Opposable Thumbs

We tackle a new creative challenge every two weeks and talk about our accomplishments, failures and lessons learned.

About the show

We (Taylor Hokanson and Rob Ray) assign ourselves (and a guest) a new creative challenge every two weeks. We then talk about our discoveries, problems, solutions, failures and successes and.... try to steer clear of catastrophic shop accidents.

Opposable Thumbs on social media

Episodes

  • Episode 71: Retrograde

    January 11th, 2020  |  53 mins 36 secs
    art, challenge, chicago, creativity, dungeons and dragons, homeless, houseless, industrial culuture handbook, las vegas, los angeles, making, manga, obamaphone, over the garden wall, performance, spk, srl

    Ross Takehashi is our guest! Las Vegas in tha house! Ross is an an sculpture artist and art educator working in cast metals.

    We talk about underappreciated art communities, houseless art makers, casting worms in bronze, animal preservation, taxidermy, cicada shell gundam models and lost sketchbooks.

    Taylor pounds the pixels. Ross presses the FISH button. Rob rolls for damage to the

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

    Props to Wesley Ellis, 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 70: Happy New Year 2020!

    January 2nd, 2020  |  18 mins 36 secs
    art, baby yoda, challenge, chicago, creativity, dawn song, fusion 360, javascript, linkedin learning, los angeles, making, star wars, white fragility

    Happy New Year 2020!!!!

    Thanks to all of our listeners and guests! No challenge this episode. Just a short thank you!

    You say Nevada, I say NevAHda. Taylor is tuning up his Fusion 360 LinkedIn Learning Class. We also talk about Dungeons & Dragons, white fragility, and pacing ourselves--even when trying to learn a new thing.

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

    Props to Wesley Ellis, 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 69: Breathing

    December 20th, 2019  |  57 mins 42 secs
    3d printing, angela sheehan, art, breathing, casting, challenge, chicago, creativity, drumming, expanded notation, franconia sculpture park, iron pouring, kay dartt, los angeles, making, music notation, retrograde, snork, snorks, tesla one way valve, whistle, wood

    Kay Dartt is our guest this episode! West Virginia in tha house! Kay is a 3D fabrication badass so we're really excited to hear more about her work and see what she's created!

    Rob puts the idle in paradiddle. Kay makes our weird bodies even weirder. Taylor toots his own horn.

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

    Props to Wesley Ellis, 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 68: Future Nostalgia

    December 7th, 2019  |  58 mins 47 secs
    adobe spark, art, canned content, challenge, chicago, creativity, drill, interpretation, jen hofer, los angeles, making, motor driver, mystery, mystery guest, photography, poetry, sewing machines, translation

    Jen Hofer is our guest this episode! Los Angeles in the house!

    Taylor fondly reflects on future millennial-turned-boomer maladies. Remember back when our insect protein crumbs would get stuck in the keys of our keyboards?
    Jen asks Taylor and Rob to make connections and draw conclusions.
    Rob stitches 1846 to 2019.

    Thanks to David Picciuto for the Future Nostalgia challenge!

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

    Props to Wesley Ellis, 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 67: Gridlock

    November 19th, 2019  |  1 hr 3 mins
    art, bats, batteries, caves, challenge, checkers, chicago, creativity, exotic woods, jokamm, local business, los angeles, making, omer, radio, rf, sand, stand in the place where you live, utah, woodworking

    David Picciuto is our guest! Toledo, Ohio in tha house! Gridlock is our challenge! Thanks to Liz from Blitz City DIY for tha challenge! We talk about about local businesses, making something through making mistakes, and "Art" (We sipped wine and held our pinky fingers in the air during this part of the discussion.). We got David's rule #6! We also sand in the place where we live.

    Rob takes a trip down guano lane. Yikes. That sounds horrible. David's finishing moves are both infinite and... non-existant. Dude... Taylor puts the Living in living hinge.

