Hosted by JD Pirtle, the Depth and Light podcast features conversations and stories at the intersection (and sometimes collision) of art/design, education, and technology.
Episodes
Monday Nov 25, 2019
Monday Nov 25, 2019
This episode features a conversation with Dale Dougherty. Dale is the co-founder of O’Reilly Media and the founder of Maker Media, which publishes Make Magazine and initiated the wildly popular worldwide Maker Faires. Dale is widely considered to be the godfather of the Maker Movement and is one of its greatest champions. We talk to Dale about his partnership with Tim O’Reilly, developing the first-ever commercial website, the dawn of the World Wide Web, and the past-present-future of the Maker Movement. Dale also goes into detail about best practices for empowering Makers and DIYers in schools and everywhere.
••• Follow Dale on Twitter: @dalepd
Monday Nov 11, 2019
Monday Nov 11, 2019
We have a conversation with designer and educator Cas Holman in this episode. Cas is the founder and principal designer at Heroes Will Rise, an independent toy company focusing on products designed in the spirit of invention and creativity. She is also full-time faculty at Rhode Island School of Design in the Industrial Design Department. Her work has recently been featured in the New Yorker, Dwell, and an episode of Abstract (season two) on Netflix.
••• More about Cas' work can be found at casholman.com and rigamajig.com.
Monday Oct 28, 2019
Monday Oct 28, 2019
This episode features artist, educator, and author Erin Riley. Erin is the director of Greenwich Academy’s state of the art Engineering & Design Lab. She is also the author of a new book The Art of Digital Fabrication: STEAM Projects for the Makerspace and Art Studio.
• More information about Erin’s new book can be found here:
• For more information about Greenwich Academy:
• Follow Erin on Twitter:
Monday Oct 07, 2019
Monday Oct 07, 2019
This episode is the second part of our story about the Electronic Visualization Lab (EVL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago. First, we talk to Maxine Brown, director of EVL, about her background and her 30+ years at EVL. We learn about CAVE2, the latest large scale virtual reality environment invented at EVL. Ph.D. graduate Victor Mateevitsi describes his experiences as a student at EVL, working on major systems like CAVE2. Victor then tells the story of his invention SpiderSense, a wearable jacket that lets users navigate and experience the world around them--without sight.
Monday Sep 23, 2019
Monday Sep 23, 2019
In this episode, I have a conversation with computational information designer Ben Fry, co-creator of the Processing programming language and principal of Fathom Information Design.
Along with Casey Reas, with whom he created Processing, Ben is the author of Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists and Getting Started with Processing. Ben is also the author of Visualizing Data.
Ben and Casey won a Golden Nica from Ars Electronica in 2005 for their work with Processing, and Ben was the 2011 recipient of the National Design Award for Interaction Design.
Monday Sep 09, 2019
Monday Sep 09, 2019
In this episode, we talk to April Welch. She’s the Associate Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Director of Esports at the Illinois Institute of Technology, or IIT. April details a range of projects she’s initiated and directed in her role at IIT, especially how she built an early Maker Space and launched an award-winning Esports program. Before the interview, we go over exactly what Esports are and why they are one of the fastest-growing sports worldwide. We also discuss the positive impact Esports are having in both K-12 schools and higher ed.
• More info about IIT can be found here: web.iit.edu.
• More info about the IIT Idea Shop can be found here: wiki.ideashop.iit.edu
• More info about Esports at IIT can be found here: web.iit.edu/esports
Tuesday Aug 20, 2019
Tuesday Aug 20, 2019
This is our first two-part story. We'll be exploring the Electronic Visualization Lab (EVL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago. EVL has been a hub of innovation in art and technology for 46 years. EVL has a tremendous history filled with ground breaking inventions and connections to culturally significant things like Star Wars, the dawn of personal computing, and early video gaming. We'll be talking to several people associated with EVL. In the first part, we'll go over the early days of EVL and their groundbreaking work in experimental video, computer graphics, and virtual reality. We'll talk to pioneering artist and technologist, Dan Sandin, one of the co-founders of EVL.
• More information about EVL can be found at evl.uic.edu.
Wednesday Jul 31, 2019
Wednesday Jul 31, 2019
In this episode, we talk to engineer, author, and educator Sylvia Libow Martinez. She is the author of Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, which has been called the bible of the Maker Movement in schools. First, we detail the origin and current state of the Maker Movement in Schools, and then Sylvia and I discuss the state of the art in Maker education. She offers advice on a variety of pedagogical issues educators face when teaching with technology, including her approaches to three of the biggest: time, space, and assessment.
• Sylvia’s website: sylviamartinez.com
• Website for Invent to Learn: inventtolearn.com
• Purchase Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom and other CMK Press books: cmkpress.com
• Learn more about Constructing Modern Knowledge: constructingmodernknowledge.com
• Follow Sylvia on Twitter: twitter.com/smartinez
Tuesday Jul 16, 2019
Tuesday Jul 16, 2019
The LT Makers Lab at Lane Tech College Prep high school in Chicago is an amazing innovation and digital fabrication classroom. We’re heading to Lane Tech for a conversation with educator and technologist Jeff Solin. Jeff is the mind behind the LT Makers Lab and an award-winning National Board Certified Teacher. We'll also delve into Lane Tech's history and transition from a vocational training school for boys to a coeducational selective enrollment college prep high school.
• Follow Jeff on Twitter and Instagram @JeffSolin twitter.com/JeffSolin instagram.com/jeffsolin/
• Follow the LT Makers Lab on Twitter @LTMakers twitter.com/LTMakers
• For information about the LT Makers Lab can be found here sites.google.com/cps.edu/ltmakers
• Learn more about Lane Tech here lanetech.org
Monday Jul 01, 2019
Monday Jul 01, 2019
In this episode, we sit down with nonprofit leader, educator, and author Dr. Gabrielle (Gabe) Lyon. She is the author of the graphic novel No Small Plans, the forthcoming graphic novel Washington, By and By, numerous curricular tools and was recently appointed executive director of Illinois Humanities. Gabe details her process for creating graphic novels and how they can be used as effective curricular tools, design as a "hidden curriculum", and her work as a fierce advocate for diversity and inclusion in STEM, civic education, and urban planning.
• Follow Gabe on Twitter @LyonGabrielle
• Illinois Humanities: ilhumanities.org
• Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: @ILHumanities
• No Small Plans is available here. architecture.org/learn/resources/no-small-plans/
• Check out Washington, By and By on Kickstarter. kickstarter.com/projects/ghlyon/washington-by-and-by