Zack Nelson is the creator of JerryRigEverything, a YouTube channel mostly about technology. With over 1.6 billion channel views, you’ve probably seen one of his many videos taking apart phones, testing their durability, or showing you how to repair them.  Or maybe you’ve seen his videos on electric vehicles: he built his own electric Hummer.    Zack is also interested in accessibility issues and created an off-road electric wheelchair called the Not-a-Wheelchair and is developing a new,...

Cassandra Aarssen the world’s leading expert on decluttering and organizing. She helps people to understand why we have such a hard time dealing with all the stuff in our lives. In addition to general organizing advice, I wanted to have Cas on the show to help the artists and creative people who listen to this show with our workspaces. I’ve talked to thousands of people who seem to have the same struggles and challenges when it comes to their workshops and studios. We save every weird screw...

Within 5 years, the U.S. is likely to reach a critical juncture where is will be difficult to hire anyone to fix a leaky pipe or worse, repair a structural problem with your house. Ethan James is a leader at the forefront of research and education on the trade labor shortage. In this episode of The WTS we discussed what is being done to encourage young people to learn a trade and fill the massive gaps being created by an aging workforce of skilled tradespeople who are reaching retirement...

Morgan Eckroth is the reigning US Barista Champion who finished second in the 2022 World Barista Championship. Morgandrinkscoffee is a blend of real world experience, practical advice, art, education, business, and pure entertainment: all revolving around coffee.   In a sea of angry videos, cynical videos, confrontational videos, endless clickbait and short-attention span noise, Morgan's short form videos are a breath of fresh air. These videos are brief vignettes recreating simple, quiet,...

Basia Adamiec is a metalsmith and silversmith who crafts fine jewelry and shares her work with the world on her YouTube channel, The Art of Metalsmithing, a great resource for learning the tools and techniques needed to make your own jewelry and become a jeweler. Check out her work:   https://www.youtube.com/@TheArtOfMetalsmithing    Support The WTS at https://www.patreon.com/thewts    Website: https://www.thewtspodcast.com/ 

Benjamin Sinclair is the bass player for The Beths, as well as a hand tool woodworker. He also plays saxophone and keeps a detailed online journal of his experiences touring on the road. In this episode, we talk about art, performing with The Beths, and the convergence of creative interests.  Read Ben's travel blog Listen to The Beths on Spotify Support The WTS

It was fun to catch up with Jason Hibbs from Bourbon Moth Woodworking and talk about the life cycle of woodworkers on YouTube, the Airstream cult, and why TV can't draw any audience for woodworking shows. We also have a formal statement from Blacktail Studio about the river table debate.    Bourbon Moth on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Bourbonmoth Help support The WTS: https://www.patreon.com/thewts 

Jon is a graffiti artist and teacher whose videos transcend mere education and touch upon other topics and philosophy in the world of art. In this episode we get into the future of art and how artificial intelligence can create art much quicker and, in many cases, just as good as humans. Will we really need human artists for most art creation, especially commercial art and graphic design?   Jon's video, The END of ART. https://youtu.be/x6cjWvjf220    Support the podcast:...

Help support The WTS: https://www.patreon.com/thewts     Kseniya Simonova's art is engaging, challenging, emotional, and inspiring…and she does it all with sand. Real-time stories, performed with sand.   I first discovered Kseniya back in 2019 when I saw her perform on America’s Got Talent and was sent directly to the finals when Terry Crews gave her the golden buzzer. She also was a finalist on Britain’s Got Talent, and the winner of Ukraine’s Got Talent.   Kseniya has performed in...

Justin McElroy is a comedian, voice actor and podcaster known for long running podcasts such as Adventure Zone, Sawbones,  My Brother, My Brother, and Me, and more. Woodworking has been his life’s work since late May of 2020. In this episode we talk about woodworking, podcasting, comedy, and how I caught a cold.    Check out all the McElroy stuff: https://www.themcelroy.family/ How to fake in interest in woodworking: https://youtu.be/3atB76oL7yk    Support the podcdast:...

Support the podcast at: https://www.patreon.com/thewts    Cam Anderson from Blacktail Studio is back for the 3.5th time to talk about epoxy, big slabs of wood, and YouTube.   Blacktail Studio is still the most popular woodworking channel on YouTube, recently passing 2 million subscribers, a significant number of whom are probably hate-watching. (You know who you are.) Cam's got over 227 million channel views…and that’s off the success of full-length videos, not shorts.    His videos...

  Bonsai is an artform unlike any other in the amount of time, dedication and patience it takes to see results. It’s a form of sculpture that can take years to see how your efforts will take shape. Bonsai trees can be centuries old and require very special care to keep them beautiful and healthy.   And that’s where Darren George comes in. Darren describes himself as a bonsai practitioner. On his YouTube channel, Gro Bonsai, you'll learn what it takes to grow and maintain bonsai trees, and...

Anne-Marie Faiola has created a soapmaking empire with Bramble Berry, a company she founded in 1999 in a 400 square foot space. Today she is CEO, the company has more than 100 employees   With over 60,000 customers, Bramble Berry is THE place to shop online for supplies and kits as well as being a vast educational resource for people getting into the craft of soapmaking or starting their own businesses.    And one of those resources is the Bramble Berry YouTube channel where Anne-Marie...

