Gareth Branwyn in Slumberland
From Plutopia News Network by Plutopia News Network
February 23, 2026 · 1h 4m
About this episode
Gareth Branwyn discusses his workshop on creativity through dreaming and shares insights on dream practices and their impact on his work.
The Plutopia News Network podcast welcomes writer, editor, and media critic Gareth Branwyn to discuss his workshop “Dreaming for Creatives,” which focuses less on dream symbolism or interpretation and more on mining the “dream-time mind” for usable creative material. Gareth and the Plutopians reminisce about early-1990s zine and cyberculture scenes ( The WELL, FactSheet 5, bOING bOING, Mondo 2000, “Jargon Watch,” and “Street Tech”), then shift into Branwyn’s lifelong dream practice, including lucid dreaming as a teen and techniques to improve dream recall, especially using a “dream recall tally sheet” and the habit of staying still upon waking to retrieve dream fragments. He describes three liminal sources of creativity: “night thoughts” (hypnagogic scribbles), “night bulbs” (clear middle-of-the-night insights), and dreams themselves. He gives examples of how these have shaped his work and even his name. The conversation also touches on “second sleep,” sleep tracking, recurring flying dreams, sleep paralysis and its eerie “presence” hallucinations, and the idea that paying attention to dreaming, like meditation, can deepen one’s relationship with consciousness — while still…
People in this episode
Host: Plutopia News Network
Guest: Gareth Branwyn
Topics covered
- dreaming
- creativity
- lucid dreaming
- sleep
- zine culture
- cyberculture
- consciousness
Keywords
- dream recall
- lucid dreaming
- night thoughts
- sleep paralysis
- creativity techniques
- dream fragments
- second sleep
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Dreaming for Creatives, The WELL, FactSheet 5, bOING bOING, Mondo 2000, Jargon Watch, Street Tech
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