Welcome to Traveling Through, a podcast hosted by David Prior, where we trace the places, encounters, and unexpected discoveries that have influenced some of today's most creative minds. Listen on Apple Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Athena Calderone is often described as a tastemaker, but she prefers to think of herself as a student. In the first episode of Traveling Through, she joins David Prior to discuss the places that forever changed the way she sees the world—and, in turn, the homes, tables, and experiences she creates today.
Calderone launched EyeSwoon in 2011 and has since become one of the defining voices in contemporary entertaining and design. Along the way, she has published bestselling books including Cook Beautiful and Live Beautiful, designed homes and product collections, and recently welcomed Architectural Digest into her newly completed Tribeca home for its April cover story.
“My lack of formal education, as well as my lack of travel and culture as a child, has just made me ripe for curiosity,” she says. That wide-eyed wonder for new people and places has never left her—from a pivotal first stay in a Moroccan riad and decades of family pilgrimages to Ibiza to finding unexpected inspiration at Hotel Sacher (of sachertorte fame) in Vienna.
In this episode, Calderone reflects on why travel has been her greatest teacher, reveals how to cultivate your own design sense while abroad, and explains why curiosity can often trump formal study.
Watch the full episode above, or listen by subscribing on Apple Music or Spotify.
