Podcast · Arts & Books

Clever with Amy Devers

Clever is an award-winning, independent podcast that offers a window into the humanity behind the design of the world around us. In each episode, designer Amy Devers has candid and revealing conversations with the visionaries, culture-makers, and creative forces who shape our world and inform our

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 1 hr 1 min
Latest: 15 Sep 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

15 Sep 2026 · 50 min

Ep. 189: Clodagh on the Twist & Turns of Her Extraordinary Life & Career [encore]

It’s Clever’s 10th anniversary! We’re celebrating by honoring and revisiting some of the amazing stories we’ve collected over the years. Our guests have continued to make meaningful contributions to the world since we had our initial conversations, be sure to subscribe to our Substack to catch up on some of their recent news! Interior designer, Clodagh, grew up in the Irish countryside running barefoot through the woods, riding horses, and rebelling. A near death experience lit a fire in her to pursue fashion and she opened her first shop at age 17. After a career pivot and 50+ years of…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

8 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
Ep. 41: Ini Archibong [encore]
It’s Clever’s 10th anniversary! We’re celebrating by honoring and revisiting some of the amazing stories we’ve collected over the years. Our guests have continued to make meaningful contributions to the world since we had our initial conversations, be sure to subscribe to our Substack to catch up on some of their recent news! Product designer Ini Archibong grew up taking things apart with little success putting them back together, and cutting class to throw pottery. After a false-start in business school, he taught himself CAD, philosophy, and mathematics until he serendipitously found…
28 Jul 2026 · 57 min
Ep. 215: Kinfolk’s Idris Brewster Uses AR to Empower Collective Memory Building [encore]
It’s Clever’s 10th anniversary! We’re celebrating by honoring and revisiting some of the amazing stories we’ve collected over the years. Our guests have continued to make meaningful contributions to the world since we had our initial conversations, be sure to subscribe to our Substack to catch up on some of their recent news! Ep 215: 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…
21 Jul 2026 · 56 min
Ep. 89: VP of Google Hardware Design Ivy Ross [encore]
It’s Clever’s 10th anniversary! We’re celebrating by honoring and revisiting some of the amazing stories we’ve collected over the years. Our guests have continued to make meaningful contributions to the world since we had our initial conversations, be sure to subscribe to our Substack to catch up on some of their recent news! Ep 89: Google’s Head of Hardware Design, Ivy Ross, learned from her industrial designer father how to see the world for how it’s made, and for the possibilities of how it could be remade. Early professional success as a jewelry designer taught her that life is not about…
7 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 11 min
Ep. 165: Talking Shop with Podcast Powerhouse Avery Trufelman [encore]
It’s Clever’s 10th anniversary! We’re celebrating by honoring and revisiting some of the amazing stories we’ve collected over the years. Of course our guests have continued to make meaningful contributions to the world since we had our initial conversations, so be sure to subscribe to our Substack to catch up on some of their recent news! Ep. 165: Brooklyn-based podcaster Avery Trufelman has radio in her DNA. Her parents met while working at WNYC, so from birth she was nurtured with love and appreciation for radio. As a teenager, Avery took to expressing herself through wild, quirky thrifted…
30 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 6 min
Ep. 29: Gary Hustwit [encore]
It’s Clever’s 10th anniversary! We’re celebrating by honoring and revisiting some of the amazing stories we’ve collected over the years. Our guests have continued to make meaningful contributions to the world since we had our initial conversations, be sure to subscribe to our Substack to catch up on some of their recent news! Ep. 29: Filmmaker, photographer and perpetual entrepreneur Gary Hustwit connects the dots of his DIY-driven path through independent music, independent publishing, and independent films, to his current preoccupation with non-fiction VR. Along the way he deconstructs the…
E200 · 16 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
Ep. 200: A Peek Inside Patricia Urquiola’s Curious and Magical Mind [encore]
It’s Clever’s 10th anniversary! We’re celebrating by honoring and revisiting some of the amazing stories we’ve collected over the years. Our guests have continued to make meaningful contributions to the world since we had our initial conversations, be sure to subscribe to our Substack to catch up on some of their recent news! Ep. 200: For our very special 200th episode, we’re joined by world-renowned architect and designer Patricia Urquiola. While she’s now known internationally, growing up in Spain as the middle child she was often forgotten. She found a certain joy in this freedom of being…
9 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 13 min
Ep. 13: Tanya Aguiñiga [encore]
