Best Fine Furniture Podcasts (2024)

1
THROWBACK: This Chair Is Made of America 38:39

1d ago38:39

38:39

In this special throwback episode, Benjamin Miller speaks with Ellery Foutch, assistant professor of American studies at Middlebury College, about a “relic Windsor chair” assembled by Henry Sheldon (founder of the Middlebury museum named in his honor) in 1884. This unique piece of furniture was built with fragments of wood salvaged from structures …

1
CO Bites: A Pitch-Perfect Vermont Songbook 14:56

8d ago14:56

14:56

In this Curious Objects Bites episode, Benjamin Miller examines an 1830s manuscript tune book from rural Vermont. Bound crudely in leather, this book of sacred music was made by a farmer named Bernard Ward as a gift for his grandson, and many years later passed into the major collection of musical instruments, books, scores, and ephemera assembled …

1
ICYMI: How Today’s Retail Design Influences E-Commerce 8:28

11d ago8:28

8:28

In this In Case You Missed It Episode, we’re featuring a popular article from the interiors+sources website titled, “How Today’s Retail Design Influences E-Commerce” written by Nicki Gitlin, the owner and founder of Dang Design and Architecture, originally published online on March 26, 2024. Join us as we dive in to how customers today are familiar…

1
The Book of Dragons (and the Con Artist Who Made It), with Rebecca Romney 35:39

22d ago35:39

35:39

Rebecca Romney, co-founder of rare book dealer Type Punch Matrix and a frequent guest on Pawn Stars, returns to our podcast Curious Objects this week. She has with her a mid-nineteenth-century abecebestiary, or calligraphic treatment of the alphabet with animal motifs, made by Englishman Charles Eduard Stuart . . . except that wasn't really his nam…

1
Leveraging Technology to Create More Inclusive Communities with Jack Chaffin 37:38

25d ago37:38

37:38

Technology has been the focal point of conversation across every industry in the past year, not the least of which has been the field of architecture. In this episode, Jack Chaffin, architect and principal at Seattle-based Johnston Architects, talks about how the firm is leveraging new technologies to enhance their designs and bring a greater level…

1
Remembering Greg Cerio 6:15

29d ago6:15

6:15

Greg Cerio, editor of The Magazine ANTIQUES, died Saturday. In this special episode, Ben pays tribute to the man who gave Curious Objects the green light, and who foresaw a rich future for objects from the past. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy The Magazine Antiques

1
CO Bites: Yoshiko Takaezo's "Closed Form," with Glenn Adamson 13:44

1M ago13:44

13:44

This week Glenn Adamson returns to the pod to discuss an exhibition he co-curated at the Noguchi Museum in Queens, New York. Worlds Within: The Art of Toshiko Takaezu focuses on the work of the Okinawan-American ceramicist, which bridges the gulf between art and craft. In this inaugural installment of Curious Objects Bites—bingeable conversations a…

1
ICYMI: All About EC3—The Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator 14:47

1M ago14:47

14:47

In this "In Case You Missed It" episode of I Hear Design, Chief Content Director Robert Nieminen reviews two recent articles from the i+s website that explore The Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator, better known as EC3. The first is titled, “3 Designers Talk 3 Ways to Utilize EC3,” by Lona Rerick, sustainable design leader and architect at …

1
Taylor Thistlethwaite Gets Excited About "Brown Furniture" 42:00

2M ago42:00

42:00

Taylor Thistlethwaite, proprietor of Thistlethwaite Americana in Middleburg, Virginia, returns to the pod to defend the merits of “brown furniture.” Whether it’s earthy, richly figured black walnut or the sometimes-overlooked black cherry, it’s important not to “think of wood as just something brown,” Taylor says. “There’s so much life in it. And i…

1
THROWBACK: Once Upon a Bowl 27:53

2M ago27:53

27:53

If you ever start to feel like history is abstract, spend a little time with an object or two that were actually there. For instance, a silver bowl and a pair of candlesticks that once belonged to New York grandees Pieter and Elizabeth Delancey, which suddenly reappeared recently after being lost for three hundred years. In this special rerun of on…

