Design Matters with Debbie Millman

Ada Limón, 24th U.S. Poet Laureate and award-winning poet, reflects on childhood between two homes and a fierce love of the natural world. She talks about poetry as a way to hold loss, joy, and mortality. She also discusses craft, public service as laureate, and how poems emerge from sound, memory, and strange small moments.

Lidia Yuknavitch, bestselling author and artist known for blending memoir and experimental fiction. She talks about water and memory shaping identity. She explores narrative transmography, swimming as survival and art, the film adaptation of The Chronology of Water, and reclaiming menopause as creative power.

Jack Schlossberg, writer, lawyer, political correspondent and JFK's only grandson, reflects on growing up in a famous family and his path into politics and media. He discusses internet culture, misinformation, and why Democrats must take bolder, edgier approaches. He also recounts creating viral truth-telling content and his views on rebuilding trust with younger voters.

Kim Hastreiter, co-founder and longtime editor of Paper magazine and cultural collector, reflects on downtown New York art, fashion, and nightlife. She recalls founding Paper from scrappy beginnings, spotting artists early, curating daring covers, and why objects and ephemera matter for cultural memory. Short, vivid stories trace a life built on taste, urgency, and preserving cultural chaos.

C. Thi Nguyen, philosopher and author who studies games and how systems shape our choices. He explores games as means of agency, why scoring systems and metrics change what we value, and the idea of value capture. Short, vivid stories range from skateboarding to Duolingo. Practical questions about resisting metric-driven life round out the conversation.

Quiara Alegría Hudes, Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright, composer, and novelist, discusses her new novel and creative shifts. She talks about why fiction was necessary, crafting an unapologetic antiheroine, and the role of rage and dissociation in survival. She also shares how music, form, and ten-day structure shaped the story.

Chris Duffy, comedian, writer, and host of the TED podcast How to Be a Better Human, chats about how humor shaped his path from teaching and improv to podcasting and TV. He discusses attention and noticing as sources of comedy. He explores laughing at yourself, taking social risks, and how humor helps process grief while also carrying ethical responsibilities.

Ruth Ann Harnisch, investor, philanthropist and media producer who founded the Harnisch Foundation. She traces her rise from teen broadcaster to pioneering anchor. She discusses founding a foundation to break barriers, shifting from many small gifts to bigger systemic investments, and how money, scarcity, integrity, and improv-shaped leadership inform her work.

Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb and trained industrial designer, talks about how imagination and design shaped his path from art school to building a worldwide hospitality community. He recalls redesigning toys and cities, RISD rituals like 200 self-portraits, founding Airbed & Breakfast, solving trust for adoption, and how AI and philanthropy factor into design-led leadership.

Join award-winning author Jason Reynolds, known for his impactful storytelling, as he reflects on his upbringing and the power of language in shaping identity. Rick Rubin, the legendary record producer behind Def Jam, shares insights on his punk origins and the DJ-centric roots of hip hop. Artist Marina Abramović discusses her provocative performance Rhythm Zero, exploring vulnerability and audience interaction. Finally, Roxane Gay talks about women's autonomy and the honest journey of writing her memoir, Hunger.