Design Matters with Debbie Millman

Design Matters Media

Design Matters with Debbie Millman is one of the world’s very first podcasts. Broadcasting independently for over 15 years, the show is about how incredibly creative people design the arc of their lives.

  • 1 hour 1 minute
    Quiara Alegría Hudes

    Quiara Alegría Hudes is a Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright, composer, and novelist whose work has reshaped contemporary American theater. The co-creator of In the Heights and author of Water by the Spoonful, she has consistently explored identity, family, and belonging across theater, music, memoir, and now fiction in her new book, The White Hot.

    Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    16 February 2026, 10:00 am
  • 1 hour 21 minutes
    Chris Duffy

    Chris Duffy—comedian, writer, and host of the TED podcast How to Be a Better Human—joins to discuss how humor shaped his path from teaching and improv to podcasting and television. Together, they explore why laughing more isn’t about being funny, but about attention, vulnerability, and connection, and how humor helps us stay human.

    Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    9 February 2026, 10:00 am
  • 45 minutes 10 seconds
    Ruth Ann Harnisch

    Ruth Ann Harnisch is an investor, philanthropist, social activist, media producer, and founder of Harnisch Foundation, which supports work that breaks down barriers to equality and opportunity. She joins CreativeMornings live to reflect on her path from teen broadcaster to first female anchor, and how finding her voice in inequitable newsrooms shaped everything that followed.

    Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast

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    2 February 2026, 1:01 pm
  • 1 hour 11 minutes
    Brian Chesky

    Brian Chesky is the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, a company that began with airbeds and grew into a worldwide community built on trust and belonging. He joins to discuss how imagination and design shaped his path from art school to entrepreneurship, and what it means to design the world you want to live in.

    Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    26 January 2026, 10:00 am
  • 46 minutes 2 seconds
    20th Anniversary celebration with the most memorable guests: Jason Reynolds, Marina Abramović, Chris Ware, Richard Saul Wurman, Rick Rubin, and Roxane Gay

    For the 20th anniversary of Design Matters, Debbie Millman revisits excerpts from her most memorable interviews. Featuring Jason Reynolds, Marina Abramović, Chris Ware, Richard Saul Wurman, Rick Rubin, and Roxane Gay, this episode gathers voices that challenged, surprised, and have continued to evolve in meaning over time.

    Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    19 January 2026, 8:10 pm
  • 55 minutes 27 seconds
    20th Anniversary celebration with renowned poets Eileen Myles, Elizabeth Alexander, Sarah Kay, and Amber Tamblyn

    For the 20th anniversary of Design Matters, Debbie Millman revisits conversations with renowned poets Eileen Myles, Elizabeth Alexander, Sarah Kay, and Amber Tamblyn. These excerpts reflect on language, identity, memory, and the lived experience that fuels their work. Together, they reveal poetry as an intimate practice that resonates beyond the page.

    Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    12 January 2026, 10:00 am
  • 52 minutes 56 seconds
    20th Anniversary Celebration with distinguished actors Claire Danes, Ethan Hawke, Nick Offerman, Kyra Sedgwick, and Josh Brolin

    For the 20th anniversary of Design Matters, Debbie Millman revisits conversations with distinguished actors Claire Danes, Ethan Hawke, Nick Offerman, Kyra Sedgwick, and Josh Brolin. These excerpts explore how they approach their craft, work with directors and fellow actors, and what it means to inhabit a role and sustain a creative life on stage and on screen.

    Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    6 January 2026, 1:31 am
  • 56 minutes 44 seconds
    20th Anniversary Celebration with acclaimed directors Brian Koppelman, Thomas Kail, Mike Mills, Sarah Polley, and Siân Heder

    For the 20th anniversary of Design Matters, Debbie Millman revisits conversations with acclaimed directors Brian Koppelman, Thomas Kail, Mike Mills, Sarah Polley, and Siân Heder. These excerpts explore the director’s role as the central collaborator, guiding creative teams and shaping a project from vision to execution. Together, they reflect on the choices, pressures, and responsibilities of bringing a story to life.

    Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    30 December 2025, 10:00 am
  • 51 minutes 54 seconds
    20th Anniversary celebration with activists and advocates Gloria Steinem, Anita Hill, Cindy Gallop, Sonya Passi, and Dr. Joy Buolamwini

    For the 20th anniversary of Design Matters, Debbie Millman revisits previous episodes with activists and advocates Gloria Steinem, Anita Hill, Cindy Gallop, Sonya Passi, and Dr. Joy Buolamwini. These excerpts highlight conversations about power, accountability, and the urgent work of dismantling inequality across culture, institutions, and technology.

    Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    22 December 2025, 10:00 am
  • 46 minutes 33 seconds
    20th Anniversary celebration with typographers and lettering artists Marian Bantjes, Oded Ezer, Jessica Hische, Tobias Frere-Jones, Matthew Carter, and Kris Holmes

    In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Design Matters, Debbie Millman shares excerpts from interviews with typographers and lettering artists Marian Bantjes, Oded Ezer, Jessica Hische, Tobias Frere-Jones, Matthew Carter, and Kris Holmes, reflecting on legibility and expression, how letters behave, the discipline of refinement, and how type has evolved from hand-crafted processes to the digital tools we use today.

    Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    15 December 2025, 10:00 am
  • 48 minutes 39 seconds
    20th Anniversary celebration with theatre designers David Korins, Ina Mayhew, David Rockwell, Es Devlin, and Dane Laffrey

    For the 20th anniversary of Design Matters, Debbie Millman revisits conversations with theatre designers David Korins, Ina Mayhew, David Rockwell, Es Devlin, and Dane Laffrey. From Broadway landmarks to innovative film and live performance design, these excerpts reveal how sets and spaces shape emotion, deepen story, and draw audiences into the moment.

    Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    8 December 2025, 10:00 am
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