Maggie Zhang
Correspondent
she / her
At work:
Maggie is a Design Program Manager at Spotify. She’s also worked with companies like IDEO, Substack, Sidewalk Labs, and Daily tous les jours—and once traveled around the world to start her own publication, Commonplays. She loves working with creative communities, as well as all forms of storytelling.
At play:
Maggie writes about design and innovation at Commonplays. She also loves cooking healthy foods and exploring the outdoors.
Get to Know Maggie:
Learn more about Maggie, the founder of Commonplays, a publication about how design and innovation transforms communities, *and* our new podcast correspondent.
Maggie’s EpisodeS:
An interview hosted by Mia Quagliariello, Maggie Zhang, and Mira Zhang (Maggie’s little sister) with Ashley Hackworth, a savvy community builder who’s a leading force in A.R.M.Y. (adorable representative MC for youth), the K-pop supergroup BTS’s incredibly loyal, benevolent, and powerful fan base.
We talked with Ashley about how fans gather initially around BTS’s music, and then stay and unite for bigger causes.
An interview hosted by Bailey Richardson and Maggie Zhang with Sarah Leung, the eldest daughter of the Leung family who started the blog The Woks of Life. The family of four started the blog to stay connected while living oceans apart.
We talked with Sarah about role modeling stories and conversations to spark a greater community.
An interview hosted by Maggie and Bailey with Charlie Todd who formed Improv Everywhere, a comedic performance art group based in New York City. They aim to delight strangers through positive pranks.
We talked with Charlie about why people participate in these weird, wonderful prank missions and what has kept him energized over 19 years running Improv Everywhere.
An interview hosted by Bailey and Maggie with Joe Robinson, founder of Designers + Geeks which is a mashup of his personal interests--design, art, and technology.
We talked with Joe about the nuts and bolts of creating an ongoing event series, making divisions like paid vs. free events, formatting, and cadence.
An interview hosted by Bailey and Maggie with Jonathan Carey, Associate Places Editor and Community Headmaster at Atlas Obscura which garners travel tips, articles, strange facts and unique events shared by travel enthusiasts around the world.
We talked with Jonathan about Atlas Obscura’s processes to capture and supercharge contributors on the platform.
An interview hosted by Maggie and Bailey with Cindy Au. Cindy built the early communities at Kickstarter, Zagat, and now, Brainly, the world's largest peer-to-peer learning community.
With over a decade of experience, Cindy shared how she learned by walking in the shoes of users, and how she fostered a team of niche experts that served sub-communities.
An interview hosted by Bailey and Maggie with Shana Sumers, Head of Community at HER social app, the largest community and dating app for LGBTQ+ womxn and queer people.
We talked with Shana about how the HER community has pushed Shana as a moderator, role model and leader, and how she supports superusers to take on moderation roles in the community.
An interview hosted by Bailey and Maggie with Elena Favilli, the founder and CCO of Rebel Girls, a media company dedicated to inspiring the next generation of brave and confident girls.
We’ll talk with Elena about testing ideas with her audience at scale, curating stories that inspire change, and launching a Kickstarter campaign to build community, not just raise funds.
An interview with Ivan Cash, an interactive artist, filmmaker, and director of “A Social Distance” hosted by Bailey and Maggie. Ivan Cash’s people-driven art projects—emails transcribed by hand, conversations with strangers on the street, a collection of home videos during a pandemic—break a social code and take us below the surface-level.
We talk with Ivan about how personal pain points can transform into superpowers, how he turns ideas into action, and how to craft a collaborative project so that it is exciting to participants and press.
In his senior year of college, Ankit Shah founded Tea With Strangers to meet people he'd never gotten the chance to. Today, it's a global community organization. Hundreds of hosts who have brought more than 50,000 people in 25 cities together in real life for small, meaningful group conversations.
In his personal and professional life at Airbnb and now Facebook, “social courage” is the driving force in everything Ankit does. From neighborhood gatherings to global tea times, we talk with Ankit about facilitating connection and leading organizations that increase our sense of belonging.
Pei-Ru Ko is the founder and Jovida Ross is the executive director of Real Food Real Stories, a nonprofit on a mission to humanize the food system. Guided by a belief that food and story connect us, they host free monthly gatherings, annual story slams, and a podcast. Local chefs, cookbook authors, and food entrepreneurs gather to share their personal stories and motivations for why they do what they do. In this episode, we learn about the power of generous listening, how food plays a role in community-building, and what it’s like to transition leadership of a community.
An interview hosted by Bailey Richardson and Maggie Zhang with Evan Hamilton, the Director of Community at Reddit, a network of hundreds of thousands of communities who come together over shared interests.
We talked with Evan about how he has built trust with moderators at scale.