We sit down with Max-Beverton Palmer, Head of Tech and Society at Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, to discuss his work helping policy-makers address challenges around the world.

Max wanted you all to know that the world has clearly changed a lot since this podcast was recorded, but the political and technology principles discussed haven’t. The Institute Max works for has pivoted to tackling the crisis. You can find more here, and two reports on how we use tech to get through the current crisis:

Digital Policy for a Lockdown: How Tech Can Help Us Adapt to a Radically Altered World

A Price Worth Paying: Tech, Privacy and the Fight Against Covid-19

EPISODE LINKS

• Max on Twitter
• Narratives of Hate: The Spectrum of Far-right Worldviews in the UK
• Diversify by June Sarpong
• The Bretton Woods Conference, 1944
• Sky parental control design

We get the band back together! Our lawyer Gabe Levine joins us to reminisce about contract negotiations past and discuss the fundamentals of negotiation for designers, or anyone, really.

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EPISODE LINKS

• Gabriel Levine | LinkedIn
• Matchstick | Lawyers for creative business
• Matchstick | Service Agreement Field Manual
• Running From the Law
• Welcome to the age of surveillance capitalism | The Guardian

Accessibility consultant and trainer Elle Waters joins us to talk about the importance of inclusive design, and why we aren’t there yet.

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EPISODE LINKS

• Level Access
• Universal design - Wikipedia

There's also a transcript available here.

Yonah Camacho Diamond, union organizer with the Communications Workers of America explains how unions works in the US. We discuss why tech workers might want to consider organizing and the process for doing so.

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EPISODE LINKS 

• Communications Workers of America
• CWA District 9
• AFL-CIO

John Hanawalt, designer and co-founder of the Queer Design Club, returns to Mule to tell us about his work to celebrate queer contributions to the design industry and foster community, and especially the Queer Design Count.

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EPISODE LINKS 

• John Hanawalt
• ​​John on Medium
• Queer Design Club
• ​​Stitch Fix
• Design Census 2019
• The Queer Design Count
• Diversity at Dropbox tweet

Kio Stark, author of When Strangers Meet, TED speaker, and person who by her own admission makes strange faces, joins us to talk about the benefits of talking to people you don’t know. We talk about ways to step out of your comfort zone to experience moments of ‘fleeting intimacy’ without coming across as a sociopath. And it turns out this is all connected to research.

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EPISODE LINKS 

• Kio Stark
• Kio on Twitter
• Why you should talk to strangers | TED Talks
• When Strangers Meet: How People You Don't Know Can Transform You
• Glide.org
• Kindergarteners are choosing how they're greeted...
• BBC interviewee interrupted by his children live on air
• Just Enough Research, Second Edition

Kristina Halvorson, founder of Brain Traffic and Confab: the Content Strategy Conference joins us to talk about content, and strategy, and why some people continue to be wrong on the internet. Also, what’s up with supervillain lairs?

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EPISODE LINKS 

• contentstrategy.com
• Brain Traffic
• Kristina on Twitter
• Confab: The Content Strategy Conference
• What is Design Thinking? - IDEO U
• What Does a Content Strategist Do?

Design pioneer, entrepreneur, author, and longtime friend of Mule Nathan Shedroff joins us to talk about innovation, sustainability, and the Cats trailer. Nathan co-founded one of the first web services firms ever, went on to create the ground-breaking Design MBA program at California College of the Arts (CCA), and is now executive director of Seed Vault Ltd, building an independent, trusted bot economy on the blockchain.

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EPISODE LINKS 

• nathan.com
• Nathan on Twitter
• Make It So: Interaction Design Lessons from Science Fiction
• Cats (2019 film)
• Jupiter Ascending
• The US Navy will replace its touchscreen controls with mechanical ones on its destroyers
• Secrets of the Dead | World War Speed
• Banned TED Talk: Nick Hanauer "Rich people don't create jobs”
• Business Today Needs Deanna Troi
• Hot desking
• Design is the Solution

Mike wrote a book about ethics. We also talk inexpertly about equines and touch on the stupidity of gender reveal parties and Ayn Rand fans.

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EPISODE LINKS 

• Mike on Twitter
• ruinedby.design
• "Ayn Rand was a dick." shirt by Mule Design

Jeff Tidwell, entrepreneur and long-time friend of Mule joins us to talk about his latest project. Next For Me is a resource for people 50+ as they navigate new work and social contributions. We discuss ageism, opportunities to build a better society, and the relationship of kids these days to our lawns.

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EPISODE LINKS 

• Jeff on Twitter
• Jeff on LinkedIn
• Next For Me
• encore.org

We are joined by Lynne Polischuik, a veteran researcher, founder of LynneUX, and Canadian with a small weird dog. She shares what she’s learned over her career moving from marketing and analytics to the qualitative side of things working with organizations like Google, Automattic, and HealthCare.gov.

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EPISODE LINKS 

• Lynne on Twitter
• Clement Mok
• On Surveys