Design Matters with Debbie Millman

Design Matters Media

Design Matters with Debbie Millman is one of the world’s very first podcasts. Broadcasting independently for over 15 years, the show is about how incredibly creative people design the arc of their lives.

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Our Editor's Take

The podcast Design Matters with Debbie Millman is a long-running show that began in the early era of podcasting. Debbie Millman, an American educator, and writer, is a podcasting pioneer. In each episode, she interviews creative people-writers, designers, artists, and more. Through hundreds of episodes, these guests discuss their creative journeys and life experiences. Millman, a brand consultant, has interviewed many hundreds of guests. In its time running, this podcast has won many awards, too. In 2015, iTunes named it one of the "All Time Favorite Podcasts."

Design Matters with Debbie Millman explores the role of design in society. But more than that, it talks about the personal struggles and triumphs of the guests. Millman is an experienced designer and author. She is also an insightful and empathetic interviewer. Guests on the show include musicians like the Indigo Girls. In their episode, they share insight into their 30-year careers.

Other guests, like actress Kyra Sedgwick, talk about her directing debut, Space Oddity. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson talks about his book and cosmic career. American Recordings and Def Jam cofounder Rick Rubin shares insight on the podcast. In his episode, he and Millman talk about the music industry. He shares about crafting iconic songs with the most famous musicians in the industry. Other guests include Roxane Gay, Seth Godin, and Steven Heller.

The podcast is great for anyone interested in creativity and the work that goes into making art. It is also helpful for those looking for guidance on career paths. Design Matters with Debbie Millman is a fascinating program. It provides an intimate look at the lives of creative people. The podcast provides rare insight into their creative process. Millman's warmth, insight, and interview skills make the show fun to listen to. New episodes come out each week.

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Anne Morriss and Frances Frei

Anne Morriss and Frances Frei

Anne Morriss and Frances Frei are best-selling authors and among the world’s most influential thinkers, speakers, and advisors. Their clients range from Fortune 10 companies to tech founders to political leaders working to build national competitiveness. They join to talk about their new book, Move Fast and Fix Things, outlining a practical process leaders can implement to drive change.

Episodes

Anne Morriss and Frances Frei

Anne Morriss and Frances Frei

Anne Morriss and Frances Frei are best-selling authors and among the world’s most influential thinkers, speakers, and advisors. Their clients range from Fortune 10 companies to tech founders to political leaders working to build national competitiveness. They join to talk about their new book, Move Fast and Fix Things, outlining a practical process leaders can implement to drive change.

Punk singer, artist, and the front-woman of the bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, Kathleen Hanna has spent the last three decades as a trailblazer in the punk feminist movement. She joins guest host Roxane Gay to talk about her new memoir and storied career making art and music.

Adam Moss is widely known as one of the great magazine editors of his generation, remaking and reshaping The New York Times and New York magazine into the most significant print and digital publications of our time. He joins to discuss his illustrious career as an author, editor, and artist.

Suzan-Lori Parks

Suzan-Lori Parks

Named one of TIME magazine’s “100 Innovators for the Next New Wave,” Suzan-Lori Parks is the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Topdog/Underdog. She joins to discuss her long and illustrious career as a playwright, musician, and novelist.

Emily Nagoski, Ph.D.

Emily Nagoski, Ph.D.

New York Times bestselling, award-winning author and educator Emily Nagoski is one of the most exceptional minds at work today on the science of sexual connection, intimacy, and arousal. She joins to discuss her remarkable career and new book, “Come Together.”

Writer Amy Lin deconstructs grief in her new memoir ‘Here After,’ a beautifully visceral and emotionally intimate depiction of young widowhood. She joins to discuss the science of grief and how she coped in the wake of her inexplicable loss.

Nell Irvin Painter

Nell Irvin Painter

Throughout her prolific writing career, Nell Irvin Painter has published works on such luminaries as Sojourner Truth, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Malcolm X. Her unique vantage on American history pushes the boundaries of personal narrative and academic authorship and asks readers to reconsider ideas of race, politics, and identity. She joins to discuss her legendary career as a distinguished historian, award-winning author, and artist.

