Inside Cresconova Labs with Christine Braun

Host Eric Makelky talks with Christine Braun, Chief Creative Officer at Cresconova, about the framework behind Cresconova Labs, the organization's new in-person innovation space. Christine shares her path from furniture designer to Harvard Makerspace director to leading Cresconova Labs, then unpacks the core teaching philosophy: starting with beautiful, open-ended questions, moving through systems thinking, and into design thinking. The conversation turns to AI in education, where Christine introduces a practical human-AI interaction process—question, frame, unpack, own—that helps students engage with AI critically rather than accepting outputs at face value. She offers guidance for both AI-fearful and AI-permissive parents, emphasizing that understanding how AI works (and its built-in biases) empowers families to use it thoughtfully. The episode closes with book recommendations and a preview of the next conversation on experiential learning and flexible thinking.