Rosenfeld Review Podcast

The Pissed-Off Optimist with George Aye

What happens when you combine righteous anger with unwavering hope? You get George Aye—and the “Angry Hour.”
In this lively episode, Lou Rosenfeld chats with George Aye, co-founder of Greater Good Studio, about his mission to create spaces for “pissed off optimists”—people who see the world’s injustices and refuse to give up on making things better. George shares the philosophy behind Angry Hour, a growing series of meetups uniting professionals from diverse fields around shared frustration and hope. He explains how these gatherings channel collective energy into meaningful connections, local nonprofit support, and even bigger plans like the upcoming Livid Conference—a national gathering for changemakers who are angry enough to care and optimistic enough to act.
If you’re searching for solidarity in uncertain times—or simply wondering how to turn anger into action—this conversation offers insight, inspiration, and a glimpse into a movement fueled by equal parts rage and resolve.
 
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
What it means to be a “pissed off optimist”
How the Angry Hour meetups create safe, energizing spaces for people feeling both outrage and hope
The kinds of people and professions drawn to this emerging community—and why it transcends industry lines
The unique structure of Angry Hour events, including icebreakers and support for local nonprofits
George’s vision for the upcoming Livid Conference: a national gathering for change-driven optimists
Practical ways to connect, volunteer, or get involved in this growing movement
Book recommendation: Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond—and why its message resonates with George’s mission
 
Quick Reference Guide:
0:13 - Meet George. He explains why Chicago is the perfect spot for his agency, which only does work for nonprofits
2:46 - The origins of “pissed off optimist”
6:02 - Angry Hours and the universality of pissed off optimists
14:17 - The sustaining factors of the Pissed-Off Optimist movement
18:05 - Five reasons to use the Rosenverse
21:06 - What to expect from an Angry Hours
23:58 - The nonprofit organizations Angry Hours partners with and where George sees things going in the future 
30:15 - How to connect and contribute
31:57 - George’s gift for listeners
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
Greater Good Studio in Chicago https://greatergoodstudio.com/ Sign up for their newsletter!
Connect with George on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgeaye/
George and Greater Good Studios on Medium https://medium.com/greater-good-studio 
Poverty by America  by Matthew Desmond https://www.amazon.com/Poverty-America-Matthew-Desmond/dp/0593239911 
 
Quotes:
“ When we say the ‘pissed off optimist,’ we always are trying to see how we can balance the  hope and sense of healing or repair or just general faith in humanity that we can still do something about this.”
“ I think we need to recognize how broken things are and not lose faith.”
“ Yes, things are nuts right now, but we need each other if we're gonna get through it.”
“Being able to make sure that we continue to have places for hope and reality together, to me, is something I believe we can sustain.”

Pivoting from Tech to Climate UX with Francois Burra

What do you do when a successful tech career leaves you feeling like an empty shell? For Francois Burra, the answer was to look inward and transform his life—and help transform an industry.
Lou Rosenfeld talks with Francois, a UX designer turned digital decarbonization consultant, about how a personal crisis led him to channel his “infinite energy” into tackling the tech industry’s overlooked climate impact. Francois shares how he co-founded Climate Product Leaders and co-authored Sustainable by Design: A Playbook for Product Managers—a free, practical guide brimming with best practices and real-world case studies for weaving sustainability into everyday product and design work.
They explore how sustainability intersects with design, product management, and hot topics like AI, highlighting how even small steps can create meaningful change. Francois also offers candid reflections on career pivots, mental health, and finding purpose-driven work that feeds both your soul and the planet.
 