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

    Props to Wesley Ellis, 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 66: Marathon

    November 7th, 2019  |  49 mins 6 secs
    array, art, backups, challenge, chicago, creativity, fail2ban, files, fip, htpc, los angeles, mdfind, media center, nas, qnap, raid, raspberry pi, rsync, shucking, spotlight, storage, tarpitting, vpn

    Rob and Taylor tackle the Marathon challenge! They dig into the complexities of data storage and archiving. We creative people who document our work in photos, videos, and text. It's a huge pile of digital stuff! We decided to converse three separate times as we tackled the worlds of atx, microatx, minitx, drive shucking, mdfind, RAID, NAS, DAS, VPN, and file recovery! Taylor got called a FIP.

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

    Props to Wesley Ellis, 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 65: Soil

    October 24th, 2019  |  59 mins 47 secs
    adobe illustrator, art, challenge, chicago, creativity, design, distortion, electronics, emoji. fly, los angeles, making, poop, sugar, turntablism

    Antonio Garcia is our guest! Chicago in tha house! Soil is our challenge! Thanks to Bamanya Brian for tha challenge!

    Taylor puts his Panteras on one NPN transistor at a time. Antonio pays tribute to 16-bit fart jokes most American's didn't get to enjoy in 1987. Rob has his patience tested by a very chill fly.

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

    Props to Wesley Ellis, 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 64: Vulnerability

    October 7th, 2019  |  53 mins 9 secs
    ants, art, challenge, chicago, creativity, electronic music, electronics, javascript, kampala, learning to code, los angeles, making, modular synthesizers, syllabus, techno, uganda

    Bamanya Brian is our guest! Kampala, Uganda in tha house! Vulnerability is our challenge! Thanks to Antonio Martinez for tha challenge!

    Taylor takes us on a chemically induced dive into surrealisms!
    Brian hacks the system with light and radio!
    Rob tackles function = toSyllabus(hangup, weeks, feedback) { //lots of work. }

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

    Props to Wesley Ellis, 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 63: Scale

    September 26th, 2019  |  53 mins 23 secs
    3d scanning, art, baking, being wrong, bonneville salt flats, cast iron, casting, challenge, chicago, creativity, los angeles, making, nutraloaf, outdated, photography, scale, seasoning, tintype, trains, wet plate collodion

    Antonio Martinez is our guest! Carbondale, IL in tha house! Scale is our challenge! Thanks to Deborah Maris Lader for tha challenge!

    Rob shows some lurve to tha curve. Antonio shows how to train your basement. Taylor may have formed a new industrial band.

    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 62: Capital

    September 12th, 2019  |  1 hr 2 mins
    art, casting, challenge, chicago, coins, collaboration, copper, creativity, electronics, group work, head, little free library, los angeles, making, money, printmaking, rhino, temporary services

    Deborah Lader, artist and founder/director of the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative is our guest this episode! Chicago in tha house!

    Capital is our challenge!
    Deborah, Taylor and Rob dive into the joys of music playing and project longevity. Chicago Printmakers just turned 30! We also talk about working in groups (Shout out to the art-making and publishing group Temporary Services) and the creative power of collectivity.

    Taylor adds value. Deborah dreams with the fishes. Rob might have the cable you're looking for.

    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 61: Summer Road Trip!

    August 5th, 2019  |  10 mins 52 secs
    art, challenge, chicago, creativity, duck duck go, los angeles, making, road trips, summer, warping, wood

    Summer Roadtrip! No guests or challenges this summer but we're well prepared for Back to School this fall! Taylor is headed to the Franconia Sculpture Park iron pouring residency in Minnesota. Rob is breaking his brain while building a vanity. We talk about Duck Duck Go, wood warpage and things going sideways.

    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 60: Five Questions

    June 28th, 2019  |  48 mins 1 sec
    art, baking, challenge, chicago, cooking, creativity, eating, gamedev, history, ideation, iron pouring, isometric, learning, los angeles, making, mapeditor, minecraft, new things, practice, questions, sade, sweden, technology, themes, tiled

    Taylor and Rob ask each other five questions.

    And they talk about the end, and maybe return of, artisanal desktop software. Finding and having your community really helps.

