprints in the Snow
01 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to 2024! This time of year, there's a lot of talk around resolutions, goals, and hopes. I wanted to share a few thoughts about this thresh...
#9: Artist Dates, Symbolism, and The Random Guy I Met At Barnes and Noble
27 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Back in June 2019, while going through The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, I went on an Artist's Date to Barnes and Noble and had a chance mee...
#8: Rob Bell - The Power of Reading Out Loud, Creating Memorable Character Names, Using Large Font, and More
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rob Bell (@realrobbell) is the New York Times Bestselling author of fourteen books and plays which have been translated into 25 languages. He create...
#7: Hunter Morris - Doing Things With Excellence, Hearing the Heart of God Through Photography, and Creating a Space Where People Can Be Themselves
13 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hunter Morris (@creationphotography.co) is a lifestyle photographer based out of Panama City Beach, Florida. Through his work, he helps people see the...
#6: Paige Thammavong of HeyHalle - Wedding Design Trends, Balancing Work & Family Time, Saying Yes and Figuring It Out Later, and More
06 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Paige Thammavong (@hey.halle) is a graphic designer and handletterer based out of Portland, Oregon. Her company HeyHalle specializes in event design a...
#5: DeAnna Lozensky of Guardian Grains - Regenerative Grain Farming, Soil Biology, Artisan Pasta Making, and More
29 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
DeAnna Lozensky is a regenerative grain farmer based in central North Dakota. In 2020, her and her husband Kelly started Guardian Grains, a company th...
#4: Graphic Novels (And Why You Should Read At Least One)
22 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I spent over half of the year voraciously reading my way through what have been called "classic" graphic novels and manga. In April 2023, I st...
#3: Gina Ariko - Finding Belonging, Comfort, and Healing Through Art
15 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Gina Ariko is a Japanese-American figurative painter based in Seattle, WA. Growing up, she spent every other summer visiting family in Kokura, Japan, ...
#2: Joe Hunsaker - From Selling His First Painting for $20 To Paying His Mortgage Through Murals and Custom Artwork
08 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Hunsaker (@smokeyjoepaintco), is a painter, muralist, and entrepreneur based out of Phoenix, Arizona. His custom portraits are in high demand and ...
#1: Jonathan Wilson of Fian - Linear Songwriting, Shading Your Darker Side with Fiction, and the Most Ambitious NPR Tiny Desk Concert Audition You’ve Ever Seen
01 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jonathan Wilson is the lead vocalist of Fian, a progressive rock band based out of Orcas Island, WA and the surrounding Seattle area. Fian's self-...
#0: Paint Samples
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the first episode of Always Choose Orange! Today, you'll learn the story behind the podcast name and the vision behind the show. Hint: ...