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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 to Don LaPre to PR emails to Donald Trump to a variety of elephants—plus a famous photo of a man and the fake dead triceratops he supposedly killed.
Links for this episode:
—Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country
Squarespace (Visit squarespace.com/backtowork and use the code ITSYOURSHOW to get a free trial and 10% off your new website).
Casper (Sleep better in 2016 by visiting Casper.com/BackToWork and use the code BACKTOWORK for $50 towards your new mattress).
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 ruminative discussion of the Mast Brothers chocolate dust-up and what it might say about our sense of story, identity, and "authenticity."
Links for this episode:
TextExpander 5 (Visit SmileSoftware.com/b2w to download a free demo of TextExpander and improve your communication today).
lynda (Visit lynda.com/backtowork to get free 10-day trial access to their 3,000+ courses).
GoToWebinar (Get started with GoToWebinar today! You focus on the content. GoToWebinar handles the rest. Visit to GoToWebinar.com today to learn more).
TOPIC: Maybe quit being so "busy."
This week, Dan and Merlin drop a lot of science on the miraculous taxonomies of Judaica. Mazel Tov!
For the big topic, Merlin launches into an animated jeremiad on words meaning things, with a focus on being terminally "busy" versus being willfully "time-constrained."
Links for this episode:
Freshbooks (Visit the link to try FreshBooks free for 30 days and enter 'Back to Work' in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section during sign up).
Casper (Visit Casper.com/BackToWork and use the code BACKTOWORK to get $50 towards any mattress choice).
GoToWebinar (Get started with GoToWebinar today! You focus on the content. GoToWebinar handles the rest. Visit to GoToWebinar.com today to learn more).
TOPIC: Sunrise, Sunset.
This week, Dan and Merlin celebrate their 250th episode with an extensive discussion of McDonaldland and its horrific culture and citizenry.
The main topic addresses the ““sunsetting”” of the Mailbox iOS app—and what it highlights about deciding where to put our stuff, what apps we choose to use, and what contingency plans it's probably wise to have in place.
Links for this episode:
Younity (Stream and share all the media on your computer from your iPhone or iPad for free at getyounity.com).
Slack (Visit Slack.com/backtowork and create a new team and you’ll get $100 in credit you can use when you decide to upgrade to a paid plan).
lynda (Visit lynda.com/backtowork to get free 10-day trial access to their 3,000+ courses).
TOPIC: Personal Crazy Walls
This week, Dan and Merlin start by covering a lot of things that you might actually be thinking of.
The meat of the episode focuses on a listener question about deciding what things go where—leading to a pretty nerdy exegesis of Notes vs. text files, reminders vs. task managers, and where stuff goes vs. where it probably should go.
Links for this episode:
Younity (Stream and share all the media on your computer from your iPhone or iPad for free at getyounity.com).
Freshbooks (Visit the link to try FreshBooks free for 30 days and enter 'Back to Work' in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section during sign up).
Squarespace (Get a free trial and 10% off your first purchase when you use the code ITSYOURSHOW).
TOPIC: More Songs About Buildings and Food
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about transitions, microwave ovens, air conditioning, and the likelihood of salmonella.
Links for this episode:
TextExpander (Visit SmileSoftware.com/b2w to download a free demo of TextExpander and improve your communication today).
Freshbooks (Visit the link to try FreshBooks free for 30 days and enter 'Back to Work' in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section during sign up).
TOPIC: A Mark on a Page
This week, Dan and Merlin kick off by talking about Dan's recent interview with "Weird Al" and how he's such an interesting harbinger of changing times for media and platforms.
Next, Merlin responds to a listener's question about how he uses a notebook, which leads to an extended dissertation on how to ruin your notebook in the best way possible. Nothing doesn't go in here.
Links for this episode:
We’ve been asked more than once to have a compendium of all of these reviews. This is it.
lynda (Visit lynda.com/backtowork to get free 10-day trial access to their 3,000+ courses).
Hover (You can get 10% off your first purchase by going to Hover.com and using the code LIBRARYELF at checkout).
TOPIC: Medieval or Renaissance?
This week, Dan and Merlin start out by helping listeners learn to identify the subtle differences between all things Renaissance and Medieval.
The remainder of the show is split between an in-depth introduction to the Plex media ecosystem, and a philosophical and practical meditation on choosing how to spend a given day.
Links for this episode:
Slack (Visit Slack.com/backtowork and create a new team and you’ll get $100 in credit you can use when you decide to upgrade to a paid plan).
Freshbooks (Visit the link to try FreshBooks free for 30 days and enter 'Back to Work' in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section during signing up)
Squarespace (Visit Squarespace.com/BackToWork and use the code ITSYOURSHOW for a free trial and 10% off)
Harry's (It's Movember! So go to Harrys.com now and you’ll get $5 off if you type in the code COMICS with your first order).
TOPIC: First impressions of the new Apple TV
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about the triumphs and travails of their first few days with the fourth generation Apple TV.
Links for this episode:
lynda (Visit lynda.com/backtowork to get free 10-day trial access to their 3,000+ courses).
Casper (Go and get $50 toward any mattress purchase by visiting Casper.com/BackToWork and use the code BACKTOWORK).
TOPIC: You are who you choose to be.
This week Dan and Merlin talk about making buying decisions, dealing with unsolicited email, preventing stupid from sticking to you, and finding systems that may or may not work.
Links for this episode:
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