May 24, 2026 · 55 min · 13 segments
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…
Jimmy TurrellGuest
Katy CowanHost
They've got, they've, they've got social media, so I, I, I'd rather have just the bliss of getting on a bus whenever you want when you were seven years old and going wherever you want, and you got called in at the end of the day sort of thing.
... that's a really interesting point, because I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and I wonder if people of our generation, that was something that really helped in our success.
Do you think that that freedom, that childhood where you were allowed to take risks very early on, do you think that helped?
Well, firstly, I had, like, a mum and dad, neither who were, were, w- were, um...
No, they weren't not, not into art, but they weren't creative anyway, anyway.
Me dad was a, was a fireman, Mum was a, a cleaner, and then she became, like, a, a...
She went back to college and became, like, a, a keep fit teacher, like an aerobics instructor.
I think they, they realized I was only good at one thing, you know? I was crap at everything else.
But th- that, that idea of complete freedom and just being able to go out and explore.
That's what I'm try- when, when students ask us now about, like, you know, "Should I be studying any specific graphic design, you know, books or magazines or whatever?" I think you just gotta take it all in, man.
And, and, and that's whether that's me going down the coast to Whitley Bay and, like, seeing a weird smashed bit of pavement that I remember, and the weird, kinda happy accident, like, you know.
They've got, they've, they've got social media, so I, I, I'd rather have just the bliss of getting on a bus whenever you want when you were seven years old and going wherever you want, and you got called in at the end of the day sort of thing.
... that's a really interesting point, because I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and I wonder if people of our generation, that was something that really helped in our success.
Do you think that that freedom, that childhood where you were allowed to take risks very early on, do you think that helped?
Well, firstly, I had, like, a mum and dad, neither who were, were, w- were, um...
No, they weren't not, not into art, but they weren't creative anyway, anyway.
Me dad was a, was a fireman, Mum was a, a cleaner, and then she became, like, a, a...
She went back to college and became, like, a, a keep fit teacher, like an aerobics instructor.
I think they, they realized I was only good at one thing, you know? I was crap at everything else.
But th- that, that idea of complete freedom and just being able to go out and explore.
That's what I'm try- when, when students ask us now about, like, you know, "Should I be studying any specific graphic design, you know, books or magazines or whatever?" I think you just gotta take it all in, man.
And, and, and that's whether that's me going down the coast to Whitley Bay and, like, seeing a weird smashed bit of pavement that I remember, and the weird, kinda happy accident, like, you know.
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