Once Upon a Planet

In this episode, Jon and Verda speak with veteran NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, who has completed two spaceflights and spent extended time aboard the International Space Station. Nicole shares her insights on how space exploration can help us improve life here on Earth. From working alongside an international team to understanding the challenges we face as a global community, Nicole will get us thi...

Isaias Hernandez, AKA the Queer Brown Vegan joins Jon and Verda to examine tackling climate change education thru social media and engaging with fringe communities who often get left behind. Isaias is taking on all the complex issues around climate change and social equity through the eyes of a young activist and a child of immigrants. We often don’t consider the impact climate change has on minor...

Learn the amazing story of a biologist turned bird aviator! Austrian biologist, Johannes Fritz speaks with Jon and Verda about the Northern Bald Ibis, which was completely extinct in the wild 50 years ago. Through careful re-introduction Fritz began to bring them back. Then, when climate change made their winter migration route unpassable, Fritz began teaching these birds a new migratory rout...

Jon and Verda discover John Derkach, an architect turned techie, who just might help our industry finally impact climate change. Listen to John’s story of building a tech company with an architects eye. Baya is a workflow tool that will help designers specify green solutions throughout their interiors project, and measure their impact while doing it. Learn more about this amazing technology in epi...

Domingo Morales grew up in public housing in Harlem and sold candy in subways to help his mother pay rent. By 19 he had two kids and no steady income, but then Domingo stumbled upon a chance to work with Green City Force, an non-profit that teaches young people in the projects careers in horticulture, solar installation and other environmental jobs. Today Domingo is teaching communities how to far...

Davies Office was founded in 1948 as a small, family-owned business. Since then, Davies Office has grown to become a nationally recognized leader in green remanufacturing and sustainable office solutions. Host Jon and Verda chat with Bill Davies and Doug Pilgrim about sustainability, and the possibilities that come with upcycling! Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This epi...

Armed with a home-made suction device, David Rivers clears about 250 garbage bags worth of trash from the bayou and its tributaries each week. If you think one person can't make a difference, think again—you'll be as smitten with David as we are! Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode was produced by Rob Schulte. Break Some Dishes is presented by Davies Office. See...

Cara Buckley and her team at the New York Times have decided to focus on the optimistic side of climate change. They’ve found people acting out on their own to create individual, yet replicable acts that have saved their own unique communities and ecosystems. Verda and Jon have been inspired by this message, and in this episode get the opportunity to talk with Cara about this work and how it can s...

Karry King and Martin Schneider found themselves compelled to help their town of La Salle, Illinois after a toxic disaster and chemical fire at the Carus Chemical Plant. Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode was produced by Rob Schulte. Break Some Dishes is presented by Davies Office. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...

In this new episode, co-host Verda Alexander sits down with special guest Lisa Tucker, Head of the Department of Apparel, Housing, and Resource Management at Virginia Tech. Lisa shares her journey from a background in historic preservation to integrating sustainability into interior design education. She discusses her research on the impact of biophilic design in educational spaces and emphasizes...

In this episode of Break Some Dishes, Jon Strassner sits down for a one-on-one conversation with Linda Sorrento from mindful MATERIALS. They share their history of collaboration and how Linda inspired Jon to pursue a career in sustainability. Linda talks about her family's legacy of purpose and her journey into the design field with a focus on research and sustainability. The episode highlights th...

In this episode of Break Some Dishes, co-host Verda Alexander sits down for a conversation with Jenn Chen, Principal Interior Designer at LMN Architects. They first discuss Jenn's groundbreaking research that has revealed the cyclical nature of interior renovations as it significantly contributes to carbon emissions, rivaling the impact of building structures themselves. Their conversation dives i...

Join host Jon Strassner as he engages in a conversation with Ken Wilson, Design Principal at Perkins&Will in Washington D.C. With over two decades of friendship, Jon and Ken delve into Ken's career journey, the evolution of sustainable design, and the critical role of sustainability in shaping the future of the industry. Ken discusses founding his own design firm that embraced sustainable design e...

