Shawn co-founded a unique character design studio, Shawnimals—created with his wife over 10 years ago. Hundreds of characters inhabit those worlds and live through toys, murals, and videogames. The ninjas from Ninjatown transformed from handmad

Don't Worry About Being Funny & Stumbling Into Brilliance — Rachael Mason

Apr 16th, 2020 50m 33s

Rachael began her career in improvisation at Skidmore College, home of the National College Comedy Festival, with the Ad-Liberal Artists. After graduating with a degree in English Literature (concentrating on Shakespearean Studies) she moved to

Becoming A Puzzle Maker & Founding The Mystery League — Sandor Weisz

Apr 2nd, 2020 35m 15s

Sandor Weisz is the founder of The Mystery League, a company of creative puzzlemakers who stage live games. He developed large scale puzzles and games at locations like the Chicago Art Institute, the Lincoln Park Zoo or the Harold Washington Li

Free Expression Through Art & Radical Self-Learning — Lanny Fox

Jan 23rd, 2020 34m 29s

Lanny Fox (Pam Who?!) is a brilliant writer, actor, comedian, and drag performer exploring through comedy and satire controversial social themes. He has written and performed with The Second City, The Annoyance Theater, and The iO Comedy Networ

Our Relationship with Technology & What Social Media Metrics Do to Us — Ben Grosser

Jan 9th, 2020 1h 10m

Ben is an artist focused on the cultural, social, and political effects of software. What do computers mean for human creativity? How does software design affect our behavior and ideas of friendship and relationship? Faculty member at the Unive

Following the Unknown & Navigating New Realities — Susan Messing

Jun 6th, 2019 1h

The improviser from The Second City, the iO, and The Annoyance on how to navigate the unknown and your reality, moment by moment.

Telling the Story of Chicago Theater & Improv — Mark Larson

Dec 13th, 2018 47m 27s

Mark Larson is a writer, interviewer, educator, and curator of many oral history projects like American Stories Continuum and Ensemble, Chicago collecting and sharing conversations about contemporary life in the United States. Professor at Nati

Merging Unlikely Passions and Careers Through Exploration — Melissa McEwen

Nov 29th, 2018 46m 55s

Melissa McEwen is a tech consultant and writer merging two passions and careers, publishing articles for Quartz, Submain, on Medium and more. You can check out her website and social media profiles by visiting melissamcewen.com.

SNL, Police Academy, & What Truly Matters in Life — Tim Kazurinsky

Nov 15th, 2018 48m 21s

Tim Kazurinsky is an actor, screenwriter, Saturday Night Live alumnus, and performer from the Police Academy series as Officer Sweetchuck. In the early 80s, Mr. Kazurinsky played iconic characters on SNL, like Jack Badofsky on Weekend Update, M

Boosting Creativity Through Restraints — Scott Robbin

Nov 1st, 2018 48m 17s

Scott Robbin, web developer and co-creator with Naz Hamid of Vapid, an intentionally simple content management system to create websites. Starting in the late 90s, Mr. Robbin founded different companies like Halobrite and Songza, and also worke

Self-improving with People Smarter than You — Cody Gough

Oct 18th, 2018 48m 22s

Cody Gough is a radio host, producer, and audio editor. For over a decade he worked as a producer and content creator with WGN Radio, GonnaGeek Network, and Curiosity.com. Mr. Gough's skills help shows to take shape and become even more success

Reclaiming Focus, Attention, & Involving Emotional Stakeholders — Linnea Gandhi

Oct 4th, 2018 47m 44s

Linnea Gandhi is adjunct professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago Booth and founder of BehavioralSight—an advisory firm helping businesses to integrate insights and methodologies from behavioral science into their research a

Seeking Your True Self & Having Fun in the Process — Jen Ellison

Sep 20th, 2018 49m 23s

Jen Ellison is an actor, writer, director, and professor focusing on comedy and theatre. Throughout her career, Ms. Ellison performed and directed at ComedySportz, Collaboraction, The Neo-Futurists, and The Second City, the legendary improv the

