Podcasts
Feature Creep: Built-in Microwave; The Podcast
With a loose focus on design, and a heavy dose of absurdity, we discuss a variety of topics that we hope you will find relevant to your own life. Or, at least you might find them entertaining. Please enjoy.1
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With your consent, of course. ↩︎
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Third Wheel on a Shitty Ice Cream Date
Ned and Meg discuss Ned’s adventures in Germany. We discuss the differences between ice cream and gelato. And then, we get around to THE LINE, which is basically Architectural Menace 2: Electric Boogaloo. Oh, do we have lots to say about that! Thanks for listening, wash your hands, don’t spread deadly germs, don’t be a dick, don’t move to THE LINE, whatever you do.
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Rat Dad
Ned and Meg talk about movie reboots and propose a TMNT offshoot wherein Master Splinter is the focus of the story. Did you know that German TMNT fans are much more discerning than American ones? Is serializing the same story over and over again killing creativity? Does it annoy you to be asked endless questions in headers that are supposed to be informative? Us too! Thanks for listening, hi Buster, wash your hands, don’t be a dick.
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Curing Feet with Hammers, Ein German Medical Stuff Podcasten
Ned and Meg discuss healthcare in the US and in other countries, because we have lots of injuries in lots of geographic locations. Also on the menu is curing feet with hammers, emergency rooms, debilitating injuries, recent meta-research debunking SSRI antidepressants as snake oil, and driving on the autobahn.
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Is There an Echo In Here?
Ned and Meg gripe about the problem of echo chambers, those ubiquitous spaces that come in literal or figurative form, and share in common the utter lack of critical self-reflection. We cover targeted advertising, the art world, search engines, friend groups, podcasts, Amazon, academia, industries, and abortion protestors. Thanks for listening, wash your hands, listen to criticism, vaccinate the rest of the planet, don’t be a dick.
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How to Talk to your Cat about Industrial Design
Ned and Meg discuss industrial design, ringspun cotton, data ownership, right to repair, how alexa is always listening, persistent flops, and the amazing book How to Talk to your Cat about Gun Safety. Thanks again for listening and sticking with us as our schedule has been wacky. Wash your hands, wear a mask, get the shots, do the things, don’t be a dick, watch for new episodes, enjoy the summer.
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A True Story
Ned tells Lauren and Meg all about a funny ancient story he read a while back that he’s been dying to share with us. We have been waiting a long time to hear this one. Lucien of Samosata wrote a scathing review of the thought leaders of KingDickLandia, also known as Ancient Greece, and in A True Story he crafts a satire embodied in an epic space opera. True Story! Check it out. Thanks for listening, wash your hands wear a mask get the shots don’t be a dick!
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Immediate Cries for the Suspension of Disbelief, RIP Dan Graham Conceptual Artist
Ned and Meg have a lovely chat about lovely Dan Graham, a lovely conceptual artist. Or was; he was an artist, but since he is now deceased, RIP Dan Graham. We also talk about Ned’s conceptual art, and Ned’s conceptual art’s paper, and Marcel Duchamp, and ReadyMade, and puppets, lots of puppets, and complicated math, and baby grasshoppers. Thanks to each of you for being an audient to our conversations and musings. Wash your hands, wear a mask, get your shots, don’t be a dick. Hi Buster!
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The Cheesecake Factory Bankrolls a Cult
Ned and Meg gang up in Southern California for a discussion of Northern California Cults and the restaurants that love them. If you are a fan of the dessert restaurant industry you will want to hear this, it’s wild. Thanks for listening, and also, keep washing your hands, wear a mask, get the shots, do the things, don’t be a dick. Happy Spring!
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Go Play 1000 White Blank Cards Right Now!
Ned and Meg take you on a leisurely tour through card game design, with the usual pit stops for distractions along the way. We talk about games that shed and catch cards, tarot and other types of cards, drinking games, multi-genre games, fishing, solitaire and tricky games. We stumble onto the best game ever, and we highly advise you drop whatever you’re doing after you listen to this podcast episode in its entirety and go play it. Cards! Wash your hands, wear a mask, get your shots, don’t be a dick, thank you.
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Serious Discusion of Serious Sculpture
Ned and Meg have a serious discussion about serious sculpture so strap in! We side-swipe James Grashow, Max Zorn, Andrew Erdos, Henry Moore, Peter Draws, Blackbean_CMS, and lots of art! We also chat about our own artistic aspirations with interactive and permissive sculpture.
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Terror-Based Child Rearing
Ned and Meg discuss Brandolini’s Law, also known as the BS asymmetry principle, and how it relates to current events. We also discuss the Panopticon, we mean Santa, we mean Elf on the Shelf, we mean don’t lie to your children. We laud What We Do in the Shadows, ponder what a good-enough dystopia is, feast on the glory of cake vending machines, sneak peek a new segment, and succumb to decision fatigue. Thanks for listening, Hi to Buster, wash your hands, wear a mask, get the shots, don’t be a dick.
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The Hidden Gem of Pencilphilia
Ned and Lauren tell Meg all about their coping mechanisms, managing tools, successes,experiences, strategies and trials with ADHD. Also we collectively declare the British Empire to be the worst one ever though we’re open to suggestion, and accordingly we declare caffeine to be the British Empire of drugs, see also humans, British Empire of species. We chat about Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, which two thirds of us can attest is a living hell, and the other third just wants to be left alone with their attachment issues. Ned’s Design Concept Snack of the Week is Transgenerational Design. Don’t miss it. Thanks for listening! Wash your hands, wear a mask, get the shots, eat your greens, don’t be a dick.