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
How Francois pivoted from a successful tech career into climate action after burnout and depression—and why others might find similar purpose in sustainability work
Why the tech industry’s carbon emissions rival aviation’s—and why digital decarbonization matters
The purpose behind Sustainable by Design, and how it helps product managers, designers, and technologists embed climate considerations into daily work
The kinds of best practices and case studies featured in the playbook, including new guidance on sustainable AI practices
How awareness and interest in climate-conscious design and product practices have grown significantly over the past few years
Practical advice for navigating personal and professional change, including tapping into your “infinite energy” and finding courage to follow your gut toward meaningful work
 
Quick Reference Guide:
0:00 - Meet Francois
1:21 - Francois’ climate change journey
5:19 - On depression and finding your “inner fire”
7:56 - “Infinite energy” – how to find it and where to put it?
9:34 - Climate Product Leaders – What it is and how 
13:05 - Why you need the Rosenverse
15:19 - What you’ll find in the Playbook
18:55 - Developments that happened in the two years between the first and second versions of the book
21:21 - Case studies
23:41 - Francois’ gift for listeners
 
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
Sustainable by Design: A Playbook for Product Managers by Francois Burra. Get the free playbook at ClimateProductLeaders.org 
Green IO Podcast https://podcast.greenio.tech/ 
 
Quotes:
“I decided that my mission now would be to help my industry, the tech industry, become greener because it’s twice more emissions than the aviation industry.”
“First, take care of yourself. And second, try to understand where is your inner fire and what is this infinite energy that resides in you that you can leverage.”
“Don’t be afraid to be courageous and follow your gut.”

AI and Other Strange Design Materials with Matt Webb

Matt Webb doesn’t just talk about emerging technologies—he builds with them, lives with them, and prototypes the futures they might bring. In this episode, Lou Rosenfeld talks with Webb—designer, technologist, and featured speaker at the upcoming Designing with AI 2025 conference—about how GenAI represents a kind of temporal leap: a sudden arrival of capabilities that feel like they should've taken another decade to develop.
Matt shares how he explores "weak signals"—small, often personal experiments or observations that hint at larger shifts to come. From building an early website with GPT-3 to creating an app that tracks the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Matt explains how play, laziness, and curiosity drive his invention process. He also touches on how GenAI changes our relationship to search, learning, and even design itself—pushing us into a world where conversations with information replace traditional retrieval methods. The discussion spans adaptive design, epistemic journeys, and the potential for everyone to become a maker of tools, apps, and meaning.
 
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
What “weak signals” are and how to spot early design cues in new technology
Why GenAI feels like a 10-year leap in computing power—and how to design with that mindset
How personal curiosity projects can reveal deep insights about new tech before it goes mainstream
Why search is really an epistemic journey, and how conversational AI changes how we learn
How vibe coding and adaptive design are re-emerging as relevant frameworks in the GenAI era
What happens when anyone can build mini-apps instantly, and what that means for design, trust, and distribution
 
Quick Reference Guide:
0:21 - Meet Matt
4:13 - When AI is ubiquitous 
5:39 - How Matt got ahead of the curve
9:22 - Faster and cheaper
11:40 - Conversing vs searching
17:31 - Why you need the Rosenverse
19:50 - What you can expect from Matt at the Designing with AI Conference – exploring weak signals
25:39 - Exploring the weak signal of mini-apps
28:27 - Matt’s gift for listeners
 
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
Designing with AI 2025 - June 10-11 https://rosenfeldmedia.com/designing-with-ai/ 
Simonwillison.net  https://simonwillison.net/
The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino  https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Cosmicomics-Italo-Calvino/dp/0544577876
 
Quotes:
“ Find things that are happening with just a small number of people and go, ‘Oh, that's interesting. Let's do that in a bigger way.’”
“ All the properties are inherent here. We just need to kind of un-bottle our imaginations to see what's already in front of our faces.”
“ The epistemic journey piece trumps the accuracy piece.”

From Hype to Insight: Llewyn Paine on AI, UX, and Critical Thinking

What happens when a cognitive psychologist turned UX researcher brings a critical eye to AI? Dr. Llewyn Paine shares her unique perspective at the intersection of emerging technology and user research. With experience spanning neuromarketing, 3D television, and mixed reality, Llewyn has seen the hype cycles come and go—and learned to spot the gap between promise and practical value.
Llewyn and Lou explore the parallels between now-defunct technologies and today’s AI surge, noting how often new tools are overmarketed before their implications are truly understood. Llewyn urges researchers to engage with AI not as passive users but as experimenters: to test, retest, document, and analyze like scientists. Her recent workshop revealed how even identical prompts to the same model can yield wildly different results—an important reminder that AI is non-deterministic and context-sensitive.
Llewyn also shares a behind-the-scenes look at curating the Designing with AI 2025 conference, built around both the realities of today and the creative possibilities of tomorrow. She reminds us that critical thinking, experimentation, and thoughtful documentation are the UX research community’s superpowers in this unpredictable AI era.
 
