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S7 E24: Happy Thanksgiving, America! And happy eating everyone everywhere! In this special edition, we’re speaking about food, and specifically, fine dining. Our guests are both formally trained top chefs and acclaimed restaurateurs who have each had restaurants in New York City recognized with a Michelin star, as well as James Beard Award wins and nominations. Together, we explore fine dining as it has been, as it is, and as it’s becoming. From quality of ingredients to innovation in the kitchen, ambiance of the space to special attention to service – we hear how fine dining is moving beyond white tablecloths and fussiness, while remaining an immersive experience transports diners into a special occasion. Bon appétit! ABOUT THE SERIES: FUTURE OF XYZ is an award-winning interview series that explores big questions about where we are as a world and where we’re going. Presented by iF Design- host of the prestigious iF DESIGN AWARD- FUTURE OF XYZ is also a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. New episodes every other Thursday. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Follow @futureofxyz and @ifdesign on Instagram, listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts, watch on YouTube, or visit ifdesign.com/XYZ for show links and more.

S7 E25: For our final new episode of 2025, we’re speaking with Dr. Delfina Fantini van Ditmar - a Senior Researcher at the Royal College of Art where she co-directs the Becoming Regenerative Lab and a Professor in Research at CARADT in the Netherlands where she also Chairs the Regenerative Art & Design group. With an academic background merging biology with design, her practice seeks to empower the next generation of designers to address the social, ecological, and cultural transitions of our time. In this episode, Delfina walks us through what regenerative design is, how it differs from sustainability or circularity, and why she believes healing past damage and creating resilient, equitable systems that support both human and environmental wellbeing is humanity's best path forward across design disciplines, commercial industries, and economic and political systems. An inspiring conversation for closing out one year and heading into the next! ABOUT THE SERIES: FUTURE OF XYZ is an award-winning interview series that explores big questions about where we are as a world and where we’re going. Presented by iF Design- host of the prestigious iF DESIGN AWARD- FUTURE OF XYZ is also a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. New episodes every other Thursday. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Follow @futureofxyz and @ifdesign on Instagram, listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts, watch on YouTube, or visit ifdesign.com/XYZ for show links and more.

S7 E19 Rerelease (150th episode overall): Acclaimed industrial designer and recent author, Nick Foster RDI, joins XYZ for our 150th episode of the series! In this special episode, we celebrate not only 150 episodes of future exploration, but also Nick’s recently released book ‘COULD SHOULD MIGHT DON’T: HOW WE THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE’ by MacMillan. And we’re going meta here to talk about the ‘Future of Thinking About the Future’. As musician, filmmaker, and cultural curator, Questlove writes in a testimonial “the book helps provide a meaningful framework for considering the big questions of “Where are we going? Who will we be when we get there?”.” As a Futures Designer who spent an esteemed career at globally renowned tech companies like Apple, Nokia, Sony, Dyson, and most recently as Head of Design at Google X - this conversation is spot on in terms of timing, content, and curiosity for the moment we currently face. Tune in to learn how we can better think about the future in terms of business, culture, technology, mental health, the planet and more. Happy 150th episode XYZ! ABOUT THE SERIES: FUTURE OF XYZ is an award-winning interview series that explores big questions about where we are as a world and where we’re going. Presented by iF Design- host of the prestigious iF DESIGN AWARD- FUTURE OF XYZ is also a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. New episodes every other Thursday. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Follow @futureofxyz and @ifdesign on Instagram, listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts, watch on YouTube, or visit ifdesign.com/XYZ for show links and more.

S8 E1: To kick off the new year, we are opening Season 8 with a conversation about a favorite holiday entertainment and pastime, ‘moviegoing’. Our guest is Jed Harmsen, VP & General Manager of Cinema & Group Entertainment at Dolby Laboratories, famous for revolutionizing audio with noise reduction and compression to significantly reduce high background noise and now the world leader in spatial audio and high dynamic range imaging for movies, streaming, music, gaming, PCs, mobile, licensing, and more. Quoting famed film director George Lucas, Jed says “Sound is more than half the picture”. Tune in today to learn more about moviegoing in 2026 and beyond! ABOUT THE SERIES: FUTURE OF XYZ is an award-winning interview series that explores big questions about where we are as a world and where we’re going. Presented by iF Design- host of the prestigious iF DESIGN AWARD- FUTURE OF XYZ is also a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. New episodes every other Thursday. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Follow @futureofxyz and @ifdesign on Instagram, listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts, watch on YouTube, or visit ifdesign.com/XYZ for show links and more.

S8 E2: At the start of the year, what else is there for us to do than imagine all the bright wonderful possibilities ahead? And color helps guide us into sense and feeling. Our guest this week is Laura Guido-Clark, an expert in color, materials, and finishes whose career has touched interiors, education, public works, automotive, electronics, and household appliances. Science says the spectrum of light offers infinite color variations, though estimates the human eye can distinguish between 7-10 million different colors – hear in this week’s episode about how color works and its outsized impact on our lives from nature and design, to pure aesthetics, wellness, and beyond. ABOUT THE SERIES: FUTURE OF XYZ is an award-winning interview series that explores big questions about where we are as a world and where we’re going. Presented by iF Design- host of the prestigious iF DESIGN AWARD- FUTURE OF XYZ is also a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. New episodes every other Thursday. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Follow @futureofxyz and @ifdesign on Instagram, listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts, watch on YouTube, or visit ifdesign.com/XYZ for show links and more.

