Get Smarter and Make Stuff » podcast

I speak with Marshall Thompson about woodworking with kids, Shop Night with friends, the purpose and perils of academic research, and his contributions towards finding a cure for cancer.

The thing I spend more of my time making than anything else is the company I work for. In this episode, I talk with James Avery, founder and CEO of that company, Kevel, about building a company, leadership, letting go, and a variety of other things.

I talk with Carin Meier, a software engineer with Reify Health, about artificial intelligence/machine learning, including some of the pitfalls thereof, but also about gardening and being kind to yourself.

I talk with my friend and amateur blacksmith, Peter Bettenberg, about his journey into blacksmithing, his quest to make a Viking shield, and a quote from Sir Anthony Hopkins.

I talk with Clint Andera, one of my brothers, about his making and learning in woodworking, music, and the sport of curling. Along the way we also discuss imposter syndrome in woodworking and teaching as a learning technique.

I talk with my good friend Andrew about the projects we've done together, his adventures in making wood curve, and his work at the NTSB as a maritime accident investigator.

In this episode, I talk to the inimitable Fogus about his deep dive into philosophy through the lens of heavy metal. Along the way, we also discuss ancient Egypt and his quest to develop a "highly influential nothing".

I talk with Mike Fikes about his quest to learn electronics, and in so doing, to make ClojureScript a workable option for programming a microcontroller. Crazy? Yes, yes it is. But also cool.

I talk with my friend and former coworker Russ Olsen about making cigar box guitars, giving emotionally compelling talks to rooms full of ex-military people, and a host of other topics.

I talk with my coworker and close friend Tim Ewald about woodworking, hand tools, the fact that tools change the way you think about problems, and our changing approaches to problem solving in design and making.