Design Downtime

In this conversation, Anna E. Cook and I talk about what happens when the work that defines you stops being the work you're hired to do. Anna traces the systemic forces pushing accessibility specialists out of their roles, connecting it to broader DEI rollbacks, and reflects on the identity crisis that follows when your expertise becomes a liability. We also talk about burnout, and why "just work...

It's the season 5 finale and we're going whimsical, when Natalya Shelburne joins us to talk about the psychology of creativity. She makes a case for why creativity is not a personality trait, but a muscle most of us were slowly trained out of, explains how creativity killers show up in workplaces and daily life, and why "I'm not creative" almost always traces back to a single formative moment of b...

You're guaranteed to catch the Love Bug, when Dave House joins us to talk about his love of old Volkswagens. He shares how owning and restoring old air-cooled VWs filled a gap left when music stopped being his primary community, and describes the VW scene as a counter-culture rather than a car hobby, one that mirrors the openness and camaraderie of punk. Dave reflects on the deep satisfaction of l...

Get ready to be swept away to a world of magic and giant swords, when Araxie Miller joins us to talk about her love of Japanese role-playing games. She explains what sets them apart from Western RPGs: rather than asking who you want to be, they invite you into a world of existing characters, deep story arcs, and themes of friendship, sacrifice, and hope. From discovering Chrono Trigger in 1995 to...

No need to break your Duolingo streak, when Stephanie Tuerk joins us to make a case for learning languages. She traces her journey from high school French to PhD-era German to humbling Russian, arguing that language learning is less about fluency and more about a gateway into culture, history, and a completely different relationship with your own mind. Stephanie also reflects on the rare pleasure...

It's dangerous to go alone! Take this episode where Andy Bell joins us to talk about his lifelong obsession with the Legend of Zelda. He explores what makes the franchise compelling: its creativity, humour, weird NPCs, and remarkable ability to stay consistent in spirit while reinventing itself across 20 games spanning 40 years. Andy also shares his self-imposed challenge of playing the entire ser...

In this episode, Lisa Carey joins us to share her decades-long appreciation for Brian Eno. She introduces us to Eno the musician, producer, visual artist, and one of the originators of systems thinking in creative work, and traces a through-line from Roxy Music to Bowie's Berlin Trilogy, and from Oblique Strategies to a generative documentary that shows differently every screening - all united by...

A picture is worth a thousand words when Erin Casali joins us to share about her illustration practice. She reflects on not being able to visualize images in her mind, which makes her process generative and exploratory; drawing to discover, not to transcribe. Erin describes switching from pencil to ink as a forcing function to break perfectionist habits and train herself to think in whole composit...

Saddle up and start your stopwatch, when Jenny Dee Brecheisen joins us to talk about her passion for barrel racing. She shares how it completely transformed her life, from city dweller to 10-acre landowner with four horses. Jenny explores the deep bonds formed with her horses through daily care and patience, the 14-17 seconds of pure adrenaline that make all the preparation worthwhile, and the ste...

It's not all mosh pits and crowdsurfing when Luke Murphy joins us to talk about nearly 20 years of band life. They talk about the sharp contrast between recording an album and the rush of performing it, and how the Brutalligators' chemistry works through defined roles, mutual respect, and just enough creative tension to push each other forward. Luke also punctures the myth of touring glamour, but...

We built this city, or rather Odette Jansen did, as she joins us to explore her deep love of city-building games. She talks about being drawn to games with genuine depth and resource management challenges, and a blank canvas that gives her full control without consequences. Games like Cities Skylines or Planet Zoo, where she's logged over 400 hours recreating Disneyland leaf by leaf. Odette also r...

It's time to lace up when Jarvis Moore joins us to talk about his love for collecting sneakers. He shares how it grew from a childhood longing into a curated collection that serves as his primary form of personal expression, the systematic approach behind his collecting, and how he navigates the hype-driven world of limited collaborations and grail sneakers. Beyond the collecting itself, he reflec...

Get ready for the beat to drop, when Sam Gordashko joins us to talk about her love of DJing. She traces her journey from recording mixtapes off the radio as a kid to spinning sets at Burning Man. She shares how she learned to embrace imperfection as a recovering perfectionist, breaks down her systematic approach to navigating 50,000 tracks, and explains how DJing puts her into a flow state of cons...

