Opposable Thumbs

Episode 55: Citizen Science

April 12th, 2019  |  45 mins 50 secs

akira, art, beastie boys, bosozoku, challenge, chicago, creativity, cultural appropriation, demons, dog poop, esp8266, florida man, frys, godspeed! you black emperor, iot, kt boundary, lil jon, los angeles, magnetic fields, making, marlon james, microcenter, rap, smtp, smtp2go, third bass, white guys

Citizen Science is our challenge! Thanks to Vanessa Rey and Ariel Lynne for the challenge! We have no guest this episode, except you dear listener! Taylor and Rob wade hip deep into the challenge with their phasers set to stun.

Rob wonders if his dog is impacted by the earth's magnetic fields. Taylor logs onto the Internet of Sewage Holes.

They also talk about sewer gas, Bosozoku culture, and try to tease apart differences between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. And they talk about dinosaur death (yikes!) and the band "Godspeed! You Black Emperor" whose name comes from "The Black Emperors," a Japanese biker gang. Serendipitously, they would also craft a pretty great soundtrack for the destruction of the Earth's atmosphere.

Also, a shoutout to the Paper Boys Podcast. Check em out! Charlie and James unravel the actual journal papers behind these latest headlines in science news, breaking down complicated topics and calling out misinformation in the media. (http://http://paperboyspodcast.com)

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 54: Chemistry

March 29th, 2019  |  1 hr 2 mins

3dhubs, 99% invisible, analytical chemistry, art, bedo's leatherworks, biochemistry. 3d printing, bioplastic, challenge, chicago, chris reilly, composting, creativity, dd-wrt, diylilcnc, dungeons and dragons, fusion 360, glass, inorganic chemistry, kickstarter, los angeles, makerbot, making, materials science, monarch wellness fair, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, recycling, shapeways, trophies

Vanessa Rey and Ariel Lynne are our guests this episode! Chicago in tha house!

We talk about the beauty and fun of bioplastics, product design and the challenges of Kickstarter! We also nerd out about Dungeons and Dragons, 99% Invisible, Bedo's Leatherworks, DD-WRT and the Monarch Wellness Fair. Yep, you've found your people!

Tayler gets his molecules on track. Vanessa whips up a prize winning prize (we're stoked and humbled!). Ariel is inspired by the 5 branches. Rob has the power!

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 53: Periscope

March 12th, 2019  |  57 mins 34 secs

ab dick, arduino, art, bookbinding, bookmaking, challenge, chemistry, chicago, co-op, creativity, demon core, design, dimethylmercury, drill, flipbooks, friendship, graphic design, grasshopper, ichat, karen wetterhahn, letterpress, los angeles, making, making your own clothes, mirages, motorcycle jack, ombré effect, papermaking, prince, printmaking, prints, seawitches, sewing machines, tables, tickling the dragon's tail, vandercook

Printmaker Amy Leners is our guest this episode! Chicago in tha house! "Periscope" is our challenge! Thanks Ranjit Bhatnagar for the challenge!

Taylor slices... he dices.... And then he is bitten by a grasshopper.
Amy makes a book and Taylor and Rob flip for it! Ombré!
Rob pursues powerlifting for people who sew.

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 52: Camouflage

February 26th, 2019  |  47 mins 39 secs

arduino, art, bruce nauman, caa, casting, challenge, chicago, creativity, grafitti, los angeles, making, manhattan, moldmaking, moldmax 60, motor controller, neon, pololu, sharenting, silicone, whale guts, youtube

No guest this week! Just Rob and Taylor excited to be talking to one another.
Rob and Taylor dive in on projects!
Rob jiggles it... just a little bit.
Taylor puts the imp in imposter.

Taylor also discovers "sharenting." Yowch. Bruce Nauman is a wacky dude. Roger Corman is too.

