Hi All,

Next week Anjali and I will be at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, where we’re going to produce a daily podcast. Caught Up on Cannes is your daily download of everything you need to know about what’s happening in Cannes while the festival is on – all delivered in under 9 minutes. We’re making it in partnership with the lovely people at UK Advertising. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Have you been to Proper Fancy yet? No? Well, join us for our next gathering. It’s a bit like this newsletter but done on Zoom and we get to see what’s tickling your fancy this month.

Finally, we help a lot of brands, foundations, and arts and culture organisations save money on content production by running our content audits and value proposition workshops. If you’d like to know more about these hit that big pink button below.

That’s it for today. I’m off to dig out my swimming trunks, Hawaiian Tropic and microphone for the podcast. Enjoy the links and see you all next week.

Hugh

A Manifesto For Creativity by Natasha Khan (3-min read)

Afghan Star: How a TV Talent Show Became a Symbol of the New Afghanistan (podcast series)

The 25 Photos That Defined the Modern Age (list)

Formats Unpacked: A Place in the Sun (5 min read)

Democracy: An Animated Monologue by Margaret Atwood (6-min watch)

“I know there is always something to write about, but there is also always nothing” (4-min read)

A Guide to Content Design for Charities, Nonprofits, and the Third Sector (8-min read)

Talking to Strangers and the Power of Short-Term Intimacy (4-min read)

Conversations That Never Happened Between People Who Never Met (2-min watch)

Dangerous Ideas, Egos, and the Problem With Peeing in Space (4-min read)

Made by Storythings

How we can help you

Storythings is the content marketing agency of choice for some of the world’s most forward-thinking B2B brands and organisations. Here are 2 reasons to get in touch. 

1. “I don’t know what to do” – You’ve been creating content but it’s not having the impact you need. Talk to us about our Content Audit Workshop.

 2. “I need something making” – You know what you want to make but need an agency to make it. We can help make your podcast, video, publication, animation and newsletter. We do other things too. Get in touch for a FREE 30 minute consultation. 

A Manifesto For Creativity by Natasha Khan (3-min read)
We’re big fans of WePresent and their downloadable creative manifestos are always visually pleasing and smart. When the Bat For Lashes singer-songwriter Natasha Khan makes a piece of art, she considers it her child, and the process of creativity itself is like a birth. Here, she shares those steps for you to work with as you imagine your next project.

Afghan Star: How a TV Talent Show BEcame a Symbol of the New Afghanistan (podcast series)
Friend of Storythings Meera Kumar has just finished working on this wonderful series. Make this your next podcast binge: “From the fall of the Taliban until its return, people all over Afghanistan planned their lives around Afghan Star. People would pack into apartments. Villages would hook up generators to a single TV so crowds could watch. It launched a cultural revolution. This is the story behind it all – from how a ragtag team scrambled to make the show every week, to the dangers they faced for trying to push the country forward.”

The 25 Photos That Defined the Modern Age (list)
For the New York Times, a group of experts met to discuss the images that have best captured — and changed — the world since 1955. And before you start shouting at your screen, The Times is keen to point out that “The process of producing the final list was clearly not scientific. It was more of a debate among a certain group of people on a certain day and is best considered that way... Many of our questions weren’t resolved (indeed, are unresolvable), but the results — which aren’t ranked but rather presented in the order in which we discussed them — are nothing if not surprising.”

Formats Unpacked: A Place in the Sun (5 min read)
I’ve been dipping in and out of this daytime TV classic for almost a quarter of a century and never noticed the point Anna Faherty makes here about the format. Despite containing all the usual elements for this kind of show – a character (or, in this case, a pair of them), a specific location, a challenge and a series of events that lead to a conclusion – we barely get to know the house hunters themselves. Why is this? Read Anna’s explanation and get in touch if you have a favourite format you’d like to unpack.

Democracy: An Animated Monologue by Margaret Atwood (6-min watch)
This Margaret Atwood monologue for the FT is accompanied by an excellent piece of animation.

“I know there is always something to write about, but there is also always nothing” (4-min read)
This could be one of my favourite Red Hand Files yet. Nick Cave is asked by a fan whether upon meeting his heroes he was ever disappointed. He tells the story of a weekend spent at the home of Bryan Ferry who was away at the time but mysteriously appears in the swimming pool.

A Guide to Content Design for Charities, Nonprofits, and the Third Sector (8-min read)
Despite proven benefits in the government, health, and technology sectors, content design hasn’t been widely adopted by the third sector. Lauren Pope’s excellent guide explains what content design is, why it’s crucial, and shows you how to start implementing its principles.

Talking to Strangers and the Power of Short-Term Intimacy (4-min read)
I loved this issue of Why is This Interesting. Steph Balzer writes about how there’s a lot of research telling us that talking to strangers can massively benefit our happiness. It can also make us mentally sharper, healthier, less lonely, and more trustful and optimistic. So why don’t we do it more?

Conversations That Never Happened Between People Who Never Met (2-min watch)
This has been around a while but I’ve only just come across it. Cher chats to David Lynch, Will Smith chats to Chris Rock, and Jay-Z chats to Will Ferrell. Of course, none of these conversations ever happened.

Dangerous Ideas, Egos, and the Problem WIth Peeing in Space (4-min read)
Miguel Ferriera’s Creative Samba newsletter kicks off this week with a brilliant story about the challenges of having an ego when you need to pee in space. Us men really are irrational creatures.

We hope you've enjoyed this week’s newsletter. Pass it on to some of your non-subscriber friends - sharing would be really appreciated.

Thanks for reading. Till next week!

Hugh, Matt, Anjali and the whole team at Storythings.