Clever with Amy Devers

Artist, creative technologist, and educator, Idris Brewster grew up in Brooklyn, being filmed for a documentary about his education as a black student at a prestigious, primarily white, school. His coming-of-age, only partially caught on camera, included a lot of basketball and hands-on artistic development. A grant awarded in college gave him early access to VR technology which opened a path to combining all of his talents and int...

CEO of digital experience studio, ustwo, Nicki Sprinz, was born in London and attended a convent primary school with strict rules that tended to squash curiosity - something she has had to consciously unlearn in the years since. A couple of harrowing chapters with significant health challenges presented Nicki with opportunities to learn to overcome and practice optimism. A resulting deep sense of carpe diem, has her leaning into ho...

John Christakos, co-founder and CEO of Blu Dot, grew up taking road trips with his father to textile mills, skipping school in favor of real-world experiences. He went on to double major in economics and studio art, a combination of creativity and business which proved itself invaluable later in life. After a life-changing year traveling the world with his closest friends, John eventually co-founded Blu Dot alongside them in 1997. ...

Fashion designer Mary Ping was influenced at a young age by a stylish grandmother who taught her to sew. Always knowing she’d one day run her own label, she studied art at Vassar and worked in east London’s scene before founding her conceptual line, Slow and Steady Wins the Race, a living archive of wardrobe classics, reexamined. Not one to participate on the hamster wheel of trends, she prefers injecting social commentary and sart...

Alma Jimenez Lopez is a creative force — a designer, artist, and curator who builds bridges between cultures and communities. In this episode, she shares how growing up as a first-generation Mexican American shaped her superpower: empathy. From honing her skills as an interior designer and building bridges across sectors of the design industry, to curation and community-building with the co-founding Of Threads, which celebrates the...

Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series where we dig into the lesser told stories of the darker side of design; the shadowy, sometimes sordid, tales hiding under a glossy top coat of respectable legacy.

In this episode we peel back the glittering façade of one of Australia's greatest design icons, Florence Broadhurst—a woman whose legendary creative genius was rivaled only by the mystery surrounding her violent demise. T...

In the heart of downtown Los Angeles sits Hollywood’s undisputed architectural superstar — the Bradbury Building. The imposing structure’s character is definitive. Its origin story, however, is much murkier… 

How did a young draftsman design one of the most remarkable buildings in the world? Why did he never again do anything of note? Or did he? Was all his creativity spent on this one masterpiece? Was this a case of stolen...

Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series, where we dig into the darker side of design - the shadowy, sometimes sordid tales hiding under a glossy topcoat of respectable legacy.

In Ep. 5 we explore the haunting tale of E-1027, an architectural masterpiece born of love but marred by betrayal, obsession, and tragedy. From its creation by Eileen Gray to its desecration by Le Corbusier, and its descent into decadence during Wo...

Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series, where we dig into the darker side of design - the shadowy, sometimes sordid tales hiding under a glossy topcoat of respectable legacy.

In Episode 4: Olivetti and the Race to Create the First Personal Computer, host Amy Devers and writer Andrew Wagner unravel a captivating story that challenges our assumptions about the origins of the personal computer. Many credit Silicon Valley w...

Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series, where we dig into the darker side of design - the shadowy, sometimes sordid tales hiding under a glossy topcoat of respectable legacy.

On the afternoon of August 14th, 1915, fire ripped through Taliesin, the Spring Green, Wisconsin home of the world’s most famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. When the smoke cleared seven people would be dead, murdered with an axe at the hands of ...

On the morning of August 19th, 1993, mid-century architect, Norman Jaffe, parked his car in his client’s driveway, walked to Ocean Beach in Bridgehampton, New York, stripped down, folded his clothes, and dove into the Atlantic. He never returned and his body was never recovered. Was it murder? Was it suicide? Did he fake his own death? What happened to Norman Jaffe? 

Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series, where we dig...

Ben Clymer grew up in a New York suburb, raised by middle-class public school teachers and enamored by his grandfather’s swagger and style. An Omega Speedmaster, a gift from said grandfather, is the piece that captured his heart and sets his story in motion. A painstakingly shy student, he began to gain self-confidence in high-school and a need to differentiate in college. In 2008 he started a tiny blog, HODINKEE, a passion-project...

Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series, where we dig into the darker side of design - the shadowy, sometimes sordid tales hiding under a glossy topcoat of respectable legacy.

In Ep. 5 we explore the haunting tale of E-1027, an architectural masterpiece born of love but marred by betrayal, obsession, and tragedy. From its creation by Eileen Gray to its desecration by Le Corbusier, and its descent into decadence during Wo...

Founder and CEO of Canoa, Federico Negro, was born in Uruguay during a time of political turmoil and lived in four countries by age 14. As a teenager in Chicago, he used music as a means of learning English, and during college became fascinated by forensic architecture, which informed his fixation with “how we build with what we build.” An Architect, designer, toolmaker, and entrepreneur, his first company, CASE, was acquired by We...

Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series, where we dig into the darker side of design - the shadowy, sometimes sordid tales hiding under a glossy topcoat of respectable legacy.

In Episode 4: Olivetti and the Race to Create the First Personal Computer, host Amy Devers and writer Andrew Wagner unravel a captivating story that challenges our assumptions about the origins of the personal computer. Many credit Silicon Valley w...

Custom surface artists Lisa Donohoe and Brynn Gelbard met and fell in love in the queer underbelly scene of San Francisco in 2002, a time before bi-national same-sex marriage was legal. Their diverse community was built on love, curiosity and celebrating each other's differences. In an evolution that was equal parts organic maturity and cosmic intervention, Brynn and Lisa moved to Los Angeles and founded Londubh Studio, specializin...

Co-Founder of Deem Journal, designer Nu Goteh was born in Liberia and came to the US with his family as a refugee at the age of 3. His first career ambition, as a model son of African parents, was to become a doctor / lawyer. But as a sneakerhead, skater, and early-adopter of the internet, he kept making opportunities for himself in marketing, promoting, and graphic design. He even landed a job at Puma while he was only a Sophomore...

Founder and President of ThinkLab, Amanda Schneider, grew up outside of Chicago, inspired by a blend of engineering and design. Now a self-described “designer by degree, journalist by accident, and researcher by choice” at the helm of ThinkLab, she examines the ecosystem of the design world, unearthing and synthesizing the social and cultural shifts and drivers that impact the interiors industry. Together with her team, she offers ...

Legendary visual artist Cey Adams grew up in NYC immersed in the excitement and danger of graffiti, embellishing buildings and tagging “Cey City” on subway cars. From there, he began selling in galleries along with contemporaries Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, and designing merch, logos and singles for Run DMC, Beastie Boys, and LL Cool J. As founding Creative Director of Def Jam he designed cover art for Slick Rick, Public...