Reconcilable Differences

It's that time of year again, so it is necessary to review some COVID era Vacation Results.

This week finds John perusing some of Merlin's homework. This leads to a discussion of the benefits and risks of educational tourism. Will there be any Math on this Math test?

John presents a new "Secret Brit," but it turns out that there is a Turns Out. For some reason, your hosts are really putting The British Empire on blast. Merlin is kind of out of it, and John is still thinking about his bug.

There's an aside about nature documentaries and the extent to which they are either "real" or legitimately educational. Still. They can be pretty great.

As nice as it is to get everyone out of the house, it's definitely not a normal Summer. But, it remains critical to periodically force children to go places.

Why are we still not throwing all of the assets at the problem? As ever, we have not earned optimism. Also, there is no motorcycle to drive up your steps, and, if there were, it would not be free.

Is this our 1943? John wonders what it will take to get critical mass, and Merlin explores wishlists for the after times.

(Recorded on Tuesday, August 15, 2020)

Sharing vacation adventures used to be fun. But during the pandemic, some travelers are content to let the tree fall in the forest, so to speak, without a single soul to hear it.

Apoorva Mandavilli is a reporter for The Times, focusing on science and global health. She is the 2019 winner of the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting.

A new report from South Korea throws into question an earlier finding regarding transmission by older children.

Modern Mac window management, haircut updates, plus a new segment we're calling "Secret Brit."

Things kick off with John rejecting some of Merlin's canny improvements to the doc. The doc really needs some work.

It doesn't get any easier as Merlin attempts to do a normal podcast thing, but John keeps stepping on his bit. John does that. Anyway. Thank you.

John has some follow-up on his haircut situation as well as sharing some important drop cloth advice.

Next up comes a potential new segment called, "Secret Brit." Is that guy English? And what about her? Is she that gal from the other thing? Merlin got out of Russian dashcam videos just in the nick of time. And, also, hey, why is it so difficult for streaming media apps and the hardware on which they run to do the most basic stuff? Just…why?

John wants to get Merlin off of the main topic mindset, and Merlin reminds John they really need to work on the doc.

In apparently not a main topic, your hosts talk about the state of modern Mac window management. There are things John has just given up on.

Merlin thinks he should maybe learn the basics of Statistics, but John thinks he should just learn some Logic. Merlin is not here for the Wagyu.

In the extended members-only episode, John and Merlin talk about s03e11 of Shark Tank. Yes, the one with the Sullivan Generator. Go to https://www.relay.fm/rd to become a member today.

(Recorded on Tuesday, July 28, 2020)

Dialect coach Erik Singer analyzes the accents of some of Hollywood's biggest names. How accurate were they really?

Fish and Plankton and Sea Greens and Protein from the Sea

The Coriolis effect describes the pattern of deflection taken by objects not firmly connected to the ground as they travel long distances around  Earth.

For a main topic, your hosts interrogate some additional axes for choosing media—especially the axis of available attention.

Things kick off with a huge thank you to everyone who gave Siracusa their money, followed by a survey of listener suggestions for the name of the member feed.

In follow-up, John shares some detailed updates on his chronically troubled toe. Merlin finds this content extremely challenging.

Merlin relates an upsetting Walgreens anecdote, and John shares his etymological research on when you learn the notes to sing. Merlin can't get his tween to one-ee-and-uh with him.

You really super-get this when you have a fresh baby. Legacy notions about the dangers of screen time are explored and debated. We can all agree that this is a tough time for kids and connection.

In the extended members-only episode, John and Merlin discuss the 2001 Satoshi Kon film, Millennium Actress. Go to https://www.relay.fm/rd to become a member today.

(Recorded on Tuesday, July 14, 2020)

Syllables are assigned to the notes of the scale and enable the musician to audiate, or mentally hear, the pitches of a piece of music being seen for the first time and then to sing them aloud. Through the Renaissance (and much later in some shapenote publications) various interlocking 4, 5 and 6-note systems were employed to cover the octave.

Things kick off with an announcement on a new way you can help support the program. Also: can you choose to be tricked by your own clocks? What if every clock is different? What even is time?

