Clever is an award-winning, independent podcast that offers a window into the humanity behind the design of the world around us. In each episode, designer Amy Devers has candid and revealing conversations with the visionaries, culture-makers, and creative forces who shape our world and inform our society. Through a disarming mix of raw candor and honest shop-talk, Clever peels back the layers to unearth the gritty, authentic and sometimes surprising details of their creative paths. Clever Co ...
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Ep. 222: Stop Disrupting, Start Caring with ustwo’s CEO Nicki Sprinz
59:41
59:41
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59:41CEO of digital experience studio, ustwo, Nicki Sprinz, was born in London and attended a convent primary school with strict rules that tended to squash curiosity - something she has had to consciously unlearn in the years since. A couple of harrowing chapters with significant health challenges presented Nicki with opportunities to learn to overcome…
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Ep. 221: Blu Dot’s John Christakos on Combining Artistic Vision and Business Acumen
56:31
56:31
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56:31John Christakos, co-founder and CEO of Blu Dot, grew up taking road trips with his father to textile mills, skipping school in favor of real-world experiences. He went on to double major in economics and studio art, a combination of creativity and business which proved itself invaluable later in life. After a life-changing year traveling the world …
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Ep 45: Fashion Designer Mary Ping [rebroadcast]
46:03
46:03
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46:03Fashion designer Mary Ping was influenced at a young age by a stylish grandmother who taught her to sew. Always knowing she’d one day run her own label, she studied art at Vassar and worked in east London’s scene before founding her conceptual line, Slow and Steady Wins the Race, a living archive of wardrobe classics, reexamined. Not one to partici…
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Ep. 220: Designing Belonging: Alma Jimenez Lopez on Art, Heritage, and Home
1:00:48
1:00:48
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1:00:48Alma Jimenez Lopez is a creative force — a designer, artist, and curator who builds bridges between cultures and communities. In this episode, she shares how growing up as a first-generation Mexican American shaped her superpower: empathy. From honing her skills as an interior designer and building bridges across sectors of the design industry, to …
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Clever Confidential Ep. 6: The Brilliant Life and Tragic Death of Florence Broadhurst
25:22
25:22
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25:22Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series where we dig into the lesser told stories of the darker side of design; the shadowy, sometimes sordid, tales hiding under a glossy top coat of respectable legacy. In this episode we peel back the glittering façade of one of Australia's greatest design icons, Florence Broadhurst—a woman whose legendary…
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Clever Confidential Ep. 2: The Supernatural Beginnings of The Bradbury Building [rebroadcast]
1:00:21
1:00:21
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1:00:21In the heart of downtown Los Angeles sits Hollywood’s undisputed architectural superstar — the Bradbury Building. The imposing structure’s character is definitive. Its origin story, however, is much murkier… How did a young draftsman design one of the most remarkable buildings in the world? Why did he never again do anything of note? Or did he? Was…
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Clever Confidential Ep. 5: Eileen Gray and the Aura of E-1027 [rebroadcast]
37:17
37:17
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37:17Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series, where we dig into the darker side of design - the shadowy, sometimes sordid tales hiding under a glossy topcoat of respectable legacy. In Ep. 5 we explore the haunting tale of E-1027, an architectural masterpiece born of love but marred by betrayal, obsession, and tragedy. From its creation by Eileen…
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Clever Confidential Ep. 4: Olivetti and the Race to Create the First Personal Computer [rebroadcast]
38:05
38:05
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38:05Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series, where we dig into the darker side of design - the shadowy, sometimes sordid tales hiding under a glossy topcoat of respectable legacy. In Episode 4: Olivetti and the Race to Create the First Personal Computer, host Amy Devers and writer Andrew Wagner unravel a captivating story that challenges our as…
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Clever Confidential Ep. 3: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Murders at Taliesin [rebroadcast]
29:16
29:16
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29:16Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series, where we dig into the darker side of design - the shadowy, sometimes sordid tales hiding under a glossy topcoat of respectable legacy. On the afternoon of August 14th, 1915, fire ripped through Taliesin, the Spring Green, Wisconsin home of the world’s most famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. When t…
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Clever Confidential Ep. 1: The Strange Disappearance of Norman Jaffe [rebroadcast]
1:01:48
1:01:48
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1:01:48On the morning of August 19th, 1993, mid-century architect, Norman Jaffe, parked his car in his client’s driveway, walked to Ocean Beach in Bridgehampton, New York, stripped down, folded his clothes, and dove into the Atlantic. He never returned and his body was never recovered. Was it murder? Was it suicide? Did he fake his own death? What happene…
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Ep. 212: HODINKEE’s Ben Clymer on Agency, Permanence, and the Talismans of Life [rebroadcast]
56:23
56:23
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56:23Ben Clymer grew up in a New York suburb, raised by middle-class public school teachers and enamored by his grandfather’s swagger and style. An Omega Speedmaster, a gift from said grandfather, is the piece that captured his heart and sets his story in motion. A painstakingly shy student, he began to gain self-confidence in high-school and a need to …
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Clever Confidential Ep. 5: Eileen Gray and the Aura of E-1027
37:16
37:16
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37:16Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series, where we dig into the darker side of design - the shadowy, sometimes sordid tales hiding under a glossy topcoat of respectable legacy. In Ep. 5 we explore the haunting tale of E-1027, an architectural masterpiece born of love but marred by betrayal, obsession, and tragedy. From its creation by Eileen…
…
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Ep. 219: Federico Negro on Making Tools to Empower and Scale Sustainable Design
1:03:47
1:03:47
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1:03:47Founder and CEO of Canoa, Federico Negro, was born in Uruguay during a time of political turmoil and lived in four countries by age 14. As a teenager in Chicago, he used music as a means of learning English, and during college became fascinated by forensic architecture, which informed his fixation with “how we build with what we build.” An Architec…
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Clever Confidential Ep. 4: Olivetti and the Race to Create the First Personal Computer
38:05
38:05
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38:05Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series, where we dig into the darker side of design - the shadowy, sometimes sordid tales hiding under a glossy topcoat of respectable legacy. In Episode 4: Olivetti and the Race to Create the First Personal Computer, host Amy Devers and writer Andrew Wagner unravel a captivating story that challenges our as…
…
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Ep. 218: The Exquisite Love, Magic and Maximalism of Londubh Studio
1:01:45
1:01:45
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1:01:45Custom surface artists Lisa Donohoe and Brynn Gelbard met and fell in love in the queer underbelly scene of San Francisco in 2002, a time before bi-national same-sex marriage was legal. Their diverse community was built on love, curiosity and celebrating each other's differences. In an evolution that was equal parts organic maturity and cosmic inte…
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Ep. 170: Deem Journal’s Nu Goteh on Facilitating All Things Awesome [rebroadcast]
1:30:33
1:30:33
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1:30:33Co-Founder of Deem Journal, designer Nu Goteh was born in Liberia and came to the US with his family as a refugee at the age of 3. His first career ambition, as a model son of African parents, was to become a doctor / lawyer. But as a sneakerhead, skater, and early-adopter of the internet, he kept making opportunities for himself in marketing, prom…
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Ep. 217: Design Researcher Amanda Schneider on the Art of Contextualizing the Data
40:32
40:32
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40:32Founder and President of ThinkLab, Amanda Schneider, grew up outside of Chicago, inspired by a blend of engineering and design. Now a self-described “designer by degree, journalist by accident, and researcher by choice” at the helm of ThinkLab, she examines the ecosystem of the design world, unearthing and synthesizing the social and cultural shift…
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