Episode 267: Dear Iowa, I Have Enjoyed Your Corn

FromBack to Work

Start listening View podcast show

Episode 267: Dear Iowa, I Have Enjoyed Your Corn

FromBack to Work

ratings:

Length:

99 minutes

Released:

Apr 12, 2016

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

TOPIC: But, alas.

This week, Dan and Merlin talk about Smile's updated announcement about TextExpander and the ugly problem of blind internet rage.

Also, lots of talk about ponderous 80s movies and old TV shows, including Dan learning which program had that tiny tabletop robot.

Also, we are endeavoring, ma'am, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins.

Released:

Apr 12, 2016

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Back to Work is an award winning talk show with Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin discussing productivity, communication, work, barriers, constraints, tools, and more. Hosted by Merlin Mann & Dan Benjamin.

Skip carousel

6: Expectational Debt: Merlin Mann is back from Webstock and ready to recap with Dan Benjamin, which leads back to caring first, performance and fear, meditation, hypnotherapy, and why you really need the hard answer instead just more tips. by Back to Work
64 min listen
10: At Last the 'Inspiration' Show by Back to Work
82 min listen
20: Muscle of Failure: Merlin and Dan talk about getting started, putting on your shoes instead of shopping for pedometers, false dilemmas, doing as much work with your hands as you've done in your head, why you should leave some water in the pump, meta-fiddling, and getting be by Back to Work
73 min listen
13: The Kid's Great: Dan and Merlin talk about "Cranking" - Merlin's latest post at 43folders.com. by Back to Work
90 min listen
15: Marionette of my own Design: Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin are here to discuss the awareness of fear, asking yourself why, and knowing the problem instead of chasing fake confidence, patches, and hacks. by Back to Work
60 min listen
8: Little Velvet Hands: This week, Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin eighty-six their restaurant jobs—emptying grease traps, handling logs of meat, and sharing what they learned by bringing mostly bad food to America's table. Dan burns velvet hands, Merlin's Mom gives the guy with th by Back to Work
73 min listen
1: Alligator in the Bathroom: In the inaugural episode of Back to Work, Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin discuss why they’re doing this show, getting back to work instead of buying berets, the lizard brain, and compare the Shadow of the Mouse to San Francisco, and eventually get to some p by Back to Work
89 min listen
4: Failing with Style: Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin talk about trying to change other people, how things really aren’t that bad, balancing fear or being driven by fear, leaving capacity for when you get The Pitch, procrastination (eventually), and giving yourself permission to by Back to Work
63 min listen
14: Velocity of Disappointment: Merlin Mann joins Dan Benjamin to talk about problems that are impossible, problems that are boring, problems that you're scared of, and why you need to differentiate between fear and anxiety so you can be scared of something interesting. by Back to Work
68 min listen
18: Forking the Question: Merlin and Dan talk about educating "That's Just a Button Guy," practicing more humane pushback, asking better questions, why laundromats don't accept "focus," plus what happens when you put WAY too much crap in your five-pound bag. by Back to Work
85 min listen
3: The Second Arrow: Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin discuss ADD, Buddhism, mindfulness, concentration, and insight. by Back to Work
71 min listen
9: Out of Scope!: Dan and Merlin improvise topics this week and get from Synechode, NY to dopamine, being scared and being safe, believing your thoughts and coloring your dreams, and solving problems by moving your hands instead of thinking. by Back to Work
71 min listen
7: Vocational Wheel: Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin relate to Richard–a listener in the middle of a quarter life crisis working jobs he doesn't like–with stories from their pasts, suggestions to combat the cascade of seriousness, and some first steps for breaking out of the voc by Back to Work
82 min listen
