Rethinking the Hero: A Creative Conversation with Ayse Birsel
In this episode, we sit down with product designer and creative thinker Ayse Birsel. She is the co-founder of Birsel + Seck, the award-winning design and innovation studio and is known for her work with manufacturers like Herman Miller as well as her bestselling book Design the Life You Love. Ayse has spent her career helping people design with intention: whether it’s a chair, a company, or their own life. We explore her tools to help people tap their creativity and she even guides Jon live on air through her Heroes Exercise that prompts reflection on those who inspire us most. Ayse shares her latest project: The Deck of Women Heroes. This is a creative tool to help us rethink who we honor, who we remember, and who we look to as role models for the future. Together, we unpack why it’s so difficult, and so necessary to name women heroes.This season of Break Some Dishes is presented by Humanscale.Referenced Work:New York Times article on women in leadership: Picture a Leader. Is She a Woman? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/16/health/women-leadership-workplace.html Books by Ayse Birsel:Design the Life You Love (2015)Design the Long Life You Love (2022) Ayse’s website: aysebirsel.comSubscribe to Ayse’s newsletter: https://www.aysebirsel.com/newsletterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Beyond the Classroom: Gender, Learning & Leadership at UT Arlington
In this episode, Jon travels to the University of Texas School of Architecture at Arlington to talk with professors and students about learning, teaching and mentoring. Does what we teach, and how we teach, truly open doors for everyone in the design profession? Listen in on these multi-perspective conversations that touch on bias, opportunity, and what happens when expectations meet up with reality. Jon also asks: Are we placing different expectations on male and female students — or are we projecting assumptions that don’t hold up? UT Arlington has some answers!This episode of Break Some Dishes is presented by Garden on the Wall. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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The House By The Sea, Eileen Gray and Other Women History Forgot
In this episode, we sit down with Kyle Bergman, founder of the Architecture & Design Film Festival (ADFF), to explore House by the Sea — a dreamy new film that revisits Eileen Gray’s iconic E1027 house and the notorious murals by Le Corbusier. We look at how the film uncovers what design history often hides: the stories of women like Gray, Charlotte Perriand, Lily Reich, and Denise Scott Brown — visionaries whose work shaped modern architecture but whose names too often went uncredited. We unpack why these stories matter and what they say about whose voices shape our built environment. Kyle shares what drew him to the film, what keeps him inspired to spotlight untold stories through ADFF, and why these hidden histories are more relevant than ever.This season of Break Some Dishes is presented by Humanscale.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Breaking Barriers with architect, designer and trailblazer, Lauren Rottet
In this episode, we sit down with Lauren Rottet — the only woman ever elevated to Fellow status by both the AIA and IIDA — to explore her remarkable journey from architect to interior and product designer. As Founding Principal of Rottet Studio, Lauren has led award-winning projects around the world and launched a celebrated furniture line, all while challenging the status quo. We talk mentorship, leadership, and what it takes for women to not only enter the design professions, but to lead them. Plus, Lauren shares the story behind one hotel inspired by a trailblazing woman — and the quote that guides her: “Well-behaved women seldom make history.”This season of Break Some Dishes is presented by Humanscale.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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From Products to Planet: Jane Abernethy’s Mission
In this episode of Break Some Dishes, Jon and Verda talk with Jane Abernethy, Chief Sustainability Officer at Humanscale about everything from sustainable products to gender equity in industrial design. Jane shares her journey from industrial designer to sustainability leader, why women’s voices are essential in shaping our built environment, and how bias in design can have lasting consequences. We also dig into circularity, regenerative futures, and how young designers can lead us toward a more inclusive, sustainable world.This season of Break Some Dishes is presented by Humanscale.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Defying the rules to inspire design. Under the lens of creativity, Verda Alexander and Jon Strassner swap stories with the unlikeliest of heroes in this fight to save our planet.
South Africa