In These Uncertain Times
23 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 9 ratings“In These Uncertain Times” is an interview podcast hosted by designer and writer Derek J. Horn about creating and connecting in the midst of uncertainty. I speak with creators and thought leaders that are forging their path forward in the new normal created by the COVID-19 health crisis. Tune in to hear about the cool projects they’re working on, chat about how they’ve adjusted their process, ways of communicating, and their methods of self-care. Each episode, we imagine a brighter world on the other side of this not-so-bright chapter of history.
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Episodes
SEASON 2 TRAILER
November 30, 2021 00:58 - 1 minute - 1.38 MBMy name is Derek Horn and I am a designer, writer and host of this podcast, In These Uncertain Times. In the first season of the show, I asked guests how they created and connected during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now in late 2021, we somehow live in a world that is even more uncertain than it was just one year ago. Despite our safe and effective vaccines, the pandemic is lingering, climate change is showing up in scary ways around the world, the fight for equality and justice persis...
Derek J. Horn on Uncertainty, Empathy & Podcasting feat. Katie Martell
August 03, 2021 22:21 - 47 minutes - 43.7 MBKatie Martell (she/her) returns to interview me (Derek) for a special Season 1 finale episode. We discuss my journey over the past year, including the creation of this very podcast, how empathy could help us conquer many of the challenges facing society, body image standards and how they were impacted by lockdown, and unpack the very idea of uncertainty. Derek J. Horn is a designer and podcast host. He works remotely as a Senior Designer for New York City-based agency, Beardwood&Co., where ...
Deon Mixon on Detroit, Flags & Design Education
July 16, 2021 21:05 - 54 minutes - 50.4 MBDeon Mixon (he/him), Graphic Designer, Author, and Entrepreneur, joins for a thoughtful discussion about his various projects including the Design Eye board game and his proposed redesigned flag for the City of Detroit, how he balances his various creative pursuits, and the causes and potential solutions for racial inequity in the design industry. Deon Mixon is a graphic designer, author, and entrepreneur from Detroit, MI who specializes in brand identity design. He is an alumnus of Cass Te...
Charlene Izere on Legacies & Being a Black Luxe Creator
April 09, 2021 01:45 - 40 minutes - 37.8 MBBlack Luxe Creator Charlene Izere (she/her) joins to share how she built her personal brand and several ventures, strike down the notion that guilty pleasures need to be guilty, and share some great advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, thought-leaders, and well-meaning non-Black allies. Charlene Izere is a Black Luxe Creator and three-time entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of Melanin & Money, a comprehensive hub for entrepreneurially-minded Black women; Soulful Systems, a boutique onli...
Cj Giovingo on Systems, Storytelling & Mars
March 30, 2021 21:14 - 40 minutes - 74.7 MBCj Giovingo (they/them), systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, joins for a beautiful conversation about the intertwining nature of systems and creativity, their experience with the ultimate remote work—landing a spacecraft on another planet while working from home—and the invaluable power of telling your story. Cj Giovingo is a Systems Engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California where they’ve worked since 2014. They are currently a member of the M...
Bassam Shawl on Twitter, Stand-Up & Glow-Ups
March 13, 2021 23:23 - 53 minutes - 50 MBBassam Shawl (he/him) joins for a wide-ranging conversation about his journey with stand-up comedy, our media diets and the attention black hole named Twitter, and have lots of reminiscing about growing up in Upstate New York, including performing together in high-school musical productions. Bassam Shawl is a comedian, writer, and actor based in New York. Originally from Syracuse, NY, he started performing comedy in Washington, DC before moving to Brooklyn. He’s been featured in Buzzfeed a...
Sarah Williams on Branding, QR Codes & New Rituals
February 19, 2021 01:13 - 55 minutes - 51.2 MBSarah Williams (she/her), Partner and Chief Creative Officer at Beardwood&Co., joins to chat about how we brought our design and strategy agency’s operations and relationships online at the start of the pandemic, how consumers are forming new rituals and brands are adapting to them, and the importance of young people in keeping our creative process fresh and relevant. “Make it happen with what you’ve got”— are words that were spoken frequently at Sarah’s house growing up, and she still live...
