Happy summer everyone! This marks the final episode of Talk Paper Scissors before I head on my summer/social media sabbatical until September. Today’s episode contains a compilation of voices from DesignThinkers Vancouver from May 2026. The theme of this year’s DesignThinkers conferences is ‘Out of Office’ and I asked conference attendees their favourite out off office reset, as well as their favourite places to disappear when they’re out of office. Voices featured in today’s

Today I have for you an extra special, extra ordinary, out of this world conversation (literally) about Moon Joy and the digital strategy that surrounds it. Our guest today is Thalia Patrinos, who seeks to make science accessible for everyone through storytelling. Thalia has worked for NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, as a contractor since 2018. Today, she is the Artemis Digital Lead within the Office of Communications. She leads and strategizes all digital communication

Welcome, dear friends, to the library. Each episode finds me loitering in a library with a special guest in a location of their choosing. We comb the stacks and have a chat about passions, practices, and possibilities, letting the story unfold as it will. You’re encouraged to read between the lines because it’s going to be a real page turner… Welcome to The Library Loiterers. --- Our story begins in the early days of the 21st century. I, Diana Varma, was a young teen and em

From the middle ages to the Middle East, From Futura to Freight, join us on a journey across the type universe and go where no designer has gone before...Welcome to An Incomplete History of Type . Name: Calibri Release Date: 2007 Designer: Lucas de Groot Classification: Sans Serif Owned By: Microsoft Corporation Claim to Fame: Calibri made history by dethroning Times New Roman as the default font of the MS Office Suite. Microsoft’s favourite typographic child is taking the

"This is the conclusion of a successful semester, where concept, creation, and distribution plans came together. Professor Diana welcomes the class for a final reflection and listening party, handing hosting duties over to Shana and Alex. This episode is a celebration of the creative energy poured into the course, covering everything from the development of a central concept to planning final distribution strategies. The discussion explores the powerful concept of "class citi

“If you want to grow your podcast, you need to stop thinking like a social media star and start thinking like a librarian. This week, we are honoured to have Jordan Blair, Podcast Producer for Buzzsprout and host of the Buzzcast, joining us to talk about the core mechanics of making your show grow. Jordan brings us inside the world of podcast distribution, breaking down why platforms are search engines, not recommendation feeds. You will learn the single most useful metric fo

Quick Summary - Show Notes Nick Thorburn (the musician behind The Unicorns and Islands ) talks with host Shana about creating one of the most recognizable pieces of podcast music ever: the theme song for Serial. The whole thing happened almost by accident. A friend made a connection, and Nick treated it like any other freelance gig. He listened to the pilot episode, got inspired by the dark, true-crime vibe, and cranked out a library of music in one weekend. He had zero clue

“ Welcome to Ctrl+Alt+Narrate , the show that explores the diverse journeys behind digital media creation. But what happens when the creators become the story? In this episode, host Alex flips the camera around to interview the brilliant team that brings the show to life: Sneesha, Alisha, and Victoria. Together, they dive deep into the production process of " Ctrl+Alt+Narrate ," covering everything from managing a massive post-production backlog to the learning curve of hosti

Hello Everybody! The next 6 weeks of this podcast, we’re doing something a little different. I can’t wait for you to hear what’s to come. In the Fall 2025 semester, I had the great fortune of teaching my first for-credit course in podcasting. Since I started Talk Paper Scissors in 2019, I’ve informally helped and consulted on a number of projects in the space, but I had never (until now!) planned a full curriculum, thinking through what I would’ve loved to know when I was fi

Failure has a lot to teach us. We can learn far more from a failed experience – whether large or small, big F “Fail” or little f “fail” – than a perfectly smooth, frictionless experience will ever make possible. I stumbled upon a post on social media recently (by someone named @brightwanderer) about their perspective on “success” and “failure”. It was a breath of fresh, “muddy middle” air in a sea of right and wrong. Here's what they said: “I think a lot about how we as a cul

“Collective effervescence is the feeling of energy and harmony when people are engaged in a shared purpose. It is a joie de vivre that...