With the Halloween season upon us, I’m happy to have Jaime Nakae and Jay Grenier joining me back on the podcast.   Their YouTube channel, Wicked Makers, is THE place to go for all your DIY Halloween decorating needs. You can learn how to make spiderwebs, creepy skulls, haunted mirrors, floating ghosts, pirate chests and much more.   Suppoprt The WTS! https://www.patreon.com/thewts  Wicked Makers on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/WickedMakers 

Jared Polin started posting videos on YouTube in 2008 and has been grinding ever since. His channel Fro Knows Photo is a great place to learn photography and keep up with the latest cameras, gear and photography news.   In this episode we catch up with Jared's business, YouTube, the craft of photography, what kind of gear to consider, and ways you can get better shots.    Jared's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/froknowsphoto   Become a WTS+ member at...

Support the podcast by becoming a WTS+ member: https://www.patreon.com/thewts    Florian Gadsby is a ceramicist who creates hand thrown stoneware and pottery out of his studio in North London. He’s made thousands of exquisite cups, mugs, bowls, vases, jars and more which he sells on his website at floriangadsby.com. About 5 or 6 years ago he began diligently  posting his work daily on instagram and hasn't missed a day since.   Three years ago Florian began making and posting videos on...

Enjoy the podcast? Become a WTS+ member! https://www.patreon.com/thewts    What exactly was Andy Warhol trying to say with his Marilyn Monroe series? Why are people emotionally moved, sometimes to tears, by viewing a large, geometric shape of color painted by Mark Rothko? Why does Nighthawks by Edward Hopper feel so cold and lonely? What makes Michaelangelo’s David different from other depictions of David? Who was the Mona Lisa and why was painting her so radical? What makes the paintings...

Please help support the WTS! https://www.patreon.com/thewts    This is one of the most kickass stories you’re going to hear on this podcast. Of all the artists and makers I’ve talked to, none have embodied the DIY spirit of this show more than filmmakers Toby Poser, John Adams, and their two daughters, Zelda and Lulu: The Adams Family. They are the ultimate DIY family: they take turns acting and directing, they write the screenplays, they are cinematographers, camera operators, carpenters,...

Please consider supporting The WTS and becoming a WTS+ member. https://www.patreon.com/thewts    Grady Hillhouse is a civil engineer and creator of Practical Engineering, a YouTube channel devoted to explaining the man-made infrastructure of the world surrounding us. His videos teach us about how aquifers and dams work, or how water towers supply our homes with water. You’ll learn about the importance of culverts, how pavement works, and how electrical transmission lines and traffic signals...

Please consider supporting the show at https://www.patreon.com/thewts Become a WTS Patron or a WTS+ member.    My goal with the WTS is to bring you quality conversations with people at the top of their fields, people with unique artistic visions and worldviews, people with practical building skills, and creative people with engaging personalities.    While The WTS Podcast is still a passion project, it takes a toll on my "day job" due to the amount of time I’m pulled away from my YouTube...

This week I talked to Sam Raimondi, the DIY Huntress, in her professional capacity as a psychologist to see if she can offer us all some strategies for dealing with the funk we all seem to be in after the past couple years. It’s great to have hobbies to give us an outlet to relieve some of the stress we feel, but with inflation, the cost of materials, looming recession, and general uncertainty, it can be pretty hard to pursue those activities.    We also explored the role of social media...

Martina and Hansi are the Norwegian duo behind Nerdforge, a YouTube channel devoted to creating art and building projects often with a fantasy and swords and sorcery focus.   In this episode we talked about how they make books, armor, models, dioramas, and much more. And we discussed how Martina lost a finger using a tablesaw.    Visit Nerdforge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Nerdforge    The WTS Website: https://www.thewtspodcast.com/ 

Jon Grim is a clear voice and advocate for graffiti culture, as well as an art mentor drawing on the history of the medium to teach and refine techniques used by graffiti artists. On his youtube channel, The Artist Block you’ll learn about the typography associated with tags, tools for painting and bombing, styles of graffiti, and what to look for when evaluating tags, throw-ups, and pieces. You’ll also learn about the culture and impact of graffiti and its place within the larger world of...

Scott Reeder is a Hollywood prop master who is responsible for everything actors touch on a film or television set. A big part of his job is sourcing or creating realistic objects that look like the real thing, but are safe for the actors to use, such as bottles you can bust over someone’s head, glass shards you can chew on or roll around on, retractable knives, or non-alcoholic whiskey. But he is also called on to create props that won’t interfere with the sound recording on set…things like...

Chris Berry is a professional house painter who's been posting videos on his YouTube channel, Paint Life TV for the past 11 years. It's a show where you can learn everything about painting your own home, or how to become a professional painter.     In this episode, we talked about how to decide if you should hire a pro or paint your home yourself, the tools of the trade, how to begin a lucrative career as a painter, and current trends.   Get my monthly newsletter:...