S8 E3: Of all the spaces in the world that people flock to, admire, and emulate in recent decades – few are as iconic as NYC’s The High Line- the old, elevated railroad tracks on Manhattan’s West Side, turned native garden and cultural space. In this episode, we speak with the project’s co-Founder, Robert Hammond, about 'Third Places'- what they are, why they matter, and how they’re evolving. From their sometimes-grandiose role in urban renewal (such as the High Line) to their essential everyday purpose as a space for connection – third places include parks, libraries, cafes, bars, gyms, and other community gathering spots. Tune in to learn more. You’ll also hear about Robert’s newest vision – bringing public bathhouses to the US after their millennia of importance as third places in Europe, Asia, and throughout human history. ABOUT THE SERIES: FUTURE OF XYZ is an award-winning interview series that explores big questions about where we are as a world and where we’re going. Presented by iF Design- host of the prestigious iF DESIGN AWARD- FUTURE OF XYZ is also a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. New episodes every other Thursday. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Follow @futureofxyz and @ifdesign on Instagram, listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts, watch on YouTube, or visit ifdesign.com/XYZ for show links and more.

S8 E4: “It’s about the orchestration of human judgment and machine capability towards a shared outcome.” This week’s episode is about (Hu)man-Machine Collaboration, and our guest is Matt McElvogue, the Vice President of Design at Teague - a century-old Seattle-based design firm renowned for solving complex challenges at the forefront of technology. Whether we’re looking to space or deep into the internet, the fact is that when people and automated technology work together, leveraging each other's strengths to achieve goals better and faster – the collaboration enhances efficiency and innovation. This is a fascinating conversation with a design leader at the forefront of what’s next in the universe literally, not only of design! ABOUT THE SERIES: FUTURE OF XYZ is an award-winning interview series that explores big questions about where we are as a world and where we’re going. Presented by iF Design- host of the prestigious iF DESIGN AWARD- FUTURE OF XYZ is also a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. New episodes every other Thursday. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Follow @futureofxyz and @ifdesign on Instagram, listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts, watch on YouTube, or visit ifdesign.com/XYZ for show links and more.

S8 E5: Humans have been covering our feet with shoes to protect from injury and disease for over 5000 years. Sportsmen have been harnessing shoe innovation to maximize performance since the 1800s. The global footwear industry today produces millions of SKUs every year tailored to the unique demands of every imaginable sport, demographic, and style preference. Once a highly valued handcraft, technology has increasingly taken over. And yet, nearly 12% of the world’s population remain “unshod”. This week’s guest is Charles Johnson who has spent nearly four decades in the footwear business- developing products for Puma, Converse, adidas, and others. He is now an academic at Carnegie Mellon University and social entrepreneur working to deliver change at scale. ABOUT THE SERIES: FUTURE OF XYZ is an award-winning interview series that explores big questions about where we are as a world and where we’re going. Presented by iF Design- host of the prestigious iF DESIGN AWARD- FUTURE OF XYZ is also a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. New episodes every other Thursday. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Follow @futureofxyz and @ifdesign on Instagram, listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts, watch on YouTube, or visit ifdesign.com/XYZ for show links and more.

S8 E6: “Embodied presence.” “Intelligent gestures.” “Vulnerability is the real humanity inside us.” This week, we host Artist & Experience Designer, Annabelle Schneider, for a seemingly esoteric, abstract conversation about ‘What’s Real’. However, Annabelle quickly shows the topic to be anything other than nebulous. Based on her long-time interiors practice and now multiple award-winning installations that have traveled the globe – we learn how ‘what’s real’ is ultimately fully grounded in the physical, emotional, and spiritual experience all human beings share. In the face of accelerating digitalization and collective overstimulation, Annabelle says: “Discernment- the ability to feel what is authentic, to slow down enough to notice, and to consciously choose depth over distraction- becomes essential!” ABOUT THE SERIES: FUTURE OF XYZ is an award-winning interview series that explores big questions about where we are as a world and where we’re going. Presented by iF Design- host of the prestigious iF DESIGN AWARD- FUTURE OF XYZ is also a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. New episodes every other Thursday. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Follow @futureofxyz and @ifdesign on Instagram, listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts, watch on YouTube, or visit ifdesign.com/XYZ for show links and more.

S8 E7: Within the industrial design community, our guest is known as an innovative, global leader who has created hundreds of products and services for major brands, launched over 100 early-stage ventures including Uber and TELO Trucks, received over 300 awards, was named one of TIME Magazine’s Top 25 Visionaries and recognized by Forbes as the “Most Influential Industrial Designer in the World”, and has works included in the permanent collections of museums worldwide incl. MOMA and SFMOMA. The Founder and CEO of Fuseproject- a design and innovation studio based in San Francisco and Lisbon since 1999- Yves Behar has turned his attention to our homes in recent years, most notably the ways in which user friendly ecosystems are created and how “intelligent home” products can “hide in plain sight”. Tune in to learn way more than IoT jargon. Not to miss. ABOUT THE SERIES: FUTURE OF XYZ is an award-winning interview series that explores big questions about where we are as a world and where we’re going. Presented by iF Design- host of the prestigious iF DESIGN AWARD- FUTURE OF XYZ is also a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. New episodes every other Thursday. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Follow @futureofxyz and @ifdesign on Instagram, listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts, watch on YouTube, or visit ifdesign.com/XYZ for show links and more.