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PODCAST

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present

An exploration of material culture with At Present Founder Marc Bridge. Marc is a Materialist. He loves things -- the things artists make, the things we sell, the things we make part of our our lives. But he was conflicted. Why do things matter? Why do creative people dedicate their lives to crafting them? What does it mean to obsess about what we buy, wear, and put in our homes. Are we destroying our planet, our children, and ourselves through this obsession? The Materialist Podcast is an

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All Episodes

48:47

The Materialist : Deux Amis

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2026/09/30

Danielle Zdanowski and Devin Zdanowski are husband and wife, business partners, and, before any of that, friends. A year into building a jewelry brand out of their New York apartment, they came on the show to talk about how it started, what they got wrong, and why nobody can predict which piece will sell.At Present Founder Marc Bridge with Deux Amis Founders Danielle Zdanowski and Devin Zdanowski at the Hotel Chelsea, New York City.Deux Amis means “two friends,” and Dani and Devin insist that’s the

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35:00

The Materialist : Erin Sachse Nathan

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2026/08/13

The designer behind ERINESS talks about getting discovered at 18, finding meaning in ladybugs, balancing creativity with commerce, and building a jewelry brand on her own terms.Erin Sachse Nathan never intended to start a jewelry company.She had been making things for as long as she could remember—knitting, building a camera out of wood and a drawer, and, beginning in seventh grade, making jewelry by hand. It was simply what she did: a way to work with her hands and create objects that made people

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56:45

The Materialist : Lauren Sherman

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2026/07/30

Lauren Sherman, of Puck and The Fashion People podcast, knows exactly how the fashion trick works. She understands the margins, the mythology and the machinery that turns a jacket into an object of desire. Amazingly, the trick still works on her.The most recent object to break through her professional defenses was a Chanel jacket from Matthieu Blazy’s first collection. Lauren wanted it since she saw it on the runway. When she finally tried it on, it connected her to the 13-year-old in Pittsburgh who

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45:34

The Materialist : Ivette Stephanopoulos

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2026/06/17

For this episode of The Materialist, host Marc Bridge sits down with Ivette Stephanopoulos — a 25-year jewelry industry veteran whose career has spanned nearly every corner of the business, from retail and GIA to De Beers, Tiffany, and David Yurman. Recorded on location at the Las Vegas shows, often described as the industry’s “Super Bowl,” the conversation moves from the emotional power of an engagement ring to the unresolved tension between natural and lab-grown diamonds, and from the rise of high

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43:31

The Materialist : Rob Bates

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2026/06/03

This episode of The Materialist is a little different.Usually, we talk with designers, tastemakers, collectors, and creators about the objects they love: the jewelry they wear, the pieces they make, the things they choose to bring into their lives. This conversation is about jewelry, but it is not really about looking at jewelry. In fact, Rob Bates says at one point, “I don’t really like looking at jewelry. It has no interest to me. And I’ve written about jewelry for 35 years.”That may be the

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37:56

The Materialist : Spicy Dan

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2026/04/02

Marc Bridge and Danielle Meyer, The Dominick Hotel, NYC, March 27, 2026What happens when a brand is built not from strategy decks or heritage training, but from instinct, speed, and a refusal to wait for permission?In this conversation, Danielle Meyer of Spicy Dan shares how her business has grown out of pure creative impulse—designing pieces she wants to exist, then refining them through real-time feedback from her community. The result is a brand that sits in a rare space: playful but intentional,

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66:26

The Materialist : Malaika Crawford

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2026/02/26

A conversation with Malaika Crawford on flex culture, gatekeeping, and why print still matters.There’s a moment in my conversation with Malaika Crawford—Editorial Director of Hodinkee Magazine, former fashion-world operator (Mel Ottenberg’s assistant in the Rihanna heyday), and current resident anthropologist of the watch internet—where she says the quiet part out loud:“Watches are like jewelry with logos. Period.”It lands because it’s true… and because so much of watch culture is built around

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57:43

The Materialist : Monica Stephenson

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2025/12/30

Marc Bridge and Monica Stephenson, Anza Gems Worldwide Headquarters, Seattle, WAMonica Stephenson is the kind of guest who makes you see a familiar object—one you might already love—like it’s brand new. In this episode of The Materialist, we sit together in her Seattle office overlooking Lake Union and the skyline, and we follow a thread that runs from the jewelry counter in a Midwest college town all the way to artisanal gem mines in East Africa—and then back again, into the hands of the designers

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56:29

The Materialist : Randi Molofsky

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2025/12/13

Marc Bridge and Randi Molofsky, The Peninsula Beverly HillsThere are people in the jewelry world who write about it, people who sell it, people who design it—and then there’s Randi Molofsky, whose superpower is weaving all of these worlds together. Randi doesn’t simply work in jewelry. She connects miners to designers, designers to retailers, and collectors to pieces that will live on their bodies and in their lives. She is a translator, mediator, curator, and—by her own admission—a sentimentalist

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35:31

The Materialist : Jenna Perry

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2025/11/12

In this episode of The Materialist, Marc Bridge sits down with celebrity colorist Jenna Perry, the artist behind the signature looks of Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and a generation of “It Girls.” Known for transforming hair into a medium of emotion, identity, and self-expression, Jenna shares how a childhood fascination with her grandmother’s salon visits evolved into one of New York’s most coveted creative businesses.She opens up about the emotional connection between women and their hair, why a