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Industrial Strenght Emotional Blender
Our tale today begins as so many have, with a gargantuan misunderstanding between friends followed by a backchannel conversation followed by unintentional hilarity followed by a podcast about it. Meg is always to blame somehow, but this time less so than normal! Things are looking up. Also: book reccs, hand-crank-food-processor-fish-oil-mayo, pain-as-liminal-space, other hyphenated phrases, semantic differentials, plans for when we’re lost at sea, and since our research team is on hiatus we have a new ending segment, Design Concept Snacks courtesy of Ned. Thanks as always for joining us, wash your hands, wear a mask, get the shots, don’t be a dick.
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Dr. Nutt, the Nutt Job, and the Nutt Case
Ned, Meg, and Lauren talk about a scientific and cultural hero, Dr. David Nutt. Like many people who speak truth to power, his attitudes and research into drugs often offend politicians and policy makers because his discoveries overturn years of taboo and misunderstandings about the relative harms of drugs to individuals and society.
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Candy Vanning
Ned and Meg get together after a protracted separation over the holidays and new year and record a similarly protracted podcast about the goings on! First topic of the new year, single men in minivans. Then, in not quick succession, what hurts or helps your chances when attempting to pass out candy, internet crazes we missed out on, adjusting expectations around panel vans, squirrel baffle sagas, rabbit poop bonanzas, medical nightmares, Ned’s vacation, OMG omicron, and more. Always more. Thanks for listening, especially to these long winded ones (Buster, I’m looking at you), wash your hands wear a mask get the shots. Don’t be a dick.
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The Depressingly American Story of the Monopoly Board Game
Ned and Meg revisit the historical waypoints along the existence of Monopoly, our favorite polarizing game. If you are lucky enough to have people in your life still willing to engage you in a game of Monopoly, you are probably a good hearted person. That’s nice. However, everything about Monopoly is ruthless and rewards avarice and that’s what we like to discuss. See also: daring escapes from Nazis, the perpetual rebranding of Monopoly, DIY sets, and so on. Welcome to the cult. Wash your hands, wear a mask, get the shots, don’t be a dick, thanks for listening!
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War on Xmas 2021
Ned and Meg revisit what has become an annual episode topic! Oh, the differences in nomenclature between Xmas and Christmas. We discuss the current status of the ongoing War on Christmas, including the oft-misunderstood Catholic Christmas traditions and appreciation for the thoughtfulness of Kwanzaa, plus we cover the big news, which this year is how the Fox Tree was burned down for reasons besides what Fox would have you believe. Amazing! We also apologize for and explain why we disappeared for a bit. It’s because Meg got a disease but it wasn’t Covid! We will be back on track soon, watch for more episodes in early 2022. As always, thanks for listening, wear a mask, wash your hands, get the shots, and don’t be a dick!
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Fistfull of Peppercorns
Meg and Lauren discuss their favorite peppers and birds who steal fruits. We get into a long discussion about food dehydrators and mushrooms as well. We enthuse about which foods make great powders and which CSAs to sign up for in Minneapolis. Thank you for listening and as always wash yer hands, wear a mask, get yer shots, don’t be a dick, hi Buster.
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Design Methodologies, and a Surprise
Ned and Meg discuss design methodologies and the people who made some of them famous. We also talk about Futurama, rational design, engineering and art, making the abstract real, and the Design Thinking Methods Catalog. Join us, thanks for listening, get your shots, wear a mask, wash your hands, don’t be a dick. That’s that.
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So Easy a Baby Could Do It
Ned and Meg talk about their podcast production process and the potential for streamlining it because right now our process is a clunker! We also discuss the present, future, and past, and RIP laser discs. Heady stuff. Also laughing. The usual. Thanks for joining us, wash your hands, wear a mask, get yer shots, don’t be a dick!
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Dystopian Dorm Design, Charlie Munger the Architectural Menace (Dwarf Fortress)
Ned and Meg talk about a terrible idea.
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The Book of Books
Ned and Meg talk about a new book idea. We lay out the case for why we think it’s inspired and then get off track pretty quickly, which is exactly the point of all of this anyway. We discuss the opening lines to some famous books and also gripe about TV we hate. We also have some killer colors of the day today so thanks for listening, wash your hands, wear a mask, get the shots, don’t be a dick.
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Slippery Sophistry
Riddle me this? What happens if Ned and Meg and Lauren record a podcast episode where we make up garbage philosophy and pass it off as wisdom? Find out. We also bring up Chesterton’s Fence and Sim City 4: Rush Hour Edition. Chicago’s civil engineering gets a shout, and then we round things off with a chat about STIs. Don’t miss it. Wash your hands, wear a mask, don’t be a dick MINNEAPOLIS I’M LOOKING AT YOU AND YOU MESSED THIS UP SO BAD.
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Vacuum Cleaner Design
Ned and Meg talk about the wide world of vacuum cleaners and how special some of them are to us. For example, the only heirlooms Meg’s family passes down are, in fact, Rainbow vacuum systems. Now you know. We also explore the historical aesthetics of Rainbow and other vacuum cleaners, and compare design elements to what was going on in Sci-Fi movies at the time, which leads us to National Treasure Jeff Bridges. Thanks for listening, wash your hands, wear a mask, get yer shots, don’t be a dick.
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The Big Bad Context
Ned and Meg revisit one of their favorite books, Pragmatic Thinking and Learning, by Andy Hunt, and they discuss the concept of an expansive context. Also, multitasking makes you stoopid, so knock it off and remove that “skill” from your resume. Thank you for listening to us (especially Buster), and wash your hands, wear a mask, get the shots, don’t be a dick.