In this episode of Yin Yak, we dig into a question a lot of designers, educators, and leaders are quietly wrestling with:

If AI can deliver knowledge and hold real conversations with learners, what’s left for us to design?

To explore this, I’m joined by Eric Newman, Associate Director of Academic Innovation at Boston University. Eric has been shaping some of BU’s most forward-thinking programs—including the Online MBA that Forbes called one of the most disruptive in higher ed.

We yak about:

• How AI study buddies and dialogic AI shift the role of instructional designers

• What RAG-powered learning means for content, context, and practice

• Why “knowledge delivery” is no longer the design challenge

• The rise of AI-enabled practice

• What a new course design playbook looks like and what stays human

Along the way, we dive into prompting, AI fluency, meaningful constraints, low-stakes practice, and why good design still matters more than ever.

If you're an instructional designer, learning strategist, educator, or just someone curious about the future of learning, this one’s for you.

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When does ambiguity spark innovation and when does it quietly sink a project?

In this episode, Yin sits down with Joe Vallone, Chief Information Officer & Chief AI Officer at Outcomes360, to explore the fine line between healthy uncertainty and costly misalignment. From late-stage clarity disasters to invisible risks no one wants to name, Joe shares how leaders can turn the unknown into discovery, without letting it derail momentum.

You’ll hear:

• Why some ambiguity fuels creativity (and some breeds chaos)

• How to surface the risks no one wants to talk about

• The “last responsible moment” for making big decisions

• Why AI doesn’t remove ambiguity, it just speeds it up

🎧 Listen in and learn how to turn the beauty and burden of ambiguity into your next competitive edge.

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Is art supposed to mean something—or is it about release and emotional truth? Is art ambiguous?
In this second episode of Yin Yak: The Podcast, we explore the role of art in navigating ambiguity, emotional truth, and the parts of ourselves we’re still learning to name.

Host Yin Kreher is joined by visual artist and educator, Susan Singer, for a conversation about healing through creative expression, what it means to really see, and why not all ambiguity is meant to be resolved.

🖼️ From charcoal sketches to classroom insights, we ask:
Can making art teach us how to live with not knowing?

🎙️ Segment Highlights:
• Yak of the Week: What an art professor taught Yin about mystery and meaning
• At the Intersection: A conversation with Susan Singer on art, healing, and perception
• Mic Drop: A final invitation to discover something anew

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How do we help people train for moments that leave no time to think?

In this first episode of Yin Yak: The Podcast, we explore the idea of muscle memory—how it’s built, what triggers it under pressure, and why it matters far beyond the skating rink.

Host Yin Kreher is joined by Julian Cha, a nurse and healthcare leader, to reflect on high-stakes training, the choreography of clinical response, and what instructional designers can learn from athletes and first responders alike.

🧠 From figure skating routines to trauma team protocols, we ask:
What does it take to design learning that holds up under pressure?

🎙️ Segment Highlights:
• Yak of the Week: The curious connection between Ilia Malinin and nursing education
• At the Intersection: A conversation with Julian Cha on reflex, repetition, and readiness
• Mic Drop: A final spark to carry with you

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Welcome to Yin Yak, a podcast for wanderers of thought and seekers of unlikely connections.

You might know Yin Yak as a newsletter, a place where curiosity meanders, where questions don’t demand answers, and where the edge of one discipline brushes up against another. Now, we’re going audio.

Because some ideas need to breathe. To echo. To pause and stumble, then find their rhythm again.

In this trailer, I’ll share what inspired Yin Yak, what it means to dwell at intersections, and why I believe those spaces — messy, liminal, alive — are where real learning begins.

If you’ve ever found insight in a metaphor, or felt the hush before an idea lands, this is your kind of yak.

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