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 51: Backwards Safety Dance

February 13th, 2019  |  43 mins 46 secs

555, apc, art, atari punk console, attiny, augmented reality glasses, bacon, badge life, bose, breadboarding, challenge, chicago, creativity, electronics, fiberglass, flux, forrest mims, fr4tg130, henry rollins, knolling, leadfree, los angeles, magica voxel, making, oshpark, r kelly, solder paste, soldering, sound, stepped tone generator, surface mount

No guest this week! Just Rob and Taylor going big and then also going home.

Rob and Taylor dive in on relational aesthetics, branding and wanting to think the person whose art you like isn't a giant butthole. R. Kelly, Carl Andre and Henry Rollins walk into a bar... Which person's art do choose to like? And then we deep dive into electronics.

Taylor reaches the melting point!
Rob conjures triple five soulessness

Go see Taylor at the Hilton Bar in Manhattan! Whew! That was a lot of talking about electronics!

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 50: Survival

January 31st, 2019  |  58 mins 24 secs

art, behind the rind, botany, challenge, cheese, cheesemaking, chicago, creativity, denim, dogs, engineering, getting shocked, lidar, los angeles, making, micah elizabeth scott, mojave, multimeter, plants, podcast, qr code, quinn dunki, raw milk, rennet, reverse engineering, robot apocalypse, serger, sewing machines, sonic boom, survival, tim sway, tshirt, voltage, wargames

Jen Costillo and Álvaro Prieto of the Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast are our guests this episode! Undisclosed Unnamed geographic locations in tha house!

We dig into the concept of reverse engineering and also the complexities and simplicities of cheesemaking!

Taylor brings a serger to a #fingergunfight. Taylor is an I. And a very slight A!

Jen asks us "can you ensure your survival?" Always check the QR code to be totally sure!

Plants! Humans! Electronics! Alvaro may have created of a new version of rock paper scissors!

Rob packs his bug out bag and then was totally unprepared for what happened next.

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 49: Iteration

January 17th, 2019  |  57 mins 27 secs

art, art projects, bit coin, challenge, chicago, creativity, drum machines, elderberries, electronics, feminist, feminist social practice manifesto, hardcore, iteration, javascript, kefir, kombucha, los angeles, making, motor controller, multiples, papermaking, pcpartpicker, poseymom, punk rock, raspberry pi, seed bank, stepper motors, tr-909, tracks, train, veganism, vegetarianism, water kefir

Melissa Potter is our guest this episode! Chicago in tha house!

We talk to Melissa about bad art history books, the radness of papermaking, the earnestness of hardcore kids... and the rad earnestness of papermaker hardcore kids.

Rob brings the patterns of life and the YouTube-ness of "How To Lyfe" to the Roland TR 909 drum machine.
Mel also examines iteration through life but through the lens of multiples and the microbiological.
Taylor takes takes his iteration on a train to... to... Grand Central Station?

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Deb Chachra, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 48: Happy New Year!

December 30th, 2018  |  20 mins 4 secs

2fa, andy griffith show, art, beadwork, challenge, chicago, chord breakdowns, clubwear, creativity, fimo, harmony, jewelry, jobs, los angeles, making, midi controllers, opendeck, rave, reply all, silkscreening, stepper motors, tight harmony, toto, yubikey

Just Rob and Taylor on this episode! Taylor made a thing! And it's gonna take some time to do the things he never had. We also talk about our first jobs, Fimo, the OpenDeck, beadwork and computer security. We'll be back in two weeks with a guest and a challenge.

Happy New Year everybody! A big shoutout to the 20 guests we had over 2018! Thank you Kelly Martin, Molly Allis, Cedric Tai, Meghann Sottile, Megan Sterling, Rita Blaik, Tim Sway, Charlene McBride, Andy Birkey, Liz from Blitz City DIY, Jarrett Quon, Nigel Poor, Kate Conlon, Matthew Shenoda, Quinn Dunki, Mathew Lippincott, F. Douglas Brown, Debbie Chachra, Michelle Sheng, and Maddie Vaccaro.

