After a long hiatus we have Madison Burger on the show to discuss her work researching and cultivating bacterial leather. We talk about how she got into the field, the newest trends in leather alternatives, her work with Plant Chicago, and her work with Chitown Bio.

It's a super informational episode and Madison provides a nuanced and highly informed take on the alternative leather industry.

Chapters:
0:00 - Introducing Madison
1:47 - Welcoming Madison
6:08 - Fun Facts on the Leather Industry
11:21 - Alternative Leather Durability
14:23 - Discussing MycoWorks
16:54 - Pinatex
17:54 - Differences Between Alternative Leather & Real Leather
20:24 - Looking at Bacterial Leather Samples
21:00 - Pellicle
27:00 - Madison's Work with Plant Chicago
30:00 - Developing Tissue Paper Alternatives
33:00 - Disrupting the Traditional Industries
43:18 - Tanning Process Explained
45:00 - Jennifer Doudna
48:30 - Discussing the Ethics of Gene Editing
51:00 - Madison's Work with Chitown Bio

Links:
ChiTownBio- https://chitownbio.org/

Plant Chicago- https://www.plantchicago.org/

Collective Fashion Justice- https://www.collectivefashionjustice.org/

Madison Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/madisonwildsburger/

Madison LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/madison-wilds-burger-578583141/

To kick off 2024 we have Greg on the show to talk about his experience participating in season 35 of the Amazing Race. We talk about the challenges, what it was like off camera, how life has changed since the show, and his future work with Wired, and his life in general.

It's a fun chat with a great guy who is Chicago through and through. Always great to see Chicago's own making big moves all over the world.

Chapters:

1:09 - Introducing Greg

14:47 - Interacting with the other racers

19:00 - Talking about the physically laborious challenges

23:00 - Skydiving for the first time ever on the show

28:00 - John's quotes from the show

33:04 - Get the express pass?

38:00 - Life after the race

44:00 - Interacting with other CBS reality show contestants

49:00 - Talking about good food in Chicago

54:00 - Why yellow?

This week we have Sid on the show to discuss her hobbyism, how it helps cope with the modern world, her experience moving from Texas to Chicago, and her journey to starting a rug tufting business. It's a fun and very interesting conversation, so check it out.

Sid is the owner of Cherry Basket Studio and makes beautiful rugs. You can see their work here:

https://cherrybasketstudio.com/
https://www.instagram.com/cherrybasketstudio/
www.etsy.com/shop/cherrybasketstudio