Ep. 111: Clever Extra - Creativity & Community in a Time of Crisis
These are strange and difficult times. People are feeling anxious, isolated, and frightened. *raises hand* We reached out to friends and familiar voices you know and love from previous Clever episodes to bring you messages of solidarity, hope and coping strategies. Now, we really want to hear from you - How are you doing with all this? To leave us a voice message: call (323) 387-3329 (inside the U.S., anytime 24/7) OR record a voice memo and email it to hello@cleverpodcast.com (anywhere in the world.)
Clever is produced by 2VDE Media. Thanks to Rich Stroffolino for editing this episode.
Music in this episode courtesy of El Ten Eleven—hear more on Bandcamp.
Shoutout to Jenny Rask for designing the Clever logo.
Keep Listening
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Founder 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 shifts and drivers that impact the interiors industry. Together with her team, she offers insights and context that can empower better decision-making while also bridging the communication gap between creatives and the business sector. A keynote speaker (catch her recent TEDx talk) and the host of the podcast Design Nerds Anonymous, Amanda shares her wisdom on topics like communication strategies, storytelling, and the future of work.
Interior designer and lifestyle expert Kerrie Kelly is known for her distinctive California-inspired design philosophy. She got her start at Ralph Lauren Home and then moved to Del Webb Corporation where she was a boots-on-the-ground high-volume designer of homes, before founding her multi-faceted design studio, Kerrie Kelly Design Lab, in 1995. A graduate of both design and business school, she blends both of these skill sets in her work as an interior designer, trendspotter, and brand partner. She’s driven by a commitment to bringing thoughtful design into everyday life, which for Kerrie means blending beauty with functionality and translating that through a palette of luxurious and organic materiality.
Artist, creative technologist, and educator, Idris Brewster grew up in Brooklyn, being filmed for a documentary about his education as a black student at a prestigious, primarily white, school. His coming-of-age, only partially caught on camera, included a lot of basketball and hands-on artistic development. A grant awarded in college gave him early access to VR technology which opened a path to combining all of his talents and interests and expressing them through new media. Now, as co-founder and Executive Director of Kinfolk Foundation, he’s harnessing augmented reality, location-based technology, and community to engage in placing digital monuments in public spaces, memory building, and foregrounding the Black, Brown and Queer histories that have been intentionally silenced.
Architect & designer Marc Thorpe spent his youth, just outside of Washington DC, drawing and learning to navigate a destabilizing home environment. The son of two academics, he learned discipline, rigor, and resilience from his mom, while his dad, a critical thinker, taught him to challenge and interrogate everything. Always knowing he’d be an artist, he studied Industrial Design and Architecture. Now, he’s the Founder & Principal of Marc Thorpe Design, a multi-disciplinary studio, and co-founder (along with Claire Pijoulat) of Edifice Upstate, a design & build architecture agency. As someone with a unique ability to seize every opportunity, as well as create them from scratch, he’s worked with world-renowned designers, lead groundbreaking projects, and is leading the charge toward more responsible architecture. And while Marc has always been certain that he’d be a creative, it is uncertainty that is his greatest inspiration.