Today we’re going to be talking about postage stamps: the history and origin of them, who uses them and whether or not they’re still relevant in our age of email and mail order deliveries. And, of course, the art of it all and why stamps still matter today.

We touch on the controversy of who invented the stamp, the fraud associated with early mail and how the U.S. Postal Service misprinted a commemorative stamp for Swede Dag Hammarskjöld on purpose.

What do Betty Crocker, Charlie Tuna, Tony the Tiger and the oddball characters from Off Limits Cereal have in common? Along with fellow creatives Kirk Visola and Andy Kurtts of the “Kirk and Kurtts” design podcast, they were all our drinking buddies one evening!

We chewed the fat with Kirk and Andy about some classic characters and their impact on pop culture (and snacking), and why these same techniques invented decades ago still work today.

Cats have a long history in the world of advertising. In our latest episode, we invite friend and poster expert Paul Hennessey back into the bar to discuss the appeal of cat posters aesthetically and financially, discuss a few of our favorites and decode why their traits and quirks make them perfect for so many different types of products.

We’re revisiting one of our classic episodes.

Learn the origin stories of Goodyear’s blimps, Pixar’s lovable Luxo lamp, and how these adopted objects transcended their initial utility to become known around the world.

We’re revisiting one of our classic episodes.

Video may have killed the radio star, but it poured gasoline on the spark of New Wave. As MTV exploded, youth culture moved to center stage and companies making wearables were more than happy to cater to changing tastes. In this episode we focus on Vans and Swatch, a couple of iconic fashion accessories found on the wrists and feet of Gen X.

In the summer of 1994, the television show The Real World was filming in San Francisco. That same summer Elliot ended up in SF for an internship. One day those two worlds collided in a true Gen X moment.

In this episode we return to our mailbag as we take a step back from our typical subject matter to answer questions submitted by you, our listeners.

We’re talking music videos! And we have so much to share, we’ve broken this subject into two episodes. For today, we dusted off an older gem and coupled it with a more current one: a gritty and fun “Need You Tonight” from Australia’s INXS and Taylor Swift’s surreal technicolor dreamscape that is “ME!”

We examine how Lester Beall and Shepard Fairey used the art of the poster to make the big ideas of bringing electricity to rural parts of the United States and inspiring a nation to rally behind an unknown presidential candidate named Barack Obama easy to understand.

We’re revisiting one of our classic episodes.

Just in time for Halloween, we talk about the posters for B movies Tarantula and Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman plus the artist behind them both, Reynold Brown. Don’t ghost us. Give it a listen!

We've dug into the backs of our closets and dusted off a couple of favorite music videos from yesterday that are still killing it today: a-ha's illustrative "Take on Me" and Peter Gabriel's surreal "Sledgehammer." We discuss why they were made, the creative motivations for each and the unsung heroes (beyond the musicians) who brought these ideas to life and into our homes (and heads).

Our latest episode is for the thrill seekers. We're pitting roller coaster logos against each other. And not just any roller coasters...We're each representing our home states. Buckle up by pulling the restraint harness tightly against you, and grab a couple of quick high octane shots. We've got our hands up and our drink lids on tight... We're taking a high-speed drop back into the bar!

In honor of International Podcast Day, we’re taking a look back at our own origin story. How the podcast began, why we continue to do it and what could be coming next. It’s the story of two friends, one shared profession and the pop culture love that kickstarted it all.

Both eye-catching and informative, posters are one of the most highly collectible forms of design. They are used to promote products, places, events, art, political movements and almost anything else you can think of. Today we're joined by a special guest from across the Pond, Paul Hennessey, who owns two poster shops in the UK. We talk cats, food sauces, whether Paul may be Banksy and music posters for the Live Aid concerts and Duran Duran's album Rio.

The late '80s and the '90s were a golden age for magazines. With the World Wide Web a few years away, advertising dollars were being pumped into print and art directors and publishers did not disappoint with their offerings. In this episode we talk about Raygun, Wired, Rolling Stone and Vibe and the approaches of David Carson, Plunkett + Kuhr, Fred Woodward and Gary Koepke. Elliot also tells the story of trying to get an internship at one of these lauded publications.

The late '80s and the '90s were a golden age for Gen X music, even well beyond the long shadow of Nirvana's Nevermind. We flipped through the crates to prep for this episode. With sore fingers and tired eyes we walk through iconic albums by Bjork, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Pixies.

Gen X was coming of age during a time of cynicism and ironic detachment. A DIY attitude rooted in authenticity coupled with increasing access to personal tech and an explosion of choices in alternative media. And most importantly, lack of trust in corporations. Companies (and their marketing departments) had to think of ways to sell to those who didn’t want to be sold to... Advertisers like Benetton, the Gap and and Diesel Jeans undertook this task with some interesting results.

We’re revisiting one of our classic episodes.

Nothing brings the world together every couple of years like the Olympic Games. In this episode we discuss what did (or didn’t) happen in Denver in 1976 and the Technicolor vibrancy of Los Angeles in 1984.

Let’s plop down on the couch in your favorite record store or skate shop for a few minutes. It’s time to relive the end of the 1980s and begin a new decade of cultural change. In this episode we discuss what was in the news, the invention of the "slacker" character, the mood of skepticism, irony and emotional detachment that grew out of the glossy 80s, culture jamming and not selling out even as personal technology began to take hold. We also try to get to the bottom of whatever the term "alternative" actually meant.

Record albums. You know 'em. You love 'em. But do your favorites fall short when art overshadows music (or vice versa)? We invited a couple of buddies to the bar — Joe Watson and Toby Brazwell from the Riffs on Riffs podcast — for a conversation about a handful of desert island-level albums: how they sound, what they look like and if, ultimately, the combination works. We talk earworms, visual puns, the classic and the obscure, leveraging their expertise to make us look smart and their wallets to cover our tab.