The case for making art when the world is on fire | Amie McNee

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Case for Making Art When the World Is on Fire" by Amy McNee

Podcast Information:

• Title: TED Talks Daily
• Host/Author: TED
• Episode: The Case for Making Art When the World Is on Fire | Amy McNee
• Release Date: June 12, 2025

---

Introduction

In the TEDxManchester talk titled "The Case for Making Art When the World Is on Fire," author Amy McNee passionately advocates for the essential role of creativity and artistic expression in times of global crisis. Delivered amidst a backdrop of escalating global challenges, McNee's discourse seeks to reshape cultural narratives around art, emphasizing its significance not just as a form of personal expression but as a vital tool for societal resilience and change.

The Importance of Creativity in Crisis

McNee begins by acknowledging the prevalent sentiment of the world being "on fire," a metaphor for the myriad crises engulfing society. She addresses the common feeling of helplessness individuals experience in such times and proposes that engaging in creative practices can restore a sense of agency and focus.

Notable Quote:

"The world is literally and figuratively on fire. And I am about to tell you that you need to make art."
[03:16]

Challenging Cultural Narratives About Art

A significant portion of McNee's talk challenges the societal perception that relegates art to a frivolous or non-essential activity. She critiques the cultural tendency to view creativity as an indulgence reserved for children or the retired, thereby marginalizing its importance in adult, especially high-pressure, lives.

Notable Quote:

"We're living in a culture that sidelines the creative act, that says it's something for children or something for the retired. It's an indulgence. It's a little bit selfish. It's frivolous. It's decoration."
[05:10]

Creativity as a Pillar of Self-Development

McNee posits that creativity is a missing pillar in the contemporary focus on self-improvement, which heavily emphasizes optimization and productivity. She argues that activities like exercising, meditating, and optimizing one's sleep are frequently promoted, while creative endeavors are often neglected despite their profound impact on personal growth and fulfillment.

Notable Quote:

"Creativity is the missing pillar of self development."
[07:45]

Art as a Means of Agency

In an era marked by information overload and pervasive existential anxiety, McNee highlights creativity as a pathway to reclaiming personal agency. She asserts that creating art empowers individuals to enact change and impose order amidst chaos, thereby counteracting feelings of meaninglessness and helplessness.

Notable Quote:

"When we create, we have agency in a world that says that we're too small to enact change."
[09:30]

Reclaiming Attention through Art

Addressing the modern dilemma of attention scarcity, McNee emphasizes the importance of dedicating time to creative activities as a form of rebellion against the consumption-driven culture. She underscores that in an age where attention is a commodified resource, investing it in creating art is a powerful statement of autonomy and intentionality.

Notable Quote:

"Reclaim the attention that has been robbed of you. And I want you to use it to make something."
[12:10]

Art as Activism

McNee fervently advocates for viewing artistic creation as a form of activism. She contends that art possesses the unique ability to move individuals on a human level, inspiring change more profoundly than policy or legislation alone. By creating and sharing art, individuals contribute to cultural and societal transformation.

Notable Quote:

"Making art is activism. It is inherently political to use your voice and to take up space with whatever it is you're making."
[13:50]

Legacy and Human Connection through Art

Concluding her talk, McNee reflects on the concept of legacy, urging individuals to leave behind creative imprints that celebrate human connection and resilience. She challenges the audience to transcend transient distractions and invest in artistic endeavors that will endure beyond their lifetimes, thereby enriching the collective human experience.

Notable Quote:

"What is your legacy going to be? Your art is the antidote to so many people's pain, yet you are keeping it to yourself."
[14:30]

Conclusion

Amy McNee's compelling argument underscores the indispensable role of art and creativity in navigating and mitigating the crises of the modern world. By redefining creativity as a fundamental aspect of self-development and societal resilience, McNee empowers individuals to harness their innate creative instincts as tools for personal fulfillment and collective transformation. Her message resonates as a clarion call to prioritize artistic expression, not as an optional pastime, but as a necessary endeavor for a thriving, adaptive, and compassionate society.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

1. "The world is literally and figuratively on fire. And I am about to tell you that you need to make art." — Amy McNee [03:16]
2. "We're living in a culture that sidelines the creative act, that says it's something for children or something for the retired. It's an indulgence. It's a little bit selfish. It's frivolous. It's decoration." — Amy McNee [05:10]
3. "Creativity is the missing pillar of self development." — Amy McNee [07:45]
4. "When we create, we have agency in a world that says that we're too small to enact change." — Amy McNee [09:30]
5. "Reclaim the attention that has been robbed of you. And I want you to use it to make something." — Amy McNee [12:10]
6. "Making art is activism. It is inherently political to use your voice and to take up space with whatever it is you're making." — Amy McNee [13:50]
7. "What is your legacy going to be? Your art is the antidote to so many people's pain, yet you are keeping it to yourself." — Amy McNee [14:30]

---

Final Remarks: Amy McNee's TEDx talk serves as a powerful reminder of the transformative power of creativity. In urging individuals to embrace their artistic impulses, especially in tumultuous times, McNee offers a pathway to personal empowerment and societal healing. Her insights challenge us to rethink the value we place on art and to recognize it as a vital component of a resilient and meaningful life.

