Episodes

  • Pablo Stanley: A creative force of nature on the importance persistence and hustle

    Pablo Stanley: A creative force of nature on the importance persistence and hustle
    May 14 2024
    Get access to the full episode, show notes, transcript and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/pablo-stanley Pablo Stanley’s creativity seemingly knows no bounds. Constant doodling is a key to his creative process, and has spawned countless projects including web comics like The Design Team and Stanley and Rupert, an illustration generation platform called Blush, and most recently Bueno, a platform that lets people build virtual worlds. Pablo makes us all feel like slackers! We spoke with Pablo about his childhood in Mexico and how it influences his creativity, the wide array of creative projects he’s working on, and the importance of persistence and hustle when you’re earning a creative living independently. Bio Pablo Stanley is a Co-founder at Musho—AI Designer, Blush, and Lummi—tools to unlock people's creativity. He’s also working on Bueno, and previously made Robotos, Humankind, Transhumans, Humaaans, Open Peeps, etc . Previously he was was a Lead at InVision, a Staff Designer at Lyft, and co-founder of Carbon Health. He gives design workshops and shares design tutorials on YouTube. He also writes a comic- The Design Team. Premium Episodes on Design Better This is a premium episode on Design Better (learn more in the announcement here). We’ll be releasing two premium episodes per month, along with two free episodes for everyone. Premium subscribers also get access to our monthly AMAs with former guests, ad-free episodes, and our new enhanced newsletter The Brief that compiles salient insights, quotes, readings, and creative processes uncovered in the show. Upgraid to paid Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds 🤓. We have our very own Design Better roast at Methodical, grab some here to fuel your creativity: https://methodicalcoffee.com/products/design-better-coffee Crashplan: You may have heard horror stories of people being locked out of their Apple or Google accounts, and losing decades worth of precious files like family photos. That’s why we’ve been using Crashplan for a decade and a half now to back up all of our important files. Visit Crashplan.com/DESIGNBETTER for 50% off your first year of CrashPlan. Uplift Desks: For people like us who spend countless hours at our desk, ergonomics are an essential consideration. A standing desk from Uplift Desk can help you avoid the negative effects of sitting all day by improving circulation and reducing strain. Design Better can get a special deal by visiting UPLIFTDesk.com. Use the code DESIGNBETTER5 at checkout for 5% off your order. Free shipping, free returns, and an industry-leading 15-year warranty. They’re a great company. Gusto: We’re big fans of Gusto, who make it easy to run payroll, set up healthcare and other benefits for your business. They’ve made setting up the HR infrastructure for Design Better a breeze. Gusto is also one of the best designed SaaS tools out there. Design Better listeners get 3 months free once they run their first payroll - Go to gusto.com/designbetter to sign up. If you're interested in sponsoring the show, please contact us at: sponsors@thecuriositydepartment.com If you'd like to submit a guest idea, please contact us at: contact@thecuriositydepartment.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    20 mins
  • Tasha Golden: Avoiding burnout while pursuing creativity with passion

    Tasha Golden: Avoiding burnout while pursuing creativity with passion
    May 7 2024
    Find full show notes, transcript, and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/tasha-golden As designers and creatives, we often find our work to be meaningful and fulfilling. But creativity can also come at a price. There can be a danger of burning out when we pursue creativity with passion, and our guest today, Tasha Golden, has experienced this herself. She lost her music career as a touring songwriter due to severe burnout and depression, and now researches well-being, how it’s affected by creativity, and how to use this knowledge to drive real change. We speak with Tasha about her work on Project Uncaged, a trauma-informed creative writing program for incarcerated girls, as well as the The Arts on Prescription program: a model of care that’s gaining traction in the US—in which health- and social care providers can refer patients to community arts, culture, and nature experiences to support their health. We also also discuss how creatives can better support mental health—for themselves and others. Bio Learn more about Tasha here on her site. Tasha Golden, PhD is a singer/songwriter turned public health scientist, and a leading expert in Creativity and Wellbeing. Holding a PhD in Public Health, Dr. Golden has published extensively on the impacts of creativity, aesthetics, and the arts on health and well-being. She leads research at the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University, serves as adjunct faculty for the University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine, and is lead author of “Arts on Prescription: A Field Guide for US Communities.” [Find Tasha's full bio, and ways to connect with her, here: https://www.tashagolden.com/designbetter] Premium Episodes on Design Better This ad-supported episode is available to everyone. If you’d like to hear it ad-free, upgrade to our premium subscription, where you’ll get an additional 2 ad-free episodes per month (4 total). Premium subscribers also get access to our monthly AMAs with former guests, ad-free episodes, and our new enhanced newsletter The Brief that compiles salient insights, quotes, readings, and creative processes uncovered in the show. Upgraid to paid *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds 🤓. We have our very own Design Better roast at Methodical, grab some here to fuel your creativity: https://methodicalcoffee.com/products/design-better-coffee BetterHelp: This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Therapy can give you the self-awareness to build a social life that doesn't drain your battery. If you’re thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It’s entirely online, and designed to be convenient, flexible, and to work with your schedule. Find your social sweet spot, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/DESIGNBETTER today to get 10% off your first month. Crashplan: You may have heard horror stories of people being locked out of their Apple or Google accounts, and losing decades worth of precious files like family photos. That’s why we’ve been using Crashplan for a decade and a half now to back up all of our important files. Visit Crashplan.com/DESIGNBETTER for 50% off your first year of CrashPlan. Uplift Desks: For people like us who spend countless hours at our desk, ergonomics are an essential consideration. A standing desk from Uplift Desk can help you avoid the negative effects of sitting all day by improving circulation and reducing strain. Design Better can get a special deal by visiting UPLIFTDesk.com. Use the code DESIGNBETTER5 at checkout for 5% off your order. Free shipping, free returns, and an industry-leading 15-year warranty. They’re a great company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    43 mins
  • Jonathan Adler: Famed potter and designer on bringing creativity into all aspects of life

