The Great Discontent began in 2011 as an online interview platform founded by Ryan and Tina Essmaker in Brooklyn, devoted to in-depth conversations with artists, designers, entrepreneurs, and creative thinkers about the moments that shaped their careers. The interviews went deep — not the usual promotional circuit but sustained explorations of doubt, failure, persistence, and the messy reality of building a creative life. In 2014, the Essmakers launched a print edition that distilled the best of the platform into a beautifully designed magazine.
Each issue features long-form interviews and photography that capture creative people at their most honest — talking about the work that didn't succeed as readily as the work that did, about the periods of uncertainty that preceded every breakthrough, and about the role of community, mentorship, and sheer stubbornness in sustaining a practice over time. The design is clean and elegant, the photography intimate, and the overall effect is of a publication that treats the creative life as something worth examining with the same care and attention that its subjects bring to their work.
For anyone who has ever wondered how creative people actually build their lives — not the highlight reel but the whole messy, uncertain, exhilarating process — The Great Discontent provides the most honest answers in print.
Explore The Great Discontent at <a href="https://thegreatdiscontent.com/" target="\_blank">thegreatdiscontent.com