The Assignment Notebook - Zach Weiss

Me and my brother Mike have always been interested in space, and while on vacation in Arizona we found time to sit down and watch for some stars! We did some research on stars (maybe the wrong stars) and had a good time seeing the whole universe above our heads.

Pop music is a difficult topic to approach if you're a music snob like I am. Every time I listen to a new pop album I have to convince myself that it's worth my time and that I'm not doing something awful. Taylor Swift broke down that wall faster than any pop star I've ever tried to listen to and I'm so happy that she did. 1989, her latest album, is a perfect pop album that not only distances herself from her previous country persona but also gets the form of the "POP ALBUM" absolutely right on every level. Your assignment this week was to listen to this perfect album, and me and Arne Parott sit down to discuss it. Next week, your assignment is to go somewhere that you can see constellations and find a summer constellation. I know that I'm going to be looking for Pegasus. That is due in a week!

Welcome back! It's been a month, and week 34 brings us Zach and Nils chatting about our sketchbooks and drawings we did on our lunches

We all have our favorite albums, but there are some that stick with you forever, and some that change how you view and interact with the world. This week on The Assignment Notebook, three guests discuss the album that changed their lives.

I have a list of podcast ideas. This list is about 70 items long and consists of things that I would like to try out and, for the most part, haven't and probably don't have the guts to do. This episode is exemplary of the content of this list. I was terrified about writing a rap but I wanted to do it, and I did it with a little help from my guest, Jordan Moore, who's debut EP LIFESEED just came out on soundcloud.

I've been running for a while, so I know how much I like it, and I know I'm pretty good at it. I also know that a lot of people won't start running because it sort of sucks to start from nothing. This week, we discuss accomplishing our goals, the motivation to get out and run, and the satisfaction that we gain from it. I hope that everyone tried to get to a mile this week, and if not, I hope you made your goal

Mad Max, released on May 15, 2015, was a movie years and years in the making. The movie brings us back to the post-apocalyptic world we left in 1985 with Beyond Thunderdome, bringing back the original writer/director, and using a huge amount of practical stunts and effects. Blaire from TVbinges.com twitter.com/blairelovestv and zach discuss the story, the themes, and most importantly, the feminist angle.

Gregory Burosh and Zach sat down in October of 2014 to discuss Yelle's latest album. Zach didn't even know if he wanted to do a podcast at this point! Listen to him awkwardly introduce the show and feel the format out

One of my first episodes was this tetris game, but I wanted to get an expert opinion on it. I found that in Alex Kerr from The Tetris Concept forums. We talk why TGM is the best tetris game of all time and what is next for the series. Follow him at twitter.com/tetrisconcept or twitter.com/kitaruTC. Follow the show on twitter.com/dueinaweek and facebook.com/dueinaweek, and don't forget to subscribe and leave a review on itunes!

It's getting to be that time of the year where Chicagoans don their blackhawks garb in order to show their support for their one really good sports team. I've never watched hockey, so this week Carl Landra from The 4th Line Podcast (twitter.com/the4thlinepod) joins me to help me understand exactly what I'm looking at!