“You can’t fix the world unless you fix yourself.”

The catchy remark is one of design professor emeritus Bernard “Bernie” Roth’s many memorable “Bernie-isms,” now reaching new audiences through “Yellow-Eyed Cats”, a podcast that concluded this August. It was co-hosted by Roth and his former student Krista Donaldson M.S. ’98 Ph.D. ’04.

The show reimagines Roth’s Designer in Society class. Known for his human-centered design approach, Roth challenged his students to stop thinking about their future possibilities, and start taking action towards them. 

“The assignment was simple,” Donaldson explained in an episode released in May. “Do something you’ve always wanted to do but have never done, or handle a problem in your life. If you did your project, you passed. If not, you didn’t get credit.”

Projects ranged from finishing a book to reconnecting with estranged parents. One student decided to go camping for the first time. Another made it his mission to ask someone out. 

“It was a bold challenge to stop thinking, start doing,” Donaldson said.

In another episode, former student Janay Smith M.S. ’98 described how the class helped her face later setbacks, or, as she put it, “when I got stuck with a wet fish in my face.” Her biggest takeaway from Roth was learning that “everything in life is a choice.”

Smith credits the class as the launchpad for her career: her final project was performing a stand-up comedy set. Today, she’s a professional comedian.

Other episodes explored lessons from Roth’s class through new lenses. In “You’re Solving the Wrong Problem,” Roth and his guests discuss how reframing challenges can open new solutions. And in “Life is a Crapshoot,” Roth reflects on how chance shaped his career and why, sometimes, saying “yes” is the most important design decision of all.

Now retired at 91, Roth said the podcast has been a really positive experience. “Krista did all the work. I just had the fun,” he said. “We’d record on Zoom, and she’d come back two weeks later with this edited thing that was like, marvelous”

Roth, who co-founded Stanford’s d.school’s in 2005 with David Kelley, first arrived on campus in 1962. “When I started, my chairman told me, ‘Engineering is about things, not people,’” Roth told The Daily. “I ignored him — and then the world changed, it became human centered.”

Donaldson’s daughter, Avery Fringer ’28, helps run the podcast’s communications and social media. She described the project as a “legacy” for both her mom and Roth.

“She always talks about doing some sort of project with him to preserve the class, because he’s not teaching anymore, and so they started the podcast last summer,” Fringer said. 

For Roth, hearing from former students has been a highlight. “I’ll run into someone at Trader Joe’s and they’ll say, ‘I took your class 20 years ago, and it changed my life,'” Roth said.

In an email to The Daily, Donaldson wrote that part of the magic of learning from Bernie is “his quirkiness, his Bronx accent, his good nature, his laugh.” While the podcast doesn’t replicate the exact classroom format, its intimacy allowed listeners to feel part of the conversation with Bernie.

“I always told them: if you’re going to talk about it, do it,” Roth said. “Once you succeed, you’ll probably repeat.”