Earth Day: Activate Accordingly Join Jon and Verda during this special episode for Earth Day 2023 discussing activism! They look at the history of activism and its importance in creating social change, emphasizing design and activating locally. They also examine influencing large corporations and the government, encouraging people to take action by joining a passionate group, downloading an app, o...

We are breaking some dishes a little differently with this new roundtable episode discussing climate, health, and equity! Our panel of roundtable guests talks with Jon Strassner and Verda Alexander about the importance of creating equitable and sustainable designs that are healthy and accessible to everyone. The group emphasizes the need for further education and understanding of green practices a...

According to Natalie Nixon, more organizations need to have improvisational ways of working. Natalie says, “The future of work is Jazz.” Jazz is a model for new ways to work and optimize creativity. Described as a one-of-a-kind creativity expert, Natalie is the Creative Strategist and CEO at strategy firm, Figure 8 Thinking. In this episode, Natalie talks with Jon and Verda about the importance of...

Let's break some dishes with game changers in sustainability LIVE from Greenbuild 2022! Our guests today talk with Jon and Verda about how they lead and make sustainable change in different ways through biomaterials and carbon capture, water and energy conservation, design accountability, carbon offsets, or resource reuse. Guest lineup includes: > Elizabeth Bridges, Co-founder at Sum Studio and Ou...

We are breaking into the New Year with a twist. Our January episode kicks us off into 2023 where Jon and Verda have an insightful one-on-one conversation with each other. Guided by research, articles, and books the pair have read lately, they discuss different topics to lead us into 2023 including: - Green technology - What it means to be in "Goblin Mode" - Behavior habits and healthcare - Difficu...

The Cruise Ship Interiors Expo is the world’s only exhibition and conference exclusively dedicated to connecting the cruise design industry - and Break Some Dishes had the unique opportunity to podcast LIVE from the event! In today's episode, you'll hear from: Jon Ingleton | Executive Editor of Cruise & Ferry Interiors My Nguyen | Director of Interior Design, Holland America Group Greg Walton | Fo...

Our guest today, Akshat Rathi, comes to us with a background in engineering and is a Senior Climate Reporter at Bloomberg, focused on shaping the energy and climate change conversation around the world. In this episode, Akshat discusses with Jon and Verda the different levers to be pulled to create climate action including policy, business, technology, people, and the media. He talks about technol...

How can we truly create radical change? Well, according to Jennifer Allyn, it's time to harness the power of the private sector to solve the climate crisis - and it starts with empowering YOU to motivate your company to support climate policy. Described as a true climate champion, Jennifer Allyn is the Director of Programs and Campaigns at ClimateVoice, an organization working to unlock corporate...

For this Break Some Dishes episode, our guest is the Founding Principal and Chief Design Officer of MASS Design Group, Alan Ricks! MASS stands for Model of Architecture Serving Society and Alan does just that, leading the strategy and design of projects around the globe and advancing the role of design to create a more equitable and just world. In this episode, Alan, Jon, and Verda come together t...

LIVE from NeoCon part 2 is here! In the last installment of our Live from NeoCon series, we chat with six incredible guests, all with unique backgrounds and experiences, to help us discover new ways of thinking and exploring fresh ideas in the world of design and sustainability. In today's episode, you'll hear from: Paul Shahriari | Founder & Chief Innovation Officer | ecomedes Elizabeth Whelan |...

And we're LIVE! Ok, we decided to do something a little different...during NeoCon we managed to do a series of podcasts LIVE from the OFS showroom in Chicago. These conversations were incredible and we are so excited to finally share them with you! In today's episode, you'll hear from: Lauren Perich | Senior Designer | Studio O+A Todd Bracher | Founder & Creative Director | Todd Bracher Studio Car...

John Cary, currently the President & CEO of Eames Institute, is typically busy working his magic to bring design to the people. John has been a key player in the Pro Bono Design movement for a long time, and that doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon. Everyone deserves good design. Verda tells us that interior designers care a lot about people, the problem is that it has traditionally been fo...