Andy McMillan makes things that bring people together: the Build conference, the XOXO festival, and The Manual, a series of books with thoughtful essays about design. After producing three print volumes of The Manual, he’s trying to take it to the next level, and produce something openly, broadly available across many media, that’s a collaboration… Continue reading Fit to Print with Andy McMillan (Episode 92)
Plug Me In with Mara Zepeda (Episode 91)
Mara Zepeda is the co-founder and CEO of Switchboard, a site that lets you ask for what you need and offer what you have within a trusted community. It’s a way to more efficiently interconnect generosity, and is sometimes described as Craigslist without the creeps. I’m used to reading personal histories that have windy roads,… Continue reading Plug Me In with Mara Zepeda (Episode 91)
Mi Casa Es Su Benincasa with Sara Benincasa (Episode 90)
Sara Benincasa is an author, comedian, writer, and outspoken advocate of LGBTQ youth, among many other hats she’s worn. She is an expert impressionist and parodist of Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. Sara is the author of the novel Great and the memoir/confessional, Agorafabulous!: Dispatches From My Bedroom, and her third book, the novel Believers,… Continue reading Mi Casa Es Su Benincasa with Sara Benincasa (Episode 90)
Nice and Neat with Dan Provost and Tom Gerhardt (Episode 89)
Dan Provost and Tom Gerhardt are Studio Neat, a small design and software group that produces nifty products. They began with the Glif, and when I talked to them last over a year ago, they had launched their second software product and were deep in planning on a new, more complicated item: the Neat Ice… Continue reading Nice and Neat with Dan Provost and Tom Gerhardt (Episode 89)
Set Your Radio Dial to Maximum Fun with Jesse Thorn (Episode 88)
Jesse Thorn is a polycast — a polymath of podcasts. He helped define the form by taking a show that he developed with others on a college radio station and making it into a podcast in 2004. That show, the Sound of Young America, now called Bullseye, focuses on interesting cultural trends and sports in-depth interviews,… Continue reading Set Your Radio Dial to Maximum Fun with Jesse Thorn (Episode 88)
How to Feel Real App Appeal with Garrett Murray (Episode 87)
Garrett Murray is the founder and creative director of Karbon, an app-development firm. But software isn’t his whole life; he also happens to be an award-winning filmmaker. His firm developed the apps Scratch, a quick-input notepad for iPhone, and Ego, for tracking all your Web status in a single glance. Actor Tom Hanks just singled… Continue reading How to Feel Real App Appeal with Garrett Murray (Episode 87)
Bakfiets to the Future with Phillip Ross (Episode 86)
Phillip Ross is one of the fellows behind Metrofiets, a company that makes cargo bikes — a kind of transportation vehicle developed in the Netherlands, and known as bakfietsen there. He and his partner James Nichols build their bikes in Portland, Oregon. Phil helped bring Critical Mass to Portland and is the co-creator and producer… Continue reading Bakfiets to the Future with Phillip Ross (Episode 86)
Welcome to the World of Tomorrow with Nicole Dieker (Episode 85)
Nicole Dieker wears a lot of hats, as well as a brown coat. She’s a freelance copywriter and ghostwriter, pens fiction, and writes essays. She’s also a musician who bootstrapped herself out of a convention to which she returns every year, a rock climber, a Firefly fan, a whiskey drinker, and much more. Nicole wears… Continue reading Welcome to the World of Tomorrow with Nicole Dieker (Episode 85)
Depth Takes a Holiday with Amanda Warner and Brianna Wu (Episode 84)
Giant Spacekat, founded by Brianna Wu and Amanda Warner, released their first game today: Revolution 60. It’s a cinematic-style, live-rendered game with rich dialog and interaction that employs strong female characters. Brianna is also a co-host of the Isometric podcast. We talk about illustration, independence, and meeting (and exceeding) expectations. Sponsors and patrons This podcast… Continue reading Depth Takes a Holiday with Amanda Warner and Brianna Wu (Episode 84)
Conjunction Junction with Oni Hartstein and James Harknell (Episode 83)
Oni and Harknell founded Intervention (Internet + Convention) after constantly fielding questions from creators looking for advice; it’s now in its fifth year. The partners created the event aimed at people trying to make their own opportunities to express creativity, often with a commercial angle as part of a career, while keeping it affordable, accessible,… Continue reading Conjunction Junction with Oni Hartstein and James Harknell (Episode 83)