Craftsmanship

As our environmental challenges mount — from devastating wildfires to hurricanes and floods — one solution, largely ignored thus far, may lie in using an unlikely-sounding material for home-building: straw. Has the lowly straw bale home’s time finally come?

Straw Bale: The Ultra-Ecological House, written by M.E.A. ("Mea") McNeil, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You can find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and resources on our site.

Introduction by: Summer Brown

Narrated by: Dinah Berkeley

Produced by: Larry Rosen

Music by: Mike Snowden of “The Cigar Box Guitar Maker.”

A young Oregonian believes that he can create a uniquely American form of the Japanese bonsai tree. And he is literally betting the farm on the idea that if he builds it, they will come.

The Bonsai Kid, written by Nancy Lebrun, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You can find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and resources on our site.

Introduction by: Summer Brown
Narrated by: Avanthika Srinivasan
Produced by: Larry Rosen

Music by: Mike Snowden of “The Cigar Box Guitar Maker.”

In the mountains of Michoacán, Mexico, a band of determined indigenous women led the overthrow of a criminal cartel. Their victory revived the town’s traditional livelihood, and ushered in a model form of self-government.

When Indigenous Women Win, written by Andrew Sullivan, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You can find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and resources on our site.

Introduction by: Summer Brown
Narrated by: Goran Norquist
Produced by: Aaron Cundy

Through years of painstaking, often combative detective work, Hugo Kohl rescued an era of early American jewelry manufacturing technology that was on the brink of extinction. And what Kohl makes with these old machines turns out to be superior, in many ways, to the finest modern jewelry.

"The Jewelry Archeologist", written by Alison Main, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You can find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and resources on our site.

Introduction by: Summer Brown
Narrated by: Dinah Berkeley
Produced by: Larry Rosen

Where else would you expect to find a band of techno-scientific craft beer geeks, except in the industrial side of San Francisco, ground zero for startups? Join our fermentation correspondent as she travels to the outer edges of beer flavors with the boys of Method Brewing. 

"How Far Can Beer Science Go", written and narrated by Grace Rubenstein, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You can find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and resources on our site.

Introduction by: Summer Brown
Narrated by: Grace Rubenstein
Produced by: Aaron Cundy

Music by: Mike Snowden of “The Cigar Box Guitar Maker.”

For more than six centuries, a lone figure—part guard, part human angel—has circled the bell tower every night in the Cathedral of Lausanne, calling out the hour. For the last 28 years, it’s been Renato Häusler’s turn. High above the ancient city, Häusler calls out the time five nights a week. “C’est le guet! Il a sonné dix…Il a sonné dix!” (It’s the night watch. It’s 10 o’clock. It’s 10 o’clock…).

"The Watchman of Lausanne", written by Michael Cervin, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You can find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and resources on our site.

Introduction by: Summer Brown
Narrated by: Leroy Graham
Produced by: Aaron Cundy
Music by: Mike Snowden of “The Cigar Box Guitar Maker.”

Gelato, it turns out, is a very different creature from ice cream. And there are reasons that the best gelato tastes so creamy yet somehow still light—and indescribably perfect. In honor of summer, we delve into the secrets of artisanal gelato-making from master gelatiere Andrea Soban of Valenza, Italy.

"The Secrets of an Italian Gelato Master", written by Erla Zwingle, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You can find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and resources on our site.

Introduction by: Summer Brown
Narrated by: Avanthika Srinivasan
Produced by: Aaron Cundy
Music by: Mike Snowden of “The Cigar Box Guitar Maker.”

When you watch masterful stand-up comics perform, they seem just naturally hilarious. Don’t kid yourself; this is hard work — a craft like making anything else of value.

"The Art of the Joke", written by David Munro, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You can find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and resources on our site.

Introduction by: Summer Brown
Narrated by: Todd Oppenheimer
Produced by: Larry Rosen & Aaron Cundy

A quick glance at today’s hyperventilated political climate delivers an unmistakable message: We don’t know how to talk with each other anymore. A linguistics expert searches for ways that Americans of different beliefs can start believing in each other again.

"The Architecture of Trust", written by Michael Erard, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You can find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and resources on our site.

Introduction by: Summer Brown

In this exploration of the hidden stories behind materials such as wool and rayon, silk and polyester, and vegan leather, Alden Wicker — a frequent writer, blogger, and speaker on sustainable fashion — finds some inconvenient truths about the animal rights movement.

"Eco-Fashion's Animal Rights Delusion", written by Alden Wicker, originally appeared in Craftsmanship Quarterly, a multimedia online magazine about artisans, innovators, and the architecture of excellence. You can find many more stories, videos, audio recordings, and resources on our site.

Introduction by: Summer Brown
Narrated by: Dinah Berkeley
Produced by: Larry Rosen