11: Johnny Heuristic: Merlin Mann joins Dan Benjamin to talk about evolution, investing in roulette, taking smarter chances and futureproofing your passion. by Back to Work
79 min listen
36: Writing on the Wind: Merlin Mann talks with Dan Benjamin about his dogged obsession with the flexibility of index cards—for propping up tables, giving very small cuts, and getting babies hygienically removed. Then, there is much talk of graphing your focal length against your by Back to Work
82 min listen
2: Picture of a Boat: Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin formulate a five-minute warning tactic before discussing the reality of bringing change to your company, some patterns that work for startups, solving the right problem at the right level, why you can’t find the innovation but by Back to Work
69 min listen
12: Chewie's Medal is Not Canonical: Merlin Mann has some "followup" before he and Dan Benjamin discuss entrusting your agency to others, how to reclaim it, and picking the right balance between expertise and challenge instead of fixing your metadata. by Back to Work
65 min listen
19: Corner Casey Kasem: Merlin and Dan talk about mindful tool adoption, screwdriver museums, why Vi users may (or may not) be cannibalistic insects—plus debate on whether a home video of a toy horse falling down in someone's bathroom is about Humanity. Also, Dan effs with Merli by Back to Work
83 min listen
41: Carpal Tunnel Diem: Dan and Merlin talk more about why we get stuck and how might re-think getting "unstuck." Looking at process over product, remembering how you got here, and getting clear about what you're really trying to make. Merlin also has some updates and tips by Back to Work
82 min listen
5: Chigger Bites on the Bus Driver: Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin talk about the black art of paying attention to the right things, how lamps are no substitute, that it's hard whether you’re working from home or a cube, being honest about your expertise before looking for independence, and t by Back to Work
80 min listen
16: Bracing for the Blow: Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin aren't afraid of lawyers, dentists, negative feelings, or of not being afraid of something. by Back to Work
72 min listen
25: My Food Court of Functionality: Dan and Merlin talk about nerds getting problems and about using Markdown in BBEdit, Textmate or any text app because you need to find tools that remove friction, not distractions. by Back to Work
74 min listen
26: Spaghetti Guy Hits Close to Home: This week Wutang Dan and The MZA bring the ruckus to finding a job, selling your Mustang, and putting your house on the market: remember that you can't negotiate with reality, Merlin can't do anything to make you love him, enthusiasm is irreplaceable, and by Back to Work
93 min listen
22: My Baby Likes Aluminum Foil!: This week, Merlin and Dan share their Pick: The Macintosh Computer. Also, a 17-minute experimental startup sound, catching conflicts, shivving the stagecoach, machine-gunning with SoundMaster, the dangers of ResEdit, and the future of recumbent bike ba by Back to Work
71 min listen
32: The Beertruck Scenario: Merlin and Dan talk about Dan's sabbatical, hotdogs, services, triggers, Quicksilver, Launchbar, and why there's no 'I' in 'ordnance.' by Back to Work
87 min listen
42: Coconut Headphones: This week Dan and Merlin talk about asking good questions instead of massaging your real problem until it fits the comforting solution you found on the cover of a magazine. by Back to Work
76 min listen
30: I'm Not Working in an Abattoir: With Dan on sabbatical, Merlin is joined by Jonathan Coulton to talk about traveling, horn sections, and Jonathan’s new album, "Artificial Heart." by Back to Work
61 min listen
23: Failure is ALWAYS an Option: This week, Dan and Merlin determine that even the Chico Marx of notebooks is the right one if you're writing in it, failure is ALWAYS an option: fully committing didn't do Pickett any good, but you should commit to narrowing scope and deciding what succes by Back to Work
78 min listen
21: Assistant TO the Regional Monkey: Merlin and Dan talk about the problem of permanent zeroes, desiring not to desire, why "hypocrisy" is killing you, stepping back on the path without apologizing, Merlin's new tattoo, and—yeah—going a little easier on yourself. Also, how almost everythi by Back to Work
62 min listen
48: An Abrupt Existential Jerk: TOPIC: How habits get made. by Back to Work
78 min listen

