The Perspecta - Mid-century Modern Stories

Welcome back to The Perspecta & and into an illuminating conversation about the world of mid-century modern lighting, specifically its darling Modeline of California. Did you know there were 27+ different designers who crafted for Modeline? We switched on to discuss a few of them, the company’s founder, his relevance to the entertainment world, hot takes on pricing, and our guests' experiences diving deep into research - a...

Our first in-person conversation, a sit down with James Goldstein - the detail & design oriented owner who spent much of his life perfecting the Sheats-Goldstein Residence, hand in hand with iconic architect John Lautner. You’ve seen his home in films and music videos (Big Lebowski, Snoop, Doja Cat), but never before has he shared so much information about process, influences and more. 

You may recognize his presence from courts...

We love talking about creative process, and with RJD2 - we thoroughly explored his mindset and approach to creating & producing music. He is an accomplished musician, DJ & producer whose original tracks for a collaborative rap album somehow became the theme song for Mad Men! LIke many of us, he has great interest in other aspects of art & design from the MCM time period which we covered, most uniquely - Italian Carrozze...

And together, we break into the world of entertainment! Although the setting of a television show or movie may appear seamless to the audience, we have learned in this conversation - that is actually an extreme, coordinated effort - that even requires a bit of luck! So many moving pieces have to work in concert in order to present the atmosphere we all admire; especially in a mid-century period piece like Mad Men, or Catch Me if yo...

Atomic Ranch is one of our mid-century modern community’s most important publications, and our guest Jickie Torres has been hard at work bringing it to life with her team for years. She wears many hats directing the content of your favorite Modernist escape; and has been busy writing a new Atomic Ranch book, representing AR at the Fall Modernism Week & building a project house for the magazine! We chat about her early MCM love,...

Our first entrepreneur! Not too many can say they’ve survived the Shark Tank, and came out with a deal - but Matt Bliss and his grandfather’s mid-century modern tree design captured the heart (and business mind) of Barbara Corcoran, and we hope this conversation captures yours as well! He recounted the stories of his grandfather, early stages of his business, & the iconic MCM homes he has visited to photograph his trees. We dis...

One of our goals in starting this podcast was to learn about influential mid-century modern designers, from first hand accounts; not many relationships are closer than that of father and son. Jim was able to recount beautiful personal experiences with his father Adrian Pearsall, and spoke about his close collaboration with him - from furnishing restaurants, to designing custom pieces, and directly working together at Craft Associat...

Dream come true! What is more fun than sitting down with one of your favorite musicians and talking about mid-century modern design & architecture? We spoke about Jake’s personal connection to Herman Miller, learned about hi-fi audio equipment, reviewed influences & style in his music, and discussed architecture across Europe and the Northwest US. Go listen to “Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse”, sit down in your fa...

We officially went global in our 3rd episode, a conversation with Tim Ross (@modernister) where we learned all about Modernist design & preservation in Australia. Tim highlighted a number of famous architects & designers, including Glenn Murcutt, Harry Seidler, Grant Featherston, Jørn Utzon, Walter Burley Griffin, & John Andrews; and Canberra seems like the Modernist capital of our dreams. We were so impressed hearing a...

In our second episode, we learned all about America’s designer Paul McCobb - from one of the foremost experts and collectors, Samuel Hildreth. We covered Planner, Perimeter, Predictor and the rest of Paul’s prolific career - and heard Sam’s story from his first McCobb coffee table to his recent museum exhibit. Sam and DC shared tales of Facebook Group moderation, and we went in depth on native furniture manufacturing, and what make...