"I think he’s an absolute genius, and his way of thinking about creativity has totally shaped my way of thinking about creativity," Isaac Butler, host of Slate's Working podcast, says of composer and bandleader Darcy James Argue, a friend and the guest on his final episode. The two discuss the thought processes that go into Argue's compositions, as on his Secret Society ensemble's 2023 Nonesuch debut album, Dynamic Maximum Tension, and more. Argue—the Frankfurt Radio Big Band's new Composer in Residence—was recently named Arranger of the Year in the annual DownBeat Critics Poll, which includes Dynamic Maximum Tension among the year's best jazz albums. You can hear their conversation below via Spotify and Apple Podcasts:

Dynamic Maximum Tension pays homage to some of Argue’s key influences with original songs dedicated to R. Buckminster Fuller, Alan Turing, and Mae West. Cécile McLorin Salvant joins the ensemble for “Mae West: Advice.” Dynamic Maximum Tension’s eleven tracks, on two CDs, also include a response to Duke Ellington’s “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue,” titled “Tensile Curves,” among other originals. You can get it and hear it here.