Please give Siracusa your money.

In follow-up, John has a very important haircut update. His barber was reluctant, and the experience was a little fraught. Do our ears and head really keep growing, or is that just a myth?

Merlin puts a hat on a hat on a hat, and John badly confuses his Mels.

Then, things move on to time. John has a history with clock manipulation and sometimes invites too many snoozes.

This turns into a broader meditation on punctuality and character. Are late people late for one reason or is it a whole situation? Can you know how long something takes until you really know how long it takes? Can you? (Spoiler: you cannot.)

John gets to the party early, and Merlin super hopes he actively offers to help with the crudités. Merlin used to be late for everything, and John interrogates how exactly that so drastically changed.

Also, why did we arrive at the airport six hours early, daddy? Breakfast muffin, honey. Please, just eat your breakfast muffin.

Merlin is grateful for people educating him (even when that's not their job). Unconscious bias is unconscious.

And, finally, Merlin had a pretty wild bug with the iOS beta, and you won't believe what happened next.

(Recorded on Tuesday, June 30, 2020)

"You’ll never guess what I’m trying to fix."

"Are you using a Smart Battery Case by any chance? If so, this is a known issue in Seed 1 which can be resolved by removing the case. Once Safari is working again, you can resume using it."

"I have a Carl Reiner story that I hold very dear to me. I figured I'd share it today, on the day of his passing, because I hope it will bring some other people some joy the way it does me."

'[Michael] Schur pays tribute to the comedy legend, who appeared on a 'Parks and Recreation' episode alongside Amy Poehler. "For 98 years, comedy flowed through Carl Reiner, and radiated off him, and followed him like an obedient hunting dog, ready to follow his commands."'

Unconscious biases are social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness. Everyone holds unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, and these biases stem from one’s tendency to organize social worlds by categorizing.

Someone has tampered with Merlin's bell, and John is looking forward to his "vacation."

This leads to an exploration of seemingly hippie-dippie workplace policies and how they actually get applied in practice. Especially for everyone who's not the boss.

In follow-up, John has an update on a recent addition to his home. Boy, they really wanna push those extra "features" on you, don’t they? No one should have to worry this much about water.

In further follow-up, Merlin has a huge update on something he finally persuaded his family to do for him. 🐱✂️

John has never seen Shark Tank.

Merlin is confused about the buttons on his keyboard, and John has thoughts on what’s in the actual code.

Merlin hates his clock. You can really tell when the people who make something don’t love it as much as you do.

John gets yet another free dingus, and Merlin loves him some surprise baby photos.

(Recorded on Tuesday, June 16, 2020)

"This guide shows you how to use clippers on men's hair"

In America, you are not allowed to hit back.

Black Lives Matter.

(Recorded on Tuesday, June 2, 2020)

Is your paired Echo device playing music in a Multi-Room Music group? If the paired device is playing music in a Multi-Room Music group, Echo Wall Clock alarms and timers don't work. To use alarms and timers with your clock, turn off Multi-Room Music playback.

"Imagine how hideous they will seem to themselves when they realize people were asking for them to stop.

And if they are not confused, I would hate to think what they were doing."

1981 cameo by the Minneapolis Police.

"If you are looking for something in your house, and you finally find it, when you’re done with it, don’t put it back where you found it. Put it back where you first looked for it."

For a main topic, John wants to talk about regrets, lost loves, and things that could have been different.

Things kick off with a review of recent household paper cuts. Breaking the AirPods Rule, not using the hand rail, and barely surviving the chute into the kill zone.

John hears the case of Merlin's exploding plumbing in order to adjudicate whether it constitutes an actual emergency. Service people are all about lead generation, but, John appreciates the input.

The consequent verdict leads to exploration of minimizing COVID attack vectors. Speaking of riding things out, again with John's toe. Just the one. Descript is also discussed.

John wants Merlin to talk about this, so he does. Witness his confessions.

(Recorded on Tuesday, May 19, 2020)

To "shuffle off this mortal coil" is to die, exemplified in the "To be, or not to be" soliloquy in Shakespeare's Hamlet.