1
Exploring Digital Design Tools with Armstrong’s Nate Baxter 24:54

2M ago24:54

24:54

As the architecture and design industry becomes increasingly familiar with digital design tools and pre-construction services, knowing how they work and what to look for is paramount. How can tools like 3D Revit and digital twins address pain points for project teams, for example? Listen in as Armstrong's Nate Baxter answers this questions (among o…

1
Ben visits the Art Slice podcast 43:55

2M ago43:55

43:55

Last month Benjamin Miller made a guest appearance on Art Slice, hosted by the podcasting power couple—and artists and art historians—Stephanie Dueñas and Russell Shoemaker, and now available here. The trio’s conversation focuses on a dazzling group of mixed-metal wares made by Tiffany and Company in the latter part of the nineteenth century, inclu…

1
Advice Ep: How to Buy a Vintage Engagement Ring 47:30

2M ago47:30

47:30

How much should you spend? What kind of stone should you get? Is antique better than modern? These are just a few of the many questions that any courter must consider when ring-hunting. Here to share his ring lore on this special Valentine’s Day episode is a true jewelry expert, Matthew Imberman of Kentshire Galleries. First things first: don’t wor…

1
ICYMI: 9 Essential Tips for Project Management in Architecture and Interior Design 9:01

2M ago9:01

9:01

In this In Case You Missed It Episode, we’ll be revisiting a popular article from the interiors+sources website titled, “9 Pillars of Thoughtful Project Management,” written by Kimberly M. Zeiser, senior associate in Gensler’s Chicago studio, originally published online on Feb. 1, 2024. Join us as we explore the strategies, tools, and best practice…

1
The Woman Who Saved Wedgwood 37:01

3M ago37:01

37:01

In 1909, Daisy Makeig-Jones was hired by the Wedgwood firm in Staffordshire, England, to decorate pottery. She would go on to develop the “Fairyland” luster pattern, which combined dazzling iridescent glazes with motifs from fairy tales and would serve to revitalize the Wedgwood brand. Bailey Tichenor, one half of the duo behind Artistoric gallery,…

1
“Enriching Your Life Through Collecting” at the Winter Show 1:12:55

3M ago1:12:55

1:12:55

In what has become an annual tradition, Curious Objects host Benjamin Miller capped off January with a panel discussion at the Winter Show. This year’s edition was named “Catching the Bug: Enriching Your Life Through Collecting,” and featured three distinguished collectors and the objects they live by and through. The Hawkes bowl belonging to conse…

1
Thavius Beck discusses his journey through music, from the Golden Age of LA’s Hip-Hop underground, to an assistant professorship at Berklee NYC 1:47:17

3M ago1:47:17

1:47:17

Thavius Beck’s story started in Minneapolis and led him to California, into the Golden age of Los Angeles’ underground Hip-Hop culture through legendary venues like The Good Life, Project Blowed and Low End Theory. Emerging as a respected producer, emcee and electronic music performer, Thavius continued to walk the road laid out for him by his crea…

1
What’s Ahead in Design? Unpacking Gensler’s 2024 Design Forecast with Diane Hoskins 37:22

3M ago37:22

37:22

In its annual Design Forecast, global architecture and design firm Gensler identifies eight key trends at play that will help move the industry forward in 2024 and beyond. Stranded assets like offices are being re-thought and re-tooled into residential spaces to help with the housing crisis, for example, and leveraging technologies like AI and crea…

1
The Beatles as Painters 33:20

3M ago33:20

33:20

In the summer of 1966 the Beatles were in Japan, whirling through the first leg of what would be their final world tour. Hoping to forestall the dangerous excesses of Beatlemania, Japanese authorities confined the Fab Four to their hotel suite at Tokyo’s Hilton Hotel for almost the duration of their one-hundred-hour stay. Casting about for things t…

1
The Marginalia That Made Christie's Value This Book at $1 Million 50:40

3M ago50:40

50:40

In 1543 Andreas Vesalius published a seven-part book that would become the foundational text of modern anatomy: On the Fabric of the Human Body. With it, the Flemish anatomist overturned more than a millennium’s worth of medical dogma, many of his breakthroughs coming while dissecting human corpses—a method of study unavailable to physicians of cla…

