{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Terrible Creative","title":"Gold Star - Why Artists Keep Chasing Validation and How to Find Meaning Without the Awards","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3348,"description":"You ever buy a twenty-two-dollar airport sandwich and convinced yourself it was worth it?\nThat’s what this week’s episode is about — except the sandwich is a photography competition.\n\nIn Gold Star, Patrick unpacks his love-hate relationship with the American Photographic Artists’ Untitled competition — and what it reveals about the creative world’s obsession with approval. From spreadsheets of judges to award-show absurdities like the Oscars and Grammys, this episode digs into why artists still crave validation from systems they don’t even believe in.\n\nIt’s funny, frustrated, and a little too honest — a meditation on why we keep chasing the gold stars that will never love us back.\nFeaturing a clip from Jim Carrey’s Golden Globes speech, a story about Patrick’s first Houston Addy Award, and a Light Leak that challenges you to make something that doesn’t need anyone’s permission to exist.\n\nYou’ll hear about:\nWhy creative competitions feel like overpriced validation\nThe psychology of approval and the decay of validation\nWhat Jim Carrey can teach us about artistic hunger\nHow to stop mistaking opportunity for illusion\nWhy the real reward is the right to keep doing the work\nMentioned in this episode:\nAmerican Photographic Artists (APA Untitled Competition)\nJim Carrey’s 2016 Golden Globes speech\nThe Addy Awards (American Advertising Federation)\nRick Rubin, Diane Arbus, Van Gogh, Tom Sachs\nLight Leak: The Paradox of the Work\nWhat if you stopped making work for judges, algorithms, and invisible audiences — and started making the thing that’s too honest to explain?","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/qsOnUwMbUF-PHJZ7RwOm0Uh1mXJoqDwCz1nHN0z7r7Q/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8wMTIy/MjM3Yzk2YTUzZDE5/ZjNiODE0Y2MxOTgz/MGRiNC5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}