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway, Charlene McBride and Deb Chachra! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

silkscreening, Fimo, jewelry, TOTO, chord breakdowns, harmony, tight harmony, yubikey, 2FA, Reply All, jobs, rave, clubwear, Andy Griffith Show, stepper motors,

Episode 47: Make Me Cry

December 21st, 2018  |  1 hr 2 mins

acrylic, art, cassette tapes, ceramics, challenge, chicago, cnc, creative, creativity, hachiko, influences, los angeles, making, materials, mdf, mixtape, molding, molds, multiples, nfc tags, nudity, plaster, podcasts, porcelain, process, q lazzarus, qr codes, rhino, spotify

Madeline Vaccaro is our guest this episode! Chicago in tha house!

We talk about Maddie's work and the challenge of making multiples. It's so hard to re-make a thing over and over with the same amount of enthusiasm as you had for the first one. We also talk about Hachiko the dog * sniff *. Also, Taylor and Rob are addicted to podcasts.

Taylor merges the new-schoolness of NFC tags to re-invent a 20th Century past time.

Need a good cry? Maddie's project has got you covered. If it doesn't make you cry you're probably a replicant.

Rob refurbs an antique to make a cool gift for a great friend. "They see me knollin... They hatin'..."

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Deb Chachra, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 46: Paradox

December 6th, 2018  |  59 mins 31 secs

3d printing, adobe animate, animation, apps, art, challenge, chicago, coin cell batteries, core77, creativity, ear hustle, fireworks, flipaclip, health, illustration, insight, ipads, javascript, jpl, jumpsu.it, krita, leftovers, los angeles, making, menenists, opentoonz, parenting, screaming cowboy bongo cat, text

Michelle Sheng is our guest this episode! Ann Arbor in tha house!

We talk about the NASA InSight landing and the weird fun that comes along with being multihyphenate creator of things.

Rob takes a swing at animation and gets beaten up by about 5 different animation applications.

Michelle brings her sketchbook pages to the web and navigates the dark forest of self-identification.

Taylor rolls with the punches this episode.

We also talk about jumpsuits, fireworks and the health ramifications of 3D printing. Also, congratulations to Earlonne Woods!

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 45: The Falsely Accused

November 20th, 2018  |  1 hr 4 mins

art, audrey lorde, beer, breast cancer, browser automation, canvas, card deck, challenge, challenges, chicago, creativity, david milgaard, design, efficiency, engineering, fire ladders, first person grader, formative assessment, grading, lms, los angeles, making, making things, poutine, sandra bland, scratch off, scripting, stan lee, summative assessment, testing, witches

Debbie Chachra is our guest this episode! Boston in tha house!

“The Falsely Accused” is our challenge this episode! Thanks to F. Douglas Brown for the challenge!

Taylor creates Castle Gradenstein (an FPG?) and we talk about the weirdness that is grading. Debbie investigates the cost of false positives, atypicality and the emotional weight of not knowing what to do next. Rob takes a thing apart as a meditation on women's liberation, invention and the master's tools.

We also talk about making beer, useful design feedback, David Milgaard's innocence, witches, wooden fire ladders, and poutine... annnnnnd Stan Lee.

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 44: Making Things Flat

November 7th, 2018  |  1 hr 1 min

anvil, art, bend, boys, challenge, chicago, creativity, flat bush zombies, flat earth, forge, forged by steel, frohawk two feathers, hairpin, legs, lesson plan, los angeles, making, organization, painting, poetry, rats, shelving, steel, students, teaching, zuhitsu

F. Douglas Brown is our guest this episode! Los Angeles in tha house!

“Making Things Flat” is our challenge this episode! Thanks to Mathew Lippincott for the challenge!

Rob makes things flat and makes things rat!

Doug took the flatness and folded it up into an complex sphere of ideation speaking and listening.

Taylor heats it up and makes it round so he can make it flat!

We also talk about evil chaos, ekphrasis poetry, Frederick Douglass and re-dad-ing. And we have to give a shout out the Mr. Brown's 7th Period Poetry Class!