Transcript

[Elise Hume]

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hume. It feels like the world's on fire, and every day that feeling seems to grow. It's easy to feel overwhelmed and unsure of what we can do as individuals. But in this Talk, author Amy McNee shares why having a creative practice can provide us a sense of agency and focus. And she makes the case for why the world needs more art, not less, in this time of crisis.

[Capital One Representative]

Ready to order?

[Capital One Customer]

Yes. We're earning unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment with a Capital One Saver card. So let's just get one of everything.

[Chef]

Everything.

[Capital One Waitstaff]

Fire everything. The Capital One Saver card is at table 27 and they're earning unlimited 3% cash back.

[Chef]

Yes, Chef.

[Capital One Customer]

This is so nice.

[Capital One Waitstaff]

Had a feeling you'd want 3% cash back on dessert.

[Capital One Customer]

Ooh, tiramisu.

[Capital One Waitstaff]

Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment with the Capital One Saver Card. Capital One what's in your wallet?

[Chef]

Terms apply. See capitalone.com for details.

[Apple Pay Representative]

This message is brought to you by Apple Pay. If you've ever stood in the middle of a Tokyo convenience store fumbling for coins while a queue behind you grows dangerously long, you'll understand why. I now use Apple Pay for basically everything. It's already on my phone, which is usually in my hand anyway, and you just tap with Apple Pay wherever you see the contactless symbol. From Bento boxes to bullet trains to booking hotels on the fly, it just works. What surprised me most, though, is how genuinely seamless it is. It makes paying feel less like a transaction and more like a tap and go. Superpower security is built in with face ID so your card number is always secured. Even if I somehow lose my phone, my Apple Pay information stays protected, which is great because I can't even keep track of my umbrella, let alone a wallet. Set up Apple Pay now and enjoy an easier way to pay. Whether you're picking up groceries or on the go, pay the Apple Apple Pay is a service provided by Apple Payment Services llc, a subsidiary of Apple Inc. Any card used in Apple Pay is offered by the card issuer. Terms apply.

[Capital One Representative]

This episode is sponsored by SimpliSafe. If you're thinking about upgrading your home security, I cannot recommend SimpliSafe enough. I've been using it and their new active Guard outdoor protection is seriously next level. It's AI powered cameras plus real live agents keeping an eye on things outside before anything bad happens. It's not just Reacting after the fact. If someone's lurking, Simplisafe steps in. Agents can talk to them, flip on spotlights, even call the police. It's like having an extra set of eyes watching over your home. For me, it's become a nightly ritual. Setting the system before bed and knowing everything's protected. Total peace of mind. You can get 50% off your new SimpliSafe system with professional monitoring. And your first month free at SimpliSafe. SimplySafe.com TED Talks Daily. That's SimpliSafe.com TED Talks Daily. There's no safe like Simplisafe.

[Chef]

