Back to Work is an award winning talk show with Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin discussing productivity, communication, work, barriers, constraints, tools, and more.
TOPIC: The things you did or didn't say.
This week, Dan and Merlin sympathize with their pal Marco's recently becoming "way too popular for a day."
What happens when something we said or wrote gets…
TOPIC: The Life You Actually Want.
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about organization, multitasking and new year's resolutions.
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TOPIC: The Opacity of the Stack
In this depressing holiday episode, Dan and Merlin talk about how tenuous our modern infrastructures feel. How great it is when everything in the stack "just works"; …
TOPIC: He'll only do three of these.
This week, Dan and Merlin mark their 200th episode by responding to listener feedback and talking about Led Zeppelin and lunch tables.
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TOPIC: When You Love a Voice.
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about podcasts they're loving right now. And, yeah, Merlin rants a little about overthinking and fetishizing podcast production.
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TOPIC: Time to reboot.
This week, Dan and Merlin respond to a note from Listener Tim on how to stay busy and active during his garden leave. The Boys encourage him to experiment with the personal re…
TOPIC: Mail Bag.
This week, Dan & Merlin respond to listener email and toots. Specifically, dealing with passive-aggressive team members, bulbous "CC:
" lines, and what constitutes "stability."
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TOPIC: Hakuna Matata.
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about home pest control, misleading beef jerky, and becoming a more conservative electronics consumer.
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TOPIC: Working alone together.
This week, Dan and Merlin look at the many ways workplaces have changed over the years, and how they can be great or not so great.
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TOPIC: What gets us on the moon?
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about varieties of clowns, rogue walruses, bloody elevator buttons, taking risks, and catching footballs.
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TOPIC: You Are That Little Dot.
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about notifications, beeps, bloops, flashes, and all the stuff we have zero control over. There's about a million ways people can conta…
TOPIC: Reinforcement, Aikido, and Fear
This week, Dan and Merlin try to tackle positive versus negative reinforcement.
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TOPIC: People, amirite?
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about neighbors, dogs, Macs, MLB.tv, and flavors of reinforcement.
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TOPIC: The Ultimate Existential Investor
This week, Dan and Merlin vent about Apple as only its superfans really can. What happens when things…don't…just work?
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TOPIC: Starting the stuff we haven't started.
This week—after some entertaining random talk and a handful of hardware and software recommendations—Dan and Merlin dive back into a familiar evergreen …
TOPIC: Media, Rarely Well Done
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about the modern consumer media landscape and how we seem to be changing almost as fast as the technology. Almost.
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TOPIC: Knowing What You'll Need to Know
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about a recent presentation Merlin gave on expertise and curiosity. They also pour out a 40 for Macworld Magazine.
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TOPIC: Grab bag.
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about—what? Well. They talk about privilege, empathy, bikes, bass players, Merlin's new mic, more bathroom signs, and a controversial anecdote about h…
TOPIC: The Durable Impossibility of Email.
This week, Dan and Merlin return to an evergreen topic: the impossibility of email.
Chaotic, paradoxical, debilitating, frustrating, buoyant, and occasion…
TOPIC: Is there anything else you want to tell me?
This week, Dan and Merlin discuss what bathrooms can teach us about learning, expertise, and empathy.
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