Ernest & Joachim go deep on Raymond Loewy’s MAYA Principle: what it is & why it matters, with real world examples of MAYA in action, and what can happen when product teams fail to take the principle to heart.

FOLLOW-UPS – 01:00
Toolbox: How “Jobs To Be Done” Can Help You Make, Better
Fortis Marinemaster

A BRIEF INTRO TO RAYMOND LOEWY – 06:04
MoMA on Raymond Loewy
60 Minutes: Raymond Loewy, Father of Industrial Design

LOEWY’S MAYA PRINCIPLE – 09:07
The MAYA Principle in Design
The iPhone only exists because Steve Jobs ‘hated this guy at Microsoft’
Phil Knight: Shoe Dog
How One Designer Saved Tesla From Bankruptcy TWICE

IS MAYA INHERENTLY CONSERVATIVE? – 19:36
Apple and the MAYA Principle
Remembering Apple’s Newton, 30 years on

MUST BE ROOTED IN EMPATHY & COMPASSION – 24:44
Raymond Loewy and the Skylab Window

APPLICATIONS BEYOND PRODUCT – 28:20
The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (via Wayback Machine)
BMW Is a Surprise Winner in Electric Vehicles (paywall)
Goodbye to the BMW i3—an Icon of the 21st Century (paywall)
The Newton Messagepad was Well Ahead of its Time
General Magic documentary
Intellectual Distance, Novelty, and Resource Allocation in Science

RECOMMENDATIONS – 42:48
Patrick McGee: Apple in China
Hidden Forces podcast: Patrick McGee
EBL rechargeable AA batteries (link to Wirecutter review)

CLOSING – 49:34

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Rant, rave or otherwise via email at LearnMakeLearn@gmail.com or on Threads @LearnMakeLearnShow.

CREDITS
Theme: Vendla / Today Is a Good Day / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
Drum hit: PREL / Musical Element 85 / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

E & J return from a spring hiatus to discuss a range of topics, from WWDC 2025 to the Era of the Business Idiot, and more.

WATCHES & WONDERS – 04:09
Don DeLillo: Cosmopolis
IWC Presents A Plethora Of New Ingenieur Watches
How The Pursuit Of Status Shapes Our Aesthetics
The Nomos Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer
NOMOS Lounge, New York City
TAG Heuer Formula 1 - They got it wrong!

SLATE AUTO – 22:52
Slate Auto Reveal Event
Customer service satisfaction of EV owners lower than ICE vehicles
Kia, Build This EV Overland Camper Van!
Top Gear: The Indestructible Toyota Hilux (full episode)

WWDC 2025 – 33:49
From Skeuomorphic to Liquid Glass
How the Graphical User Interface was Invented
WWDC 1997: Steve Jobs Q&A (tense exchange at 50:25)
Bill Gates: “Internet Tidal Wave”
Apple study challenges whether AI models truly “reason”

DISCORD & COMPLEXITY – 54:29
How Discord Indexes Trillions of Messages
Ink & Switch
Quiet

RECS – 01:03:28
The Era Of The Business Idiot
Better Offline podcast
‘Andor’ Season 2
UConnPopCast
Rebecca Solnit: Men Explain Things to Me
What Makes Art ‘Left Wing’?
The Rehearsal

CLOSING – 01:22:00

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Rant, rave or otherwise via email at LearnMakeLearn@gmail.com or on Threads @LearnMakeLearnShow.

CREDITS
Theme: Vendla / Today Is a Good Day / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
Drum hit: PREL / Musical Element 85 / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

We return from hibernation to talk AI nonsense, critique the review industrial complex, promote a return to RSS, and share a raft of recommendations!

JOACHIM ON AI NONSENSE – 01:52
Previous Discussion of Humane AI (starts at 18:34)
Humane Set to Brick $700 ‘AI Pins’
I outsourced my memory to an AI pin and all I got was fanfiction
Ben Thompson: DeepSeek FAQ
Previous Discussion on LLMs & Constraints (starts at 02:33)
“Low-Resource” Text Classification

ERNEST ON THE REVIEW INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX – 09:41
Motor Trend: 2021 MINI Cooper SE
America’s Commute to Work Is Getting Longer (paywall)
CNET: 2022 Mini Cooper SE
James Hoffmann’s reviews
Sigma BF Review: Beautiful Foolishness
By contrast ... I took 1,000 photos with the Sigma BF
GxAce YouTube channel
Chris Harris on the Mercedes-AMG A45 S
How Ferrari Spins

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRODUCT CREATORS? – 26:07
Americans Are Obsessed With the Wrong Trucks
TELO MT1
Remembering Nike’s Sandy Bodecker

JOACHIM ON RSS & MORE – 31:37
Inoreader
Catherine Shannon: Your phone is why you don’t feel sexy
Tracy Durnell: In praise of the hundred page idea
In Praise of Shadows
Kenya Hara: White
Timothy Snyder: On Tyranny
Harry G. Frankfurt: On Bullshit
Perfect Days
Perfect Day (Komorebi Version)

SHOULD WE START A DISCORD? – 41:22

CLOSING – 42:02

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Rant, rave or otherwise via email at LearnMakeLearn@gmail.com or on Threads @LearnMakeLearnShow.

