
Artist/Materialist
By Susanna King
Susanna is a graphic designer. Dan is a materials scientist. Each week, we discuss a long read about science or culture from our unique points of view.

Ep. 24 - How to Stay Clean Without Bathing
Ep. 24 - How to Stay Clean Without Bathing
Artist/MaterialistOct 06, 2018
00:00
31:18

Ep. 38 - Envisioning a Reusable Future
Ep. 38 - Envisioning a Reusable Future
We discuss the article "Meet Loop, the new zero-waste platform for consumer products" by Adele Peters in Fast Company. Our conversation touches on recycling, bulk shopping, delivery services, conference swag, and microplastics.
#recycling #environment #shopping
Nov 01, 201930:25

Ep. 37 - Navigating the World of Dating Apps
Ep. 37 - Navigating the World of Dating Apps
We discuss the article "How Tinder Changed Dating for a Generation" by Ashley Fetters in The Atlantic.
In this episode:
The history of dating apps and online dating
What's made some apps succeed and others fail
Fear Of a Better Option (FOBO)
Why it's harder to meet people in person nowadays
How dating can actually be hard work
Jun 09, 201931:23

Ep. 36 - Hopepunk: A light in the dystopian darkness
Ep. 36 - Hopepunk: A light in the dystopian darkness
We discuss the article "Hopepunk, explained: the storytelling trend that weaponizes optimism" by Aja Romano in Vox.
May 24, 201929:48

Ep. 35 - Searching for the World's Best Strawberries
Ep. 35 - Searching for the World's Best Strawberries
We discuss the article "How Driscoll's Reinvented the Strawberry" by Dana Goodyear in the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/08/21/how-driscolls-reinvented-the-strawberry/amp
Mar 28, 201925:30

Ep. 34 - Kids, Screens & Mental Health
Ep. 34 - Kids, Screens & Mental Health
We discuss the article "Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?" by Jean M. Twenge in The Atlantic.
Mar 09, 201930:33

Ep. 33 - Crops vs. Water in California
Ep. 33 - Crops vs. Water in California
We discuss the article "A Kingdom from Dust" by Mark Arax in the California Sunday Magazine (https://story.californiasunday.com/resnick-a-kingdom-from-dust).
Mar 02, 201939:49

Ep. 32 - We're back with a book club for long reads
Ep. 32 - We're back with a book club for long reads
We've returned from our break with a slight format change. Check our blog at artistmaterialist.com to see which article we'll be discussing next week.
Feb 23, 201902:27

Ep. 31 - The Art of Selecting Background Music
Ep. 31 - The Art of Selecting Background Music
We discuss the article "Inside the booming business of background music" by Jake Hulyer in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/nov/06/inside-the-booming-business-of-background-music
Dec 05, 201834:08

Ep. 30 - The Sport of Fashion
Ep. 30 - The Sport of Fashion
We discuss the article "Everything You Wear Is Athleisure" by Derek Thompson in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/bicycle-bloomers-yoga-pants-how-sports-shaped-modern-fashion/574081/
Nov 24, 201830:36

Ep. 29 - New Life for Old Towns
Ep. 29 - New Life for Old Towns
We discuss the article "Can You Curate a Town?" by Jennifer Miller in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/03/style/mountain-dale-new-york.html
Nov 17, 201830:05

Ep. 28 - One Input to Rule Them All
Ep. 28 - One Input to Rule Them All
We discuss the article "Why We Can't Quit the QWERTY Keyboard" by Rachel Metz for MIT Technology Review: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611620/why-we-cant-quit-the-qwerty-keyboard/
Nov 02, 201834:18

Ep. 27 - Making Sense of Scents Part 2
Ep. 27 - Making Sense of Scents Part 2
We continue our discussion of the article "The Ugly History of Beautiful Things: Perfume" by Katy Kelleher for Longreads: https://longreads.com/2018/09/10/ugly-history-of-beautiful-things-perfume/
Oct 26, 201824:20

