Andy McMillan makes things that bring people together: the Build conference, the XOXO festival, and The Manual, a series of books with thoughtful essays about design. After producing three print volumes of The Manual, he's trying to take it to the next level, and produce something openly, broadly available across many media, that's a collaboration with those who want to make it happen — and is funding it on Kickstarter. We'll talk books, ebooks, community, and hugs and kisses.

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Photo by Ian Linkletter. https://www.flickr.com/photos/linkletter/15130888470

Fit to Print with Andy McMillan

The New Disruptors tells stories that provide practical inspiration about the way that creative people and producers connect with audiences to perform, cajole, convince, sell, and interact using new methods. Hosted by Glenn Fleishman, a freelance technology reporter and typographic historian. Produced by Aperiodical LLC.

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In this episode recorded in early April 2020, Dan Frommer (Twitter) of The New Consumer joins host Glenn Fleishman. Dan is a long-time journalist. He’s been the editor in chief of Recode at Vox Media, an editor and writer at Quartz, and helped create Business Insider. 

The New Consumer is a subscription newsletter and site that charges a fee for access to keen insights by Dan about the shape and changes in the retail economy. Dan started the site a year ago, long before a pandemic was even suspected, and he’s well poised to document the massive upheaval happening now.

While paid newsletters aren’t new, Dan is part of a small but growing number of people who have built expertise and audiences who then turn to direct support as a way to create their work solely for subscribers. This keeps them independent of advertising and the vagaries of employers’ changing priorities.

Consumption in the Age of Pandemic with Dan Frommer

Jaimee Newberry is the co-founder of Picture This Clothing. Draw a picture or take a picture and get it put on a dress or a T-shirt. It’s that simple — well, it’s that simple for the maker, which is what Jaimee is all about. She and her partner fell into the business through a tweet. Three years in, there’s no sign of it slowing down.

Patrons: This episode is brought to you in part by Disruptor-level patrons Wil Macaulay, Raymond Kloss, and Andrew Fisher. Thanks for your help in bringing this show back on the air. You can find back episodes and spread the word at https://newdisrupt.org/support/

Picture Yourself on a Dress and Deliver with Jaimee Newberry

Musician Marian Call appeared on New Disruptors back in October 2013. Her home was in Alaska, but she spent a lot of time away from it touring. With six more years under her belt, she’s trying to stick closer to her community in Juneau. One of the reasons? Her husband Pat Race, an illustrator, gallery owner, videographer, filmmaker, and part-time adult camp operator.

We talk about their independent careers and where both find themselves—besides in Alaska—and how they converge and diverge with their work. Also, we learn just how hopping a town Juneau is for creative people!

Marian on the universe of entertainment now available and what we contend for as artists: “I can’t place too many demands on people’s attention knowing they have all the options in the world.”

Find them both on Twitter: @mariancall and @alaskarobotics.

Patrons: This episode is also brought to you in part by Disruptor-level patrons Charles Arthur, M. E. Achterman, Nic Barajas, and Dylan Wilbanks. You can become a patron of the show on a one-time or recurring basis, and get rewards like an exclusive enamel pin and being thanked in this fashion! https://newdisrupt.org/support/

Race to Answer the Call of the Wild with Pat Race and Marian Call

CW&T is Che-Wei Wang and Taylor Levy. They combine art, technology, design, and manufacture into everyday objects that have nothing everyday about them, as well as unique expressions of industrial design that can’t be compared with anything else. In this episode, we talk about one of their latest endeavors, Time Since Launch, a single-use launch clock that counts indefinitely into the future.

I first spoke to Che-Wei and Taylor in 2013 about the Pen Type-A, their first highly funded project and one that had a lot of complexity. They appeared with me on stage at the Nearly Impossible conference with other makers later that year to talk more broadly about creating. (You can now purchase both Pen Type-A and Pen Type-B.)

Six years later, the couple has completed dozens of projects of different scales and natures, moved from New York to Massachusetts and back again, and 3D printed two humans.

Make sure and follow them on Instagram to see their latest experiments, process photos, and new projects.

Thanks to you and help support the show: The New Disruptors is back on the air due to patrons and sponsors! You can become a patron of the show on a one-time or recurring basis, and get rewards like an exclusive enamel pin and being thanked in this fashion! https://newdisrupt.org/support/

What’s Your Latest with CW&T: Chi-Wei Wang and Taylor Levy

Benn Bollay remembers that he knew as a kid that his grandfather was an early researcher into weather forecasting. But it turns out that Eugene Bollay was one of the founders of the field of meteorology and television weathercasting! He even preceded Pat Sajak in a TV weatherman job. Benn tells us about his grandfather's literal study (in his house) and his study (his work). (Eugene Bollay recorded an oral history back in 1987.)

Benn was always struck that his grandfather was seen and respected as a person of science. This helped lead him on his path as a programmer, entrepreneur, and researcher, currently pursuing directions in AI at the Paul Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

This episode is part of the “Grand Inventions” micro-series within The New Disruptors in which I talk to people whose grandparents or other ancestors invented something that’s still current or in use today. Do you have a relative back a generation or three who fits the bill? Contact me and we’ll set up an interview.

Thanks to you and help support the show: The New Disruptors is back on the air due to patrons and sponsors! You can become a patron of the show on a one-time or recurring basis, and get rewards like an exclusive enamel pin and being thanked in this fashion! https://newdisrupt.org/support/

Fit to Print with Andy McMillan

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