CREDITS
Theme: Vendla / Today Is a Good Day / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
Drum hit: PREL / Musical Element 85 / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

Ernest’s experience with a boundary-breaking headphone sparks a discussion on caveat emptor, or buyer beware, and just how much risk we, as product creators, should expect buyers to bear.

FOLLOW-UPS – 01:15
MKBHD, Panels & Pricing
WTF Happened in 2024?!
I Love You, Man: The Male Friendship Recession
Why Are Boys and Men in Trouble?

CAVEAT EMPTOR? – 06:36
Caveat emptor
An ode to open-back headphones—and why I’d never go (closed-)back
What’s the difference between dynamic and planar magnetic drivers?
Audio46 Headphones
Sennheiser HD800S: Revisiting a Legend
Focal Clear MG
Hifiman Arya Stealth & Organic
Hifiman Arya Unveiled Review—The Next Best?
The most expensive headphone in the world is terrifying!
Are Hifiman Unveiled Headphones Safe?
With Just 8 Words, Steve Jobs Explained the Best Decision He Ever Made
Man Tests Tesla Cybertruck Trunk Sensor With His Finger
The Hidden Autopilot Data That Reveals Why Teslas Crash
IIHS tested Tesla Autopilot safeguards: Here’s what they found
Arrival or departure? The rise and fall of Britain’s EV unicorn
Interview with Hifiman CEO Dr. Fang Bian
‘The Beta Test’ Director Jim Cummings Wants to Liberate Indie Filmmaking

RECOMMENDATIONS – 51:07
Derek Guy: Die Workwear!
J’s year-end rec: Outlier Strongworks Pants
E’s year-end rec: OrSlow French Work Pants & Yamatomichi 5-Pocket Pants

CLOSING – 01:07:44

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Rant, rave or otherwise via email at LearnMakeLearn@gmail.com or on Threads @LearnMakeLearnShow.

CREDITS
Theme: Vendla / Today Is a Good Day / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
Drum hit: PREL / Musical Element 85 / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

A conversation triggered by MKBHD’s Panels app gets really interesting when we dig into pricing & lessons for people in the business of making products.

FOLLOW-UPS – 02:23
Are Pop Lyrics Getting More Repetitive?
How gamification took over the world
Can't Play, Won't Play
An Interview with Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth
Meta Connect Keynote 2024
Meta’s big tease

MKBHD, PANELS & PRICING – 07:30
Marques Brownlee
MKBHD’s first review
Marques Brownlee says ‘I hear you’ after fans criticize his new wallpaper app
YouTubers are not your friends
Why Criticism Still Matters

LESSON FOR PRODUCT CREATORS – 20:02
How Nike finally hacked skateboarding

ON PRICING – 23:42
Friedrich Hayek
Oskar R. Lange
Lange model
Kanopy
Taylor Swift–Ticketmaster controversy
The Changing Face Of The Secondary Market: Rolex CPO and more

RECOMMENDATIONS – 43:18
MUBI
The Substance on MUBI
The Fall on MUBI
Goeff McFetridge: Drawing a Life on MUBI
Thatcher had “phenomenal” impact on Britain’s cultural landscape
Bedrock Sandals
Creepers Socks
How Did Hokas Become So Popular? (paywall)

CLOSING – 56:29

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Rant, rave or otherwise via email at LearnMakeLearn@gmail.com or on Threads @LearnMakeLearnShow.

CREDITS
Theme: Vendla / Today Is a Good Day / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
Drum hit: PREL / Musical Element 85 / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

We dive into our titular question with Nate Grubbs, who, unlike us, is a professional designer with strong views borne of decades of experience across UX, visual & product design.