Ep. 26 - Making Sense of Scents Part 1
Ep. 26 - Making Sense of Scents Part 1
We discuss the article "The Ugly History of Beautiful Things: Perfume" by Katy Kelleher in Longreads: https://longreads.com/2018/09/10/ugly-history-of-beautiful-things-perfume/
Oct 22, 201826:09

Ep. 25 - Mapping Our Social Networks
Ep. 25 - Mapping Our Social Networks
We discuss the article "How Connected Is Your Community to Everywhere Else in America?" by Emily Badger and Quoctrung Bui in the New York Times.
Oct 13, 201831:58

Ep. 24 - How to Stay Clean Without Bathing
Ep. 24 - How to Stay Clean Without Bathing
We discuss the article "Getting Clean, the Tudor Way" by Ruth Goodman in The New Republic: https://newrepublic.com/article/129828/getting-clean-tudor-way
Oct 06, 201831:18

Ep. 23 - The Pollination Situation
Ep. 23 - The Pollination Situation
Dan takes a break, Susanna and Amanda discuss the article "The Super Bowl of Beekeeping" by Jaime Lowe in the New York Times Magazine: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/15/magazine/the-super-bowl-of-beekeeping.html
Sep 21, 201822:23

Ep. 22 - What's In a Color?
Ep. 22 - What's In a Color?
We discuss the article "Treasures from the Color Archive" by Simon Schama in The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/09/03/treasures-from-the-color-archive
Sep 17, 201834:11

Ep. 21 - How Should We Diagnose Mental Illness?
Ep. 21 - How Should We Diagnose Mental Illness?
We discuss the article "All mental disorders are brain disorders … not." by Eiko Fried: http://eiko-fried.com/all-mental-disorders-are-brain-disorders-not/
Aug 31, 201836:16

Ep. 20 - Open-Concept Homes
Ep. 20 - Open-Concept Homes
We discuss the article "The Case for Rooms" by Kate Wagner in The Atlantic: https://www.citylab.com/design/2018/08/the-case-for-rooms/563216/
Aug 24, 201837:45

Ep. 19 - Procrastination
Ep. 19 - Procrastination
We discuss the article "How to Stop Procrastinating and Finish a Big Project" by Olga Khazan in the Atlantic.
Aug 17, 201838:25

Ep. 18 - The History of Cat DNA
Ep. 18 - The History of Cat DNA
We discuss the article "How Cats Used Humans to Conquer the World" by Sarah Zhang in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/06/cat-domination/530685/
Aug 10, 201822:56

Ep. 17 - Cats: Lovable & Dangerous
Ep. 17 - Cats: Lovable & Dangerous
Ecologist Amanda joins us as we discuss the article "The Moral Cost of Cats" by Rachel E. Gross in Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/moral-cost-of-cats-180960505/
Aug 04, 201832:10

Ep. 16 - The Startup School Experiment
Ep. 16 - The Startup School Experiment
We discuss the article "How the Startup Mentality Failed Kids in San Francisco" by Daniel Duane in Wired: https://www.wired.com/story/willie-brown-middle-school-startup-mentality-failed/
Jul 28, 201832:45

Ep. 15 - What Is Cyberpunk, Really?
Ep. 15 - What Is Cyberpunk, Really?
We discuss the article "Where are the Radical Politics of Cyberpunk?" by Cameron Kunzelman in Waypoint: https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/ne5jg7/radical-politics-cyberpunk-2077
Jul 23, 201832:25

Summer Vacation Announcement
Summer Vacation Announcement
We're taking a brief hiatus from making the podcast this week & next. In the meantime, please share any interesting long read articles you've come across recently over at our blog: http://artistmaterialist.wordpress.com
Jun 22, 201800:31

Ep. 14 - Why Does Water Attract Bad Science?
Ep. 14 - Why Does Water Attract Bad Science?
We discuss the article "A Compassionate Substance - How science and myth collide in water." by Philip Ball in Lapham's Quarterly. https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/water/compassionate-substance
Jun 15, 201828:07

