Explore every episode of the podcast Journey With Purpose

How do you redesign one of the most beloved streets in television history—without losing its soul? Scenic designer David Gallo takes us behind the scenes of his work refreshing Sesame Street, balancing history with modern storytelling.

Imagine a city where kids play safely in lush courtyards, neighbors bond over shared spaces, and errands are just a step away. Courtyard urbanist Alicia Pederson shares how this European housing model could transform American cities for families.

Imagine a world where your job, school, coffee shop, and parks are all within a 15-minute walk. Writer Addison Del Mastro joins us to discuss his passion for the 15-Minute City, while seeking more straightforward and accessible ways to define it for the public, policymakers, and urban designers.

Maps are more than tools—they’re stories. In this episode, Andrew Lynch takes us on a journey through the subway systems of New York and Washington, revealing the secrets of abandoned lines, unrealized designs, and the choices that shape how we move through cities.

Garrett Corcoran shows us how design can be a bridge between the past and the future. Taking on the challenge of extending wayfinding to digital screens for the Washington Metro, Garrett shares what it’s like working with historical design legacies and figuring out how to make screens feel as natural as those mid-century hexagon tiles.

The Washington Metro is more than just a transit system; it’s a statement about government’s role in public life. We chat with Professor Zachary Schrag about the Washington Metro’s history, its stunning brutalist design, and the larger ideals it represents.

NYC's subway map isn't an accident, but a century of contentious argument about more than just wayfinding.

Architectural history meets family road trips! Amy Talkington recalls her mother’s mission to protect historic neighborhoods and the creation of the iconic A Field Guide to American Houses.

Discover how cities can become more affordable, diverse, and walkable. In this episode, urban planner David White breaks down the impact of middle housing, zoning laws, and car dependency on urban development—and what we can do to create people-friendly neighborhoods.

Are cities failing our kids? Listen to experts discuss how urban design impacts children's mobility and what makes a neighborhood truly child-friendly.

Can EV charging fit in crowded city streets? Nathan King of It’s Electric explains how they’re making it happen...with lot's of. tradeoffs.

Imagine speeding along the interstate, catching a fleeting glimpse of a quaint village green where a baseball game is being played under the summer sun. Nestled in Columbus, Ohio, this isn't just any village—it's Ohio Village, a meticulously constructed historical town where the past comes to life.

We take a deep dive into the future of urban mobility, focusing on a groundbreaking initiative to support e-bike delivery workers and the public in New York City through a new Mobility Hub next to City Hall, with battery recharging, repair, and rest areas.

Explore how New York City is tackling its dire housing shortage through a citywide incremental approach. We breakdown what's in the City of Yes proposal, and listen to some critiques.

Alexa Gonzalez shifts urban design from placemaking to placekeeping, emphasizing community voices and long-term engagement to reshape public spaces in ways that truly reflect and benefit those who use them.

Discover the hidden impact of zoning on your daily life: from the skyscrapers to the suburbs, learn how invisible lines shape our cities.

From good fences, to good spaces, architect Peter Yi presents a reimagining of suburban space allowing people to customize their living and recreation space to meet their family's needs.

From historic districts to high-speed data: Explore the 5G tower debate that's redefining New York City

Memo Salazar from the Western Queens Community Land Trust discuss the CLT's mission, its role in combating gentrification, and the broader challenges of housing affordability in New York City.

Adam Greenfield discusses Project Farevalue which aimed to solve an everyday problem transit riders face: confirm stored value on your transit card. The team produced a working prototype, but with a hazy patent landscape Greenfield decided to abandon Farevalue and his practice, to focus on showing what he believes the future should look like through teaching and writing.

Philip Johnson's Glass House is a triumph, but his decades-long support of fascism, anti-semites, and the Nazi Party cloud his legacy and how we tell his story.