The main topic is trust your mechanic. How to survive working with the experts who diagnose and fix your problems. John's not a Dead Kennedys fan, and Merlin's just so irrationally mad about the state of his oven.

Flexible, super charged, batch image processing for your Mac.

A compilation from The Earliest Show:

"Mouth Noises and What?!"

Blank Check catchphrases!

MBMBaM boys compilation

"He's from Maryland."

John asks Merlin to talk about why he loves improv comedy so much.

Quarantine updates, Banana Results, follow-up on John's sleep heat needs, and home improvement is also sheltered-in-place for now.

What part of your brain do you want scratched?

'"I want a divorce." Joan said. "Honey, what about the children!" Del said. "We don't have any children!" Joan replies.'

The form was further developed by improv teachers Del Close and Charna Halpern, as well as the Upright Citizens Brigade.

'Well, you are about to start the greatest improvisation of all. With no script. No idea what's going to happen, often with people and places you have never seen before. And you are not in control. So say "yes." And if you're lucky, you'll find people who will say "yes" back.'

—Stephen Colbert

'Johnstone's "status", on the other hand, comes from the behavior of the characters in a specific encounter. He stresses that there is no neutral status.'

In this wiki you will find games and exercises, but also other interesting things about improv. You can participate and bring in your own ideas.

"An out-of-band data mechanism provides a conceptually independent channel, which allows any data sent via that mechanism to be kept separate from in-band data."

'Some groups (Second City, most notably) will use improv as a basis for their sketch. They will present a show of improv for the purpose of gleaning material which can be worked up into viable sketches. It should be noted that this is not "sketch-based improv," but "improv-derived sketch." While the improv is used as a launching point for the sketch, it does not make the sketch improv.'

"Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it."

"Quorn is a sustainably sourced meat-free super protein that is naturally high in protein and fiber."

"An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience."

How do you get your family to watch really good movies?

Things kick off with Merlin bemoaning John's emerging role as his primary existential creditor. John reminds Merlin that all that grinding is just continually sharpening him.

In follow-up, your hosts thank the many, many listeners who remembered the movie that John and Merlin clearly could not. Turns out, it was not "Batman." Or "The Notebook."

This leads naturally into a main topic that pulls together a bunch of previously discussed topics: how do you get your family to watch really good movies? Like, high-quality movies. Not bad movies, but good movies. As we all know, John is a tough rater, but his diligence has paid off. Merlin's kid hasn't shown much interest in The Godfather.

We learn that John has given Merlin his pasta sauce recipe, but Merlin hasn't tried to make it yet, and, when he does, he'll probably do it wrong. Related: do not ask for John's pasta sauce recipe, because it is not supported.

Finally, John may have discovered a Secret Weird Thing about bananas, which—you guessed it—leads to more homework for Merlin.

(Recorded on Tuesday, April 21, 2020)

"On this special episode recorded while Dan was still on paternity leave, John is joined by guest host Merlin Mann. Merlin and John discuss Vegas, Disney, Pixar and more!"

The guys end up talking about the confusingly-titled resurrection of Merlin's old podcast. John has questions, and Merlin does his best to respond.

Things kick off with John describing an unknown movie in bullets and Merlin thinking it sounds a little like Batman. Of course, this just ends up leading to John chiding Merlin for not utilizing his quarantine time to finish his long-overdue homework.

Sometimes, you wanna give yourself a blue ocean, even if you never end up changing very much. Much like Neil Peart said.

This leads to a nostalgic stroll through the before times of the internet. Back when you had to buy all the misspellings and just hope you came up high on AltaVista. Also, what comes after Google? Man, the web used to be such a primitive, ugly affair. Time was, putting a field and two buttons on a web page was some pretty radical stuff. Brand names and regional fizzy drink appellations are briefly debated.

Finally, the baked ziti topic somehow also rises from the dead. And, John is still affronted that Merlin feeds his family that execrable swill from a jar.

(Recorded on Tuesday, April 7, 2020)