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
Why Llewyn’s background in cognitive psychology shapes her skepticism toward overhyped tech
How past experiences with neuromarketing and 3D TV inform her approach to AI in UX
What it means to treat AI prompts and outputs as experimental variables—not deterministic tools
Why researchers should go straight to the models (not third-party tools) when exploring AI
How variability in AI output challenges assumptions about accuracy and reproducibility
What the Designing with AI 2025 conference reveals about balancing realism and creativity in tech adoption
 
Quick Reference Guide:
0:09 - Introduction of Llewyn and her journey as a UX researcher
5:25 - The limits and over-selling of neuro marketing
8:42 - A critique of AI as an analysis tool
11:55 - An experiment with AI
15:45 - A process to add consistency to working and researching with AI tools
17:21 - “Why Johnny Can’t Prompt”
19:09 - Why you should use the Rosenverse
21:24 - The upcoming Designing with AI conference
25:38 - The structure and panels of the conference
28:55 - Llewyn’s gift for listeners
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
“Why Johnny Can’t Prompt” https://dl.acm.org/doi/full/10.1145/3544548.3581388
AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference by Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691249131
Designing with AI 2025 https://rosenfeldmedia.com/designing-with-ai/ 
 
Quotes:
“ I've seen from a lot of my designer colleagues the same ambivalence where there are a lot of things that AI allows us to do really well. But it's also oversold.”
“ If you're creating a new method or running a new kind of analysis, you do it multiple times. You statistically test it. You vary your inputs and your outputs until you are consistently getting predictable results. And I think we should be doing the same thing with AI.”

We Need to Talk with Joshua Graves

Tough conversations can feel like real-life horror stories—but they don’t have to. In We Need to Talk: A Survival Guide for Tough Conversations, Joshua Graves offers a practical, psychologically grounded toolkit for navigating conflict with clarity and courage. Drawing on insights from neuroscience, psychology, and his own lived experience, Graves explains why our brains react so strongly to tension and conflict—and what we can do about it. 
Lou and Joshua discuss workplace power dynamics, emotional triggers, and avoidance patterns, showing how even a moment of pause can shift the outcome. Joshua’s advice? Slow down. Breathe. Ask questions that begin with what or how instead of why. And remember, you're allowed to step away and come back—conflict doesn't need to be resolved in the heat of the moment. 
Whether you're facing pay disputes, boundary violations, or breakdowns in trust, Joshua’s goal isn’t to script your response but to equip you with flexible, self-aware tools you can adapt to your own voice.
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
Why Joshua Graves, an artist with a love for spooky aesthetics, is an unexpected but deeply thoughtful guide to conflict.
How his personal discomfort with confrontation led to years of research in psychology, neuroscience, and communication.
Why our brains interpret digital conflict—like emails or Slack messages—as real threats, and what that means for how we respond.
What it means to treat tough conversations like design problems, working within human constraints rather than against them.
How slowing down and asking the right questions can transform emotionally charged moments into opportunities for clarity and connection.
Why one-size-fits-all advice doesn’t work—and how Graves’ approach helps you develop your own voice in conflict.
 
Quick Reference Guide:
0:12 - Meet Joshua Graves
2:45 - The background of Joshua’s book, We Need to Talk
7:30 - Helpful rabbit holes when researching and writing We Need to Talk
10:00 - Advice for tough conversations
16:23 - Why you should use the Rosenverse
18:38 - What to do when someone is out of control
22:07 - “Conversations” to have with yourself
25:20 - Joshua’s gift for the audience
 
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
We Need to Talk: A Survival Guide for Tough Conversations by Joshua Graves
Lost Horse Labs https://www.losthorse.design 
Rock band - Lord Huron https://www.lordhuron.com/#/ 
 
Quotes:
“I have this deep curiosity about the patterns that we find ourselves in, why we think the way we do, how we perceive things the way that we do.” 
“Understanding constraints helps you figure out what is outside your control or influence.” 
“Asking questions that start with ‘what’ and ‘how’ are immensely more helpful than asking ‘Why did you do that?’”
“At nearly no point are you obligated to stay in a hard, hot conversation. You can withdraw for a minute.”

