How does one become a professional cartoonist? In this episode, I talk with New Yorker cartoonist Tom Toro, whose sharp wit clever drawings have kept readers laughing (and thinking) for more than fifteen years.

Toro’s debut book, And to Think We Started as a Book Club (out now from Simon & Schuster), gathers the best of his cartoons from over a decade and a half at The New Yorker. In our conversation, we dig into the realities of professional cartooning — from the weekly grind of submissions and rejection, to the balance between writing and drawing, and the creative fire that keeps artists like Tom doing it anyway.

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Cover of And to Think We Started as a Book Club …

IN THIS EPISODE

What it’s really like to be a New Yorker cartoonist — and why rejection is part of the job

How the relationship between writing and drawing defines the cartoon form

The secret to making a success New Yorker-worthy cartoon

Why embracing imperfection keeps art alive

How Tom feels about his body of work from the past 15 years

SHOW LINKS

Tom Toro’s Website — https://www.tomtoro.com

Tom Toro on Instagram — www.instagram.com/tbtoro

📕 And to Think We Started as a Book Club (Simon & Schuster, Oct 7 2025) — https://publishing.andrewsmcmeel.com/book/and-to-think-we-started-as-a-book-club/

SLO-FI Illustrations (my new Skillshare class) — GET 30 DAYS FREE WHEN USING THIS LINK — https://skl.sh/4nbo3KT

📗 Drawing is Important — https://geni.us/DrawingisImportant

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FIND ME ELSEWHERE

Work and Classes — http://www.tomfroese.com

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Daily Drawings — http://www.instagram.com/drawingisimportant

CREDITS

Music and cues by Mark Allan Falk — http://linktr.ee/semiathletic

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