Dive into the world of Midcentury Modern architecture with the first episode of our two-part series, exploring the iconic Dr. Edith Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe. This episode unravels the complex story behind the creation of this architectural masterpiece, from Mies's dramatic departure from Nazi Germany, leaving behind his family, to the protracted design and construction process that eventually led to a notorious lawsuit and rumors of a romantic entanglement with Dr. Farnsworth—rumors that bear no resemblance to the truth.

Matt Webb created an AI-powered poem clock as an exploration in both materials and Chat-GPT. It’s now a product you can back on Kickstarter. We speak with Matt about embodied sketching, product lessons from Little Printer, our to use Pathfinding to make decisions, and lessons on how to think about AI.

We speak with good friend and former colleague Erika Lee about being an independent graphic designer and launching a non-profit community-focused maker space in Hawai'i

The King of Zoning is empowered to preempt and overrule local, county, and state zoning and land use in order to affirmatively further housing for all. Here are the king's first ten proclamations.

Julian is one part of the team behind Near Future Laboratory, a design-led innovation practice, who invented design fiction as a thing and practice. When not designing and publishing books, podcasts, and doing consulting, he runs the Near Future Laboratory Discord, a Hypercollaborative where people come together to practice the craft of futuring and design fiction. We speak about how to balance structure's need for managed expectations, and imaginations need to jam. How listening to each other and trust in one's self and each other can make beautiful things. How making things is our differentiator.

In this episode we speak with Sam Starr, a cargo bike expert about what our cities might look like if we shift some (or a substantial amount) of our in-city freight traffic from giant potential trucks to cargo bikes.

Colin Kelly is one part of the NYC-based design firm Group Project, who won the competition for the new Better Bin, to replace the ubiquitous green wire mesh litter bins around New York City. We speak about the state of waste collection in NYC, the design ideas and the prototype process behind Better Bin, and what happens when a group of friends suddenly need to become a real company when they become finalists for a massive design competition.

Shaun Mosley is a researcher and designer who works on public sector tools, and reminds us that research is all about caring. Shaun looks for ways to change the way we think and see the world. It's not Android and iOS that gets him excited, but crafting the tool that saves his coworkers countless hours. Shaun has experience in designing and developing for mobile and desktop based platforms, in addition to working on tangible products that take the experience beyond the screen of the smart device.

In this episode we speak with freight expert Sandra Rothbard, who is an urban planner specializing in freight transportation. After working for public agencies in NYC on city logistics, disaster preparedness and solid waste management, she now supports public, private and non-profit organizations around the world as an independent consultant. She focuses on building sustainable, resilient and safe streets, healthy communities and efficient and economic supply chains.

In this episode we speak with parking expert Graham Rossmore, who helped Los Angeles shift their temporary outdoor dining program to a permanent feature, allowing a greater use of curb and parking space than just car storage. His work found that areas with Al Fresco dining generated an increase of $12 million in gross sales in 2022 compared to 2019. We also speak about new ways to use the city, which just so happens to be how we used to use the city before cars became the dominant form of transportation.

Architecture professor Karen Kubey speaks about housing justice, how we need to design for abundance, we don't live in policy, and how housing supply is part of a larger toolbox to provide housing for all.

Cities are sites of aspirations and identities, and 'play' can be a means for fostering community engagement. Architect and urbanist Joanne Cheung critiques the prevailing forms of community engagement, suggesting that they are often paternalistic and fail to adequately consider the agency of individuals and communities. Joanne further discuss the implications of power imbalances, the need for co-creation, and how play can act as a 'scaffolding' for discussing democratic representation. Play has often become commodified causing an unequal power dynamics in society. Joanne suggests the Cities for Play is but a scaffold in tackling very hard problems democratically, and calls for meaningful engagement through more community-oriented spaces for collective action and creativity.

Graphic designer and artist Tom Badley shares with us his journey practicing as both a designer and artist, banknote design, digital art, his design of Offline Cash, and his book, Art & Money.

Urbanist and activist Josh Junker talks with us about the destruction of Cincinnati's West End.