The world is literally and figuratively on fire. And I am about to tell you that you need to make art. And more than that, I'm going to argue that the creative act is a huge part in how we extinguish and put out these fires. And I can, like, almost hear you. You're like, oh, Amy, that's me. I'm Amy. Amy, that is so cute and such a lovely idea. And it's so sweet that you think that making stuff is going to help the world, but I write horny fairy fantasy novels, and I really don't think that that's going to do anything. And, like, I hear you, but give me 15 minutes because I want to change your mind. We're living in a culture that sidelines the creative act, that says it's something for children or something for the retired. It's an indulgence. It's a little bit selfish. It's frivolous. It's decoration. It is a narrative that is actively harming us. It is repressing our innate instincts to create. And today, we're going to look at why making art is going to make your lives better and the world better, why art is so incredibly important to you. And before I move on with this conversation, I just want to make sure that none of you are, like, opting out of this conversation, because I am talking to you, and I know that we use the word art and artist and we kind of pedestal it and we say, I'm not that good. I'm not great at art. I can't draw. I am talking to you today when I talk about art, when I say the word creativity, I'm talking about anything from making a YouTube channel where you talk about your favorite Pokemon cards, to singing, to cooking, to the creative act. Art is anything we do where we create something with the intention to connect. So none of you are getting away with it today when I talk about how we need your Art, I am talking to you. This conversation is about you. Even if you don't have a creative bone in your body, I want to introduce you to someone you may already know. This is Sally Rooney. She is an incredibly successful fiction author. She writes amazing books. A lot of you will have read them. And she's seriously impacted my life. And Sally says, I've given my life to writing novels. I don't know whether they are good. They are. But even if they are really good, they're not going to save the planet. Maybe I ought to be spending my time doing something more productive. And that is very possibly the case. This is what is happening to our culture. This woman who creates profound, impactful books is doubting her impact on the world. We are constantly sidelining our creativity to being something that is not productive. There are bigger things happening in the world. How could I be playing the piano? I work with thousands of creatives, thousands of artists, and I'm getting dozens of DMs each week that say, I don't know how I can be spending my time at my piano when there is so much pain in the world. What I need all of us to realize today is that we need to be at the piano making our art more than ever as we navigate these incredibly difficult things. Art is not just for kids. Art is not just for adults. Art is not just for peacetime. Art is now. We need it now. So I'm going to just go on a big rant where I tell you why every single one of you needs to be making art. Okay? Creativity is the missing pillar of self development. We are a culture that is obsessed with optimization and productivity. We've got podcasts coming out of our asses about how to do breath work and be the best versions of ourselves. We're looking at meditation practices, sleep practices, exercise practices. How can we optimize and be the best versions of ourself? And no one's talking about creativity. No one's talking about making stuff. It is the missing pillar of self development. If we are going to look at how to improve ourselves as humans, sure, do your 20 minute exercise, but where's your 20 minutes of playing around with the pens? Where's your 20 minutes of singing in the shower? We should be considering this because if we want to live delicious, full lives, we need to be considering our art. Creativity is the missing pillar of self development. It needs to be something that you think about when it comes to how you look after yourself. Making art gives you agency in a world where we have little control. So Creativity is our power to enact change and bring order to the chaos that we are currently experiencing. So many of us are experiencing a sort of existential depression. This idea that we consume the news and we're like, I can't do anything about this. I have no agency, I have no power. I have no purpose. And we're seeing like an epidemic of meaninglessness. Like, we just don't feel like there's any use to us. And because we have this huge, like, what's the point of going forward? We see a lot of people relying on lateral experiences. So because there's no point to our future, it's all hopeless. We're instead indulging in things like phone addiction, gambling addiction, porn addiction, game addiction. I truly believe a solve here when we are consuming so much hard news about the world, and it's so reasonable for us to feel so terribly depressed about the future is to come back to our art, to come back to our creativity. And please remember, you can be creative in so many different ways. Again, no one is exempt from this conversation. When we create, we have agency in a world that says that we're too small to enact change. When I write my novels, I'm the God of my own little realm. I get to tell them what to do. I get to make the change. I see my impact on the world. Creativity is our power to enact change. It is how we become powerful. And so many people are leaving our creativity on the sideline, discarding it as just play. It is so powerful to pick up whatever instrument it is you want to pick up and make something. The power is in your hands. You're sitting on the throne. When you make art, another beautiful reason to create is because it reclaims your most valuable resource, which has been robbed of us, and that's our attention. In a society that profits from you being stuck on your phone, giving your attention to art is a rebellious act. That means when you write that little piece of poetry, it isn't just a nice thing to do with your time, it is a revolutionary thing to do with your time. The other day I figured out that if you spend three hours a day on your phone, from the age of, I think it was 15 to the average age of death, 79, you will have spent 10 years straight on your phone. No sleeping, just 10 years straight on your phone. And three hours a day is a. I'm going to say a fair amount of us are using those numbers. I want you to reclaim the attention that has been robbed of you. And I want you to use it to make something. We are a culture of consumption and we've forgotten how to make. We need less consumption, more creation. Bring back your attention, reclaim it. It is yours to do with whatever you want to do. You have so much to make. There's so many things that you have to give this world. I want you to take some of those 10 years back from Zuckerberg and give it to a project you want to work on. Making art is activism. I had a client that I worked with who was in the science space, and they were working in a climate change sector, and she was miserable. She was really, really struggling, and all she wanted to do was write her romance novels, but she felt so guilty for taking herself away from the climate change space to do something that is so trivial and so frivolous. And again, this is the narrative that we have to break down. We have to understand that art is activism, that it is inherently political to use your voice and to take up space with whatever it is you're making. Legislation and policy are important, but I am moved by art and the culture is moved by art. We are impacted on a very human level when we consume creations. It is political. You can change the world with your art. Use your creations to seek the change you want in this world. Making art is activism. This is a DM I got the other day. It says, what is the point of making art in this world when AI is just going to do it better and cheaper anyway? There's no reason to create anymore. I'm hearing this all the time. What's the point? There's no reason. What's the point? There's no reason. There has never been a better reason to create art than the incoming storm of AI. We need humans making things. The beauty and magic of art is that connection, that human connection. I replied to this DM and I said, we consume art to feel closer to humanity. Lean into the humanity behind your art. Lean into the vulnerability, the mess, the imperfections. People are going to start craving it. Do not ever come to me with the excuse of, AI is going to make art. I will sit you down and force you to draw something. I'm going to appeal to your ego for a minute and just ask you about your legacy. What do you want to leave this world with? Artists dare to imagine a different world. Creatives never leave the world the way they found it. You know, we can depart this place having spent 10 years straight or more on our phones and having just left the world with a memory of horror and fear and being very depressed. About what's going on. Or we could leave this world with a little bit of you in art form. Whether that is recipes that you pass down to your kids, whether that's. My dad writes me poetry. That's his legacy. I'm not asking you to become a world famous artist, so I will absolutely back you if that's what you choose to do. But I am asking you to start making stuff, start taking up space. Leave a legacy. Leave this world with something beautiful. We're human beings. We are just born to create things. What is your legacy going to be? Artist. Your art is the antidote to so many people's pain, yet you are keeping it to yourself. I think we've been taught that creativity is a selfish endeavor. That when we go and play the piano or we go and do our YouTube creation, that this is something just for you, that it's selfish. The act of making art is inherently generous. Your art is the antidote to so many people's pain, yet you keep it to yourself. If my dad hadn't written me these beautiful, beautiful forms of poetry, like, do you know how much they healed in me? And the vulnerability it took my father to give them to me. It is beautiful. The way you're hoarding your creations is selfish. Art isn't to be sidelined. You are inherently creative with something very beautiful to give this world. I need you to start taking it seriously. You are so needed. Thank you.

