Annie Wagstaff on The Joy of Curiosity

What’s the last thing you learned simply because you wanted to know?

Episode summary
Why do we feel the need to justify what we learn? My guest on this episode is Annie Wagstaff, a musician and composer whose career has taken her around the world touring with Take That and into writing music for advertising. But alongside her work in music, Annie has developed another passion: learning about whatever happens to make her curious.That could be vine tomatoes, animals, colour, knots, the human body, or simply something she notices while walking through a supermarket.

Annie shares what she discovers on social media, not because the knowledge necessarily has an obvious purpose, but because she finds it interesting. And that raises a fascinating question: what happens to the natural curiosity we have as children as we become adults?In our conversation, we explore creativity and constraints, sonic branding, why children pick up stones while adults tell them to put them down, the pleasure of knowing a little about a lot, short attention spans and hyperfocus, authenticity in an age of AI, and why learning something without knowing what you’re going to do with it might be exactly the point.We also talk about Take That, vine tomatoes, staring at flowers, doomscrolling, notebooks, knots and sailing — the kind of eclectic mix that an episode about curiosity really ought to contain.

Guest bio
Annie Wagstaff is a London-based guitarist, musician and composer.She has worked as a session musician, toured internationally with Take That, and composes music for advertising and other commercial projects.

Earlier in her career, Annie also released her own music and built a large following online through her guitar playing.More recently, she has used her social channels to share the things she learns simply because they interest her — turning subjects ranging from science and animals to everyday observations into short, accessible explorations of curiosity.

AI-Generated Timestamped Summary
00:00 — Why curiosity matters
05:00 — Touring the world with Take That
10:00 — Writing music for advertising
15:00 — Sonic branding and the power of sound
17:00 — From “Guitar Girl” to curiosity creator
22:00 — Vine tomatoes and unexpected rabbit holes
25:00 — Why children are naturally curious
34:00 — Flowers, distraction and noticing the world
38:00 — Becoming a “knowledge butterfly”
45:00 — Authenticity, social media and AI
50:00 — Why does knowledge need a purpose?
55:00 — Rediscovering curiosity — from five minutes to sailing

Links

• Annie's Website: anniewagstaff.com including her books
• TikTok: @annieplaysguitar on TikTok
• LinkedIn: Annie Wagstaff on LinkedIn
• Instagram: @annieplaysguitar on Instagram
• YouTube: Annie Plays Guitar on YouTube