Stop Wasting Research with Jake Burghardt

Most organizations don't suffer from a lack of research—they suffer from a failure to use it well. Jake Burghardt, author of Stop Wasting Research, joins Lou to explore why so many valuable insights are lost after the study ends—and what we can do about it. Burghardt argues that building a research repository is only the first step; real impact comes from treating research like a renewable resource that feeds decisions over time.
Drawing on his work with the ResearchOps community, Burghardt outlines three root causes of research waste: poor preparation, lack of motivation to use insights, and weak integration into decision-making processes. He introduces practical frameworks, like the concept of an “Insight Summary Hub,” that help organizations surface, prioritize, and apply past research effectively. Whether you're at a startup or a large enterprise, Burghardt emphasizes that moving from isolated studies to collective knowledge-sharing is critical to building true research wealth—and creating a culture where insights drive action.
 
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
Why conducting great studies isn’t enough to ensure research impact.
The three root causes of research waste—and how to address them.
How to prepare research for long-term relevance, not just short-term use.
Why building an Insight Summary Hub creates more value than a simple report repository.
How researchers can shift from isolated study outputs to integrated knowledge ecosystems.
Why startups and large enterprises alike need to treat research as a living system, not a one-time event.
 
Quick Reference Guide:
0:27 - Meet Jake Burghardt
1:16 - The motivation behind writing Stop Wasting Research
6:26 - Who is Jake’s book for?
10:01 - The root causes of research waste
15:01 - Why you should be using the Rosenverse
17:17 - A story from Lou about working with PayPal
20:31 - You’ve got research — now what? 
25:02 - Insight summary hub
27:19 - Dealing with the unknown unknowns
32:29 - Jake’s gift to listeners
 
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
Stop Wasting Research: Maximize the Product Impact of Your Organization’s Customer Insights by Jake Burghardt https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/stop-wasting-research/ 
“Common Sense AI Integration” by Alexander Knoll https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ai-integration-condens/ 
 
Quotes:
“This is not just problems but opportunities for growth.” 
“Research is too often seen as an optional input rather than a driver.”
“There is no one tool to rule them all.” 
“Owner is the most important metadata.” 

Traction Heroes with Harry Max & Jorge Arango

What happens when two brilliant minds from the world of information architecture team up to create a podcast that’s part leadership playbook, part intellectual high-wire act? That’s exactly what Harry Max and Jorge Arango set out to explore with their new podcast, Traction Heroes. Lou Rosenfeld chats with two and learns how they envision their project and how their podcast differs from traditional interview formats.
Instead of scripted discussions, Traction Heroes features Harry and Jorge reading thought-provoking passages from books to each other—without prior preparation—sparking impromptu, insightful conversations. The goal? To decode complex ideas and turn them into actionable advice for leaders and decision-makers. The pair leverage their complementary strengths: Harry’s applied, results-driven approach, and Jorge’s deep, theoretical mindset. Together, they aim to help listeners gain traction in their careers and lives, all while keeping the dialogue engaging and accessible.
Launching in January 2025, the podcast avoids technical or siloed jargon, and focuses on practical tools for structuring decisions and creating meaningful outcomes. Available on major platforms and at TractionHeroes.com, the show promises a fresh take on leadership and decision-making. 
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
The story behind Jorge and Harry’s collaboration and how Traction Heroes came to life
How their unique podcast format fosters unscripted, thought-provoking conversations
Why they’ve chosen to avoid technical or industry-specific jargon to reach a broader audience
What inspired their focus on leadership, decision-making, and practical insights
How they plan to make complex ideas accessible and actionable for listeners
 
