Playlist: Binge Listening for Design Nerds

Studio 360 | Aug 6, 2015

With only a few month of summah left, it's time to eke out as many weekend trips as you can. If you've got a 5-hour drive and only a car stereo to keep you company, we've got you covered. Studio 360 presents some of our favorite segments about innovative design, from an interview with graphic design legend Milton Glaser to a love letter to the classic Harley Davidson.

  • Making Mondays More Joyful (March 19, 2015)
    We asked our listeners for experiences that could use a joyful makeover. We handed your suggestions over to the design firm IDEO, and they picked an ambitious challenge: to bring joy to Mondays.
  • Christopher Alexander: A Pattern Language (April 1, 2011)
    Christopher Alexander's failed plan to revolutionize architecture unintentionally shaped the internet as we know it.
  • Milton Glaser (December 15, 2006)
    The creator of the classic "I <3 NY" logo talks with Kurt Andersen about 5 decades in advertising, and why good design goes deeper than aesthetics.
  • Isabel & Ruben Toledo: A Studio Visit (April 6, 2012)
    Isabel Toledo was a quiet force in the fashion industry until Michele Obama wore one of Toledo's designs at the 2009 Presidential inauguration. Overnight, Toledo became a household name. Kurt visits her studio in New York's garment district, and tours the building that Toledo has turned into a tiny fashion empire. 
  • Election Signs (November 3, 2006)
    No matter how many election signs we see, they all seem the same. Why?
  • Judging a Designer by His Covers (August 15, 2014)
    Peter Mendelsund has designed book covers for novels by Steig Larsson, James Joyce, Franz Kafka. The veteran designer talks with Kurt Andersen about close reading, genre clichés, and his first career as a classical pianist. 
  • American Icons: Harley Davidson (October 15, 2010)
    It’s not the fastest motorcycle or the fanciest, but to many Americans, a motorcycle is a Harley-Davidson. Studio 360 explores the mystique and ingenuity of the classic American bike. 
  • Can Trauma Be Healed with Design? (May 3, 2013)
    What happens to an elementary school after a tragedy like a school shooting? In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School horror, administrators are working with architects, designers and the community to decide what to do with the existing builing.
  • Design for the Real World: Dialysis Machine (December 10, 2010)
    The humble dialysis machine evolved from a giant industrial behemoth to a smaller, R2-D2-like machine that marries the power of earlier models with more sophisticated technology.

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