MEET NATE – 01:18

THE AGE OF AVERAGE – 04:19
Alex Murrell: The age of average
The tyranny of the algorithm: why every coffee shop looks the same
How Khruangbin’s Sound Became the New Mood Music (paywall)

SOUL, FLASH & OLD MAN VIBES – 06:36
A Farewell to Adobe Flash—and the Messy, Glorious Web
Donnie Darko website
Félix Lapointe: Remembering Kai Power Tools
Artist at Play: An e-mail exchange with Kai Krause

A PERVASIVE FEAR OF FAILURE – 17:49
Please, Please Don’t A/B Test That
Study finds 268% higher failure rates for Agile software projects

SIGNS OF HOPE & BREAKING THROUGH – 23:27
Massimo Giunco: Nike, An Epic Saga of Value Destruction
The Father of Grunge Typography Calls Out Lazy Design
Paula Scher: Great design is serious (not solemn)
Kintsugi

CONSTRAINTS AS A CATALYST – 34:08
Why Constraints Are Good for Innovation
Daft Social
Start-Ups Surge in the Great Reset
Gnuhr
Physical music sales on course for first increase in 20 years

RECOMMENDATIONS – 45:45
Nate: Yoto
Ernest: A Different Man; related: The rise and rise of A24, a champion of storytelling on screen (paywall)
Joachim: I Saw the TV Glow; What You Are Looking for is in the Library

CLOSING – 56:57
NateGrubbs.com

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Rant, rave or otherwise via email at LearnMakeLearn@gmail.com or on Threads @LearnMakeLearnShow.

CREDITS
Theme: Vendla / Today Is a Good Day / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
Drum hit: PREL / Musical Element 85 / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

We go off-the-cuff again, sharing product learnings from Miele vacuums, Snow Peak’s modular IGT system & Ableton’s singular vision for music creation.

OFF-THE-CUFF – 00:59

JOACHIM RECOMMENDS: MIELE C3 VACUUM – 01:38
Miele Complete C3 Calima PowerLine
Behind Dyson’s cyclone
Dyson Stick Vacuums Lose CR Recommendation
We’ve Recommended Miele Canister Vacuums for Almost a Decade
My Middle-Aged Miele C2 Canister Vacuum Has a Long Life Ahead of It
Ernest’s now discontinued Miele Cat & Dog Vacuum
James Dyson: From Brexit to Singapore
Yes, Portland’s Stark’s Vacuums is still in business!

ERNEST RECOMMENDS: SNOW PEAK IGT SYSTEM – 13:36
Ali George Hinkins: History of Snow Peak
An Introduction to IGT
Comprehensive “IGT 101” primer
Live the Slow Art of Japanese Camping
Examples of Korean-style Camping
Tom Bihn bags
Eames Storage Unit
The Eames Modular House
Modular Cabins Inspired by Minecraft
Snow Peak’s New Portland Flagship Store
Vitsœ 606 Universal Shelving System
USM Haller System
Legibility
Framework laptop

JOACHIM RECOMMENDS: ABLETON LIVE – 35:39
What is Ableton Live?
The Untold Story of Ableton Live
Reason’s skeuomorphic interface
Eating your own dog food

CLOSING – 44:31

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Rant, rave or otherwise via email at LearnMakeLearn@gmail.com or on Threads @LearnMakeLearnShow.

CREDITS
Theme: Vendla / Today Is a Good Day / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
Drum hit: PREL / Musical Element 85 / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

In another short(er) format episode, we examine Apple’s recent “Glowtime” event. Please do let us know what you think of this new format at LearnMakeLearn@gmail.com or @LearnMakeLearnShow on Threads.

OPENING – 00:00
Suttle Lake
Suttle Lodge

HELP US NAME THIS NEW FORMAT! – 03:12

APPLE’S ‘GLOWTIME’ EVENT – 05:08
Apple Event
The Verge: iPhone 16 event in 16 minutes
John Gruber describes his feelings after the event on Threads

JOACHIM’S TAKE – 05:48
Smartphone innovation is dead, and that’s fine
Revisiting the iPod
Light Phone

ERNEST’S TAKE – 11:07
Made by Google ’24
Steve Jobs introduces “Think Different” (intro to the campaign at 3:05)
Steve Jobs introduces iPhone in 2007 (b-school 101 chart at 3:55)
The Very First ‘Stevenote’
The Glorious Return of a Humble Car Feature
Boomer Apple

RISKS OF SHIFTING TO SERVICES – 27:31
Hilda
Brainchild
Why the Baby-Sitters Club was Cancelled at Netflix
Alexa Is in Millions of Households—and Amazon Is Losing Billions
Steve Jobs: Get Rid Of The Crappy Stuff
Existential thoughts about Apple’s reliance on Services revenue
Jeff Bezos Explains Why Amazon Makes No Profit (2014)
The Birth of an Icon: Susan Kare
Halt and Catch Fire (TV Series)
Drops of God on Apple TV+
Slow Horses on Apple TV+

CLOSING – 49:00

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Rant, rave or otherwise via email at LearnMakeLearn@gmail.com or on Threads @LearnMakeLearnShow.

CREDITS
Theme: Vendla / Today Is a Good Day / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
Drum hit: PREL / Musical Element 85 / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com