It’s Clever’s 10th anniversary! We’re celebrating by honoring and revisiting some of the amazing stories we’ve collected over the years. Our guests have continued to make meaningful contributions to the world since we had our initial conversations, so be sure to subscribe to our Substack to catch up on some of their recent news! Mexican and American artist/designer/maker/activist Tanya Aguiñiga shares with Jaime and Amy what it was like growing up in Tijuana and crossing the US border every day to attend school in the US, how an accidental haircut during her troubled teenage years got her…
E163 · 26 May 2026 · 1 hr 26 min
Ep. 163: Designer Jay Osgerby Shines a Light on Loss, Legacy, and Longevity [encore]
It’s Clever’s 10th anniversary! We’re celebrating by honoring some of the amazing stories we’ve collected over the years. Jay has continued to make meaningful contributions to the world since this conversation, and we have updates. Be sure to subscribe to our Substack & social ( IG & LI ) to catch up on Jay’s recent news! Clever Ep. 163: Industrial designer and founding partner of Barber Osgerby, Jay Osgerby, grew up in a small town in England, with his close-knit multi-generational family and the backdrop of his grandparents’ experiences through WWII. His childhood was filled with making…
19 May 2026 · 1 hr 13 min
Ep.141: Hip Hop Architect Michael Ford [encore]
It’s Clever’s 10th anniversary! We’re celebrating by honoring and revisiting some of the amazing stories we’ve collected over the years. Our guests have continued to make meaningful contributions to the world since we had our initial conversations, be sure to subscribe to our Substack & social ( IG & LI ) to catch up on some of their recent news! Michael Ford is the designer and activist known as The Hip Hop Architect. Born in Highland Park, Michigan the son of a minister, Michael was raised to be inquisitive and question the world around him to find deeper truth. Early on, he found his…
12 May 2026 · 1 hr 4 min
Ep. 56: Jerry Helling [encore]
It’s Clever’s 10th anniversary! We’re celebrating by honoring and revisiting some of the amazing stories we’ve collected over the years. Our guests have continued to make meaningful contributions to the world since we had our initial conversations, be sure to subscribe to our Substack to catch up on some of their recent news! Ep. 56: Jerry Helling - President and Creative Director of Bernhardt Design, Jerry Helling, grew up on a ranch in a remote town with 11 people in his graduating class before venturing to USC and a potential career in Hollywood. A personal epiphany combined with…
E213 · 5 May 2026 · 1 hr 5 min
Ep. 213: The Quiet Rebellion of Biodesigner Natsai Audrey Chieza [encore]
It’s Clever’s 10th anniversary! We’re celebrating by honoring some of the amazing stories we’ve collected over the years. Our guests have continued to make meaningful contributions to the world since we had our initial conversations, be sure to subscribe to our Substack to catch up on some of their recent news! Ep. 213: The Quiet Rebellion of Biodesigner Natsai Audrey Chieza - Natsai Audrey Chieza spent her youth in Zimbabwe in a close-knit extended family where she and her cousins were “in each others’ pockets.” In her teenage years the national economy crashed, necessitating a family…
E1 · 28 Apr 2026 · 51 min
Clever Ep. 1: Joe Doucet [encore]
It’s Clever’s 10th anniversary! We’re celebrating by honoring some of the amazing stories we’ve collected over the years. We’re kicking off the party with a rewind of our very first episode! Joe Doucet has continued to make meaningful contributions to the built environment since we had this conversation, be sure to subscribe to our Substack to catch up on some of his recent works! New York-based multi-disciplinary designer, Joe Doucet, tells Amy and Jaime why he doesn’t start any project with sketching, how a pair of avant-garde headphones caught the attention of Lady Gaga, and how he…
E237 · 14 Apr 2026 · 57 min
Ep. 237: Curator Alyssa Velazquez on Craft-itarianism: Community Action Through Craft
Curator Alyssa Velazquez grew up with theater as her first form of community—a foundation that continues to shape her curatorial work. Her current exhibition at Center for Craft, Craft-itarianism: Community Action Through Craft, explores how craft can add joy, distribute resources, and foster community among at-risk and marginalized people. Velazquez brings a unique interdisciplinary approach to her curatorial practice at Carnegie Museum of Art, pulling from past work in art preservation, acting, and scenic design. Alyssa teaches us that the act of making can form resource generation within…
E228 · 31 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Ep. 228: Lo-TEK’s Julia Watson on Applying Indigenous Knowledge to Climate-Adaptive Design [encore]
Julia Watson, a landscape architect, author, and educator, developed a passion for global cultures and knowledge as a child in Australia, inspired by her parents' National Geographic collection. She has since dedicated her career to exploring traditional knowledge systems and their application to contemporary design challenges like extreme weather, waste management, and population growth. At the heart of Watson's work is a profound respect for indigenous knowledge systems and a commitment to applying Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) to climate-adaptive design. Through her work with…
E232 · 17 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Ep. 232: Studio O’s Liz Ogbu on Spatial Justice and the Role of Design in Healing Grief [encore]
