From designing wearable technology for outer space to examining the loss of fish in the ocean, the expertise at Pratt covers a range of issues and topics impacting the world. Here are 10 recent podcast appearances from the Pratt community showcasing this knowledge and creativity being explored on campus and beyond:
Housing and Social Justice
Karen Kubey, visiting associate professor of interior design, joined the WHEREING podcast hosted by Nina Freedman, visiting associate professor of undergraduate architecture. WHEREING asks questions about belonging, space, and design. Freedman and Kubey discussed Kubey’s career in housing and social justice as well as her vision for the future of housing in the United States. Listen on the WHEREING site.
“I’m very interested in housing because it’s at the center of our lives, at the center of our economy, and it makes up the majority of the built environment in our neighborhoods.”
Karen Kubey, WHEREING podcast
Ocean Conservation and Managed Extinction
Jennifer Telesca, assistant professor of social science and cultural studies, appeared on an episode of the Mongabay Newscast. The podcast interview focused on her recent book, Red Gold: The Managed Extinction of Giant Bluefin Tuna, which examines how overfishing of Atlantic bluefin tuna has pushed the fish to extinction. Listen on the Mongabay site.
“I entered the project trying to understand what decision-makers in positions of power were doing in order to create the conditions for an ocean emptying of wild fish.”
Jennifer Telesca, Mongabay Newscast
Promoting Industrial Design in Latin America
Ignacio Urbina Polo, professor of industrial design, joined the Spanish-language design podcast Diseño y Diáspora for a conversation on his industrial design practice and promotion of the field, such as with the Di-conexiones platform which focuses on design in Latin America. He also shared how his students have worked with students at Havana’s Higher Institute of Design (ISDI) for a creative dialogue on design. Listen on Spotify.
“El futuro lo inventamos en cada salón de clase, en cada discusión aparecen nuevos futuros.”
Ignacio Urbina Polo, Diseño y Diáspora
The Divide in American Gun Culture
Former Pratt creative writing student Lisa Hagen hosted “No Compromise,” a recent series on NPR that examined the divisive relationship with guns in the United States through an investigation of gun rights activists. The series was awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting. Listen to the series online at NPR.
“There’s something changing in this country about the way we see guns, and that change isn’t coming from the National Rifle Association.”
Lisa Hagen, No Compromise
The Design of Food
Amanda Huynh, assistant professor of industrial design, was interviewed on the Context podcast that engages in dialogues on design and life. Huynh focuses her practice on community-building and social innovation, and shared what being a food designer means in her work. Listen on Spotify.
“For me, food design lives under the industrial design umbrella, because I think it’s about the material, which is so deeply what we do in industrial design.”
Amanda Huynh, Context podcast
Telling Important Stories on Film
Assistant Professor of Film/Video Eliza Hittman joined the Chanel Connects culture podcast, recently launched by the French fashion label, for a conversation on “The Lure of the Risky Choice” with fellow filmmaker Garrett Bradley. Hittman directed the critically acclaimed Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020) and shared her experiences telling political stories in compelling ways. Listen on Apple Podcasts.
“If you can demonstrate the impact of the issues on human lives then you can find ways to get past the audience’s defenses or bias regarding these important topics.”
Eliza Hittman, Chanel Connects
Wearable Technology in Sports and Space
Fashion design and industrial design faculty member Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman joined the Clever design podcast for a discussion of her pioneering work in wearable technology, from the R&D of products for athletes to functional apparel for NASA. She shared her design process of bringing different ideas together, the influence of coming from a family of teachers, and her own work as an educator. Listen on the Clever podcast site.
“The future is somewhere where I can let go of expectations and just run with an idea. Since it’s in the future, there’s no right or wrong, there’s just let’s question it, let’s try it, we don’t have anything to lose because it doesn’t really exist yet. But then at the same time, ultimately that future, it comes back to the present, hopefully effecting real change.”
Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, Clever podcast
Collaboration and Color in Film
Matías Piñeiro, assistant professor of film and video, joined a conversation with filmmaker Nicolás Pereda for the Film at Lincoln Center Podcast. The discussion explored Piñeiro’s film Isabella—part of his series of films inspired by the women in Shakespeare’s comedies—and Pereda’s Fauna and ideas around their approaches to collaboration, color, structure and more in their work. Listen on the Film at Lincoln Center site.
“I’m attracted to painting and to certain painters and I see the connection between cinema and other disciplines and I get inspired and I push things, so ideas come from all those interactions.”
Matías Piñeiro, Film at Lincoln Center Podcast
Increasing Representation in the Arts and Expanding Community
Jean Shin, adjunct professor-CCE of fine arts, was interviewed on the Beyond the Studio podcast. She discussed using her role as an artist to increase representation and expand ideas of community, as well as the challenges of creating large-scale installations and public art projects. Listen on the Beyond the Studio site.
“In the moment of creation, you have to have doubt. In the moment of creation, you have to follow your curiosity.”
Jean Shin, Beyond the Studio
Teaching Design to the Next Generation
Jon Otis, professor of interior design, shared the design lessons he wants each student to have on the Imagine a Place podcast that explores how interior design shapes human experience. He discussed the joys of learning, making a positive impact, and the importance of education in his practice. Listen on the Imagine a Place site.
“I try to emphasize with my students that to really experience a space, to really experience an object, is to experience it with all of your senses and not just with your eye. If you just stay on a screen and you select objects to be in your spaces you never really know what they feel like, you don’t know what they sound like.”
Jon Otis, Imagine a Place