Slack Single Servings

Steve Fuller has spent the last 42 winters alone in the wilds of Yellowstone National Park. His team? A motley crew of bisons, caribous and grizzlies—and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Like the ocean, the depths of the internet features leagues of bottom-feeder content, things like viewless YouTube videos and social media posts devoid of any actual social activity. But to writer and Internet explorer Joe Veix, the content he finds there feels a lot closer to life on the surface.

These days, people think the solution to finding solitude is to unplug your phone. According to Michael Harris, author of “The End of Absence”, there’s one thing they’re forgetting: To really recharge, in work and in life, you might just need to unplug from people, too.

Some believe a life without a phone is not worth living. Others think life is for the phone-less. We take to the streets to hear your opinions on the great phone debate.

Do you break into a cold sweat whenever you’re in a crowded area? Do you get heart palpitations at the thought of standing in a room full of people? Japanese Entrepreneur Mikito Tanimoto has the solution for you — and all you need is a cardboard box and a smartphone.

Would you rather be without elbows or knees? Would you rather change the past, or see the future? Would you rather have one full-time job OR a slew of freelance gigs? We hear from a man in the process of shedding his full-time security blanket and a woman who’s mastered the side-hustle juggle.

There’s an art to maintaining Kumbaya-level accord in the workplace, and there’s a Japanese martial art that can help you achieve it. (Disclaimer: No coworkers were harmed in the making of this segment.)

Unlike your alarm clock, your brain houses no snooze button, making 9am start times the equivalent of a medieval torture device for the masses. We enlist the help of Oxford University neuroscientist Dr. Paul Kelley to provide evidence in favor of flexible start times. Gavel, please.

Soon, legions of musicians will descend into Austin, Texas for South by Southwest (SXSW), hungry to remove “starving” from their “starving artist” résumé. We hear from a few creative cats who found a new way to crack the business and keep on keeping on.

Working things out doesn’t have to involve all that chit-chat. Instead, you can discover deeper truths (and deeper grooves) by singing your way out of strife.