GigaOm & The Fourth Age of Humans and Machines — Byron Reese

Sep 6th, 2018 55m 37s

Byron Reese is an entrapreneur, public speaker and author, currently CEO and Publisher of GigaOM, a leading technology research company. As a technologist and futurist, Mr. Reese brings his passion for history and philosophy to the readers shin

Comedy, Writing, & Not Settling for What You're Given — Ashley Ray

Aug 23rd, 2018 45m 59s

Ashley Ray is a comedian, writer, and TV critic sharing her personal stories and ideas while touching important topics like gender, race, and sexuality. As a cultural critic, Ashley writes for The A.V. Club, Vice, and The Chicago Reader.

The Journey to Drag & Protest by Having Fun — Dakota Conduct

Aug 16th, 2018 46m 28s

Dakota Conduct is a Supply Chain Analyst by the day, and drag queen by night. Living in the duality of corporate daytime professional and gender-bending drag queen in nightlife, she shows how knowledge can only further enhance her drag aestheti

RadioPublic & Empowering the Podcast Community — Jake Shapiro

Aug 9th, 2018 33m 38s

RadioPublic's CEO and co-founder Jake Shapiro talks about RadioPublic's stragety, business model, and risks, discussing how to create a sustainable marketplace for podcast creators and listeners while contributing to the development of open sta

Founding WakandaCon, Black Culture, & Reclaiming Your Past — Ali Barthwell

Aug 2nd, 2018 42m 17s

Ali Barthwell is the co-founder of WakandaCon, a celebration of afro-futurism and black culture in a society that stripped african-americans of their past. She is a writer, performer and comedian teaching her students how to use sterotypes on g

Cliff-dwelling & Architectural Landscapes — Thomas Thorson

Jul 12th, 2018 35m 19s

Thomas Thorson is a landscape architect and urban designer interpreting the physical world to interconnect people in an urban environment. He serves on the Board of Directors at the Cliff Dwellers Club, an historic and iconic arts club in downt

No Excuses: Changing Things Is Up to You — Neal Sàles-Griffin

Jul 5th, 2018 48m 17s

Neal Sáles-Griffin is an entrapreneur, teacher, and an educational leader born and raised in the Chicago South Side, currently CEO of CodeNow, a national nonprofit teaching young people how to code in order to solve problems and become creators

Comedy as a Tool to Empower Other People — Anne Libera

Jun 21st, 2018 1h 2m

Anne Libera is an author, writer, comedy professor and researcher. She created the Comedy Studies program at Columbia College Chicago.

Anne Libera – Conversation 17b

Jun 21st, 2018 49m 40s

Anne Libera is the creator of the first college degree in Comedy and Director of the Comedy Studies program at Columbia college Chicago, overseeing the B.A. in Comedy Writing and Performance. She has worked for over 32 years at The Second City,

Be Your Own Producer & Learn To Wear Many Hats — Nate DuFort

Jun 14th, 2018 43m 13s

Nate DuFort is a writer, producer, and director who splits his time between Detroit and Chicago. Mr. Dufort is a consultant for The Second City, having previously served as Producer, Producing Director, and Producing Artistic Director there, ov

How Pixar Boosts Creativity Using Diversity — Danielle Feinberg

Jun 7th, 2018 45m 38s

Danielle Feinberg is a storyteller using light as her narrative tool. With over 2 decades of experience at Pixar Animation Studios, Ms. Feinberg inspires younger generations of all genders and communities to become artists through technology. H

Code Crafters, Success, & Reshaping Core Life Values — Dave Hoover

May 31st, 2018 49m 22s

Dave Hoover is a Code crafter formally trained in psychology and family therapy, Mr. Hoover is a software developer using the Ethereum blockchain and co-author of the book "Apprenticeship Patterns: Guidance for the Aspiring Software Craftsman".