The Lavin Agency Speakers Bureau
A speakers bureau that represents the best original thinkers,
writers, and doers for speaking engagements.
A speakers bureau that represents the best original thinkers,
writers, and doers for speaking engagements.
The road to creativity is right beneath our feet—we just need to learn how to walk it.
How often do we see the world as if it were brand new? Do we ever stop to think about the strange things we need to do every day? That’s what makes NATHAN PYLE and his work on Strange Planet—an Internet sensation—so special. Deeply funny and adorably surreal, Nathan’s comic strip (now turned TV series!) follows the residents of an oddly familiar world as they act out their favorite rituals—along the way, Nathan holds up a mirror that exposes just how weird and wonderfully absurd we all are. He wants to show us that inspiration and creativity are everywhere, and that seeing things with fresh eyes can empower us to think and innovate in completely new ways.
“Pyle is a master at creating things that resonate. Everything he observes has the potential to become art.”— The Verge
Nathan Pyle has spent the last decade making art for the Internet—but it’s his latest creation, Strange Planet, that has truly taken the world by storm. A comic strip and Apple TV series with Nathan as Executive Producer, the series is so beloved because it’s all about taking a fresh look at the ordinary things we do every single day. Nathan asks: “Why do we think something is important and something else is less important?” He pokes and prods the social traditions we take for granted and shines a light on how weird they really are, from singing happy birthday to feeling like we need to tidy up our apartment before guests arrive.
Nathan is endlessly fascinated by everything – nothing is too small or trivial. His talks on creativity teaches us not only how we can recapture that wonder in our own daily lives, but how to channel it effectively. With unparalleled imagination, unforgettable storytelling, and contagious humor, he expertly flips traditional scripts on their head to reveal the layers of meaning beneath the ordinary world. The result is an entertaining, awe-inspiring presentation that will leave audiences with an expanded sense of what’s possible, at work and in their personal life.
Strange Planet is not Pyle’s first viral success story. He landed both a book deal and a job at BuzzFeed after a 12-part Reddit comic he created outlining how to survive living in New York City. The series was picked up by HarperCollins and later became the New York Times bestseller NYC Basic Tips and Etiquette.
Founder of the "I Matter" Poetry and Art Competition Teen Vogue 21 Under 21 Honoree Winner of the Princeton Prize in Race Relations
Award-Winning Artist Advocate for the Legacy of Nina Simone
World-Renowned Artist Winner of the US Department of State Medal of Arts Guggenheim Fellow
Founder and Director, MIT Self-Assembly Lab Associate Professor of Design Research, MIT
Author of Jerks at Work and Job Therapy NYU Professor of Psychology
Bestselling author of Future Tense Clinical psychologist and researcher Digital health technology entrepreneur
Associate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at Wharton 2024 "Top 40 Under 40" Business Professor Author, Femonomics (Forthcoming)
Prof. of Social Psychology & Organizational Behavior at Stanford Director of the Polarization and Social Change Lab
Performance psychologist Head of the MLB Players Association Mental Health Division Former Director of Mental Conditioning for the New York Giants Author of Life as Sport
Author of Grit, the #1 New York Times Bestseller | Pioneering Researcher on Grit, Perseverance, and the Science of Success
2024 Nobel Prize Winner | 3rd Most Cited Economist in the World | MIT Institute Professor | Bestselling Co-Author of Why Nations Fail and Power and Progress
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Creator of The 1619 Project | Executive Producer of the Emmy Award-Winning 1619 Project Hulu Docuseries | MacArthur Genius
Nike's Former Chief Marketing Officer | Author of Emotion by Design
CEO of The Atlantic | Former Editor-in-Chief of WIRED
Sticking to the status quo has become a death knell for organizations both big and small. In today’s era of rapid change, constant reinvention is necessary. Unfortunately, this relentless pursuit can also have unintended, and counterintuitive, consequences of draining creativity and blocking innovation.
Here to show us how to reclaim those qualities is Nathan Pyle, the man behind Internet sensation Strange Planet. In his captivating, funny talks, Pyle invites us to explore his world as an artist, illustrator, and creator. He uses Strange Planet—now a #1 bestselling book and online community with more than five million followers—as a model, outlining his own creative process, and demonstrating how we, too, can build complex and endlessly fascinating worlds of our own.