Quick Reference Guide:
0:00 - Meet Jorge and Harry
2:35 - Introducing Jorge and Harry’s podcast
6:20 - How this podcast will be different
11:03 - The broadness of information architecture
15:25 - 5 reasons to use the Rosenverse
18:18 - The format of the podcast
26:46 - Traction Heroes
28:38 - Gifts for listeners
  
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
Duly Noted by Jorge Arango https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/duly-noted-extend-your-mind-through-connected-notes/?srsltid=AfmBOoqTYFFeCJk4mM_q1cRyAaSR0L8QYwRZL8ATzPzzBBqrdy8b8Kzk
Living in Information by Jorge Arango https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/living-in-information/
Managing Priorities by Harry Max https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/managing-priorities/
Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud https://www.drcloud.com/books/necessary-endings 
The 12-Month Immersion Course in Humanities by The Honest Broker, Ted Gioia https://www.honest-broker.com/p/a-12-month-immersive-course-in-humanities 
TractionHeroes.com 
 
Quotes:
“ I'm trying to live in that space of being very much alive as an artist. And yet I'm a professional and I'm trying to push that forward as well.”
“ How you categorize things has a tremendous impact on how you understand the world. If you think about that as kind of like the baseline, then the implications for strategic decision making are clear.”
“ For any number of years at a number of different companies, my title was "special staff" because they didn't know what to call me. I didn't know what to call me.”
“ I think we'll probably be talking about information architecture a lot. I suspect we'll never mention that term.”

Research as Knowledge Curation with Robin Beers

Why do so many organizations struggle to learn and evolve? Robin Beers, an organizational psychologist and founder of Ubuntu Culture Company, argues that businesses have been stuck in a transactional mindset—hoarding knowledge rather than embracing it as a dynamic, social process. In this conversation, she explains why researchers must shift from simply delivering insights to becoming knowledge curators, helping organizations not just understand their customers, but also reflect on their own strategies and structures.
Robin explores how organizations often present themselves based on internal hierarchies—rather than how customers actually engage with them—and how researchers can help bridge this gap. She also discusses the critical need for sense-making, the skills researchers should develop to navigate complex systems, and why UX research must expand beyond just improving digital products.
As a speaker at Advancing Research 2025, Robin will offer practical strategies for researchers to drive real change within their organizations.
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
How a transactional mindset and rigid knowledge management systems prevent companies from evolving and making smarter decisions
Why researchers must move beyond producing reports and instead act as catalysts for organizational learning and reflection
Why many companies structure their communication and services based on internal silos rather than customer needs—and how researchers can help fix this disconnect
Why the most critical challenges in delivering great experiences aren’t just about interfaces or technology, but about strategy, culture, and alignment within the organization
The key competencies researchers need, including critical thinking, sense-making, and the ability to navigate complex organizational systems
Practical advice on positioning yourself as a strategic consultant, influencing decision-making, and ensuring research findings lead to meaningful action
 
Quick Reference Guide:
0:00 - Meet Robin
2:35 - Researchers are knowledge curators, and knowledge is social. 
6:01 - The problem of organizations being transactional with knowledge
9:35 - Research should prompt reflection, and what it looks like when it doesn’t
14:55 - Designing with AI 2025 - June 10 & 11
17:13 - What it means to be a curator of a multi-siloed environment and how researchers need to adapt
26:35 - On research repositories
31:36 - Robin’s gift for listeners
 
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
Advancing Research 2025 – March 11-33 https://rosenfeldmedia.com/advancing-research/2025/ 
Ubuntu Culture Companyhttps://www.ubuntuculturecompany.com/ 
Who Do We Choose to Be?: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity by Margaret Wheatley https://www.amazon.com/Who-Choose-Second-Leadership-Restoring/dp/1523004738 
 
Quotes:
“ Researchers are going to need to take on a different role, a more powerful, holistic role as knowledge curators.”
“Knowledge becomes wisdom and learning through reflection.”
“You don’t own this research. The company owns the research.”
“ For years we've been trying to win in business by breaking things into smaller and smaller parts so that we can control them and manage complexity, but more and more the problems that we are faced with are so complex that we need to put the pieces back together and see holes.”