Love is in the air, when Helen Gaskell joins us to talk about writing rom com novels. She shares the story of her accidental path to publishing — from writing a fan letter to a mobile game, to landing a deal with just 10,000 words written. Helen reveals the surprising structural discipline behind the genre, and passionately defends romantic fiction as a misunderstood feminist art form, arguing it...

Get your fill of chlorophyll, when Mike Perrotti joins us to talk about his passion for plants. He shares how a therapist's recommendation to add greenery to combat seasonal depression unexpectedly spiraled into a tropical obsession. Mike describes how he catches himself coveting rare expensive plants and consciously redirects back to the meditative joy of caregiving and cultivation. He also revea...

It’s time to wax on, wax off as Daniel Sanchez Griborio joins us to talk about his lifelong love of karate. He describes how his parents enrolled him at age five, and how the structure and rigor created a sense of belonging. Daniel explains karate's core philosophy of seeking perfection while understanding it's unattainable, and how focusing on incremental progress sustained him through five conse...

In the first episode of season 5, Mike Monteiro is "still listening to wax, he's not using the CD" when he joins us to share about his lifelong love of vinyl records. From his parents' 70s console record player to a 4,000-record music room, he traces how music became a path of self-discovery. Mike explains how he keeps track of his incredible collection, talks about the Platonic idea of the prefec...

In this conversation, host Guy Segal and returning guest Pavel Samsonov challenge the recurring claim that the design process is dead — arguing that for many, it was never really alive in the first place. Pavel makes the case that process isn't a rigid framework imposed from above, but a set of self-imposed, iterative constraints that help designers make better decisions. The conversation explores...

In this inaugural episode, Pavel and I dig into the history and dysfunction of Agile, not to relitigate waterfall vs. Agile, but to examine why modern Agile practice has drifted so far from its original intent. We explore how the Agile manifesto was written entirely without designers in mind, how the "Scrum industrial complex" turned a flexible philosophy into a rigid checklist, and why two-week s...

It’s the season 4 finale and we’re celebrating at 150 bpm, when Vitaly Friedman joins us to talk about his lifelong journey through techno music. It all began in Belarus when, as a child, he discovered The Prodigy on cassette, continuing into his teens, that were spent obsessively exploring every possible musical avenue. Vitaly explains his preference for minimal, melodic, and "honest" techno over...

We’re getting in motion with Sera Tajima, as she joins us to talk about her lifelong relationship with movement. She explains how ballet taught her precision, control, and the ability to withstand "good pain”, creating a meditative practice of syncing mind and body, that continued to martial arts. Sera’s athletic journey took a turn three years ago when she developed long COVID, forcing her to com...

Get ready to be swept away into a sprawling space opera, when Erika Flowers joins us to talk about her passion for writing fiction novels. She approaches writing fiction as entertainment rather than high literature, comparing her creative goals to producing Marvel-style blockbuster experiences. Erika traces her journey from discovering fantasy worlds through the Dragonlance series in middle school...

It’s time to be one with nature, as Priyanca D'Souza talks to us about her passion for outdoor swimming. She shares how immersing in cold water offers a transcendent experience that pulls her into the present moment, from still lakes where she floats under the sky to challenging rivers that demand complete mental focus. Priyanca explains how outdoor swimming differs fundamentally from pool swimmin...

Tune your banjo and join Sidra Mahmood, as they tell us about their unexpected passion for bluegrass music. Despite a musical journey through heavy metal, punk rock, and electronic music, they found a strong connection to bluegrass with its themes of labor solidarity, poverty, and anti-capitalism, being played with incredible speed and precision through improvisation. Sidra notes the genre's diver...

You don’t need a Cajun accent to enjoy this episode, when Jeremy Miller tells us all about his hometown of New Orleans. He explains what makes New Orleans unique, including its complex history as a city shaped by French, Spanish, Caribbean, and African influences, its world-renowned music genres, and the rich culinary tradition that distinguishes between urban Creole and rural Cajun cuisines. Jere...