Design Economics Podcast (Episode 24) For nearly 60 years, October headlines have announced the “Nobel Prize in Economics.” Alfred Nobel never created one. Sweden’s central bank simply invented it in 1968, borrowing the Nobel name and the authority that came […]
Coalition Interview: Jody Levison-Johnson
Holding Up the Economy: The Social Sector as Workforce Infrastructure As a social sector member of the Design Economics Coalition, Jody Levison-Johnson leads Social Current, a national network of more than 1,800 human service organizations, and its Five & Rising […]
Veronica Pesantes: Artist-Built Economies; Pooling, Sharing, Collecting Together
Design Economics Podcast (Episode 23) Veronica Pesantes’s contribution to a Prazzle feature on women in the art world named something Vinny had been circling for years: the decades of artistic work deferred by talented people who took a traditional career […]
Coalition Interview: Miren Oca
Ripples of Impact: Employee Ownership and Measuring What Matters As a business founder and thought leadership member of the Design Economics Coalition, Miren Oca has spent three decades building a company designed around people–one whose returns attracted private equity. Her […]
Caroline Shenaz Hossein: Credit & Community; The Banker Ladies’ Way
Design Economics Podcast (Episode 22) When Vinny discovered Caroline Shenaz Hossein’s The Banker Ladies in audiobook format, he had found something rare: rigorous scholarship on Black cooperative economics that’s accessible beyond the academy. Caroline is a Canada Research Chair in Africana Development […]
Jody Levison-Johnson: Five & Rising; The Economy’s Unfunded Engine (EP 21)
Design Economics Podcast (Episode 21) When Vinny came across Jody Levison-Johnson’s Forbes piece arguing that the social sector deserves to be treated as an economic engine, he reached out. That conversation became this episode. Jody is President and CEO of […]
Erin Hotchkiss: Fragments & Frameworks; Translating Silos Into Systems (EP 20)
Design Economics Podcast (Episode 20) Join host Vinny Tafuro and IEE board member Erin Hotchkiss for a special origin story episode celebrating ten years since the publication of Unlocking the Labor Cage. This episode traces how curious questions unearthed economic […]
Misty Heggeness: Swiftynomics; Taylor Swift & the Women Economics Ignored (EP 19)
Design Economics Podcast (Episode 19) Join host Vinny Tafuro for a conversation with Misty Heggeness, associate professor at the University of Kansas, former principal economist at the U.S. Census Bureau, and author of Swiftynomics: How Women Mastermind and Redefine Our Economy. […]
Holly McCann: Growing Local; Blue Ridge Blueprint for a Local Food Economy (EP 18)
Design Economics Podcast (Episode 18) Join host Vinny Tafuro for a conversation with Holly McCann, co-founder and Core Steward of Blue Ridge Foodshed Commons, a public benefit company catalyzing a self-sustaining local food economy in Western North Carolina. Holly traces […]