1
ICYMI: Perkins&Will Launches Open-Source Tool for Healthier Environments 6:48

3M ago6:48

6:48

In this “In Case You Missed It Episode,” we highlight a recent article titled, "Perkins&Will Launches Open-Source Tool for Healthier Environments," that was originally published online on Dec. 11th, 2023 by the i+s staff. Listen in as we describe this new resource for architects and designers that leverages public health data to help better inform …

1
Advice Ep: Making Your Home a Source of Inspiration, with Tara McCauley 50:17

3M ago50:17

50:17

In this week’s episode, interior designer Tara McCauley gives listeners an inside look at her practice, which she likens, curiously, to a travel agency. She says: “I like to think of myself like I’ve gone into the market and I’ve done the research and I’ve talked to the experts and the locals and I’m bringing you the best kind of experience you’re …

1
Ask Ben Anything 1:12:39

4M ago1:12:39

1:12:39

Over the past couple weeks we’ve been fielding and compiling questions that listeners have put to host Benjamin Miller. A taste: “Has any object ever truly baffled you?” “What’s the best town for antiquing?” and “Will Curious Objects ever do an adults-only episode?” This week’s episode represents a taste of his own medicine for Ben, usually the int…

1
Circularity and Sustainable Luxury with Laurence Carr 24:50

4M ago24:50

24:50

What is circularity? That’s a question that we posed to international interior architect and product designer Laurence Carr in this episode of I Hear Design. As the founder and CEO of her eponymous and regenerative design firm in New York, Carr shares her passion and perspectives on upcycling, healthy materials and bio-based materials, and zero-was…

1
END OF YEAR THROWBACK: A Conversation with Luthier Paul Becker 46:30

4M ago46:30

46:30

A top-tier orchestra might well have tens of millions of dollars–worth of instruments on stage. Many of them are antiques. And there are few people who know these instruments more intimately than Paul Becker. He’s the fifth-generation owner and director of Carl Becker and Son, a 150-year-old luthier business in Chicago. He and his family have resto…

1
Lewis Littlepage and the Amazing Silk-embroidered Dreamsuit 39:33

4M ago39:33

39:33

“Conservative” by the standards of its day, the three-piece suit worn by American statesman and bon vivant Lewis Littlepage (1762–1802) at the court of Catherine the Great is sewn of silk and embroidered with sprays of blue, white, and grey flowers. Neal Hurst, curator of textiles and historic dress at Colonial Williamsburg, comes on our Curious Ob…

1
The Art of Hand Sketching, Furniture Making and Adaptive Reuse with Architect Rachel Robinson 25:57

4M ago25:57

25:57

What do hand sketching, creating custom furniture and adaptive reuse have in common? They’re all in a day’s work for architect Rachel Robinson, co-founder of New York City based durodeco. In this episode, she sits down with i+s Editor in Chief, AnnMarie Martin, to discuss how her firm got its start, where the design industry seems to be heading in …

1
What makes Thomas Cole’s “Course of Empire” Cycle as Relevant Today as in the 19th Century 37:06

4M ago37:06

37:06

This week Benjamin Miller is joined by filmmaker Rachel Gould, better known on YouTube as the Art Tourist, to discuss Thomas Cole’s Course of Empire cycle of about 1834–1836. A watershed in the genre of landscape painting, Cole’s canvases use an allegory of empire—germination, prosperity, decline—to preach a cautionary tale about environmental and …

1
A Met Curator Tells the Strange Story of Louis XIV's Carpets 55:28

5M ago55:28

55:28

This week we travel back to the seventeenth century, to the glorious court of the Sun King, Louis XIV, in France, and his astonishing commission for a suite of ninety-three carpets to cover the 1440-foot-long Grande Galerie at the Louvre, then a royal palace. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is now the proud owner of three of these carpets—the creati…

1
Flooring Trends, Technology and Sustainability with Mannington Commercial 23:28

5M ago23:28

23:28

In this episode, Mannington Commercial's Roby Isaac discusses what informs his design thinking and guides the design process for the company’s newest introductions; the role of technology in experiential design, including how AI can be leveraged as a design tool; the incredible work Mannington is doing around sustainability and purpose-driven desig…

