Refrangible The Center for Design and Material Culture

Whether it’s an alien-fighting space robot or a cherished family heirloom, we all have a special place in our heart for our favorite childhood toys. In this episode of Refrangible, we take a closer look at that connection, and how it shapes us as adults.
 
Thanks to our guests for this episode: Mark Chester, Karla Chester and Nikki Hollander (a.k.a. Grandma Kitschy).

From a practice cottage to a home management house, UW-Madison has a long history of live-in learning experiences. In this episode of Refrangible, we examine the university’s history of domestic education, and the lessons 21st century educators can pull from those experiments.
 
Thanks to our guests for this episode (in order of appearance): Barbara Tensfeldt, retired and professional volunteer; and Dr. Elizabeth Hooper-Lane, senior lecturer of art history at UW-Madison and an academic staff member at UW-Oshkosh.

In this episode, we examine how luxury home goods in southern plantation houses obscured the true ugliness running just under the surface.

In this episode, we examine what defines a “home” — and what happens when it’s taken away.

Think about an object that makes you uncomfortable. Now, ask yourself: Why do you tend to side-eye that particular thing? 
 
In this episode of Refrangible, we’re talking about objects that may send shivers down our spines.

In episode one of this season, we touched briefly on the idea of appropriating – or perhaps, more accurately, commodifying – culture. Who really gets to reap the rewards, financial and otherwise, of a specific culture’s iconography, spirituality and history? In this episode, we’re reexamining the commodification of culture: and what happens when appreciation turns into appropriation.