[Elise Hume]

That was Amy McNee speaking at TEDxManchester in England in 2025. If you're curious about TED's curation, find out [e-mail] curationguidelines and that's it for today's show. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Greene, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar, and Tonsika Sarmarnivon. It was mixed by Christopher Faizy Bogan. Additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Ballarezzo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.

[Chef]

Ready to order?

[Capital One Customer]

Yes. We're earning unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment with a Capital One Saver Card. So let's just get one of everything.

[Chef]

Everything.

[Capital One Waitstaff]

Fire. Everything. The Capital One Saver card is at table 26, and they're earning unlimited 3% cash back.

[Chef]

Yes, chef.

[Capital One Customer]

This is so nice.

[Capital One Waitstaff]

Had a feeling you'd want 3% cash back on dessert.

[Capital One Customer]

Ooh, tiramisu.

[Capital One Waitstaff]

Earn unlimited 3% cash back on dining and entertainment with the Capital One Saver card Capital One what's in your wallet?

[Chef]

Terms apply. See capital1.com for details.

[Apple Pay Representative]

This message is brought to you by Apple Pay. If you've ever stood in the middle of a Tokyo convenience store fumbling for coins while a queue behind you grows dangerously long, you'll understand why. I now use Apple Pay for basically everything. It's already on my phone, which is usually in my hand anyway, and you just tap with Apple Pay wherever you see the contactless symbol. From bento boxes to bullet trains to booking hotels on the fly, it just works. What surprised me most, though, is how genuinely seamless it is. It makes paying feel less like a transaction and more like a tap and go. Superpower Security is built in with face id, so your card number is always secured. Even if I somehow lose my phone, my Apple Pay information stays protected, which is great because I can't even keep track of my umbrella, let alone a wallet. Set up Apple Pay now and enjoy an easier way to pay. Whether you're picking up groceries or on the go, pay the Apple way. Apple Pay is a service provided by Apple Payment Services, llc, a subsidiary of Apple Inc. Any card used in Apple Pay is offered by the card issuer. Terms apply.

[Capital One Customer]

Be Adventurous in the sun Be protected in the sun Be confident in the sun Be fearless in the sun with Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen as experts in mineral sunscreens for nearly 30 years, we've earned awards for our high quality products and the trust of healthcare professionals. Embrace every moment in the sun with your family and Blue Lizard by your side. Be fearless in the sun. Shop Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen now on Amazon.com.