1
Jewelry We Love and Hate, with Gem X 50:18

5M ago50:18

50:18

This week Ben speaks with three bigwigs of Gem X, an international club for jewelry aficionados. Founder Lin Jamison, Simon Teakle gallery director Christine Cheng, and returning Curious Objects guest Levi Higgs of David Webb discuss men in brooches, women in cuff links, and the fail-proof “smell test” for detecting real gold. These glitterati also…

1
THANKSGIVING THROWBACK: The House that Vanderbilt—Gilded Age Mansions of Newport, RI 33:28

5M ago33:28

33:28

In this special throwback episode of Curious Objects, Ben Miller takes listeners on a virtual tour of the suite of beaux-arts abodes built for the Vanderbilts, Oelrichs, Astors, and Berwinds by the likes of Richard Morris Hunt and Stanford White. These houses—referred to as “cottages” by their nouveau riche owners—have been lovingly maintained by t…

1
What’s That Sound? Exploring the Vital Role of Acoustics in Commercial Interiors 31:28

5M ago31:28

31:28

Research has demonstrated that unwanted noise in the workplace negatively impacts 70% of employees' concentration levels, productivity, and creativity, with similar results across education, healthcare, and hospitality environments. In this episode, i+s sits down with Slavi Younger, founder and partner of acoustical product manufacturer Fräsch, to …

1
Debunking the Hitler Diaries and Other Adventures, with Kenneth Rendell 46:31

5M ago46:31

46:31

Friend of presidents and billionaires, nemesis of Hitlerism, and helicopter skiing enthusiast, Kenneth Rendell is an antiquer who needs no introduction. But listeners hankering for more had best apply to Safeguarding History: Trailblazing Adventures Inside the Worlds of Collecting and Forging History, Rendell’s recently published memoir and the occ…

1
Meet the Millennials Proving that Young People Love Old Things 40:14

6M ago40:14

40:14

This week host Benjamin Miller checks in with the intriguingly named Salt Lizard, a two-woman antiquarium at the center of hipsterdom: Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Lizzie Trinder and Rita Nehmé bring all their vocal-fried charm to bear on the shortcomings of fast furniture, what it was like doing business with reticent Millennials and Zoomers during the…

1
Tile Talk: Designers Recount Their Highlights of the 2023 Cersaie Tile Show 33:17

6M ago33:17

33:17

The Cersaie International Exhibition of Ceramic Tile in Bologna, Italy this past September highlighted the amazing trends and technologies happening in the world of tile around the world. In this episode, Chief Content Director Robert Nieminen sat down with several of his fellow delegates from North America who traveled across the pond to attend th…

1
Should Antiquities Return to Where They Came From? 49:01

6M ago49:01

49:01

This week host Benjamin Miller engages Lillian Stoner, a scholar of classical antiquity, in a wide-ranging discussion about the quirks and inequities of provenance, tomb robbery, and repatriation as it concerns objects of the ancient world. Of particular concern is the infamous “hot pot” that was once on display in New York City: the Euphronios or …

1
All About Amber, with Laura Kugel 49:02

6M ago49:02

49:02

Amber gameboards became very popular in northern Europe at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and the subject of this week’s episode represents the very best of type. A symphony of richly figured amber, silver, and silver gilt, the Danzig-made board was used to play chess and the ancient Roman strategy game known today as Three Men’s Morris.…

1
ICYMI: Optimizing the Hybrid Learning Experience 11:00

6M ago11:00

11:00

In this “In Case You Missed It Episode,” we highlight a recent article titled, “Optimizing the Hybrid Learning Experience” written by staff writer Barbara Horwitz-Bennett that appeared in our September/October issue of interiors+sources and that was originally published online on Sept. 29th, 2023. Experts sound off on the best in layout and A/V cho…

1
Why You Should Spend $10,000 on a Shaving Bowl 45:16

6M ago45:16

45:16

Like host Benjamin Miller, Oliver Newton specializes in silver—specifically, that from England, and especially silver from the nineteenth century and before. He has in hand a 1713 Anthony Nelme shaving bowl, one of those otherwise workaday objects made exceptional by fine craftsmanship, distinguished provenance, and, of course, the luster and value…

