THE GRAIN: AI vs. Creativity
Episodes
The hidden infrastructure behind AI that creatives rarely see
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The other night I went to hear journalist Karen Hao speak about her book Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, presented by th...
PODCAST: AI vs. Inspiration—Marian Bantjes
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Generative AI has made a lot of creatives nervous, not just about jobs, but about individual expression.Marian Bantjes isn’t new to this kind of dis...
PODCAST: AI vs. Photography—Heather Morton and Rob Haggart
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The photo industry has been running on gut feelings for years. Heather Morton and Rob Haggart brought receipts.They’re the team behind the new State...
PODCAST: AI vs. Freedom of Information—Ian Krietzberg
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ian Krietzberg is one of the clearest, most grounded voices covering AI today.As the AI correspondent at Puck, and former editor-in-chief of The Deep ...
PODCAST: AI vs. Media—Sarah Thompson
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah Thompson is one of the sharpest strategists working in Canadian communications today.The executive managing director at Glassroom started her ca...
PODCAST: AI vs. Dreams—Dr. Maya Ackerman
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Season 3 of THE GRAIN Podcast kicks off with world-renowned AI researcher and generative AI pioneer Dr. Maya Ackerman. She is the CEO and co-founder o...
PODCAST: AI vs. Your Opinion—Matt Vandrick
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Watch full video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_4lleJyYiag?si=fef5DN-gmDX9l5D-Prefer to listen? You’re already in the right place.The fast fa...
PODCAST: AI vs. Fashion—Sajna Massey
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Watch full video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_4lleJyYiag?si=fef5DN-gmDX9l5D-Prefer to listen? You’re already in the right place.The fast fa...
PODCAST: AI vs. Fear—Lee Towndrow
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
So much of what’s happening around AI feels like performance. People saying they’ve got it all figured out. Creatives pretending they’re not anx...
PODCAST: How can Canada develop AI policy for creatives?
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Canada Day! Please enjoy this special video episode of THE GRAIN Podcast, featuring my grains of thought about how Ottawa can build a new creati...
PODCAST: AI vs. Bias—Dr. Avriel Epps
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Avriel Epps studies the impact of artificial intelligence on identity, culture, and mental health. An incoming professor at Rutgers University, sh...
PODCAST: AI vs. School—Megan McKellar and Isabella Liu
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Megan McKellar and Isabella Liu, both of whom are certified Apple Distinguished Educators and Google Certified Innovators, visited me at Made Human St...
PODCAST: AI vs. The Hustle—King Willonius
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“BBL Drizzy” started off as an insult—but it ended up making music history instead. A year ago, when Kendrick Lamar and Drake spurred one of the...
PODCAST: AI vs. The Algorithm—Ishmil Waterman
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of THE GRAIN Podcast, I sit down with photographer, retoucher and artist Ishmil Waterman to talk about why he welcomes AI, and the val...
PODCAST: AI vs. Effort—Michael Inzlicht
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Creativity has always been a through line in my life and career. For my specialized honours thesis in university, I studied the psychology of creativi...
PODCAST: AI vs. Ethics—Cindy Pham
18 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Many creatives feel AI models are built on the theft of their work, scraping the internet—using their images, words, and music without consent, c...
PODCAST: AI vs. Creative Futurism—Dré Labre
11 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Listen now to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak, as I launch Season 2 of my podcast probes into the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity—r...
PODCAST: AI vs. 2025—My grains of thought
17 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The past year brought a wave of AI news that had major impact on the creative industry. In this roundup episode, it’s me on the mic, giving you my r...
PODCAST: AI vs. Meaning—Stephen Marche, Part 2
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Click here to catch up on Part 1 of my conversation with Stephen Marche.Listen now to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak, as I continue my series of podcast p...
PODCAST: AI vs. Meaning—Stephen Marche, Part 1
03 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Listen now to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak, as I continue my series of podcast probes into the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity—r...
BONUS PODCAST: Ronit Novak on the rise of AI and creator value
29 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Creative professionals, including those of us in media, have become accustomed to hearing that our jobs may soon be replaced by artificial intelligenc...
PODCAST: AI vs. Design—Una Janićijević on branding and beyond
29 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Listen now to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak, as I continue my series of podcast probes into the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity—r...
PODCAST: AI vs. Filmmaking—Walter Woodman of Shy Kids
22 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Listen now to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak, as I continue my series of podcast probes into the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity—r...
PODCAST: AI vs. Advertising—Ian Mackenzie of McCann Worldgroup
15 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Listen now to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak, as I build my series of podcast probes into the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity—reco...
PODCAST: AI vs. Photography—Boris Eldagsen and Miles Astray
08 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
THE GRAIN host Ronit Novak talks photography with Boris Eldagsen and Miles Astray, two international image artists whose recent contest pranks sparked...
THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak teaser trailer
30 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Check out the fresh trailer ahead of the first four weekly episodes starting October 8. And stay subscribed to THE GRAIN on Substack (and beyond!) for...