A for Effort

By Mairead Shaw and Harry Turner

A game where longtime friends Harry and Mairead guess the meaning of words. Banter abounds! New episodes every other Thursday.... more

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FAQs about A for Effort:

How many episodes does A for Effort have?

The podcast currently has 48 episodes available.

A for Effort episodes:

April 16, 2020 30 L for Lax Evasion
In which Harry and Mairead discuss Netflix and tax justice.
For more on Netflix, Harry recommends the Netflix Wikipedia page, and this interview with Ted Sarandos, the current chief content officer for Netflix.
For more on tax justice, Mairead recommends the book The Triumph of Injustice by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman. She also references this Tweet about online brick and mortar stores.
We’re on instagram @aforeffortcast, with art by Marielle Wall. You can email us at [email protected].
Our music is “Chop Shop (Instrumental)” by White Flowers, and our logo is by ei8htz.
...more
24min
January 23, 2020 29 W for Word Camel Word Camel Word
In which Harry and Mairead discuss the economics of human migration and data science. No camels (or words) were hurt in the making of this episode.
For more about the economics of human migration, Harry recommends the special report on migration from The Economist. We also emphasize that we are not sponsored by The Economist.
For more about data science, Mairead recommends reading R for Data Science by Hadley Wickham and Garrett Grolemund.
We’re on instagram @aforeffortcast, with art by Marielle Wall.
Our music is “Chop Shop (Instrumental)” by White Flowers, and our logo is by ei8htz.
...more
21min
October 31, 2019 28 G for Great, moving on
In which Harry and Mairead discuss the silk road and immunization.
For more on the silk road, Harry recommends the book The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan.
Mairead's theme was inspired by news about outbreaks of measles related to low vaccination rates, like this episode of the podcast Today, Explained.
We’re on instagram @aforeffortcast, with art by Marielle Wall [Instagram, website].
Our music is “Chop Shop (Instrumental)” by White Flowers, and our logo is by ei8htz.
...more
19min
September 12, 2019 27 D for Derivative ABBA
In which Harry and Mairead discuss gardening and pop music.
Harry’s theme was inspired by gardening, and he Googled to find his terms.
For more on pop music, Mairead recommends the podcast Switched on Pop, this poster about complementary choruses, and this article about slant rhyme. She referenced the following songs: Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, Landslide by Fleetwood Mac, Oops!...I Did It Again by Britney Spears, You Need to Calm Down by Taylor Swift, and Take The Money And Run by The Steve Miller Band.
Our engineer is Nick Shoup.
We’re on instagram @aforeffortcast, with art by Marielle Wall.
Our music is “Chop Shop (Instrumental)” by White Flowers, and our logo is by ei8htz.
...more
23min
August 15, 2019 26 E for Example of Fallibility
In which Harry and Mairead discuss America at the turn of the 20th century and innovation.
For more on innovation, Mairead recommends The Entrepreneurial State by Mariana Mazzucato, and referenced articles about blue sky research and types of innovation.
Harry’s theme was inspired by the book Spoiled Brats by Simon Rich.
Our engineer is Nick Shoup.
We’re on instagram @aforeffortcast, with art by Marielle Wall [Instagram, website].
Our music is “Chop Shop (Instrumental)” by White Flowers, and our logo is by ei8htz.
...more
18min
June 06, 2019 25 P for Perfect
In which Harry and Mairead discuss Notre Dame/gothic architecture and persuasion theory.
For more on Notre Dame/gothic architecture, Harry recommends this article in The New York Times.
Mairead's terms were drawn from Conducting Research in Psychology: Measuring the Weight of Smoke by Brett W. Pelham and Hart Blanton (although that book is not specifically about persuasion theory; it's about research methods).
Our engineer is Nick Shoup.
We’re on instagram @aforeffortcast, with art by Marielle Wall.
Our music is “Chop Shop (Instrumental)” by White Flowers, and our logo is by ei8htz.
...more
21min
May 23, 2019 24 A for a-f-o-r-e-f-f-o-r-t-c-a-s-t
In which Harry and Mairead discuss the Pope and questionnaire development.
For more on the Pope/Catholic Church, Harry recommends this BBC guide to the Catholic Church and glossary of Roman Catholic terms.
For more on questionnaire development, Mairead recommends chapter 6 in Conducting Research in Psychology: Measuring the Weight of Smoke by Brett W. Pelham and Hart Blanton.
Our engineer is Nick Shoup.
We’re on instagram @aforeffortcast, with art by Marielle Wall [Instagram, website].
Our music is “Chop Shop (Instrumental)” by White Flowers, and our logo is by ei8htz.
...more
22min
May 09, 2019 23 G for Graveyard Basketball
In which Harry and Mairead discuss subatomic particles/theoretical physics and public radio jargon.
Harry's category was inspired by news of an even larger Large Hadron Collider. For more public radio jargon, Mairead recommends this NPR document, and her category was inspired by this interview of Ira Glass by Alex Blumberg.
Our engineer is Nick Shoup.
Our music is “Chop Shop (Instrumental)” by White Flowers, and our logo is by ei8htz.
...more
19min
March 15, 2019 22 W for Whipcracking
In which Harry and Mairead discuss the CIA and life in Berlin circa 1934.
For more CIA content, Harry recommends watching The Bourne Identity / Supremacy / Ultimatum.
For more on life in Berlin circa the 1930s, Mairead recommends In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. She also recommends his other books, like The Devil in the White City, if you’re interested in historical reconstructions.
Our engineer is Nick Shoup.
Our music is “Chop Shop (Instrumental)” by White Flowers, and our logo is by ei8htz.
...more
21min
February 22, 2019 21 I for I Don't Not Think That Was Clear
In which Harry and Mairead discuss aeroplanes and video game purchasing behaviour.
For more about aeroplanes, Harry recommends The Wild Blue Yonder: The Picador Book of Aviation by Graham Coster.
For more on video game purchasing behaviour, Mairead recommends this paper by Mark R Johnson and Yinyi Luo.
Our engineer is Nick Shoup.
Our music is “Chop Shop (Instrumental)” by White Flowers, and our logo is by ei8htz.
...more
18min

FAQs about A for Effort:

How many episodes does A for Effort have?

The podcast currently has 48 episodes available.