Designer Liz Ogbu grew up in Oakland as the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, but it wasn’t until her first trip to Nigeria at 16 that she grasped the profound role place, family, and cultural context play in shaping who we are—and what we create. Drawn to the creative possibilities of architecture, she studied both architecture and engineering before traveling across Africa on a Watson Fellowship, an experience that sharpened her understanding of who her work is ultimately for: the people most impacted by design. Today, Liz is catalyzing what design can do—in transforming informal…
E236 · 10 Mar 2026 · 52 min
Ep. 236: The Living Architectural Dream Worlds of Dennis Maher
Artist and designer Dennis Maher has spent decades exploring the life cycles of buildings. After studying architecture at Cornell, he moved to Buffalo, New York—where a job in demolition introduced him to the visceral reality of the built environment constantly breaking down and rebuilding itself. That experience sparked a practice rooted in salvaged materials, forgotten objects, and the imaginative transformation of ordinary spaces. Maher’s work now spans sculptural installations, living environments, and his most ambitious project: The Assembly House , an evolving artwork housed inside a…
E185 · 3 Mar 2026 · 58 min
Ep. 185: Costume Designer Deborah L. Scott on Building Worlds with Character and Depth [encore]
Oscar-winning costume designer Deborah L. Scott grew up sewing doll clothes, puppets, and getting swept up by the stories at the cinema. At 21 she went to work costuming show girls on the Vegas strip. Once in film, her adaptability, imagination, and resourcefulness carved a path that led to projects with Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, and onto sets of the biggest films of our time. Images, links and more from Deborah on cleverpodcast.com! Special thanks to our sponsor! Wix Studio is a platform built for all web creators to design, develop, and manage exceptional web projects at scale.…
E235 · 17 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
Ep. 235: Secret Mall Apartment’s Michael Townsend on Ephemeral Art with Enduring Impact
Public artist Michael Townsend grew up in a military family that relocated often—at least ten times during his childhood. He learned early how to explore new locales and seek out new friends before moving on to the next temporary hometown. His final relocation was to study art at RISD, when he chose Providence as home—and began quietly reshaping it. He founded the Tape Art movement in 1989 and built a thriving practice rooted in ephemeral public murals, deeply personal underground installations, and highly clandestine collaborations, including the now-legendary Secret Mall Apartment. For…
E231 · 10 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Ep. 231: True Crime Podcaster Stephanie Tinsley on Everything They Missed [encore]
When her life collided with a high-profile murder trial, longtime true-crime devotee Stephanie Tinsley found an unexpected path into creative agency and advocacy. After a career in sales and private equity, everything shifted when her husband, attorney Mark Tinsley, was thrust into the spotlight during the Murdaugh murder trials. In this episode, she and Amy discuss the making of Everything They Missed , the inner resources she had to marshal to tell the story well, and why centering human dignity is her driving force in true-crime storytelling. Images and more from Stephanie Tinsley on our…
E225 · 3 Feb 2026 · 58 min
Ep. 225: Norman Teague on Cultural Storytelling Through Design [encore]
Designer, craftsman, artist and educator, Norman Teague, grew up in Chicago absorbing the sounds, colors, textures and vibes of his “hood,” fancy cars, and Auntie Aretha’s painting. A highschool Drafting elective was his first real step into the design field, which he then traversed with aplomb through an MFA at SAIC, to the Venice Architecture Biennale, to MoMA, to the design team of the Obama Presidential Center. At the helm of his namesake design studio, he’s built a storied, critically acclaimed career, and a powerful legacy of challenging the design canon, cultural storytelling, and…
E234 · 20 Jan 2026 · 55 min
Ep. 234: From Band to CCO: Laura Stein’s Road to Creative Leadership
Chief Creative Officer of Bruce Mau Design, Laura Stein grew up on Nun’s Island outside of Montreal, a near utopia where kids never had to cross the street. Her psychiatrist father and museum-involved mother cultivated curiosity about emotions, critical thinking, and the arts. A move to Texas in her teens resulted in quite a culture shock. Laura found an innate knack for peer reviews and analysis, which became a strength throughout the rest of her academic and professional career. Originally graduating with a degree in English, she returned to school to study art, where she found not only…
E233 · 13 Jan 2026 · 50 min
233: Clever Extra - Mick De Giulio on Designing Kitchens That Sing [encore]
For over 40+ years, Mick De Giulio has been dedicating his talents to designing kitchens that sing. It all starts with listening, and the results are masterpieces of flow, proportion, beauty, utility and emotional resonance. A devotee of craft, he’s known for having an unusual command of detail and materials. He brings it all together in service of designing dynamic shared spaces that foster connection, care and magic moments. The author of two books, Kitchen Centric and Kitchen , with a third out in 2026, he is an unmatched leader in the field who also supports the industry and elevates the…