    Jonathan Adler: Famed potter and designer on bringing creativity into all aspects of life
    Apr 30 2024
    Visit our Substack to get access to the full show: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/jonathan-adler We’ve admired Jonathan Adler’s work for a long time. Though he started his career as a potter, today he designs sumptuous furnishings and interiors that inject energy and joy into everyday life. His work is decadent but not frumpy and always delivered with a winking sense of humor. If anyone truly knows how to bring creativity into all aspects of life, it’s Jonathan Adler. We speak with Jonathan about why every creative person needs a naysayer to rebel against, how he surrounds himself with things that make him happy, and how he balances the tension between creating objects that have a lot of color and contrast, while making sure everything works together. By the way, Eli’s wife Courtney has listened to many (though not all!) of our episodes, and this one happens to be her favorite so far—so you’re in for a treat. Brace yourself for some adult language. 🙂 Bio Potter, designer and author Jonathan Adler launched his namesake brand after leaving his day job to pursue his first love: pottery. In 1993, Barneys bought his collection of pots, and five years later, he opened his first store in Soho. Today, Jonathan Adler is a design company with retail locations worldwide, a thriving e-commerce site, a full slate of residential and commercial projects, and a global wholesale business. They strive to create luxe and livable interiors that are seriously designed, but don’t take themselves too seriously. New Premium Episodes on Design Better This is our very first premium episode for Design Better (learn more in the announcement here). We’ll be releasing two premium episodes per month, along with two free episodes for everyone. Premium subscribers also get access to our monthly AMAs with former guests, ad-free episodes, and our new enhanced newsletter The Brief that compiles salient insights, quotes, readings, and creative processes uncovered in the show. Upgraid to paid Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds 🤓. We have our very own Design Better roast at Methodical, grab some here to fuel your creativity: https://methodicalcoffee.com/products/design-better-coffee American Giant: Makers of the best hoodie on the planet, their clothing is American-made, ethically produced, and built to last. What more could you ask for? Save 20% off your first order with American Giant using our promo code DESIGNBETTER at checkout. dbtr.co/americangiant Crashplan: You may have heard horror stories of people being locked out of their Apple or Google accounts, and losing decades worth of precious files like family photos. That’s why we’ve been using Crashplan for a decade and a half now to back up all of our important files. Visit Crashplan.com/DESIGNBETTER for 50% off your first year of CrashPlan. Uplift Desks: For people like us who spend countless hours at our desk, ergonomics are an essential consideration. A standing desk from Uplift Desk can help you avoid the negative effects of sitting all day by improving circulation and reducing strain. Design Better can get a special deal by visiting UPLIFTDesk.com. Use the code DESIGNBETTER5 at checkout for 5% off your order. Free shipping, free returns, and an industry-leading 15-year warranty. They’re a great company. Gusto: We’re big fans of Gusto, who make it easy to run payroll, set up healthcare and other benefits for your business. They’ve made setting up the HR infrastructure for Design Better a breeze. Gusto is also one of the best designed SaaS tools out there. Design Better listeners get 3 months free once they run their first payroll - Go to gusto.com/designbetter to sign up. If you're interested in sponsoring the show, please contact us at: sponsors@thecuriositydepartment.com If you'd like to submit a guest idea, please contact us at: contact@thecuriositydepartment.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    13 mins
  • Making Design Better—better—with weekly episodes, an enhanced newsletter, and more

