Mbak Lestari, batik maker: a line of wax a day
Drawing wax with a canting, the patterns she will not sell and teaching her daughter.
58 minNotes from the Workshop
The Workshop Hour: long talks with people who make things
A letter every Wednesday with the new interview, a photo from the workshop and the one answer I keep thinking about.
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Latest interviews
A new hour-long interview every Wednesday, with chapters, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
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WatchPak Joko, weaver: indigo by the bucket
A weaver on growing indigo, dyeing in the yard and the one loom that takes a month per cloth.
47 min- Watch
Bu Ratna, potter: forty years at one wheel
A potter in Kasongan on the clay she digs herself, the kiln her father built and the bowls that pay the bills.
52 min
Downloads and courses
Shop
Download as soon as you pay. Yours to keep.
PDF
DownloadsInterview Questions Deck
Sixty question cards I use with makers, in five piles: the craft, the money, the family, the place and the future.
PDF
DownloadsListening Guide
Twenty episodes chosen by craft, with the minute to start at and what to listen for.
PDF
DownloadsField Recording Checklist
What I pack for a workshop recording, and the five checks before I press record.
PDF
DownloadsSeason Transcripts
Every word of the last season, in English and Indonesian, searchable and with chapter times.
PDF
DownloadsMakers' Map of Yogyakarta
The workshops from the show on one map, with the days they welcome visitors.
Video course
CoursesInterviewing People Who Make Things
Twelve lessons on finding makers, asking about the work and the money, recording in a workshop and editing an hour into fifty minutes.
About
About me
I grew up in Yogyakarta between a batik workshop and a pottery village, and I worked in radio for eight years before I started The Workshop Hour. I go to every maker's workshop, sit down with a recorder and stay until the work stops for lunch.
Each episode keeps the sound of the place: the wheel, the loom, the hammer. I always ask about money, because nobody else does, and I give every maker the finished episode before anyone else hears it.