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October 24, 2025 84 mins
Thanks to MAINGEAR for speeding up everything for us. Check out the VYBE line that’s making up the core of Matt’s new studio -- and use code CREATE for a free additional year of warranty on desktops: https://maingear.com/ref/656/ Join Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thecreateunknown This week’s episode opens with a dive into “the jakes”, a weird bit of bathroom slang coined by none other than…Cormac McCarthy? As usual, our niche historical ramblings lead us to talk about a major modern problem…why doesn’t anyone care about ANYTHING? From there, Kevin reflects on the daunting time and cost of his novel Sleep Warrior. Why spend years on something that might never pay off? In such a detached world, is caring even worth it? Next we dig into the shockingly difficult psychology behind caring. If dopamine makes the IDEA of success feel as good as the real thing, how do you stay motivated to finish? Plus, we get a little “Lieber Lore” that might explain Kevin’s ongoing pursuit of new creative ventures. To cap it off, Matt tells a story from South America about meeting strangers, seizing the moment, and why you need to stop waiting for movie-like “meet cutes” instead of creating your own stories. Thanks as always to our incredible patrons, we’ll be back next week! You love anime. You love tea. Get 10% off your order with code CREATE at The Dragon's Treasure: https://www.thedragonstreasure.com/ Buy our T-shirts: https://www.thecreateunknown.com/store/ Join our Discord to talk with artists, creators, and fans of the finer things in online life: http://discord.gg/tcu Apple: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownApple Spotify: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownSpotify Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownGooglePodcasts CREDITS: Hosts: Kevin Lieber and Matt Tabor Executive Producer: Ben Webster Editor: Spencer Vann "Created in the Unknown" theme by Basswaite: https://linktr.ee/Basswaite Theme by Mega Drive → http://megadrivemusic.com Opening Animation: Kidmograph City Animation: Eric Langlay "The Create Unknown" is produced by Unknown Media. CONNECT WITH US: » Chat with us on DISCORD: https://discord.gg/qAQV3Jw » Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/createunknown » Follow us on INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/thecreateunknown » Follow us on FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/thecreateunknown » View our website: https://thecreateunknown.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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