The Observatory

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 105: Malta, Marketing, Make-Believe

Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition, Malta, The West Wing Weekly podcast, branded empathy, Chernobyl, Caravaggio’s Beheading of St. John the Baptist

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 104: Fade to White

Facebook’s redesign, Morning Edition’s new theme, Cris Shapan, Stanley Kubrick at the London Design Museum.

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 103: Cathedrals and Candidates

Notre Dame cathedral fire, Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg design systems, Mina Markham and Pantsuit, unidentifiable objects, Wesley Morris on romantic comedies.

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 101: Going West

2019 AIGA design conference, creative partnerships, Full Frontal’s Brexit video, film noir YouTube comment thread

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 100: Loving Librarians

Ralph Nader v. graphic design, libraries and serendipity, Sally Potter’s The Party, the shape of silence

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 99: The Space Between

Hilma af Klint at the Guggenheim, Kevin Roche and the Miller House, Josh Lipnik’s modern midwest tours, Ben Stiller plays Michael Cohen

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 98: Traffic

Adam Grant, email response times, Slack, John Ruskin, Steven Soderbergh’s 2001 Oscars speech, Diana Vreeland Memo Generator

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 96: Wither the Magazine

Adam Moss, Tina Brown, and the future of print magazines; Rookie, Design Sponge, and the future of online magazines; Karen Green’s Frail Sister; Anni Albers at the Tate

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 95: Back to Basics

Distinctive brands choose minimalist logos, remembering David Pease, Nicholas Rougeux revives Byrne’s Euclid, The Favourite

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 94: Women of the Year

Elena Ferrante’s My Beautiful Friend on HBO, Olivia Jaimes’ Nancy, Esperanza Spalding, Tierra Whack, Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace, Max Richter, Henry Cobb: Words and Works, Oddityviz, The True Size, Dunkin’, Stack, Pamela’s gluten-free …

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 93: I Spy, You Spy

Sergei Skripal, Jamal Khashoggi, Bellingcat, Malachy Brown, visual investigations, Pablo Ferro, Ricky Jay, William Goldman, Boy Erased, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Glenn Gould’s manuscript for the Goldberg variations

Michael Bierut|Audio

Episode 92: Polite Sociopaths

The Design of Business | The Business of Design conference, Apple CarPlay and talking cars, HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Justin Timberlake, dogs watching TV, Visual Capitalist