12 August 2026
Episode 362- Living a Creative Life with Dave Holmes (MTV, Esquire)
Diabetics Doing Things Podcast
About
Dave Holmes spent the late '90s and early 2000s as one of the faces of MTV,
and these days he's a sharp, funny voice at Esquire — but before any of
that, he spent six years being told he had type 2 diabetes when he actually
had type 1. This week, Rob sits down with Dave to talk about that
misdiagnosis, the strange cluster of friends who were diagnosed around the
same time, and a diabetes-age chart Rob saw at a conference that will
change how you think about who gets T1D.
From there, the conversation turns into a real, unpolished look at what it
takes to live a creative life. Dave and Rob are both working through Julia
Cameron's The Artist's Way right now — morning pages, artist dates, and all
— and they get honest about guilt, perfectionism, and the fear of putting
out work that isn't ready. Dave, a professional writer with a book and a
byline at one of the biggest magazines in the country, admits he still
feels like a fraud turning in a rough draft. It's a good reminder that
"getting easier" was never really the goal — getting better at the hard
parts is.
Along the way, Dave and Rob swap stories about the universe nudging you
toward where you're supposed to be — a DJ gig that came out of nowhere, a
stranger at a DVD store, a maintenance worker who turned out to also be
living with diabetes. It's the kind of episode that starts as a diabetes
story, turns into a conversation about creativity, and ends up being about
paying attention to your life.
And because no DDT episode is complete without some fun, Dave and Rob close
it out with a segment they're calling the Bad Advice Song Draft — three
rounds each of picking the most beloved songs with the absolute worst
advice buried in the lyrics. Stalking anthems, teenage recklessness, and
one song so ethically questionable that Kidz Bop wouldn't touch it. Tune in
for all of it.
Chapters:
00:00 Meet Dave Holmes: MTV VJ turned Esquire writer
02:52 Dave's six-year road to the right diagnosis
05:54 The surprising truth about T1D and age
07:13 How The Artist's Way found them both
08:37 Why Dave restarted the 12-week program now
12:48 Comparing morning page routines and habits
15:39 Getting unstuck: movement, walks, dumb writing
17:30 An artist date leads to an unplanned DJ gig
20:10 Beginner's mind and the fear of being filmed
21:09 Dave on perfectionism and feeling like a fraud
25:18 Resilience: "it doesn't get easier, you get better"
27:36 A screenwriter's ultimatum sparks Dave's fiction project
30:41 Meditation, synchronicity, and a DVD store coincidence
33:28 The ball-spinning experiment: "you can just do stuff"
38:05 Signs from Rob's dad, and a Disney parking-lot miracle
42:19 The Bad Advice Song Draft begins
Resources:
1. The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
2. Dave Holmes on Instagram
3. Dave Holmes at Esquire — his latest writing and pop culture
commentary.
and these days he's a sharp, funny voice at Esquire — but before any of
that, he spent six years being told he had type 2 diabetes when he actually
had type 1. This week, Rob sits down with Dave to talk about that
misdiagnosis, the strange cluster of friends who were diagnosed around the
same time, and a diabetes-age chart Rob saw at a conference that will
change how you think about who gets T1D.
From there, the conversation turns into a real, unpolished look at what it
takes to live a creative life. Dave and Rob are both working through Julia
Cameron's The Artist's Way right now — morning pages, artist dates, and all
— and they get honest about guilt, perfectionism, and the fear of putting
out work that isn't ready. Dave, a professional writer with a book and a
byline at one of the biggest magazines in the country, admits he still
feels like a fraud turning in a rough draft. It's a good reminder that
"getting easier" was never really the goal — getting better at the hard
parts is.
Along the way, Dave and Rob swap stories about the universe nudging you
toward where you're supposed to be — a DJ gig that came out of nowhere, a
stranger at a DVD store, a maintenance worker who turned out to also be
living with diabetes. It's the kind of episode that starts as a diabetes
story, turns into a conversation about creativity, and ends up being about
paying attention to your life.
And because no DDT episode is complete without some fun, Dave and Rob close
it out with a segment they're calling the Bad Advice Song Draft — three
rounds each of picking the most beloved songs with the absolute worst
advice buried in the lyrics. Stalking anthems, teenage recklessness, and
one song so ethically questionable that Kidz Bop wouldn't touch it. Tune in
for all of it.
Chapters:
00:00 Meet Dave Holmes: MTV VJ turned Esquire writer
02:52 Dave's six-year road to the right diagnosis
05:54 The surprising truth about T1D and age
07:13 How The Artist's Way found them both
08:37 Why Dave restarted the 12-week program now
12:48 Comparing morning page routines and habits
15:39 Getting unstuck: movement, walks, dumb writing
17:30 An artist date leads to an unplanned DJ gig
20:10 Beginner's mind and the fear of being filmed
21:09 Dave on perfectionism and feeling like a fraud
25:18 Resilience: "it doesn't get easier, you get better"
27:36 A screenwriter's ultimatum sparks Dave's fiction project
30:41 Meditation, synchronicity, and a DVD store coincidence
33:28 The ball-spinning experiment: "you can just do stuff"
38:05 Signs from Rob's dad, and a Disney parking-lot miracle
42:19 The Bad Advice Song Draft begins
Resources:
1. The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
2. Dave Holmes on Instagram
3. Dave Holmes at Esquire — his latest writing and pop culture
commentary.