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Design Tomorrow

Christopher Butler

Design Tomorrow is a podcast about design, technology, and being human with a special emphasis on growing our awareness that what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Episodes

Phones Never Die. They're Eaten By Birds
Sep 9 2019
Phones Never Die. They're Eaten By Birds
Can we really call it progress when it creates so much waste? What if your phone — the one you’re using right now — was your last phone? Take a good look at it and imagine using it for the rest of your life. Could it even last that long? Could you? Probably not. Today I want to think about what that means. What happens to a planet and its people when technological progress is measured in product cycles. And what happens when there's no balance sheet to account for the other side of that — when every new product leaves billions of products and accessories and packaging behind…Show NotesMy first cellphoneMy second cellphoneThis clip ended up on the cutting room floor, but here's Derek Zoolander's tiny phoneYou can learn more about the Agbogbloshie landfill by reading its Wikipedia page, looking at these photographs, or watching this documentary. Please watch it!You can learn more about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch here."The Victims of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch," a clip from 60 MinutesProject Ara Demo at Google IO 2015Google Cancels Project AraThe FairphoneDanny Boyle interviewed by Marc MaronMusicAll music used in this episode was independently produced by r beny and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.FeltFall Creek UnitFormation ProcessNovation PeakMariposaAlluvialNatomaSpindleIllumination CeremonyCreditsDesign Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
You Don't Have to Be an Entrepreneur, Part 2
Aug 26 2019
You Don't Have to Be an Entrepreneur, Part 2
Every discussion of entrepreneurship is really a discussion about values. Today, we'll follow up on last week's episode, where we began a discussion of entrepreneurship by resetting that idea — by challenging the story of entrepreneurship. We contrasted the protagonist — the hero CEO — with the reality of who we are. And we contrasted the plot — the capitalistic, meritocratic variant of the hero's journey — with the meandering serendipity of our lives' paths. But dismantling one story doesn't write ours for us. And so that's where we'll pick up today — with how we begin — by identifying, examining, and ordering our values so that they may serve as a foundation for the creative and productive lives we build upon them…MusicAll music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.Di Breun, by Blue Dot SessionsDrip Hop Modular Beats, by r benyOriel, by Blue Dot SessionsThe Snowgard, by Blue Dot SessionsCrosswire, by Blue Dot SessionsLi Fonte, by Blue Dot SessionsE2 Ambient X, by r benyCreditsDesign Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Useful Fictions
Apr 22 2019
Useful Fictions
We live in a time of illusions. Simulations that reflect back upon us more than just the passage of time, but something important about who we are. Something unique is going on right now — with the tools and technology we have — that is giving us the ability to stop, stretch, bend, and replay time. In this episode, we'll explore what that offers us, we for whom at some point, time will end...Links"Danielle"Timelapse of the Imperceptible Effects of Aging Created from Family Portraits by Anthony Cerniello"Noah takes a photo of himself every day for 12.5 years"Homer Simpson Time Lapse"Nancy Grows Up""41 Years in 60 Seconds""The Arrow of Time"Star Trek TNG - Moriarty pleads his case for existenceStranger than Fiction - Harold confronts the necessity of his deathMemento MoriMusicAll music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.Danielle, by Mark ReveleyTogether We Are Stronger, by KomikuI Need to Start Writing Things Down, by Chris ZabriskieThe Dark Glow of the Mountains, by Chris ZabriskieI Used to Need the Violence, by Chris ZabriskieOut of the Skies Under the Earth, by Chris ZabriskieCreditsDesign Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Behind Every Robot
Mar 25 2019
Behind Every Robot
What is it about robots that compels us to create them? And what does it say about a culture that makes machine surrogates despite not having reached a consensus about why to make them in the first place? In this episode, we'll explore the robots taking over our world, and the agenda behind them...LinkshitchBOTthe definition of "robot" from Google and Wikipediaa drumming robota spring-making robotoh, the many uses of springsUber's first self-driven truck delivery was a beer run.Amazon's newest ambition: competing directly with UPS and FedExThe permanent transitionThe three laws of roboticsThe One Thing Real Quick Podcast"How to Keep Yourself Sane in Faketopia"MusicAll music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.Inside the Toy Submarine, by Blue Dot SessionsRotary Cog, by Blue Dot SessionsBloom, by r benyNovation Peak Ambient II, by r benyHer Caliber, by Blue Dot SessionsExquisite Motion, by Blue Dot SessionsRainy Day Drone, by Blue Dot SessionsTiny Bottles, by Blue Dot SessionsThe Dustbin, by Blue Dot SessionsCreditsDesign Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC. You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Computer World
Feb 11 2019
Computer World
There are very few people left on Earth for whom the world isn't shaped by computers or seen through their screens. But does it have to be this way? In this episode, we'll explore how screens — and the images they reveal — are just as much a manifestation of the world from which they come as they are the raw materials of a story about the next one: the future...LinksThe IBM Portable PC 5155Blade Runner - Opening SceneHuman Progress Landscape, the not-so-good student animation I made in 2003, but for which I still retain some fondnessThe machine I used to make it: the Sony VAIO Digital StudioJony Ive's magical voice for Apple marketingyou may have noticed some sound from the Tron Lightbike SceneThe Matrix "What is Real?" scenekeen listeners and sci-fi aficionados will have noticed sounds from the Nostromo boot sequence in Alienyou may have also noticed some sound from The Lawnmower Man's disconnecting sceneWhat Technology Wants, by Kevin KellyThe last clip you heard came from WarGames - The WOPR introduction sceneMusicWith the exception of a brief sample from a live performance of Kraftwerk in 1978, all music used in this episode was independently produced and shared with Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use by Able Parris of kamuter.Stratosfear, by kamuterDiscovery, by kamuterthe robots (live), by KraftwerkFrequency, by kamuterTerraform, by kamuterInterrogation, by kamuterSome of My Favorite Independent MediaRobin Sloan is a writer and self-styled media inventor who constantly inspires me by independently producing short stories and "odd-shaped internet projects." His latest workspace is called Year of the Meteor, where he's writing a regular newsletter and producing some interesting zine-like media. Robin and his partner Kathryn Tomajan also independently produce California extra virgin olive oil under the label: Fat GoldDesert Oracle is a pocket-sized field guide (and radio show) to the fascinating American deserts: strange tales, singing sand dunes, sagebrush trails, artists and aliens, authors and oddballs, ghost towns and modern legends, musicians and mystics, scorpions and saguaros! Independently produced by Ken Layne.Mysterious Universe is my favorite podcast about the weird, the strange, the paranormal, and the metaphysical independently produced for over a decade in Sydney, Australia. You can support them by listening and becoming a member of their Plus Club.Logic Magazine is a print magazine about technology that publishes three times per year and maintains an intentionally small digital footprint. Hurry Slowly is a podcast about how you can be more productive, creative, and resilient through the simple act of slowing down. Aquarium Drunkard is an eclectic audio journal focused on daily reviews, interviews, features, podcasts and sessions.CreditsDesign Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC. You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.