The Mortise & Tenon Podcast

Joshua and Mike explore why maintenance is not just a chore but a valuable practice that fosters participation in life. They discuss the art of adjusting doors and seasonal upkeep, emphasizing the benefits of restoration over replacement. The conversation dives into how learning basic repairs enriches knowledge and independence, while contrasting traditional repairable materials with disposable options. By advocating for broad competence, they highlight how hands-on engagement leads to a deeper appreciation for the world around us.

Discover the new Mechanical Arts Program aimed at integrating academic study with hands-on craftsmanship. Explore the influence of 12th-century theologian Hugh of Saint Victor and how his ideas shape modern education. Hear about practical experiences from a hands-on course, including teaching joinery and understanding material sourcing through woods walks. The hosts share insights on the importance of combining intellectual and manual work, drawing on modern thinkers like Matthew Crawford. Uncover the community spirit and inspirations from participants as they connect through craft.

This episode was recorded on the road back in September, and in it Joshua, Mike, and Eden explain the various ways they’ve sourced lumber in rural Maine. As a from-the-hip recording, this conversation traverses quite a varied terrain – from the house project status to purchasing lumber in unconventional ways to the damage solar farms have done to the state of Maine. Buckle up – this one’s taking you places you never thought you’d go.

In this episode, Joshua and Mike reflect on their time at Handworks, quite possibly the single most significant hand-tool woodworking event in the world. Part travelogue, part update, part rumination, this episode traverses a range of topics. If you weren’t there, you really missed out.

Our metaphors matter. When we are in the throes of a busy schedule, our culture encourages us to “crank it out” in order that we might emulate the hard worker who remains steadfast “like a machine”. We are encouraged to “recharge” with enough sleep and “fuel up” with caloric intake only so that we can be all the more efficient the next day. The problem with this metaphor is obvious: We are, in fact, not machines. Embodied creaturely life is organic, not mechanical. In this episode, Joshua and Mike remind us that our work should be aiming for “fruitfulness”, not efficiency, because all good work has latent within it the seeds of further fruit.

In this final episode of their tour through David Pye’s The Nature and Art of Workmanship, Joshua and Mike bring up several of their critiques of Pye’s thought. As helpful and insightful as he was, the guys both are left feeling like something was missing. See how this book comes up short of a full-orbed, holistic discussion of workmanship and it’s enduring value in a technological age.

Joshua and Mike have finally arrived at the final chapter of David Pye’s The Nature and Art of Workmanship, and it has been quite a ride. What did Pye see as the future of craftsmanship from his vantage point in 1968? Was he right? Is his assessment still valid in 2023? Listen in to this final installment to find out.

“Handmade” does not mean “shoddy.” This latest episode of the David Pye mini-series tackles chapter 10 of The Nature and Art of Workmanship in which Pye takes John Ruskin to task for his sloppy reasoning about workmanship. Pye’s motivation in writing his book was to critique the “illegitimate extensions” of Ruskin’s ideas about art and pleasure in work. He believed that a more precise analysis would clear up this muddy thinking so that the crafts could be recovered and dignified once again.

OK… that’s an ambiguous title. But, be assured that the guys recorded this episode to make it all come clear. In this next installment, Joshua and Mike expound Chapter 9 of David Pye’s The Nature and Art of Workmanship. This chapter is the culmination of his argument about why surface qualities are so important. Get ready to dive into the weeds – no aspect of craftwork is too small to consider carefully.

Another installment of the “Nature and Art of Workmanship” podcast series. Chapter eight deals with the subject of “durability.” Does precision mean durability in all circumstances? Who’s “to blame” when a product fails: the designer or the craftsman? All these questions and more are addressed in this episode.