Your friends in podcasting, Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness, participate in a “side project” called The Art Life with good pal (and creator of many Chillpak Hollywood Hour theme songs) Jon Lawlor. Each week they hold each other’s feet to the fire as they try to free up their creativity, make it manifest in the world AND encourage each other to live more artful, authentic lives. In the first Chillpak episode of 2024 (Season 3, Episode 100), they discussed their intentions for 2024 and how they intended to set their compasses to their true North(s). In this week’s final episode of the year, Dean, Phil and Jon look back at what was said, share how they feel about their artistic year and discuss how their focus is evolving as we journey into 2025. Happy New Year, one and all!

Dean and Phil discuss Leap Day, tackle the challenges and joys of teaching (improv and acting respectively) and then open the Chillpak morgue to remember a novelist-turned-adventurer, a talk show host-turned-soap opera producer, a quick draw specialist-turned-western star, a psych-rock innovator-turned-dream pop icon, and a mathematician-turned-space program hero in “Celebrity Deaths”. Dean offers up analysis on the “38%” in “Explanation of the Week”. Then, after some appreciation of a Canadian television series (available on Hulu), John Mulaney, David Byrne (and the “Sack Lunch Bunch”), the gents tackle an email from a loyal listener and frequent contributor about the recent practice of releasing “de-colorized” modern movies. Finally, a couple more great movie monologues performed by women get discussed. Something for everyone? We like to think so!