What's Contemporary Now? Podcast Por What's Contemporary arte de portada

What's Contemporary Now?

What's Contemporary Now?

De: What's Contemporary
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Designed for curious minds, "What's Contemporary Now?" engages various thought leaders across cultural industries taking in their broad, compelling perspectives and unveiling their common threads. Hosted by Christopher Michael Produced by Sasha GrinblatWhat's Contemporary Arte Diseño y Artes Decorativas
Episodios
  • On the Road in Copenhagen

    On the Road in Copenhagen
    Jan 26 2026
    With a quick trip to Copenhagen for the city's 20th anniversary fashion week, we will be attending the shows, interviewing the organizers, and participating on a panel with Vogue business to explore the idea of what a magazine is today. Their impressive programming, in addition to the designers, includes an impressive array of subject matter that warrants a timely exploration and we'll be back on Monday with a full episode sharing all of the juicy details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 m
  • Yoon Ahn on AMBUSH, Subculture, and One Foot In, One Foot Out

    Yoon Ahn on AMBUSH, Subculture, and One Foot In, One Foot Out
    Jan 19 2026
    The episode follows AMBUSH’s evolution from jewelry made for friends to a brand that Yoon describes as a platform, shaped by experimentation rather than a rigid business plan. She speaks candidly about learning in real time, being paid to learn, and why every job and skill eventually becomes useful. From research as a daily practice to AI as a tool that can accelerate creative work without replacing it, Yoon makes a case for staying open, resisting the urge to live in boxes, and trading horizontal expansion for deeper, more human storytelling. Her definition of what feels contemporary now is simple and powerful, pursuing who you are fearlessly, and staying uniquely human in a world increasingly driven by algorithms. Episode Highlights: A childhood shaped by movement and solitudeGrowing up between Korea, Hawaii, California, and Seattle, Yoon reflects on how constant relocation fostered independence, imagination, and an ability to adapt quickly to new environments. Solitude as a creative advantageTime spent alone became a space for imagination rather than isolation, laying the groundwork for curiosity, inner confidence, and long-term creative resilience. Subculture as a formative educationFrom Seattle’s grunge era to Tokyo’s club scene, Yoon describes how underground culture, music, and nightlife taught her more about identity and community than any formal training. Discovering design through curiosity, not strategyHer path into graphic design and later fashion emerged organically through interests in magazines, presentation, and visual storytelling, rather than a predefined career plan. Being paid to learn as a philosophyYoon frames early jobs, including PR and corporate design work, as opportunities to learn on someone else’s dime, reinforcing her belief that no experience is wasted. AMBUSH as an organic unfoldingWhat began as jewelry made for friends evolved naturally into a brand, then into a platform, driven by experimentation, relationships, and responding to real demand rather than market forecasting. Tokyo as a creative accelerantMoving to Japan exposed Yoon to layered subcultures, cross-pollination between music and fashion, and a culture open to hybridity, shaping AMBUSH’s DNA. Fashion as communication, not productYoon describes fashion as a visual language for expressing identity and connection, rather than simply clothing or commercial output. AI as a tool, not a replacementShe speaks openly about embracing AI as a powerful assistant that can accelerate research and execution, while insisting that creative intent and thinking cannot be outsourced. What feels contemporary nowFor Yoon, being contemporary today means fearlessly pursuing who you are, resisting algorithmic pressure, and staying grounded in humanity, curiosity, and purpose rather than chasing scale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    50 m
  • Asad Syrkett on Interiors, Identity, and the Human Touch

    Asad Syrkett on Interiors, Identity, and the Human Touch
    Jan 12 2026
    Asad Syrkett joins What’s Contemporary Now? for a wide-ranging conversation about design as a cultural language and the quiet ways environments shape identity, memory, and access. From a childhood spent moving through New York City’s homes, department stores, and streets, to a new chapter living and working in Milan, he reflects on how early encounters with the built world formed a lifelong curiosity long before he had the vocabulary of architecture or interiors. Grounded in his background in architectural history and editorial leadership, Asad speaks to why design is never neutral, how interiors hold narrative and emotional weight, and why aspiration today feels less about status than self-knowledge. As attention splinters and taste is increasingly mediated by screens rather than experience, the conversation returns to what endures: craft, context, and the human touch as the most contemporary forces shaping how we live now. “If you like it, I love it. I’d rather a space reflect real engagement with the self than something copied from Instagram.” - Asad Syrkett Episode Highlights: Living in Milan versus passing through itAsad reflects on the shift from visiting Milan for work to truly living there, and how permanence deepens relationships, curiosity, and cultural exchange beyond the churn of Salone and design week. A childhood shaped by environments, not fashionGrowing up in Harlem and New York City, Asad became attuned early to how homes, retail spaces, and objects reflect identity, class, and aspiration, long before he had the language for design. The built world is never neutralFrom department stores to shop windows, he describes how cities teach us, early on, that design encodes power, values, and social difference. Curiosity as a lifelong engineRaised by a family deeply invested in culture, music, books, and dance, Asad traces how being encouraged to ask questions shaped his editorial and intellectual instincts. Why architectural history unlocked everythingStudying architectural history at Columbia gave him context and language for instincts formed in childhood, connecting design to authority, religion, economics, and social structures. A career guided by sustainability of curiosityMoving between journalism, design studios, digital media, and business wasn’t about restlessness, but about building an intellectually sustainable life around design. Context over aestheticsAs an editor, Asad emphasizes that interiors don’t exist in a vacuum, they are social, political, and emotional artifacts shaped by history, access, and intention. Access versus upward mobilityHe challenges the idea that design is about “upward mobility,” reframing it instead as access, self-knowledge, and environments that reflect inner growth rather than status alone. Italy as a culture of makersLiving in Milan has sharpened his appreciation for Italian design’s deep respect for craft, family-run production, and material knowledge passed down through generations. What’s contemporary now: the human touchIn a digital, accelerated world, Asad argues that the most contemporary thing is work shaped by human skill, physical effort, and deep commitment to craft, things technology cannot replicate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    48 m
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