Michael L. Counter, Jr. on Lived Compassion & Honoring Queer Elders
February 09, 2021 23:55 - 52 minutes - 48.3 MBMichael Counter (he/him) joins for a great conversation about Queer art and honoring our elders while they’re still with us, he shares how his firm, counterCULTURE, is bringing Queer, Trans and POC narratives to life in the COVID-era through projects like Legends of Drag, and together, we pine for the days of collective gatherings and shared experiences. Michael Counter is a Black Queer United States Air Force veteran, entrepreneur, creative strategist, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion ...
Leah Garlock on Fulbright, Adoption & Cultural Identity
February 02, 2021 23:46 - 40 minutes - 37.7 MBLeah Garlock (she/her), Experience Designer and Fulbright ETA Grant Recipient, is here to discuss her various personal projects, the ways in which she’s been virtually engaging with her communities, the exploration of her identity as a Korean American adoptee, and the challenges of coping with trauma in the midst of pandemic isolation. Leah (She/Her) believes design problem-solving is as much about actively listening, as it is about aesthetics. As an experience designer and illustrator, she...
Julio Anta on Comics, Collaboration & Latinx Stories
January 26, 2021 22:10 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBComic and graphic novel writer Julio Anta (he/him) joins to discuss the challenges of working through the pandemic as a parent to a young child, how he collaborates with editors and visual artists, the vast diversity of Latinx people and the lack of political nuance they’re often afforded, and how many of his stories make their journey from the headlines to the page of a comic. Julio Anta is a writer based in New York City. Raised in Miami by Cuban and Colombian parents, his writing focuse...
Rachel Renock on the Creator Economy & The Future of Work
January 19, 2021 23:30 - 1 hour - 120 MBRachel Renock (she/her), Co-founder and CEO of Wethos, joins to discuss how her company pivoted their entire business in the midst of the pandemic, how she and her co-founder are trying to curb employee burnout through smart policy (and some tips on how you can do the same for your business), the opportunities of the current moment for the future of independent work, and the responsibility of white business leaders to leverage their power to create equitable workplaces. A former advertisin...
Susan X Jane on Power, DEI Training & the Capitol Insurrection
January 13, 2021 02:29 - 1 hour - 62 MBSusan X Jane (she/her) joins for a discussion about the timeliness and timelessness of her work as a DEI training facilitator, the role of racialized power dynamics throughout American history and how they show up in white-centric corporate cultures, the recent insurrection at the US Capitol, and we wrap up with a discussion about how the media can dangerously warp one’s worldview and entire sense of reality. Susan X Jane is the Principle of Navigators Consulting and is a skilled facilitato...
Marcos Bessa on LEGO, Product Testing & Creative Motivation
January 05, 2021 22:49 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBLEGO Design Manager, singer-songwriter & illustrator Marcos Bessa (he/him) joins for a conversation about all things LEGO, his experience living and working through the pandemic in Denmark, and how he finds the motivation for his many other creative pursuits outside of his very creative day job. Marcos Bessa is a Design Manager at the LEGO Group and the Creative Lead for the LEGO Harry Potter franchise. Marcos was a member of the Adult Fan of LEGO, or AFOL, community before he was hired as ...
Lucy Tomkiewicz on Giving, Macarons & Bad Xmas Movies
December 23, 2020 21:55 - 1 hour - 74.1 MBOn this special holiday episode, my BFF Lucy Tomkiewicz (she/her) joins to chat about how she is helping small businesses find their voice in the era of COVID, how she started a quarantine venture that’s as beautiful as it is delicious, and we wrap up with a conversation about the importance of giving during the holidays and especially this year. We also have some fun playing a game about bad Christmas movies, which are a favorite vice of ours. Lucy is an Art Director for OUTFRONT Media’s C...
Malcolm Whitfield on Satire, Accountability, Dungeons & Dragons
December 02, 2020 00:23 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBMalcolm Whitfield (he/him) stops by to make me laugh and share how he’s adapting his life as a comedian and writer and how he has found an unexpected release in the world of Dungeons & Dragons. Malcolm’s ability to differentiate satirical headlines from real ones is put to the test in the show’s first-ever game segment (!!!) and we make a hard pivot to wrap up with a conversation about restorative justice. Malcolm Whitfield is a Rochester born and raised stand up comedian. In only the last ...