E227 · 6 Jan 2026 · 58 min
Ep. 227: Designer Cas Holman is Giving Us All Permission to Play [encore]
Cas Holman grew up playing make-believe in the woods and helping her mechanic step-dad fix cars and dune buggies. Always knowing that she didn’t check the stereotypical gender boxes, she never gave any of the other arbitrary “boxes” much credit either, instead preferring to focus on the outside-the-box possibilities that could be accessed through play, curiosity, and exploration. While getting her MFA, she began working on Geemo, a building toy, which kicked-off her life’s mission of designing for play. Since then, she’s established herself as a champion of open-ended play, designing notable…
E196 · 30 Dec 2025 · 1 hr 11 min
Ep. 196: Bradley L. Bowers on the Magic of Blending Technology and Craft [encore]
Bradley L. Bowers spent his youth hanging in the basement with Grandma Dorothy while she upholstered furniture. Always outspoken, in high school he found that only the art teachers embraced his questioning of the status quo. A fruitful spell at SCAD earned him Industrial & Furniture Design degrees + loads of skills, but it’s by tuning his antenna to the ‘little Yodas everywhere’ that he gathers his wisdom. Images, links and more from Bradley on cleverpodcast.com ! Special thanks to our sponsor! Wix Studio is a platform built for all web creators to design, develop, and manage exceptional web…
E86 · 23 Dec 2025 · 1 hr 8 min
Ep. 86: Designer of Joy Ingrid Fetell Lee [encore]
Designer, researcher and author Ingrid Fetell Lee spent her childhood traveling back and forth between divorced parents, indulging her curiosity during unstructured time, and losing herself in books and her journal. Her professional path routed her through creative writing, market research and industrial design on the way to dedicating her life to the study of joy, and helping people understand the very profound effects our surroundings have on our well-being. It’s powerful and paradigm-shifting work! Images and more from Ingrid on cleverpodcast.com ! Special thanks to our sponsor! Wix…
E233 · 16 Dec 2025 · 50 min
Ep. 233: Clever Extra - Mick De Giulio on Designing Kitchens That Sing
For over 40+ years, Mick De Giulio has been dedicating his talents to designing kitchens that sing. It all starts with listening, and the results are masterpieces of flow, proportion, beauty, utility and emotional resonance. A devotee of craft, he’s known for having an unusual command of detail and materials. He brings it all together in service of designing dynamic shared spaces that foster connection, care and magic moments. The author of two books, Kitchen Centric and Kitchen , with a third out in 2026, he is an unmatched leader in the field who also supports the industry and elevates the…
E232 · 2 Dec 2025 · 1 hr 1 min
Ep. 232: Studio O’s Liz Ogbu on Spatial Justice and the Role of Design in Healing Grief
Designer Liz Ogbu grew up in Oakland as the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, but it wasn’t until her first trip to Nigeria at 16 that she grasped the profound role place, family, and cultural context play in shaping who we are—and what we create. Drawn to the creative possibilities of architecture, she studied both architecture and engineering before traveling across Africa on a Watson Fellowship, an experience that sharpened her understanding of who her work is ultimately for: the people most impacted by design. Today, Liz is catalyzing what design can do—in transforming informal…
25 Nov 2025 · 31 min
Clever Presents: Everything They Missed
If you caught last week’s interview with Stephanie Tinsley , you heard a compelling, second chapter creative journey in which she summons her inner strengths and plunges herself into the world of investigative podcasting. This week, we’re presenting an episode of Everything They Missed , Stephanie Tinsley’s gripping new true-crime podcast reexamining the 2007 murder of Danny Harris — a case officially closed, but full of unanswered questions. Episode 1, “Protocol,” exposes a disturbing crime scene, a baffling timeline, and an investigative response that feels far too casual. As Stephanie…
E231 · 18 Nov 2025 · 1 hr 1 min
Ep. 231: True Crime Podcaster Stephanie Tinsley on Everything They Missed
When her life collided with a high-profile murder trial, longtime true-crime devotee Stephanie Tinsley found an unexpected path into creative agency and advocacy. After a career in sales and private equity, everything shifted when her husband, attorney Mark Tinsley, was thrust into the spotlight during the Murdaugh murder trials. In this episode, she and Amy discuss the making of Everything They Missed , the inner resources she had to marshal to tell the story well, and why centering human dignity is her driving force in true-crime storytelling. Images and more from Stephanie Tinsley on our…

About Clever with Amy Devers

Clever with Amy Devers is a English arts & books podcast from Amy Devers. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Amy Devers
Language: English
Category: Arts & Books
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 1 hr 1 min
Latest episode: 15 Sep 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1106679693
Rights: Copyright Clever

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