    Also a shout out to Vance Maker, Tim Sway and the Reclaimed Audio podcast.

    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 59: Liberation

    June 7th, 2019  |  57 mins 46 secs
    adobe illustrator, art, challenge, chicago, chicago river, creativity, design, fair use, fashion, femdom, hannah arendt, los angeles, magnet fishing, making, maps, new models podcast, photography, sumptuary code, the great british baking show, workers cooperatives, zozo

    Liberation is our challenge this episode! Thanks to Erin O'Brien for the challenge! Abigail Glaum-Lathbury is our guest this episode! Chicago in tha house! For nearly a decade Abigail produced a women’s ready to wear collection that showed during New York Market week and sold national ly and internationally. Her recent work takes the form of a counter-practice within the emergent field of critical fashion.

    We learn about Abigail's educational platform and free online pattern library called Genuine Unauthorized Clothing Clone Institute, (Project G.U.C.C.I.). Abigail also shares many great aspects of digital printing on cloth.

    Rob puts liberation on the map or... maybe... the map on liberation?Abigail decouples us from failed business models. Taylor conjures the energies of chance and the rare-earths.

    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 58: Hashtag

    May 24th, 2019  |  44 mins 38 secs
    art, challenge, chicago, creativity, dance, dance movement therapy, federico tobon, hashtags, instagram, kickstarter, libra pondo, los angeles, making, rabbit holes, robocop, scifi, tantric sex, the great british baking show, unnamed reverse engineering podcast

    Hashtag is our challenge this episode! Thanks to Federico Tobon for the challenge! We have no guest this episode. Just Taylor and Rob #putting #pound #signs #in #front #of #everything.

    Taylor digs into dance movement therapy! Pretty cool stuff! Good job body!

    Taylor pulls together the topics of USAmerican football to telephones to twitter in a way that no hashtag can.
    Rob applies "social media strategy" to what he makes and it felt pretty meh. But #colorfulfashion IS pretty cool.

    Instagram is weird. Jorge, Deb Chachra, Molly Allis and Erin O'Brien are awesome.

    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 57: Balancing Act

    May 10th, 2019  |  58 mins 30 secs
    art, bench dogs, challenge, chicago, chopsaws, creativity, diegetic, dinosaurs, epoxy, figma, github, glue scrapers, glue up, john malecki, kevin kelly, knifemaking, kt boundary, lid, los angeles, making, pot, self publishing, star citizen, vaporware, weed, woodshop, workbenches

    Balancing Act is our challenge this episode! Thanks to Emily Kuehn for the challenge! We have no guest this episode. Just Taylor and Rob left alone with the cavernous echoes of their own thoughts.

    Rob talks about getting duped by an Instagram ad. Maybe. Or maybe he just duped himself. They also talk about the very vaporware-y Star Citizen game and the pitfalls of crowdfunded things. Rob is pretty into the word "diegetic."We also talk about listmaking, productivity, the ever-fascinating KT boundary and the poetry of iPhone file name sequences. Also chop saws, bench dogs and glue scrapers, Figma and GitHub. We also remind ourselves to not dig into our opinions too deeply. Things change.

    Rob get's right to the point. The guilt was too much to bear. Taylor was on the skids but ended up putting the glow up in his glue up!

    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 56: Anonymous

    April 26th, 2019  |  55 mins 15 secs
    art, cable television, challenge, chicago, creativity, data, drum machines, facebook, ken nordine, kids, los angeles, making, mark zuckerberg, parenting, star trek, swing, time, unity3d, violin

    Emily Kuehn is our guest this episode! Chicago in tha house!

    We talk about The Black Egg and kid feelings. Taylor's Sledgehammer Keyboard brought Taylor, Emily and Rob all together before so this feels a bit like a reunion... without all that face pain stuff. We also talk about time management for art-making. It pretty much sucks.

    Taylor has a Ken Nordine moment and "puts the mask on now." Emily makes an awesomely weird app. Rob puts a lot of work into ping pong balls.

    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