Paul Weiner on Abstractions, the Flag & Being Very Online
November 18, 2020 02:56 - 1 hour - 88.4 MBPaul Weiner (he/him) joins to discuss his process of creating abstract art, how the themes and iconography of our current moment are showing up in his work, and about how online culture can fuel some of our most intense rhetoric and deepen trenches. We also do a post-mortem analysis of the 2020 election cycle and think forward to what will happen in 2021 and beyond. Paul Weiner is a 27-year-old artist who makes abstract paintings imbued with political and social meaning. Many of Weiner’s vi...
Teejay Hughes on TikTok, Authenticity & Inspiring Confidence
November 11, 2020 02:23 - 40 minutes - 37.4 MBTeejay Hughes (he/him) chats with Derek about how social media can be a positive platform for inspiration, what people are getting right and wrong about influencers, and what your brand needs to pay attention to when dabbling in new social media platforms like TikTok. Teejay is an Entrepreneur & Content Creator with a collective audience of over 600,000. Over the last 2 years he's been traveling the world working with brands to create inspiring content that empowers people to travel more of...
The Ultimate Uncertainty: Election Minisode
November 05, 2020 00:00 - 14 minutes - 13.4 MBAs we wait for the final election results, some thoughts about the state of the election and our responsibilities regardless of who wins. Trying something out with this new short episode format. What do you think? Let me know at [email protected]. Reading Material: Bree Newsome Bass via Twitter However the election ends, white supremacy has already won by Chauncey Devega via Salon Bob and Sally 😐
Dr. Cindi Love on Optimism, Vibrations & Spiritual Harmony
November 01, 2020 23:42 - 1 hour - 140 MBDr. Cindi Love (she/her) joins Derek for a timely and wide-ranging conversation about how she led a team to transition a series of four national conferences for LGBTQ+ students into a virtual setting, why she’s hopeful about the rising generations, the forces of politics, religion and self-esteem and how they coalesce, how to begin the process of mending our political divide, and how folks can embrace spiritual harmony in their own lives. Dr. Cindi Love is the Executive Director of Out for ...
Courtnee Futch on Creative Currency & Southern Hospitality
October 27, 2020 22:35 - 49 minutes - 67.7 MBCourtnee Futch (she/her) chats with Derek about how she’s making cooking accessible, making the most of the resources you have, and how we should start giving ourselves permission and stop gatekeeping our potential. They wrap up with some great advice about how we can all bring a dose of Southern Hospitality to our daily lives. Courtnee Futch, chef, baker, author, and entrepreneur, believes that the best food is meant to feel like home. The Atlanta native has been baking and cooking profes...
Joon Park on Future-Proofing, Deference, & Queer Magic
October 20, 2020 22:24 - 48 minutes - 67 MBDerek chats with Joon Park (they/them) about how they help their clients future-proof their brands as a cultural strategist, the constant necessity of listening and attuning your actions as an ally, the power of being a role-model by living authentically, and the positive possibilities of uncertainty. Joon Park is a cultural strategist at sparks & honey, where they consult tech, beauty, and food & beverage clients on how to future-proof their businesses. They are one of the founding members...
Katie Martell on Truth-Telling, Woke-Washing & Green Velour
October 13, 2020 23:07 - 51 minutes - 70.4 MBDerek chats with Katie Martell (she/her) about the vital responsibility of marketers during this time of public health crisis and racial justice reckoning. They discuss the power of saying "no" to make room for the most important things in life, and wrap up with an unexpected conversation on what makes for a lasting relationship. Katie Martell is an "unapologetic marketing truth-teller." She is currently working on Woke-Washed, a documentary and book exploring the collision of marketing and...
TRAILER - In These Uncertain Times
September 20, 2020 18:58 - 1 minute - 1.91 MB“In These Uncertain Times” is a new interview podcast about creating and connecting in the midst of uncertainty. I’ll speak with creators and thought leaders that are forging their path forward in the new normal created by the COVID-19 health crisis. We’ll hear about the cool projects they’re working on, chat about how they’ve adjusted their process, ways of communicating, and their methods of self-care. Each episode, we’ll imagine a brighter world on the other side of this not-so-bright cha...