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 43: Precision

October 23rd, 2018  |  1 hr 6 mins

airpup, art, balloons, challenge, chemex, chicago, coffee, composting, creativity, dirigibles, flat, futel, hackerspace, ham radio, kites, libraries, los angeles, making, plumbing codes, pour over, pumping station one, quinn dunki, reflow, regulationpunk, regulations, rework, soldering, telcos, telephony, tindie, toilets

Mathew Lippincott is our guest this episode! Portland in tha house! “Precision” is our challenge this episode! Thanks Quinn Dunki for sending us the challenge!

Taylor puts the work and flow into rework and reflow. Mathew folds, unfolds and beholds! Rob's morning ritual goes exactly as planned. Exactly... As... Planned... We also talk about Mathew's encounters as a volunteer operator for the Futel telco network and AirPup, his latest amazing dirigible project.

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik Kantar, Walter Kitundu, Federico Tobon, Kelly Martin, Luke Noonan, Mike Tully, Adam Mayer, David Bellhorn, Tim Sway and Charlene McBride! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 42: Build a working camera and take a photo with it

October 9th, 2018  |  1 hr 12 mins

abom79, adam booth, appleii, art, boiler, brass, camera, challenge, chicago, computational photography, controller, creativity, external combustion engines, fpga, hardware, instagram, kansasfest, knot tying, lathe, lidar, los angeles, machining, making, man on wire, neato, old time steam powered machine shop, photography, pinhole, robots, roomba, software, steam engines, threadcutting, urinals, vacuum, xv11

Quinn Dunki is our guest this episode! Los Angeles in tha house! "Build a working camera and take a photo with it" is our challenge this episode! Thanks Arturo Romo for sending us the challenge!

Rob goes for broke and then goes for broke again.... and... ends up broke. Quinn brings tha heat in order to freeze a moment in our lives. Taylor risks being arrested capturing photographic psychedelia but perseverance and Metallica gets him through. We also talk about amazing wire walker and interventionist Philippe Petit.

Quinn gave us our next challenge at the end of the episode and you can hear the fear in Rob's voice.

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik, Walter, Federico, Kelly, Luke, Mike and Tim! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 41: Hate

September 26th, 2018  |  1 hr 1 min

arbys, art, challenge, chicago, cloud, creativity, film, flash art, hate, hereditary, high school, los angeles, making, meat, nazis, nest cam, pneumatic tubes, sailor jerry, skinheads, smart home, style, tattoos, wemo, wyze

No guest this episode! Just Rob and Taylor making it to Episode 41!!!

"Hate" is our challenge this episode!

We talk about gamifying meat popsicles for the big cats and Taylor gives two thumbs up to the new film Hereditary.

Taylor adopts his least favorite style and rocks it! Rob gets a smart home device. He also lets us know how dumb he was when he was in high school. This episode is one embarrassment after another for Rob.

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik, Walter, Federico, Kelly, Luke, Mike and Tim! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs

Episode 40: Oceanic

September 13th, 2018  |  55 mins 1 sec

60-40, 80-20, aluminum, art, challenge, cherry switches, chicago, cnc, creativity, design, drexciya, foucault, los angeles, lps, making, microwaves, mind mapping, motor controller, plywood, records, repairs, t-slots

No guest this episode! Just Rob and Taylor making it to Episode 40!!!
Oceanic is our challenge this episode! Thank you to previous guest Matthew Shenoda for the challenge!

Also, every 10 episodes we ask our previous guests to call in and let us know what they're up to. We're so excited by the calls! Many thanks to Andy Birkey, Charlene McBride, Cedric Tai, Kelly Marie Martin, Molly Allis, Ranjit Bhatnagar, and Tim Sway!

Rob makes a map from (and for?) the mind. And it spins at 33RPM. Taylor goes wild and knocks down so many problems! It's pretty oceanically epic.

You can check out our projects at http://projects.opposablepodcast.com

Props to Blondihacks, Nik, Walter, Federico, Kelly, Luke, Mike and Tim! They're our top Patreon supporters! Join 'em at: https://www.patreon.com/opposablethumbs