    Making Design Better—better—with weekly episodes, an enhanced newsletter, and more
    Apr 24 2024
    Tldr; We’re transitioning to weekly episode releases, publishing an enhanced newsletter, and simplifying our premium subscription which will now be on Substack. Read the details below … Upgrade to paid Weekly episodes For years, we’ve been on a semi-weekly cadence for new episodes, but this schedule is proving too limiting for the amount of interviews we’re producing. Starting today, we’re shifting to a weekly release schedule for our premium subscribers who will receive a new episode every Tuesday morning. Simpler pricing model, more affordable We’re also simplifying our pricing model based on feedback we’ve received. There’s now just one tier that gets you access to bonus content and new ways to learn. For $7/month or $72/year (15% discount), subscribers get 2 extra episodes per month, access to our monthly AMAs (Ask Me Anything) events with big names in design and tech, recordings from all past AMAs, ad-free episodes, and our new enhanced newsletter The Brief that compiles salient insights, quotes, readings, and creative processes uncovered in the show. One plan, one price, you get everything we have to offer to support your personal and career growth. If you’re between jobs, a student, or otherwise on a budget that puts a $7/month subscription out of reach, get in touch at subscriptions@thecuriositydepartment.com. We’ll happily set you up with a free subscription. Subscriptions through Substack We’ve loved publishing through Substack. It’s a platform that can help us spread our wings as we expand our offerings and engage our community more. Going forward, all our premium subscriptions will happen through Substack. We’re very grateful for our early subscribers who have already supported us through DB+. As a small token of our gratitude, for subscribers currently on our Accelerated Learner plan, we’ll be making you Founding Members and extending your subscription by a year. Our Power Listeners will be transitioned to our premium plan on Substack and given an additional 6 months free. Why subscribe We have exciting episodes coming soon with Jonathan Adler (famed potter and furniture designer), Roger Horrocks (My Octopus Teacher cinematographer), Hillary Coe (former SpaceX head of design), Natsai Audrey Chieza (bio-designer), and Ben Clymer (founder of Hodinkee) to name a few. Plus, we have AMAs coming with Greg Hoffman (former CMO of Nike), John Maeda (Microsoft AI), James Buckhouse (Sequoia Capital), Scott Doorley (Stanford d.school), and more. By subscribing you ensure you never miss any opportunity to learn from the people who are pushing the bounds of creative thinking, design, and technology. Expense it If you have a learning and development budget at work, we’ve made subscribing to Design Better affordable enough that this line item won’t raise any eyebrows. We’ve even put together a helpful expense template (thanks to the ByteByteGo newsletter for the inspiration). We’re proud of what Design Better has become over the last seven years, but the best is yet to come. Invest in yourself and in your design community by becoming a paid Design Better subscriber. Thank you so much for your support. Upgrade to paid Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    5 mins
  • Brian Tyler, composer for Yellowstone, Crazy Rich Asians, Mario Brothers, and more, on his creative process

