Jessica Helfand

Jessica Helfand|The Self-Reliance Project

Looking

What it means to be a maker during this pandemic.

Michael Bierut|Watch This Space

Design Observer Studio Sessions

Like many of you, we’re trying to make a safe haven out of something that can feel like solitary confinement.

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 122: At Arm’s Length

COVID-19, social distancing, Luō Dàwèi’s One Thousand Families project, hiring product designers, Eric Rosenberg’s prop designs for The Plot Against America, Joanne McNeil’s Lurking

Jessica Helfand|Audio

Episode 121: Love and Squalor

With guest host Alissa Walker of L.A. Podcast: Barbara Kruger at Frieze Week; Destination Crenshaw; homelessness; urban design competitions, Rose Lyster on air travel; Molly Young on garbage language

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 120: Federal Style

The Trump Administration’s draft executive order Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again, the rise of the blur, a CBS brand book at the California Antiquarian Fair, Anna Wiener’s Uncanny Valley

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 118: Excelsior!

Andrew Cuomo’s old-school political graphics; ridiculous subway ads, real and fake; Vaughan Oliver, John Baldessari, Sonny Mehta

Jessica Helfand|Audio

How Janelle Monáe Built a Creative Empire on Her Own Terms

Janelle Monáe is a singer, songwriter, actor, and producer.

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 117: Truth and Yogurt

Christmas cards, the Charles and Ray Eames collection, Didones, the Chobani effect, Hong Kong protest art, a dog who plays Jenga, Uncut Gems.

Jessica Helfand|Audio

S7E11: Paola Antonelli

Paola Antonelli is senior curator of the department of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art.

Jessica Helfand|Audio

S7E10: Elizabeth Alexander

Elizabeth Alexander is president of the Mellon Foundation.

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 116: A Decade in Politics, A Year in Culture

101 political images of 2010s; plus Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror; Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me; Beck’s Hyperspace; Underworld’s Oblivion with Bells; The 1619 Project podcast; Esther Perel’s Where Should We …

Jessica Helfand|Audio

S7E8: James Rhee

James Rhee is executive chair and CEO of the fashion brand Ashley Stewart as well as the founder and president of the investment firm FirePine Group.