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Design Economics Podcast with Vinny Tafuro

Design Economics Podcast with Vinny Tafuro

Institute for Economic Evolution, Inc. 20 Episodes Aug 17, 2026

This podcast explores how design thinking can transform economics for the 21st century. Host Vinny Tafuro discusses the Institute for Economic Evolution's three tenets of design economics. Listeners meet pioneering thinkers who challenge economic orthodoxy and create human-centered solutions. The show aims to evolve economics to better serve humanity and the environment.

Episodes

EP 21 Jody Levison-Johnson: Five & Rising; The Economy's Unfunded Engine
EP 21 Jody Levison-Johnson: Five & Rising; The Economy's Unfunded Engine Aug 17, 2026 3980 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 Social Current, a national network of nearly 1,800 human service organizations, and the founder of Five & Rising, a movement to revalue, reframe, and rebuild how the s
EP 20 Erin Hotchkiss: Fragments & Frameworks; Translating Silos Into Systems
EP 20 Erin Hotchkiss: Fragments & Frameworks; Translating Silos Into Systems Jul 27, 2026 3649 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 blindspots, leading to three tenets that unite fragmented movements. From care privilege and solidarity economics to B Corps and Employee Ownership Trusts, great i
EP 19 Misty Heggeness: Swiftynomics; Taylor Swift & the Women Economics Ignored
EP 19 Misty Heggeness: Swiftynomics; Taylor Swift & the Women Economics Ignored Jul 6, 2026 4401 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. Misty reveals how the economics profession has long ignored the contributions of women in the labor market, in households, and in the data itself. Th
EP 18 Holly McCann: Growing Local; Blue Ridge Blueprint for a Local Food Economy
EP 18 Holly McCann: Growing Local; Blue Ridge Blueprint for a Local Food Economy Jun 15, 2026 4276 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 her path from Silicon Valley corporate attorney to regenerative systems designer, and explains why food is where you have to start when rebuilding an economy
EP 17 Masami Sato: Woven In; Embedding Impact by Design
EP 17 Masami Sato: Woven In; Embedding Impact by Design May 26, 2026 3453 Join host Vinny Tafuro for a conversation with Masami Sato, founder and CEO of B1G1, a Singapore-based social enterprise and certified B Corp that has generated over 395 million giving impacts across more than 50 countries. Masami traces her path from a shy, introverted young woman who left Japan at 20 with little money and no English, to food entrepreneur, to living alongside farmers in
EP 16 Miren Oca: Exit While They Slept; Employee Ownership & the Perpetual Trust
EP 16 Miren Oca: Exit While They Slept; Employee Ownership & the Perpetual Trust May 4, 2026 3542 Join host Vinny Tafuro for a conversation with Miren Oca, founder and CEO of Ocaquatics Swim School, who built a Miami swim instruction institution over 32 years before transferring 100% of it to her employees through a perpetual Employee Ownership Trust on the company's thirtieth anniversary. Miren walks through why she walked away from private equity, how the EOT compares to ESOPs and w
EP 15 Helena Norberg-Hodge: Local Futures; Happiness as a Cure
EP 15 Helena Norberg-Hodge: Local Futures; Happiness as a Cure Apr 13, 2026 3861 Join host Vinny Tafuro for a conversation with Helena Norberg-Hodge, founder of Local Futures and pioneer of the new economy movement. Helena traces the economic forces that transformed Ladakh, a self-sufficient Himalayan culture untouched by the global economy until the 1970s, and what that experience revealed about the relationship between economic design and human happiness. From the d
EP 14 Tom Llewellyn: Borrow Don't Buy; Tools, Trust & The Commons
EP 14 Tom Llewellyn: Borrow Don't Buy; Tools, Trust & The Commons Mar 4, 2026 3927 Join host Vinny Tafuro for a conversation with Tom Llewellyn, Executive Director of Shareable, exploring what a genuine sharing economy actually looks like. Tom traces the roots of community sharing infrastructure from the first tool libraries of the 1970s through 2,000+ Libraries of Things operating worldwide today, and examines mutual aid as a proven economic model — not charity. With t
EP 13 Pam Shockley-Zalabak: The Trust Deficit: Economics' Costly Blind Spot
EP 13 Pam Shockley-Zalabak: The Trust Deficit: Economics' Costly Blind Spot Feb 2, 2026 3270 Join host Vinny Tafuro for a compelling conversation with Dr. Pamela Shockley-Zalabak, former Chancellor of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs and leading researcher on organizational trust. Their discussion explores the 50-year decline in social trust, reveals how the 2016 election exposed a crisis in social capital, and examines why orthodox economics has ignored trust despite
EP 12 John Feldman: Documenting Revolution, Scientific Paradigm Shifts
EP 12 John Feldman: Documenting Revolution, Scientific Paradigm Shifts Jan 12, 2026 3345 Join host Vinny Tafuro and guest John Feldman, filmmaker and founder of Hummingbird Films, for a conversation about how ecological documentaries challenge scientific orthodoxy. Over his forty-year career, John's work has evolved from defending traditional evolutionary theory to documenting how cooperation and symbiosis drive evolution and ecological health. Their conversation explores how
EP 2.4 Tonya Donati: Growing Slow is Sexy: Kombucha, B Corps & Patient Capital
EP 2.4 Tonya Donati: Growing Slow is Sexy: Kombucha, B Corps & Patient Capital Dec 2, 2025 2843 Join host Vinny Tafuro and guest Tonya Donati, Founder and CEO of Mother Kombucha, for a conversation about building a certified B Corp through bootstrapped, regional growth. Tonya's journey from occupational therapist to beverage entrepreneur reflects a shift in business fundamentals—rejecting the venture capital model in favor of profitability, community anchoring, and stakeholder capit
EP 2.3 Walter Balser: Decentralization & Paradigm Shifts in K-12 Education
EP 2.3 Walter Balser: Decentralization & Paradigm Shifts in K-12 Education Nov 10, 2025 2787 Join host Vinny Tafuro for an engaging conversation with guest Dr. Walter Balser, Clinical Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Florida. Dr. Balser teaches graduate courses on organizational leadership, technology leadership, and qualitative research methods, and his research examines the changing education ecosystem from the standpoint of decentra

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