    Brian Tyler, composer for Yellowstone, Crazy Rich Asians, Mario Brothers, and more, on his creative process
    Apr 9 2024
    Find the transcript, full show notes, and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/brian-tyler Our conversation today takes us further into the creative process across different mediums. If you’re a fan of Yellowstone, Crazy Rich Asians, Iron Man 3, or the recent Mario Brothers movie, then chances are good that one of the soundtrack clips in the trailer below is familiar to you. And today on Design Better we speak with the person behind them all: Emmy-award nominated composer Brian Tyler. We talk to Brian about his childhood influences, growing up in an artistic family, and how he finds the starting threads of a score. Bio Brian Tyler is a multiple BAFTA and Emmy Award nominee, platinum-selling recording artist, and has been a composer and conductor on over 100 feature films. Tyler’s scoring credits include Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age of Ultron, James Wan’s Furious 7 and F. Gary Gray’s Fate of the Furious as well as others in the Fast and the Furious franchise, Shane Black’s Iron Man 3, Alan Taylor’s Thor: The Dark World, Jon Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians, for which he was voted to the 2019 Oscar shortlist for Best Original Score. Brian also tours as a successful electronic artist and producer, playing major festivals such as EDC and Hardfest, and he recently launched "Are We Dreaming", a completely immersive audio-visual experience created by Tyler himself, which debuted in October 2021 on the 400-foot Main Stage at Lost Lands Music Festival; an epic two-hour midnight performance for a crowd of 30,000 people. *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds 🤓. We have our very own Design Better roast at Methodical, grab some here to fuel your creativity: https://methodicalcoffee.com/products/design-better-coffee American Giant: Makers of the best hoodie on the planet, their clothing is American-made, ethically produced, and built to last. What more could you ask for? Save 20% off your first order with American Giant using our promo code DESIGNBETTER at checkout. dbtr.co/americangiant Crashplan: You may have heard horror stories of people being locked out of their Apple or Google accounts, and losing decades worth of precious files like family photos. That’s why we’ve been using Crashplan for a decade and a half now to back up all of our important files. Visit Crashplan.com/DESIGNBETTER for 50% off your first year of CrashPlan. Uplift Desks: For people like us who spend countless hours at our desk, ergonomics are an essential consideration. A standing desk from Uplift Desk can help you avoid the negative effects of sitting all day by improving circulation and reducing strain. Design Better can get a special deal by visiting UPLIFTDesk.com. Use the code DESIGNBETTER5 at checkout for 5% off your order. Free shipping, free returns, and an industry-leading 15-year warranty. They’re a great company. Gusto: We’re big fans of Gusto, who make it easy to run payroll, set up healthcare and other benefits for your business. They’ve made setting up the HR infrastructure for Design Better a breeze. Gusto is also one of the best designed SaaS tools out there. Design Better listeners get 3 months free once they run their first payroll - Go to gusto.com/designbetter to sign up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    44 mins
  • Bonus: Eric Snowden, Head of Adobe Design, on AI + Design

    Bonus: Eric Snowden, Head of Adobe Design, on AI + Design
    Apr 2 2024
    Find the transcript, show notes, and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/eric-snowden Adobe has been the big wrench in our creative toolbox for decades. But there’s a new tool shaking up our workflow —Generative AI. Eric Snowden, leader of Adobe’s design team, sees a big opportunity for designers to extend and enhance the creative process by folding generative AI into each of our tools and we wanted to get his take on what’s around the corner. We spoke with Eric about his journey from Atlantic records during a period of upheaval in the music industry and what he learned there, to his time on the Behance product team and working his way up through leadership roles at Adobe. Eric leads a team of over 600 people, so we also talk about finding the right size for teams (and Amazon’s “Two Pizza Team” framework), as well as how R&D works at Adobe. Bio Eric Snowden is the Vice President of Design at Adobe overseeing a multidisciplinary team of designers responsible for the Creative Cloud & Document Cloud suite of product and services. His team is responsible for the Digital Video & Audio, Digital Imaging, Design & Web, Documents, Mobile, Portfolio, and Services across web, desktop, and mobile surfaces. *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds 🤓. We have our very own Design Better roast at Methodical, grab some here to fuel your creativity: https://methodicalcoffee.com/products/design-better-coffee American Giant: Makers of the best hoodie on the planet, their clothing is American-made, ethically produced, and built to last. What more could you ask for? Save 20% off your first order with American Giant using our promo code DESIGNBETTER at checkout. dbtr.co/americangiant Crashplan: You may have heard horror stories of people being locked out of their Apple or Google accounts, and losing decades worth of precious files like family photos. That’s why we’ve been using Crashplan for a decade and a half now to back up all of our important files. Visit Crashplan.com/DESIGNBETTER for 50% off your first year of CrashPlan. Uplift Desks: For people like us who spend countless hours at our desk, ergonomics are an essential consideration. A standing desk from Uplift Desk can help you avoid the negative effects of sitting all day by improving circulation and reducing strain. Design Better can get a special deal by visiting UPLIFTDesk.com. Use the code DESIGNBETTER5 at checkout for 5% off your order. Free shipping, free returns, and an industry-leading 15-year warranty. They’re a great company. Gusto: We’re big fans of Gusto, who make it easy to run payroll, set up healthcare and other benefits for your business. They’ve made setting up the HR infrastructure for Design Better a breeze. Gusto is also one of the best designed SaaS tools out there. Design Better listeners get 3 months free once they run their first payroll - Go to gusto.com/designbetter to sign up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    49 mins
  • Kate Aronowitz: Shaping the story of design in business