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64:21

The Materialist : Brynn Wallner

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2025/10/21

If you’ve peeked at modern watch culture in the last few years, chances are you’ve felt Brynn Wallner’s impact—whether you realized it or not. She’s the founder of Dimepiece, the platform that reframed watches through a lens that’s stylish, pop-cultural, and—crucially—women-forward. In our conversation for The Materialist, Brynn unspooled the origin story of Dimepiece, the pandemic moment that sparked it, and why a Cartier on a wrist can carry just as much meaning as a family heirloom or a diploma

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50:51

The Materialist : Lionheart

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2025/10/08

From a small town in Denmark to a sun-splashed bench in New York’s Diamond District, sisters Joy and Sarah Haugaard (the minds behind Lionheart) have built a jewelry universe where heritage, handwork, and human connection matter as much as gold and gemstones. In this conversation, we cover the origins of their partnership, Joy’s second-chance spark in 2020, the storybook that gave Lionheart its name, the community that sustains them, and why their clients don’t want what everyone else has—they want

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54:32

The Materialist : Charlotte Groeneveld

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2025/09/23

Marc Bridge and Charlotte Groeneveld at the launch dinner for The World of Charlotte Groeneveld, presented by At Present. Raf’s New York, September 9, 2025. Charlotte’s dress is by ALMADA Label, Necklace from At Present.Charlotte Groeneveld—aka The Fashion Guitar—joins me during New York Fashion Week to talk about how blogging became the creator economy, why authenticity (not algorithms) is her north star, and the thrill/terror of debuting our new jewelry capsule together. From front-row politics to

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55:40

The Materialist : Sommyyah Awan

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2025/09/16

Sommyyah Awan and Marc Bridge, Hotel Chelsea, New York City, September 13, 2025For this episode of The Materialist, recorded during New York Fashion Week, I sat down with Toronto-based content creator, communications strategist, and fashion multihyphenate Sommyyah Awan. Known for her irreverent and stylish “dual life” — corporate strategist by day, luxury fashion influencer by night — Sommyyah brings sharp insights on style, material culture, and what it means to live intentionally with objects.We

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54:46

The Materialist : Ruthie Friedlander

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2025/09/05

What does it take to translate timeless brands into the digital age—and what happens when you refuse to play by algorithmic rules? This week on The Materialist, I sit down with Ruthie Friedlander, a digital pioneer who has shaped how we see luxury fashion and jewelry online.Ruthie’s story defies linear career paths. She started as Dan Abrams’ assistant in the early days of Mediaite, carved out one of Chanel’s first digital roles, joined the Olsen twins at The Row when the company was barely 25

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50:20

The Materialist : Laura Herbert

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2025/09/02

On Instagram, it looks effortless: the infinity pools in the Maldives, the safari sunsets in South Africa, the couture fit checks against a perfect backdrop. Laura and Nicolas Herbert — known to their hundreds of thousands of followers as @laurandnicolas — seem to embody the ultimate lifestyle: global travel, editorial style, and a business powered by beauty.But as Laura reveals in this week’s episode of The Materialist, the dream is much more complicated.From Antwerp to EverywhereLaura began her

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58:46

The Materialist : Tiffany Lopinsky

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2025/07/23

This week on The Materialist, I’m joined by Tiffany Lopinsky — co-founder and president of ShopMy, the platform quietly powering your favorite creators.We cover a lot of ground: the evolution of influencer marketing, why affiliate and subscription revenue might just save the creator economy, and what it takes to build something useful, without a playbook.Tiffany speaks with the clarity of someone who’s seen behind the curtain — first as a content creator herself (shout out to Boston Foodies), and

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43:31

The Materialist : Victoria Gomelsky

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2025/07/09

Victoria Gomelsky and Marc Bridge Live from the Fabulous Venetian Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas.Welcome back to The Materialist. I recorded this special episode live from the jewelry shows in Las Vegas—the annual gathering point for the industry’s global village. Fittingly, I sat down with Victoria Gomelsky, Editor-in-Chief of JCK Magazine, contributor to The New York Times, and one of the most thoughtful chroniclers of the jewelry world for over two decades.Victoria and I talked about what keeps her

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46:25

The Materialist : Alysa Teichman

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2025/07/02

What do you get when a journalism grad, Dallas native, and self-described jewelry “nepo baby” builds a piercing empire in the middle of a pandemic? You get Wildlike—a brand that’s as much about identity, memory, and reinvention as it is about sparkle.This week on The Materialist, I sit down with my friend Alysa Teichman—co-owner of Ylang 23 and founder of Wildlike—to talk about the deeply personal reasons people get pierced (divorce, fertility, “hot girl summer”), the role jewelry plays in our

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43:22

The Materialist : Gigi Burris

The Materialist : A Podcast from At Present ·

2025/06/20

This week on The Materialist, I sit down with milliner and creative force Gigi Burris, founder of Gigi Burris Millinery and the nonprofit Closely Crafted, which champions artisanal production in the U.S.We talk about how Gigi went from sewing hats as a Parsons student to dressing Rihanna and being a CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund finalist—while keeping her studio (and her soft-coated Wheaten Terrier shipping manager, Brooklyn Bow) right in the heart of Chinatown. She shares what it means to build a niche

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42 results

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