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The Firehouse Salon
Exploring big ideas through honest conversations to share insights for those who want to change the world. Inspired by the maverick spirit of 1960s adman Howard Luck Gossage, we bring diverse minds together to discuss not just how to make things, but make things that work. Join us as curious, iconoclastic, and obvious ideas collide at the Salon. Accompanies our BBC Radio 4 show 'The Socrates of San Francisco' - check it out on BBC sounds.
Episodes
24 episodes
Ep 23 - World's Ugliest Lawn - Gossagey Work
In this edition of the pod we discuss the influence of Howard Luck Gossage on modern advertising with guest Johan Gustafsson, Partner at the Swedish creative agency Differ. Johan shares insights on Differ's ethos of creating impact...
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39:53
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Ep 22 - LIVE LA - Can I be Honest?
Exploring the power of honesty and authenticity in Tech, Business, and Art. Our panel includes Elizabeth - An Olympic athlete with experience combining comedy & tech pitches.Julian - Tech entrepreneur and Immersive...
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Season 1
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Episode 22
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57:10
Ep 21 - If you're driving down the road...
Your hosts James King and Ashley Pollak dive into Gossage's legendary work, where he flipped advertising on its head by embracing radical authenticity.Ever heard of an ad that doesn’t even mention the brand? Gossage did just that.
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Season 1
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Episode 21
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18:37
Ep 20 - LIVE Ibiza - Crafting communities that stick
This episode features a rich discussion on building and sustaining interconnected, resilient communities transitioning from virtual to in-person interactions. Set in The Firehouse Salon at The Hub co-working space, the dialogue includes insight...
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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36:52
Ep 19 - Write a Letter
In this episode, hosts Ashley Pollak and James King discuss the lost art of letter writing. Turning to their patron saint, Howard Gossage, they explore how his letter writing turned ink into conversation and later collaborations with iconic fig...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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25:55
Ep 18 - Gossagey Work - Liquid Death
This episode features an insightful conversation with Andy Pearson, VP of Creative at Liquid Death. Discover how Liquid Death's unique approach to humour-driven, engaging, and purpose-driven marketing parallels Gossage’s philosophy. Andy shares...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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41:33
Ep 17 - LIVE - Don't be Absurd!
Our latest monthly online meetup bringing together diverse minds come together to discuss topics aimed at broadening perspectives.This episode host Ashley Pollak brings together a fantastic group of humans - Motorbike Innovator
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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46:57
Ep 16 - A Kangaroo, Tomato Paste & Pink Air
In this episode hosts Ashley Pollak and James King explore the groundbreaking work of advertising legend Howard Gossage, focusing on his use of absurdity and humour. They discuss how Howard challenged industry norms with campaigns like the Qant...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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21:49
Ep 15 - LIVE - Attention in an Attention Deficit Era
We delve into the multifaceted world of attention in today's digital age, traversing the spectrum of focused obsession and casual consumption, unravelling how attention works, its implications for both content creators and consumers.
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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41:21
Ep 14 - The International Paper Airplane Competition
Join hosts Ashley Polak and James King as they delve into the inventive world of advertising legend Howard Gossage. In this episode, they explore Gossage's unique approach to capturing attention through the ingenious paper airplane...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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17:49
Ep 13 - LIVE - Can coupons start conversations?
Welcome to The Firehouse Salon Live. In this episode Emma Stackhouse, Ashley Pollak, Sam Richardson, Adam Skuse, and Justin Obermann discuss how Gossage’s approach to interactive and participatory advertising is still relevant. The panel explor...
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38:48
Ep 12 - Dear Miss Afflerbach
"This is a story about an ad. It also says a good many implicit things about the ad-reading public...You can take a look at the ad hereTh...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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22:07
Ep 11 - LIVE - Can Advertising STILL create cultural phenomenons?
Join us as we recreate the Firehouse Salon that Howard Gossage and his gang ran in the 1960s. This month, we will be discussing a campaign created by Gossage which inspired a fashion revolution, and exploring if that's STILL possible today...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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46:58
Ep 10 - Beethoven Sweatshirts: Saving a classical radio station & kickstarting a cultural moment
A beer company, classical music radio station and clothes manufacturer walk into a bar... and create a never-seen-before product paving the way for fashion in years to come.
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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21:56
Ep 9 - LIVE - Radical Slick - Is Journalism still stirring the beehive?
In this live edition of the show join recovering journalist Pia Hinckle, New Yorker journalist Nick Romeo, Radio Producer Jago Lee, Writer James King and your host Ashley Pollak as we explore all things radical, including what it means to 'stir...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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38:44
Ep 8 - Ramparts magazine
In this episode we "uncover the largely untold story of Ramparts magazine, the spectacular San Francisco muckraker that captured the zeitgeist of the '60s and repeatedly scooped the New York Times, changing American journalism forever"<...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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40:10
Ep 7 - LIVE - The Creative Curator in the Age of AI
In this live edition Sherry Horowitz and Neil Davidson join our host Ashley to explore how Marshall McLuhan's predictions have to come to pass in the age of AI, and the role that creative people can play in leveraging the possiblities.<...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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30:38
Ep 6 - McLuhan, the Patron Saint of the Internet
In this episode we explore the ideas, observations and 'predictions' of Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian professor who Wired magazine called their patron saint.Our hosts on this episode - Ashley Pollak and James King, discuss the relevanc...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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35:29
Ep 5 - LIVE - Economics As If People Mattered
Join the Tediophobes and friends as we recreate the Firehouse Salon that Howard Gossage ran with his gang in the 1960s. In this second edition we bring togeth...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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57:34
Ep 4 - Small is Beautiful
In this episode we explore the economic concept 'Small is Beautiful' and it's relevance to the Howard Luck Gossage story. Howard always believed in keeping things small. His ad agency for example never grew beyond 12 staff, and his infa...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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15:53
Ep 3 - LIVE - If Just Stop Oil is the start of the marketing funnel to Save the World then we've got a problem...
Join the Tediophobes and friends as we recreate the Firehouse Salon that Howard Gossage ran with his gang in the 1960s. This time the goal of this workshop is to explore ideas of how t...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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1:10:45
Ep 2 - Now Only You Can Save Grand Canyon From Being Flooded... For Profit
In this episode we explore the Grand Canyon campaign - "It was the introduction of direct action and that was the first time it had ever happened. Now every political campaign or every cause, it's all about direct action. And they did it ...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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20:32
Ep 1 - Our journey to discover the Socrates of San Francisco
In this first episode hosts Sarah Luck Gossage and Ashley Pollak talk about how they both started on the journey to explore the life of Howard Gossage and how that led to the BBC Radio 4 documentary which was first broadcast on the 20th May 202...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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39:32
