The Design Of Business | The Business of Design

Design Observer
The Design Of Business | The Business of Design

The Design of Business | The Business of Design explores how design shapes, and is shaped by, the world around us. Hosted by Ellen McGirt, the podcast features conversations with visionary leaders from a wide range of industries, from architecture and technology to journalism and retail. Together, they examine creative practices, challenge conventional thinking, and explore how design drives business, innovation, and social change.In Season 12 of DB|BD, host Ellen McGirt explores Designing for the Unknown—how visionary designers, architects, and thinkers navigate uncertainty, from climate adaptation to technological disruption. This season, we’re looking at the bold ideas reshaping our cities, industries, and ways of living in an unpredictable world.

  1. S12E2: How a "Mastercard for Pigs" is Transforming Global Farming with Tara Nathan

    18 MAR

    S12E2: How a "Mastercard for Pigs" is Transforming Global Farming with Tara Nathan

    Tara Nathan is the EVP of Digital Solutions for Development at Mastercard and the founder of Mastercard’s Community Pass- a digital infrastructure that connects remote agricultural communities to governments, NGOs and the private sector. Community Pass currently serves 6 million farmers across India and East Africa and has an ambitious plan to reach 30 million by 2027. In this episode, Tara tells host Ellen McGirt about creating an ecosystem that makes it possible for smallholder farmers to p...

    32 min
  2. S12E1: The Future of Cities is Climate Adaptive with Michael Eliason

    4 MAR

    S12E1: The Future of Cities is Climate Adaptive with Michael Eliason

    Welcome to the 12th season of DB|BD. This season we are Designing for the Unknown. Michael Eliason of Larch Lab is an architect, researcher, writer and urbanist based in Seattle He’s a self-described activist for dense, livable, affordable, and sustainable cities and the author of Building for People: Designing Livable, Affordable, Low-Carbon Communities. In the aftermath of the fires in Southern California, Michael helps host Ellen McGirt understand how we can build or rebuild co...

    31 min
  3. S11E10: Activism in AI with Google’s Ovetta Sampson

    11/09/2024

    S11E10: Activism in AI with Google’s Ovetta Sampson

    Ovetta Sampson is the Director of User Experience Machine Learning at Google. In December 2023, Business Insider named Ovetta to their AI 100, a list of the 100 most influential people working in artificial intelligence. Her inclusion on that list is a refreshing addition. Ovetta approaches her work with generative AI and machine learning as an activist, with a commitment to humanity and ethics. In the final interview episode of the 11th season of DB|BD, Jessica Helfand and Ellen McGirt...

    38 min
  4. S11E9: What’s Love Got to Do With Business with Jorge Fontanez

    28/08/2024

    S11E9: What’s Love Got to Do With Business with Jorge Fontanez

    Jorge Fontanez is the CEO of B Lab, a non-profit network that believes business can be a force for good. B Lab is best known for certifying B Corps, companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance and accountability. To become a B Corp, companies need to be transparently addressing things like DEI, their own climate footprint and labor conditions. There are currently just over 9,000 B Corps in 102 countries across 162 industries, including well known brands like Pat...

    51 min
  5. S11E8: Poetry is Anti Capitalist with Tracy K. Smith

    07/08/2024

    S11E8: Poetry is Anti Capitalist with Tracy K. Smith

    Tracy K. Smith is a Pulitzer prize winning poet, professor and librettist who served as the U.S. Poet Laureate from 2017-2019. She’s published five poetry collections, two librettos and one memoir-manifesto. She is also a Professor of English and African and African American Studies at Harvard. Her most recent Libretto for the opera The Righteous is currently running at the Santa Fe Opera house through August 13th. Pulsing through Tracy’s long list of accomplishments is her belief that langua...

    57 min
  6. S11E7: Using Design to Show the World Your Truth with Dionna Dorsey and Production Designer Olivia Peebles

    24/07/2024

    S11E7: Using Design to Show the World Your Truth with Dionna Dorsey and Production Designer Olivia Peebles

    In this episode of DB|BD Ellen McGirt and Jessica Helfand talk with two extraordinary women from two seemingly different corners of the design world: Dionna Dorsey and Olivia Peebles. We say “seemingly” because, while they occupy different design disciplines, they approach their work in similar ways. They are both multidisciplinary designers with the hearts and souls of artists whose visuals bring to life what they and their collaborators know to be true about the world. First up, we hear fro...

    59 min
  7. S11E6: Why an Inclusive Global Economy is a Redesign Project with Mastercard’s Shamina Singh

    26/06/2024

    S11E6: Why an Inclusive Global Economy is a Redesign Project with Mastercard’s Shamina Singh

    Twenty years ago, Shamina Singh took what might seem like an unlikely leap from a decade-long career as a labor and political organizer into an executive position at one of the world’s biggest financial institutions. To Singh, this leap was a logical next step in her fight for equity and inclusion. She is now the co-founder and president of Mastercard’s Center for Inclusive Growth. The Center, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this spring, is the credit card giant’s social impact hub that...

    57 min
  8. S11E5: WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert on Talent, Activism, and the Business of Basketball

    12/06/2024

    S11E5: WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert on Talent, Activism, and the Business of Basketball

    The WNBA is both the moment and a movement. Approximately 400,000 fans attended WNBA games during the first month of the 2024 season, the highest first month attendance in 26 years. An average of 1.32 million viewers are tuning into each game. A historic rookie class that includes Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark are bringing new eyeballs to a game that has some of the most dedicated fan bases in professional sports. The league also saw a 200% increase in revenue in 2023 from the year prio...

    59 min
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The Design of Business | The Business of Design explores how design shapes, and is shaped by, the world around us. Hosted by Ellen McGirt, the podcast features conversations with visionary leaders from a wide range of industries, from architecture and technology to journalism and retail. Together, they examine creative practices, challenge conventional thinking, and explore how design drives business, innovation, and social change.In Season 12 of DB|BD, host Ellen McGirt explores Designing for the Unknown—how visionary designers, architects, and thinkers navigate uncertainty, from climate adaptation to technological disruption. This season, we’re looking at the bold ideas reshaping our cities, industries, and ways of living in an unpredictable world.

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