Conversational Confluences at the ASC Conference: Abbie VanMeter talks with 8 participants about their experience and what cybernetics means to them.
American Society for Cybernetics Conference: Podcast live from Ouro Preto, Brazil
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Audio + Video
Recorded content that explores or communicates systemic design. Submissions include podcasts, interviews, documentaries, or presentations that convey insights through sound or visual storytelling.
Human Movie: Six Meditations on a Compression Algorithm
Human Movie was screened in 2025 and can now be watched on Vimeo. The film considers AI as a filter for noise and asks what is being modelled?
On Collaborative Hardball as a new negotiation with Susan Coleman
Abbie van Meter and Susan Coleman discuss Susan’s new book, Collaborative Hardball: Using the Power of a New Negotiation as Women to Change the World and what a “new negotiation” looks like for women and everyone.
Conversations on Design: Victor Udoewa and radical participatory design
Victor introduces an approach that reframes the role of the designer and deepens community involvement in every part of the process—from choosing methodology to making decisions and facilitating change.
Abbie van Meter asks Jenn Chan, “What can you imagine for a better world?”
Jennifer Chan, CEO, Department of Imaginary Affairs, discusses the relationship between communication, stories, and imagination for designing better social worlds.
On Unlearning Ableism
PODCAST. Jamie Shields and Celia Chartres-Aris explore disability through the lens of a communication perspective and unlearning our internalized ableism as a necessary step for all of us.
TEDx: Humbling Systemic Design #RSD14
Zaid Khan’s TEDx talk is a good prelim to Humbling Systemic Design: Learning when not to intervene in complex social systems with Samah Kamalmaz at #RSD14 on OCT 9.
TEDx talk is 9:44 min on YouTube.
think different
Universities are designed around analysis and reductive inquiry. Businesses function around departments of specialization. Governments are reductive in both stance and approach. These dominant strategies have all worked well for large numbers of people, but there is a growing unease about the dominant strategy.
Simplifying Complexity: Sean Brady in conversation with Dave Snowden
How the Cynefin Framework aids in people management and how leaders can use it to distinguish between ordered, complex, and chaotic systems. He also addresses the limitations of traditional systems thinking and the role of AI in modern decision-making.
CMMi—On Relational Construction with Sheila McNamee
CMM community conversations—What are you constructing in your relationships? Sheila McNamee’s work is focused on dialogic transformation within a variety of social and institutional contexts including psychotherapy, education, healthcare, organizations, and communities.
CMMi—On Designing Complex Conversations with Celiane Camargo-Borges
CMM community conversations—How do we understand the complexity of who we are and who we are becoming? Abbie and Celiane use social construction as a framework to explore forming futures, intent v. impact, “good” design, and sustainability transitions.
CMMi—Predictions, Expectations, and the Neurobiology of Sensemaking with Rachel Lilley
CMM community conversations—Abbie and Rachel are two ’embodied minds’ exploring the neurobiology of sensemaking. Rachel Lilley’s RSD13 keynote and Sightlines article are available on RSDsymposium.org.
When the Culture Is Strong, the Movement Is Strong
A powerful reading of Marge Piercy’s poem by Staceyann Chin. A celebration of what is possible when we work and imagine collectively.
On Emergent Sensemaking and Social Cohesion
CMM Podcast: Abbie and Karina Solsø discuss emergent sense-making the tensions of plurality by embracing not knowing and creating social coherence through the responsibility of ethics.
Timothy Jackson: Evolutionary biologist and toxinologist
Person of interest: Timothy Jackson on Guattari’s Chaosmosis, traverses subjectivity, systems theory, and the creative force of ethico-aesthetic practices in complex worlds. Machinic Unconscious Happy Hour.
Annual Mike Jackson Lecture with John Seddon
John Seddon is the author of several books, which represent the backbone of his work with many private and public organisations, exposing the fallacies of command-and-control management, such as reliance on targets, incentives, and standardisation, as fundamentally flawed.
Design Forge 2025 Sessions on Youtube
All 17 videos from Elon U’s annual convening of design thinking educators, practitioners, and thought leaders.
Shaping the Future of Context-Based Sustainability
The context-based sustainability community of practice meeting has several key updates from Jon Beale (Local Futures project) and Bill Baue (r3.0.org, Bioregional Caring Capacities initiative).
DOGE and the United States of AI
Justin Hendrix in conversation with four individuals who are following DOGE closely: Eryk Salvaggio, Rebecca Williams, Emily Tavoulareas, and Matthew Kirschenbaum. Podcast & transcript. (Image from Salvaggio’s film “Human Movie: Meditations on a Compression Algorithm.”)
The RSD13 Playlist is filling up
The RSD13 playlist now has 26 videos. Just added: One Cohort Reflects with Gina Belle, Angela Meyer, Tim Tompson, and Cameron Tonkinwise. More to come.
Service Design YAP: Community podcast from SDN-UK
Each episode profiles a member of the design community, exploring the lessons they’ve learned on their career path and the hearing their favourite design war stories.
Launch of the Planetary Civics Inquiry
All four events from the launch of the Planetary Civics Inquiry (Feb 2024). Hosted by Dark Matter Labs, Politics for Tomorrow, and RMIT University; with support from the RISD Center for Complexity.
Podcast: Two Inconvenient Women
In a world which can feel increasingly volatile and uncertain, join Holly and Rachel as they explore some of the inconvenient truths, possibilities and opportunities of our rapidly changing world.