1
"Antiques Roadshow" Appraiser Nick Dawes 38:33

6M ago38:33

38:33

Nick Dawes knows as much about antiques as probably anyone alive. With more than one hundred appearances on “Antiques Roadshow” since its US edition debuted in 1996, Dawes has sifted through thousands, perhaps millions, of family heirlooms in the thirty to sixty seconds allotted for each supplicant by the busy TV production schedule. Talking antiqu…

1
A Newly Unearthed George Washington Letter, with Nathan Raab 37:18

6M ago37:18

37:18

Benjamin Miller is joined by Nathan Raab, principal at the Raab Collection, a purveyor of historic documents, manuscripts, and autographs that range from medieval codices to notes, signatures, and letters by the likes of Napoleon and Amelia Earhart. The firm’s inventory includes several items of especially national significance, such as the never-b…

1
Women in Design, Part 4: Amber Pickett Wernick | Perkins&Will 34:36

7M ago34:36

34:36

This is it! The fourth and final installment in our Women in Design series. Our very own Editor in Chief of i+s, AnnMarie Martin, sits down for an honest and encouraging conversation with Amber Pickett Wernick of Perkins&Will's Dallas studio to learn more about her story of coming up through the interior design and architecture industry and the les…

1
How Artist Candice Luter is Creating Home Through Her Work in Furniture and Design 1:50:30

7M ago1:50:30

1:50:30

Candice Luter is an Iowa-based furniture designer and artist, creating furnishings and accessories for the home that are a perfect balance of beauty and functionality. The latest artist to join the AphroChic Art Shop, Candice is using design as something transformative for herself, while also creating a safe space for women in the furniture design …

1
Women in Design, Part 3: Abby Shehan | Premier 20:57

7M ago20:57

20:57

Times are changing in the interior design industry as more women are taking up positions of leadership in architecture and design firms, like our guest for Part 3 of our Women in Design series, Abby Shehan, senior design director at Premier in Dallas. In this episode, Shehan talks about how her internship as a student led to her first job in a desi…

1
Jade, the Imperial Gem, with Clarissa von Spee 28:30

7M ago28:30

28:30

Clarissa von Spee, curator and Chair of Asian Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art, comes on the pod to discuss a pair of ornately carved Qing Dynasty jade vessels, made by masters in Suzhou, China. Probably luxury objects and perhaps gifts, they’re just a couple of the more than two hundred objects on view as part of the exhibition "China’s Southern…

1
Leather, with Glenn Adamson 35:10

8M ago35:10

35:10

This week host Benjamin Miller welcomes back an old friend: Glenn Adamson, ANTIQUES contributor and now editor of Material Intelligence, an online quarterly published by the Chipstone Foundation. The upcoming issue of the journal concerns leather, one of the oldest as well as the commonest human-worked materials. From its sartorial to industrial ap…

1
Women in Design, Part 2: Libby Sims Patrick | Sims Patrick Studio 23:13

7M ago23:13

23:13

As we continue our Women in Design series, we recently sat down with Libby Sims Patrick, founding principal and CEO of the Sims Patrick Studio based in Atlanta to discuss her journey to leading the successful hospitality design firm of her namesake. She also talks about the importance of narrative and storytelling and how it has informed her firm's…

1
A Journey Back In Time At the Peabody Essex Museum 35:54

8M ago35:54

35:54

Benjamin Miller continues his odyssey through the PEM’s James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes Collection Center, which embraces a sizeable portion of the museum’s nearly 2 million objects sourced from around the globe. Christian Louboutins and a $2.1 million copy of the Declaration of Independence are on the menu, as Ben speaks with Angela Segalla, director…

1
Women in Design, Part 1: Jill Cole | Cole Martinez Curtis & Associates 28:48

8M ago28:48

28:48

Women make up the majority of the more than 80,000 interior designer positions in the industry today, yet only a fraction occupy positions of leadership. Why is that, and what challenges do female designers face in an industry that's still male dominated, especially in the commercial segment? In this episode, Managing Principal Jill Cole of Cole Ma…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Fine Furniture Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide