The Create Unknown cover art

The Create Unknown

The Create Unknown

By: Unknown Media & Studio71
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 The Create Unknown interviews the most successful online creators to reveal how they got started and how they keep going. iDubbbz. Vsauce. Casey Neistat. iJustine. PsychicPebbles. We talk to the YouTubers, artists, and streamers who exemplify our mantra of “Make Something. Mean Something.” Part high-level analysis, part hopelessly stupid, Kevin Lieber and Matt Tabor from Vsauce2 dissect the complex business, the unpredictable drama, and the uncertain future of creating online. We’ll see you in The Create Unknown, Space Cowboys. For advertising opportunities please email PodcastPartnerships@Studio71us.com We wanna make the podcast even better, help us learn how we can: https://bit.ly/2EcYbu4 Privacy Policy: https://www.studio71.com/us/terms-and-conditions-use/#Privacy%20PolicyUnknown Media, LLC & Studio71 Economics Leadership Management & Leadership Social Sciences
Episodes
  • The Explosive Art of Phil Summers

    The Explosive Art of Phil Summers
    Apr 25 2026
    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 we’re sitting down with artist Phillip Summers to take a close-up look at his expertly handcrafted game guides. So join us as we strap on our hiking boots to climb the towering mountain of work it actually takes to make something like this from scratch. We do a proper retrospective on all of Phil’s work, from early projects to more refined guides, and we’re left wondering… where’s the line between fan art and original creation, and when does something like this become entirely new? From there, we dig deep into the nuts and bolts of what it takes to run an operation like Phil’s – things like printing, shipping, damaged copies, replacements, and the many other hurdles Summers had to figure out in real time. What happens when a passion project suddenly scales? And how much of being a creator is actually just logistics? We also talk through hisMetroid Kickstarter that blew up seemingly instantaneously, and shut down just as fast. Hearing it directly from Summers, we ask: what do you do when something clearly resonates with people but legally can’t exist? That takes us straight into a discussion on how Phillip’s canceled kickstarter project led to a direct collaboration with Capcom. We close out with a bird’s eye view on balancing creative work with real life, and what it actually costs to keep making things consistently. If you want to create something like this, what are you willing to sacrifice? Big thanks to our patrons, we’ll see you 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: discord.gg/vnRnr3rCzt 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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    1 hr and 25 mins
  • It’s Time to Start Slowmaxxing

    It’s Time to Start Slowmaxxing
    Apr 21 2026
    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 We’re kicking this week’s episode off with about as simple a premise as it gets: it’s time to SLOW DOWN.: We’re diving into what it actually means to “slow-max” your life, and why it feels like everything around us is pushing in the opposite direction. We start by giving a shoutout to our Canadian friends from Archspire who have gone fully independent with the band’s newest album. As great as it is, it leaves us wondering, what really happens when creators take on everything themselves? On paper it sounds liberating, but what is there a deeper level of complexity we’re actually signing up for? After that we take a big swing and stake our claim on the term “slowmaxxing,” the idea of deliberately choosing slower, more involved activities. We pick apart the benefits of doing things that were once commonplace: cooking from scratch, reading, building something, even just putting your phone in another room. But, if those things were so normal before, why do they feel harder now than they used to? And what did we lose when convenience removed all the friction? We dig into small, almost forgotten rituals like sharpening pencils, making popcorn by hand, listening to full albums, etc., and we dissect how those tiny processes used to anchor attention in a way that’s disappearing. Is that just nostalgia, or were those steps actually doing something important for how we think? To round things out, we zoom out for a real “big picture” perspective. If everything is faster, easier, and more optimized, why does it sometimes feel worse? Why does scrolling for hours leave you with nothing, while slower activities actually stick? And if the “fast” version of everything is becoming more common, is it actually… better? Or are we slowly forgetting how to engage with anything at all? Big thanks to our patrons, we’ll see you 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: discord.gg/vnRnr3rCzt 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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    1 hr and 55 mins
  • David Zucker’s 15 Rules of Comedy

    David Zucker’s 15 Rules of Comedy
    Apr 12 2026
    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 What actually makes something funny? And why do so many modern comedies feel… off? This week we’re finding the answers with comedy film legend David Zucker. It all starts with a deceptively simple idea: what if the secret to comedy is actually doing LESS? From there, we get a peak inside David’s brain and find out his entire philosophy for comedy. If comedy can be broken down into principles, why does so much of it still miss? And are creators overcomplicating something that used to feel effortless? We also explore the shockingly harsh reality of making comedy films in the modern media landscape. Why is it so hard to get the right movies made? Why do financiers push for big stars, even to the detriment of the project? And what happens when studios try to reboot something like The Naked Gun without fully understanding what made the original work in the first place? After that, we branch out into the creative process at large, and the myth that great comedy comes from chaos or being “out of your mind.” What if it’s actually the opposite? Structured, disciplined, and kind of… boring? Well, if you’re as curious as we are, you can find out all that and more in David’s newest course “Master Crash.” By the end, we’re left with a single question… if everyone can be funny now, what separates the wheat from the chaff? Big thanks to our patrons, we’ll see you 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: discord.gg/vnRnr3rCzt 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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    1 hr and 18 mins
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