Poets & Thinkers

What  if we gave ordinary citizens the power to decide how public money is spent? Graça Fonseca did just that. With her pioneering vision, she built the world’s first national participatory budget, helped transform a crisis-era Lisbon into Europe’s entrepreneurial city of the year, and served as Portugal’s Minister of Culture through COVID. Now she’s asking an even bigger question: who gets to imagine the future?In this episode, Ben sits down with Graça Fonseca to trace a throughline from her years in Lisbon’s city government through her time in national office to her current role as Chief Imagination Officer at the Futura Foundation – a Lisbon-based fellowship for young women working on global challenges. Graça’s story is grounded in remarkably concrete examples: a Post-it wall on the Design Museum in downtown Lisbon that turned passersby into urban planners, a playground proposed through a participatory budget that showed a grandmother she could reshape her own neighborhood, a first startup incubator that was literally voted into existence by citizens.What we’re discussing is a philosophy of leadership rooted in trust, care, and a stubborn refusal to get trapped in the present. Graça argues that the most dangerous thing a leader can do – in government or in business – is become so consumed by daily urgencies that they lose the capacity to imagine what comes after. She makes the case for a “minister of the future”, someone unburdened by the status quo and whose job is simply to ask: when this crisis ends, what will people find?Resources & ReferencesFutura Foundation — Lisbon-based foundation and fellowship for women under 35 working on global challenges; co-founded by Graça Fonseca and Ruth ShaberFuture Tense – Futura Foundation podcastPatti Smith, “People Have the Power” (1988) — Song referenced by Graça; written by Patti Smith and Fred “Sonic” SmithEuropean Commission Citizens’ Assemblies — Graça served on the knowledge committee for the intergenerational fairness panelSweden’s Minister for Strategy and Future Issues — Kristina Persson, appointed by PM Stefan Löfven; referenced by Graça as precedentWell-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 — Referenced by Graça; Wales was the first country to legislate to protect future generations' interestsConnect with Graça FonsecaWebsite: https://www.futurafoundation.org/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fonsecagraca/Bio:Graça Fonseca is the Chief Imagination Officer and Co-Founder of Futura Foundation. A social scientist and expert in governance, public policy, social innovation, and participatory democracy, she served as Portugal’s Minister of Culture from 2018–22. During her tenure as Secretary of State for Administrative Modernization from 2015–18, she pioneered the world’s first national-level participatory budget. As Lisbon City Councilor (2009–15), Graça spearheaded the city’s transformation into a leading entrepreneurial hub, developing the Economy and Entrepreneurship Strategy that led to Lisbon being named 2015’s “European Entrepreneurial City of the Year.” She also pioneered the Lisbon Participatory Budget, giving citizens direct decision-making power over municipal investments. In 2023, Fonseca was distinguished as a “Democratic Innovator of the 21st Century” by the Apolitical Foundation for her contributions to participatory democracy and citizen-centered policy development. She teaches and serves as advisor to several national and international organizations focused on arts, democracy, climate, and ensuring a better world for future generations. Graça finds deep purpose in designing the future by bringing people together to work through participatory processes.Send us Fan MailFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poetsandthinkerspodcast/Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/poets-thinkers/id1799627484Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4N4jnNEJraemvlHIyUZdww?si=2195345fa6d249fdSend your ideas, feedback and guest recommendations to [email protected] 

Gabriella White, a trained actor turned interdisciplinary creative leader who calls herself a human conservationist, invites leaders to reclaim play and presence. She explores improv, somatic exercises, automatic writing, and the art of sitting with uncertainty. Short, playful practices replace perfectionism and help leaders embrace being ordinary and resilient in an AI-shaped world.

What happens to art when the systems designed to replicate it at mass can’t actually feel anything? In this conversation, Ben sits down with designer-turned-composer Sean Wolcott who draws a sharp lines between technology, knowledge and lived human experience – and makes the case that no amount of computation can bridge the gap.Sean has lived at the intersection of visual art, design, and music for over three decades. From early days making cassette tape artwork in high school to shaping Microsoft’s design language as a principal designer, he’s consistently followed his creative instincts wherever they led. A student of legendary designer Massimo Vignelli and a lifelong musician, Sean has spent the last several years building a recording studio in Everett, Washington: a 2,000-square-foot space modeled on the analog recording environments of the 1960s and ’70s that no longer exist. The result: 10 albums in three years, made with real musicians playing real instruments.The conversation gets into what Sean calls the “hall of mirrors”, a tech landscape obsessed with valuation bubbles and AI products being crammed into every corner of creative life. He’s blunt about what he sees: Spotify promoting artificial artists, AI tools that amount to “a pink meat paste of sonic okayness,” and a race to the bottom that insults the people who’ve spent their lives developing craft. But he’s not pessimistic. Sean argues there will always be a niche for work made by humans with care.At its core, this is a conversation about why lived experience is what makes art meaningful, why the process of making art can’t be separated from the art itself, and what it means to trust your own path in a world that keeps trying to streamline and automate it away.Resources & ReferencesSean’s Studio: Soundview Analog RecordersOliver Jeffers’ Dipped Painting ProjectBen’s article: Authentically HumanConnect with Sean WolcottWebsite: https://www.seanwolcott.com/Bio:Sean Wolcott is a Seattle-based composer, producer, and recording engineer whose music blends jazz, funk, soul, and soundtrack-inspired sounds. Drawing deep influence from 1970s aesthetics and classic film scores, his work merges cinematic storytelling with rich musicality — earning him a growing audience of listeners around the globe.Send us Fan MailFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poetsandthinkerspodcast/Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/poets-thinkers/id1799627484Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4N4jnNEJraemvlHIyUZdww?si=2195345fa6d249fdSend your ideas, feedback and guest recommendations to [email protected] 

Harald Dunnink, designer and serial co-founder behind Momkai and The Correspondent, champions moral ambition and belonging. He talks about using bold branding to make altruism appealing. He contrasts addictive product design with 'memberful' approaches that build belonging. He discusses aligning high ambition with a balanced life and how privilege shapes choices.