Episode 13 - Drowning in Plastic
Episode 13 - Drowning in Plastic
We discuss the article "We Depend on Plastic. Now We're Drowning in It." by Laura Parker in National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis/
Jun 09, 201828:45

Episode 12 - The Changing College Admission Criteria
Episode 12 - The Changing College Admission Criteria
We discuss the article "The Two Most Important College-Admissions Criteria Now Mean Less" by Jeffrey Selingo in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/05/college-admissions-gpa-sat-act/561167/
Jun 01, 201824:60

Episode 11 - The Smell of Old Books
Episode 11 - The Smell of Old Books
We discuss the article "What's That Smell You're Reading?" by Ann Elizabeth Wiener in Distillations magazine: https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/whats-that-smell-youre-reading
May 25, 201827:32

Episode 10 - The Shoddy Statistics of Sports Research
Episode 10 - The Shoddy Statistics of Sports Research
We discuss the article "How Shoddy Statistics Found a Home in Sports Research" by Christie Aschwanden and Mai Nguyen at FiveThirtyEight.com: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-shoddy-statistics-found-a-home-in-sports-research/
May 18, 201834:35

Episode 9 - Experiential Design & Ice Cream Dreams
Episode 9 - Experiential Design & Ice Cream Dreams
We discuss the article "I Dream of Content-Trash" by Zach Webb in The Baffler: https://thebaffler.com/latest/i-dream-of-content-trash-webb
May 11, 201833:26

Episode 8 - The Loud Restaurant Phenomenon
Episode 8 - The Loud Restaurant Phenomenon
We discuss the article "Why restaurants became so loud — and how to fight back" by Julia Belluz in Vox. https://www.vox.com/2018/4/18/17168504/restaurants-noise-levels-loud-decibels
May 03, 201826:39

Episode 7 - What Happened to the Humanities?
Episode 7 - What Happened to the Humanities?
We discuss the article "Dear Humanities Profs: We Are the Problem" by Eric Bennett in the Chronicle of Higher Education: https://www.chronicle.com/article/Dear-Humanities-Profs-We-Are/243100
Apr 27, 201833:15

Episode 6 - What Went Wrong (and Right) with OLPC's $100 Laptop
Episode 6 - What Went Wrong (and Right) with OLPC's $100 Laptop
We discuss the article "OLPC’s $100 laptop was going to change the world — then it all went wrong" by Adi Robertson: https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2018/4/16/17233946/olpcs-100-laptop-education-where-is-it-now
Apr 19, 201834:56

Episode 5 - What Don't We Eat for Breakfast Anymore?
Episode 5 - What Don't We Eat for Breakfast Anymore?
We discuss the article "10 Breakfasts from a Century Ago that No One Eats Anymore" by Kat Kinsman: http://www.myrecipes.com/extracrispy/breakfast-foods-no-one-eats-anymore
Apr 12, 201830:04

Episode 4 - American Literature in China
Episode 4 - American Literature in China
We discuss Hollis Robbins' article "Dancing with Chains." http://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/essays/dancing-chains/
Apr 06, 201824:18

Episode 3 - Urban Renewal & the "Busy Streets" Theory
Episode 3 - Urban Renewal & the "Busy Streets" Theory
We discuss a study of urban renewal efforts in Flint Michigan as described in the article "Want to fight crime? Plant some flowers with your neighbor." https://theconversation.com/want-to-fight-crime-plant-some-flowers-with-your-neighbor-91804
Mar 30, 201835:22

Episode 2 - GenX and '90s Fashion
Episode 2 - GenX and '90s Fashion
We discuss the article "Why Gen X Isn't Psyched for the '90s Revival" from Racked.
Mar 23, 201836:24

Episode 1 - The Science of Skin Care
Episode 1 - The Science of Skin Care
We discuss the article "How Skin Care Became an At-Home Science Experiment" by Julie Beck in The Atlantic. (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/03/the-citizen-science-of-skin-care/555125/)
Mar 15, 201827:56