    Kate Aronowitz: Shaping the story of design in business
    Mar 26 2024
    Visit our Substack for transcript, show notes, and more: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/kate-aronowitz Few designers have an instinct for business fundamentals. Those that do are able to position design as a competitive advantage for a business and pave the way for design teams to collaborate more effectively. Kate Aronowitz is one of those rare birds. Kate has held high level design roles at LinkedIn, WealthFront, Facebook, eBay, and today she’s at GV (formerly known as Google Ventures), where she helps early stage companies find their footing. We speak to Kate about the arc of her career, about entrepreneurship as a designer (and why there aren’t more designer-founders), as well as some of the stories from the early days of Facebook like how she was one of the first designers to teach Mark Zuckerberg (or as Eli’s 8 year old son calls him, Zerk Merkerbergen) about human centered design. Bio Kate Aronowitz is a design executive who has built her career empowering teams at some of Silicon Valley’s most iconic companies. In addition to her role leading GV’s operations team, Kate coaches GV portfolio companies on cross-functional design processes, scale, product development, and management strategy. Kate has built world-class design teams at eBay, LinkedIn, Facebook (now Meta), and Wealthfront. She joined the first user experience team at eBay before taking her experience to LinkedIn, where she started the user research team. As Facebook’s first design executive, Kate grew the organization from 20 to 200, establishing multidisciplinary design teams in front-end engineering, user research, content strategy, and communication design. *** Subscribe to DB+ to get episodes a week early and ad-free. Plus, every month, you're invited to exclusive AMAs (Ask Me Anything) with big names in design and tech, from companies like Nike, Netflix, and the New York Times who will answer your questions directly. Early bird subscribers get 50% off for the first three months. Visit designbetter.plus to learn more and subscribe. *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds 🤓. We have our very own Design Better roast at Methodical, grab some here to fuel your creativity: https://methodicalcoffee.com/products/design-better-coffee American Giant: Makers of the best hoodie on the planet, their clothing is American-made, ethically produced, and built to last. What more could you ask for? Save 20% off your first order with American Giant using our promo code DESIGNBETTER at checkout. dbtr.co/americangiant Uplift Desks: For people like us who spend countless hours at our desk, ergonomics are an essential consideration. A standing desk from Uplift Desk can help you avoid the negative effects of sitting all day by improving circulation and reducing strain. Design Better can get a special deal by visiting UPLIFTDesk.com. Use the code DESIGNBETTER5 at checkout for 5% off your order. Free shipping, free returns, and an industry-leading 15-year warranty. They’re a great company. Gusto: We’re big fans of Gusto, who make it easy to run payroll, set up healthcare and other benefits for your business. They’ve made setting up the HR infrastructure for Design Better a breeze. Gusto is also one of the best designed SaaS tools out there. Design Better listeners get 3 months free once they run their first payroll - Go to gusto.com/designbetter to sign up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    52 mins
  • Ellen Lupton: Thinking With Type

    Ellen Lupton: Thinking With Type
    Mar 13 2024
    For decades, graphic designers have been introduced to typography by Ellen Lupton’s book, Thinking With Type. It was certainly a staple in Aarron’s courses when he taught graphic design. It’s now in its third edition, with loads of new content. It’s worth noting, the layout of each page of this book is beautiful and entirely designed by Ellen herself. We chat with Ellen about what’s new in this edition of her book, and how people other than designers can use it. We also go through some rapid-fire questions about the fundamentals of typography, and origins of some of the terminology like points, leading, kerning, italics, and more. Whether you’re new to typography, or a seasoned pro, you’ll learn something from this conversation. Bio Ellen Lupton is a graphic designer, curator, writer, critic, and educator. Known for her love of typography, Lupton is the Betty Cooke and William O. Steinmetz Design Chair at Maryland Institute College of Art. Previously she was the Senior Curator of Contemporary Design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City and was named Curator Emerita after 30 years of service. *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds 🤓. We have our very own Design Better roast at Methodical, grab some here to fuel your creativity: https://methodicalcoffee.com/products/design-better-coffee American Giant: Makers of the best hoodie on the planet, their clothing is American-made, ethically produced, and built to last. What more could you ask for? Save 20% off your first order with American Giant using our promo code DESIGNBETTER at checkout. dbtr.co/americangiant Uplift Desks: For people like us who spend countless hours at our desk, ergonomics are an essential consideration. A standing desk from Uplift Desk can help you avoid the negative effects of sitting all day by improving circulation and reducing strain. Design Better can get a special deal by visiting UPLIFTDesk.com. Use the code DESIGNBETTER5 at checkout for 5% off your order. Free shipping, free returns, and an industry-leading 15-year warranty. They’re a great company. Gusto: We’re big fans of Gusto, who make it easy to run payroll, set up healthcare and other benefits for your business. They’ve made setting up the HR infrastructure for Design Better a breeze. Gusto is also one of the best designed SaaS tools out there. Design Better listeners get 3 months free once they run their first payroll - Go to gusto.com/designbetter to sign up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    44 mins