EdTech Caf‪é‬ Stanford EdTech

In our final episode of the first season, we do a quick recap of how we think the season went, what we liked about the guest interviews and Treat of the Day, how to improve both segments (including the possibility of adding games with guests), how we can interact more directly with our listeners, and other ideas for the upcoming season.

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In the penultimate episode of our first season, we invite Shanna Polley — artist, musician, sound designer, music teacher, and an honorary member of Stanford EdTech, especially given that she’s the newly engaged fiancée of our very own William Bottini — to the café where we discuss her creative process, her auspicious start to songwriting at 13 years old, her artistic inspirations (both famous and non-famous), the fulfilling and challenging aspects of her musical success, and her advice to aspiring young musicians. We also talk about some of her weirdest sound designs, opening up rat brains for research, something about William that we didn't know, and Spongebob the Musical... again!

For our Treat of the Day, we review the snowmen that William photographed in Fort Tryon Park on the first day of snow, which leads to a chat about upcoming Christmas plans and our favorite Christmas traditions. We also catch up on other things about Shanna that we didn't get to, and we even get an update on Jessica's feral cats adjusting to the presence of a dog.

Check out https://snakeskinmusic.bandcamp.com/ to learn more about Shanna & her work. Her newest album, Heart Orb Bone, will be released early 2021.

In this episode, we welcome Bindu Madhava, formerly of AV Tech at Stanford Medicine and currently a senior digital media specialist at Stanford EdTech. We discuss his upbringing in Bangalore, India when 16mm and video cameras first arrived, the cinematographer who became his first mentor, the Bollywood and Hollywood films that have inspired him, and the "Hollywood Dream." We also talk about his reasons for emigrating to the United states, his professional career leading up to Stanford, the projects he has been recently working on, and his process for incorporating storytelling into everything he does.

Our Treat of the Day concerns the Facebook group, Every Spongebob Frame in Order, and the joy that it provides William while quarantining. This leads to a discussion about the online communities that have sustained us, from virtual theatre to TV-show-related memes to online film blogs, not just during shelter-in-place, but throughout our lives.

In this episode, we invite George Mauro, formerly of AV Tech at Stanford Medicine, to the café where we discuss birds, Piggly Wiggly, his experience in theatre, including those with Jessica, and his decades-long career in video production from college to Stanford Medicine. We also talk about the circumstances that led to his semi-retirement, along with how he's adjusting to the new normal during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For our Treat of the Day, we break down the poem "A Bird came down the Walk" by Emily Dickinson, where we allegorize the relationship between human and bird to the one between instructor and learner. We also dive into the show "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," Dolly Parton, and the "Remembrance of Earth's Past" trilogy by Liu Cixin.

On a final note, as this is the last show before Election Day, we encourage our listeners to go vote! Check out http://www.vote.org to learn more on how to register and where to vote.

In this episode, we welcome Stanford EdTech's first instructional designer, Deila Bumgardner, to the café where we discuss her journey from media production to instructional design, including a brief stint as a wine bartender, and her experience working as a contractor at Apple. We also talk about what makes good (or bad) instructional design, and how working in academia has allowed her to think outside the box in the pursuit of meaningful outcomes.

Our Treat of the Day concerns the phrase "emotional content," popularized by Bruce Lee in his 1973 film Enter the Dragon, and written about by Kellen Manning in a 2014 blog article titled "Emotional Content: What Bruce Lee Taught Me About Digital Media." This emphasis on emotions and feelings, rather than ideas and thought, leads to a wide-ranging discussion about some of our favorite films and shows, including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Distant Voices, Still Lives, and even a random movie on Prime Video called The Exigency.

In this episode, we invite Jon Jamieson, the Director of Media & Design at Stanford Graduate School of Business, to the café where we discuss his band's new EP, his upbringing with punk music in Santa Cruz, the transition from music to video in college, and his journey from journalism to higher education. We also talk about how his team at Stanford GSB is adapting to COVID-19, along with his new role in the Media & Design team.

Our Treat of the Day concerns 17776, the interactive, multimedia serial published online by Jon Bois through SB Nation. This speculative fiction leads to a meta-discussion about how we speculate about the future in either utopian or dystopian ways.

Check out http://www.jonjamieson.com to learn more about Jon & his work, and go to https://timespentdriving.com to listen to Jon's band's new EP.