The Moth
The Moth
Arts
The MOOD Podcast
by Matt Jacob
Today: #5 in Arts on our combined chart.
Chart positions today
If you like The MOOD Podcast, try…
Fresh Air
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KQED and Snap Studios
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Ranking history
History builds daily. We started tracking this show on the Arts chart recently, so the trend line appears after a second day of data.
View as table
| Date | Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 1 | #3 | #5 |
About the show
The MOOD Podcast is a long-form conversation series exploring photography, creativity, identity, and the inner life of artists. Hosted by Matt Jacob, the show moves beyond technique and trends to examine why people make work, how creative voices are formed, and what it takes to sustain a meaningful artistic life.
Through thoughtful, unhurried conversations with photographers, filmmakers, and creative thinkers from around the world, the podcast explores themes of process, mental health, ethics, purpose, legacy, and the tension between art and industry. Episodes are grounded, reflective, and often philosophical, offering listeners provocation of thought rather than formulaic answers to copy.
The MOOD Podcast is less about instruction and more about understanding, aimed at emerging and established creatives who care not just about what they make, but why they make it.
At its core, The MOOD Podcast is the art of conversation, one frame at a time.
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@the_moodpodcast
Instagram: @the_moodpodcast /@mattyj_ay
Website: https://themoodpodcast.com
Latest episodes
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Andrea Modica's answer to the question every photographer asks eventually: what's the point? E134
September 24, 2026 · 1 hr 1 minI sat down with Andrea Modica, the ‘Italian Story’ photographer (as well many other books) who has made every photograph since 1980 with an 8x10 view camera and prints all her work herself. Andrea studied with Richard Benson at Yale…
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Your Worst Thoughts Arrive Dressed as Your Best Ideas - Moments of Mood, 4.1
September 17, 2026 · 19 minIn this week’s Moments of Mood episode, you’ll learn why I believe meditation is the most direct route to a photographic voice that is unmistakably yours, and exactly what it does to your attention, your creativity and the way you see. I…
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Richard Sharum On 600 Deaths And His New Book 'American Homicide', E132
September 10, 2026 · 1 hr 51 minIn this week’s podcast episode you'll learn why the photographs you're most proud of are probably the ones hiding you, and what a documentary photographer who has stood at 600 deaths says it actually costs to make work that changes…
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Work Does Not Speak For Itself - Moments of Mood, 4.0
September 3, 2026 · 13 minIn this week’s Moments of Mood episode, you'll learn the 4 questions curators, juries, and publishers silently ask about every photography project, and how to answer them in 100 words so your work actually gets seen. I take apart the idea…
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Why Should Anyone Care About Your Photography? Shana Lopes, E130
August 27, 2026 · 58 minLearn exactly what an SFMOMA photography curator looks for, what she passes over, and how to get your work seen without an MFA, a gallery, or a 6-paragraph artist statement. I sat down with Shana Lopes, Assistant Curator of Photography at…
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Stop Explaining Your Photographs - Moments of Mood, 3.9
August 20, 2026 · 15 minIn this Moments of Mood episode, I get into the question of whether we as photographers should explain our images or let them try and ‘speak for themselves’, why the readings you want to correct are actually a map to your photographic…
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Why Your Photos Are Boring - Photographer David Chancellor Explains..., E128
August 13, 2026 · 1 hr 18 minOn this episode, I sat down with David Chancellor, the award-winning documentary photographer behind ‘Hunters’, ‘Handle Like Eggs’, and the Taylor Wessing Prize-winning portrait ‘Huntress with Buck’, for a conversation about the moral grey…
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One Photograph Is All You Get Now, and Why That's Good News for Photographers - Moments of Mood, 3.8
August 6, 2026 · 11 minAttention has collapsed, and every photographer feels it. In this Moments of Mood episode, I make the case that this might be the best thing to happen to serious photography in a generation. You'll learn why the photographers who matter…