Back to Work

TOPIC: Epistemology and Parenting as Dumpster Fire This week, Dan and Merlin end up talking a lot about what they don't know and how they know they don't know it. The biases, errors, and frames that ...

16 Feb 20161h 44min

TOPIC: Feelings, Slide Rules, and The Franklin Test This week Merlin hasn't had enough coffee and may have early-onset toxoplasmosis, so he and Dan respond to great feedback from listeners, mostly on...

9 Feb 20161h 45min

TOPIC: Information, Context, and Courage. This week, Dan and Merlin talk about the reaction to last week's episode about work and identity and respond to follow-up questions from listeners. Also, Me...

2 Feb 20161h 34min

TOPIC: Coder, Kayaker, Father, Person. This week, Dan and Merlin talk about Dan's attempt to vastly rejigger his schedule in the interest of mental and physical health. This leads to a long discussi...

26 Jan 20161h 37min

TOPIC: Say something funny. This week, Dan and Merlin talk about entertainment as a career and how difficult it can be to know whether you're suited for it. Plus, discussions of X-Men, San Francisco...

19 Jan 20161h 46min

TOPIC: Budgeting the Primary Secondary Project This week, Dan and Merlin do a deep dive on a very old and very thorny topic: managing time. Thing is: this is not about bookkeeping—it's about account...

12 Jan 20161h 13min

TOPIC: Elephants all the way down. This week, Dan and Merlin do a deep dive on communication, perception, persuasion, empathy, and understanding, as illustrated by everything from The Force Awakens t...

5 Jan 20161h 53min

TOPIC: Something something the things we own. This week, Dan and Merlin talk about the way shopping changes how we buy stuff—and how buying is changing what we can actually shop for. Then, there's a...

23 Dec 20151h 47min