Since 1998, David Remnick has been the editor of The New Yorker and has written hundreds of pieces for the magazine, including reporting from Russia, the Middle East, and Europe and Profiles of Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Katharine Graham, Mike Tyson, Bruce Springsteen and more. He also hosts the magazine’s national radio program and podcast, “The New Yorker Radio Hour.” He joins live at the On Air Fest to talk about his legendary life and career.

Renowned writer, cultural critic, and scholar of the demimonde Lucy Sante joins to discuss her career and a new memoir, “I Heard Her Call My Name,” reflecting on her transition and self-actualization in her sixties.

David Byrne (from The TED Interview)

David Byrne (from The TED Interview)

David Bryne views life through many lenses. He’s a musician, author, filmmaker, curator, conservationist, digital music theorist, bicycle advocate, visual artist... the list goes on. But through his many trajectories – from co-founding the acclaimed band Talking Heads to his later solo career, moving into theater and beyond, David is always trying to capture the indescribable. In this episode of The TED Interview, another podcast from the TED Audio Collective, David shares how he meshes art, technology, and point of view to tell one-of-a-kind stories, move audiences, and invoke all of us to create masterpieces of our own.

From acclaimed pop spectacles to Super Bowl halftime shows to the Closing Ceremony for the London Olympics, artist and stage designer Es Devlin has transformed large-scale performative sculptures and environments transporting audiences. She joins to discuss two decades of design spanning opera, theatre, and stadium extravaganzas.

Aparna Nancherla (from How to Be a Better Human)

Aparna Nancherla (from How to Be a Better Human)

Impostor syndrome is one of many therapy-speak words that have gone mainstream in the past few years — but what is it, really? Aparna Nancherla knows all about it. Aparna is a comedian and the author of "Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself, and Impostor Syndrome.” Despite her success as a performer, she isn’t immune to self-doubt. In this episode from another TED Audio Collective podcast, How to Be a Better Human, Aparna talks about the ways she’s learned to deal with impostor syndrome: like creating a resume listing all her failures, or making up words at parties to gauge other people’s reactions. She also shares how she learned to put less stock in success and what to do when your mind isn’t telling you the truth. Find more How to Be a Better Human wherever you get your podcasts.

Priscilla Gilman

Priscilla Gilman

The Critic's Daughter is an exquisitely rendered portrait of a unique father-daughter relationship and a moving revelation of family and identity. Author Priscilla Gilman joins to talk about her memoir, a candid account of loss and grief, forgiveness, and love.

Carrie Brownstein

Carrie Brownstein

Celebrated musician, comedian, writer, and director Carrie Brownstein joins to talk about her remarkable career as the co-founder, guitarist, and vocalist of the legendary punk band Sleater-Kinney, her role in the iconic TV series Portlandia, and her new memoir.

New York Times bestselling author and journalist Suleika Jaouad began writing her Emmy Award-winning column, “Life, Interrupted,” from her hospital room, chronicling her experiences as a young adult with cancer. She joins to discuss her remarkable life, career, and bestselling memoir, Between Two Kingdoms.

Best of Design Matters: Aminatou Sow

Best of Design Matters: Aminatou Sow

Aminatou Sow discusses her extraordinary journey that took her from Africa to Texas, from a job in a toy store to Google to co-host of one of today’s most brilliant podcasts, Call Your Girlfriend.

Best of Design Matters: Futura

Best of Design Matters: Futura

Across 50 years in the art scene, Futura has undergone a brilliant evolution from graffiti prodigy to design master.

Best of Design Matters: Thelma Golden

Best of Design Matters: Thelma Golden

As a child, Thelma Golden dreamt of a life in art museums—and that’s exactly the path she followed, breaking brilliant and historic new ground along the way.

Best of Design Matters: Lucy Wainwright Roche

Best of Design Matters: Lucy Wainwright Roche

The daughter of folk-music royalty, singer-songwriter Lucy Wainwright Roche joins to talk about her life, family, and multi-decade career in the music industry.

Best of Design Matters: James Clear

Best of Design Matters: James Clear

James Clear has been writing about habits, decision making, and continuous improvement for over a decade. Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Atomic Habits, he joins to talk about his career and how we can stop sabotaging our efforts with insurmountable goals.