Andy Allen, co-founder of Not Boring Software and creator of the Paper app and Pencil stylus, is an award-winning software designer and UW adjunct professor. He talks about reclaiming play and beauty in software. He argues design lost cultural impact as the industry optimized for efficiency. He discusses remaking everyday apps, teaching’s influence, and how small studios can build expressive, lasting products.

Jerry Colonna, executive coach and former venture capitalist who helps leaders practice radical self-inquiry. He recounts becoming the “Holder of Stories of the Heart” and explores asking “How am I actually feeling?” He discusses owning childhood patterns, relinquishing power to create belonging, sitting with others’ suffering, resisting cynicism, and why kindness and human presence matter in times of upheaval.

In this episode, Ben sits down with Omari Souza, design researcher and professor, founder of the State of Black Design Conference, and author of his newly released book Design Against Racism. A first-generation American of Jamaican descent and first in his family to attend university, Omari brings a perspective shaped by being the sole Black male graduate in his design program—an experience that launched his career-defining investigation into where the Black designers are and why design has failed to serve marginalized communities. We discuss the failures of traditional business and design leadership and explore what a more equitable future vision looks like; and what can be done to make it a reality.Key Ideas:Design is not neutral—it amplifies the intentions of those who wield itThe myth of "design does no harm" vs. the reality that we don't teach measurement of harmHow Bauhaus borrowed heavily from West African art without acknowledgment or investmentIn-group/out-group dynamics: why men can't design equitable bathroom experiences for women (and why women can't design equitably for trans or disabled women without understanding their positionality)The danger of AI trained on information "limited in scope and perspective"Positionality mapping: understanding the intersections of identity that create blind spotsDesign at the extremes: solve for the greatest difficulties and greatest ease to shift the entire windowWhy business focus on shareholder profit prevents humane outcomesThe shift from profit to prosperity as a broader definition of successResources & ReferencesDesign Against Racism by Omari SouzaState of Black Design Conference Africa to Bauhaus exhibit at the SmithsonianFastCompany article on Joe Gebbia as the United States’ Chief Design OfficerConnect with Omari SouzaLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omari-souza-b483187/Bio:Omari Souza is an assistant professor at the University of North Texas. He is the organizer of the State of Black Design Conference (online, April 2021). He previously organized and hosted an multi-panel event titled "The State of Black Design" (online, Sept. 2020), which drew a live audience of 2,071 — the second-largest livestream audience for an academic event in Texas State's history.Omari is a first-generation American of Jamaican descent, raised in the Bronx, New York. Before arriving at Texas State, he gained work experience with companies and institutions such as VIBE magazine, the Buffalo News, CBS Radio, and Case Western Reserve University. He earned a BFA in Digital Media from Cleveland Institute of Art and an MFA in Design from Kent State University. Omari's research explores the idea of perceptions and how visual narratives influence culture — how we view ourselves and others around us.Send us Fan MailFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poetsandthinkerspodcast/Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/poets-thinkers/id1799627484Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4N4jnNEJraemvlHIyUZdww?si=2195345fa6d249fdSend your ideas, feedback and guest recommendations to [email protected] 

What if the only way to unlock ingenuity in our organizations is by showing up as authentic leaders who first and foremost know how to “hack their brain” and lead themselves?In this episode, Ben sits down with Christina Goldschmidt, VP of Product Design at Warner Music Group and adjunct professor at NYU Stern. With her deep understanding of neuroscience and trauma-informed leadership, Christina brings a radically different perspective on how to unlock human potential in the age of AI, and why the future of business leadership requires us to embrace our most human qualities. Christina’s vision for management is about understanding our unique cognitive patterns and building organizations where everyone can access their ingenuity.Key Ideas:Procrastination as brain chemistry: learning to induce creative pressure without the downsidesThree modes of problem-solving: dialogue, liminal spaces (showers!), and unconscious processingWhy trauma-informed leadership creates better outcomes for everyoneAuthenticity as permission: when leaders show up as themselves, teams can tooThe apprenticeship crisis: how automation is eliminating the grunt work that teaches skillsVision as the essential AI-age skill: knowing what you want before you can prompt for itCuriosity as the antidote to fear in times of rapid changeResources & ReferencesDopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lemke Notes on Being a Man by Scott GallowayConnect with Christina GoldschmidtLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinagoldschmidt/Website: https://www.cgoldschmidt.com/Send us Fan MailFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poetsandthinkerspodcast/Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/poets-thinkers/id1799627484Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4N4jnNEJraemvlHIyUZdww?si=2195345fa6d249fdSend your ideas, feedback and guest recommendations to [email protected] 

Tim Leberecht, co-founder of the House of Beautiful Business and author, dives into the urgent crises facing businesses today, arguing they are trapped in a cycle of technocracy and late-stage capitalism. He advocates for a shift from efficiency to an economy centered on care and wonder. Exploring the concept of 'Supercuration,' he describes how thoughtfully managing ideas can enrich our lives. Tim emphasizes the importance of love, tenderness, and creativity as essential leadership qualities in a humanist future.

Join João Sevilhano, a psychologist, business consultant, and philosopher, as he dives into the 'bullshit economy' that prioritizes control over genuine human connection. He challenges our obsession with certainty and metrics, arguing it's hurting our mental health. João explores the need for creativity and play in art, and critiques how modern capitalism shapes education and personal development. He advocates for balancing technology with human wisdom to foster true growth and ethical discernment in society.