The Creative Boom Podcast

It's time for the Spark – our weekly bonus episode where we step away from the work and get to know our guest a little better through a round of quick, fun questions. No prep, no warning, no idea what's coming.

This week, host Katy Cowan puts Malika Favre on the spot, and the result is exactly the sort of relaxed, slightly daft chat you'd have with a mate over a glass of wine. They cover the small things that instantly improve a working day, what Malika's creative style would sound like if it had a theme tune, and the dream dinner party she'd throw, given two guests, dead or alive. There's a trend she's quietly very over, a surprising skill she'd love to steal from another world entirely, and the one country's food she'd happily eat for the rest of her life.

And then there's the question Malika was secretly hoping she'd be asked – which leads to a rather cheeky confession about her younger years. A short, warm, and very good-natured way to round off the week. Enjoy!

Artist and illustrator Malika Favre joins host Katy Cowan for a wide-ranging conversation about building a creative career on your own terms. They talk about why Malika left London after fifteen years for the slower, sunnier rhythm of Barcelona, and the strange guilt of trying to take it easy in a city that never lets you.

Malika reflects on becoming an illustrator later in life at 28, why the years she spent as an in-house designer at studios like Airside gave her the business head that helped her survive freelancing, and how she resisted being put in a box – even turning down lucrative erotic commissions after her Kama Sutra book made her name, so she could keep that side of her work personal.

They get into the real state of the industry too: shrinking budgets, impossible briefs, and what AI means for illustrators starting out today. Malika makes the case that anything handmade and deeply personal will only become more valuable because no one can copy what comes from within.

Along the way, there's talk of growing up without a TV in the suburbs of Paris, the strong women who shaped her, the oversharing of vulnerability online, and her side venture, I Can't Afford This But Maybe She Can, which gives a voice to independent makers. Honest, funny and full of hard-won wisdom, it's a chat about stamina, taste, and why there will always be space for people with talent.

Artist Jimmy Turrell returns for The Spark, where things get a little weirder and a lot more chaotic.

This week, we talk about the creative power of curiosity, the music that still puts Jimmy into a flow state, and why some of the best ideas come from getting out into the world and actually living a bit. There's also chat about rave culture, Anthony Bourdain, creative rituals, burnout, weighted blankets, album covers, childhood memories and an unexpectedly passionate tangent about eating snails.

Somewhere underneath all the nonsense is a surprisingly thoughtful conversation about creativity, imagination and staying open to life. This one definitely feels like the bit of the night where everyone should’ve gone home hours ago, but nobody wants the conversation to end.

Jimmy Turrell joins host Katy Cowan for a sprawling, funny and unexpectedly moving conversation about creativity, working-class roots, growing up in the North East, and staying human in an increasingly artificial world. From childhood adventures that sound straight out of The Goonies to surviving bread factory shifts and discovering rave culture in the '90s, Jimmy reflects on the freedom and chaos that shaped his imagination long before social media arrived.

The celebrated graphic artist and illustrator also opens up about carving out a creative career without ever really fitting neatly into one box. He shares how his analogue, hands-on process accidentally future-proofed his work in the age of AI, why collaboration has become more important than ever, and how learning to embrace uncertainty can lead to your best work. Along the way, Katy and Jimmy dive into publishing, burnout, music, fashion, working-class identity, and the pressures creatives face as technology rapidly reshapes the industry.

There's also plenty of laughter. Expect Geordie accents, stories from Newcastle and Liverpool in the '90s, conversations about creativity versus commerce, and a refreshingly honest discussion about what it really takes to build a lasting creative life. Beneath all the humour lies something bigger: a conversation about originality, resilience, curiosity, and protecting your creative spirit as the world keeps changing around you.

Right, this is where things get a bit more… unhinged. In this bonus episode, Katy and James Martin ditch the big topics and just have a proper chat. It's looser, more playful, and exactly the kind of conversation you'd have if you were sat next to each other at the pub after the mics were meant to be off.

They get into the small stuff that says a lot. The daily rituals that keep you sane. The trends that quietly drive you mad. The advice you wish would disappear forever. And yes, it goes exactly where you'd expect… pasta shapes, rave memories, and a few moments where you wonder how you're both still alive.

There's honesty in here, too. The kind that sneaks up on you when you stop trying to be clever and just talk. It's messy, funny, and full of those little insights that only come out when you're not overthinking it.

And, of course, it ends with a question for the next guest that might reveal more about someone than anything else. Don't take it too seriously. That's kind of the point.