More Episodes from Back to Work

Skip carousel

Episode 644: A Tony Bennett Hair Hat: It hurts every time. by Back to Work
61 min listen
Episode 643: The Price of Lies: Merlin thinks LLMs have raised the bar for voice assistants in general and Siri in particular. Dan and his kid watch the excellent HBO series, "Chernobyl." by Back to Work
89 min listen
Episode 642: A Better Roll of Toilet Paper: Your hosts discuss facial hair, notebooks, the metric system, flexing about local weather, and becoming the bathroom supplies you want to see in the world. by Back to Work
103 min listen
Episode 640: Bob's Big Mess: A classic odds n' sods episode. Plus, Merlin has thoughts about memory and ecosystems, and Dan is considering jetting through an eclipse. by Back to Work
80 min listen
Episode 641: Germans in the Wild: Travel is not always about traveling, but it is definitely always about your life. by Back to Work
77 min listen
Episode 639: The Commodore's Club: Dan talks about what he's learned from traveling a bunch, and Merlin thinks a lot of weirdness comes from our twin fears of boredom and inconvenience. by Back to Work
76 min listen
Episode 638: A New Kind of Bullet: A classic odds n' sods episode. by Back to Work
134 min listen
Episode 637: The Minimally Viable Log Cabin Channel: A deep dive on being busy versus being time-constrained. by Back to Work
95 min listen
Episode 636: Honoring My Pivot Table: Dan is navigating the landscape of task management apps, and, shockingly, Merlin has some thoughts. by Back to Work
81 min listen
Episode 635: Buffet de Canard: Dan and Merlin kick off the new year with a wide-ranging look at how tools and motivations evolve with how we work. by Back to Work
80 min listen
Episode 634: Nominally Future-Resistant: A fairly epic episode covering health tracking and self-quantization. Remember: data doesn't have to hurt. by Back to Work
81 min listen
Episode 633: A Self-Aware Old Man: Your hosts talk about how we perceive the world and the challenge of mindfully updating our perceptions. by Back to Work
58 min listen
Episode 632: Big Strong Beef Boy: Dan and Merlin are excited about technologies that have found a place in their lives. What a blessed season of thanks! by Back to Work
83 min listen
Episode 631: Little Bit of Dirty Grey: Merlin has more on generative AI, and Dan has a sweet new watch. by Back to Work
71 min listen
Episode 630: Monchichabowsky: On AI and curiosity. by Back to Work
75 min listen
Episode 629: Benjamin Franklin's Disease: And and Merlin have a wide-ranging discussion. by Back to Work
51 min listen
Episode 628: Beating Yourself Up at Scale: Talk of eyes, intentionalities, and HDMI. by Back to Work
58 min listen
Episode 627: Unscheduled Dirt Event: Merlin claims he's not going to do any work for this one, and Dan has some advice for travelers. by Back to Work
67 min listen
Episode 626: Chekhov's Lightsaber: Your hosts catch up on some great media, and Merlin expounds on the magic of Channels. Also, Merlin logrolls a recent podcast episode and re-extolls the power of dictation. by Back to Work
71 min listen
Episode 625: Chapters of Madness: Dan and Merlin have a wide-ranging discussion. by Back to Work
45 min listen
Episode 624: Rectangle Time: Dan and Merlin have a wide-ranging discussion about technology, and Merlin lays the groundwork for several spirited rants. by Back to Work
54 min listen
Episode 623: My Terrible Adhesion: Over the course of this classic Odds n' Sods episode, it becomes clear that all Merlin cares about is babies and 3D printing. by Back to Work
61 min listen
Episode 622: A Gentleman's Malt Liquor: Dan returns from a nice trip, and Merlin has been printing lizards. by Back to Work
74 min listen
Episode 621: Hairy Legs and the Whole Nine: You’re either early or you’re late; leave time for a flat tire; have you tried melatonin?; a new search engine and some enthusiasm for blogs. by Back to Work
70 min listen
Episode 620: Happy to be a Chair: With Merlin on the mend, your hosts discuss actors named Hurt, comic books, and old Macs. by Back to Work
58 min listen
Episode 619: A Beautiful Jam-Up: A self-hypnosis recommendation leads to another look at meditation (as well as not-meditation), plus Merlin has a few more beta finds that contribute to the Tiny Life Improvement Project. by Back to Work
75 min listen
Episode 618: The Living Room Test: Dan sets up his little office, your hosts talk about the new Apple dingus, and Merlin highlights some strong OS updates. by Back to Work
67 min listen
Episode 617: Trailer for the Future: Dan needs your help with a flooring dilemma, and your hosts share some thoughts on WWDC announcements. by Back to Work
71 min listen
Episode 616: Archipelagos of Functionality: Dan dives deep on his Sonos setup, and Merlin explores official state things. by Back to Work
71 min listen
Episode 615: An Attractive Nuisance by Back to Work
76 min listen

Related podcast episodes

Skip carousel

329: Stop all the OTUS: TOPIC: Thirty cable boxes. by Back to Work
111 min listen
292: Rat King of Crush: TOPIC: A Surfeit of Merlin Mannsplaining. by Back to Work
73 min listen
328 Ed Catmull: Zen And The Art Of Making Movies: A rat learns to cook. A trash compactor learns to love. Two office workers -- who are the monsters under your bed, mind you -- discover a new source of renewable energy. The possibilities at Pixar are infinite. But how do you shoot a movie entirely on... by Disrupt Yourself Podcast with Whitney Johnson
67 min listen
363: She's My Horcrux: This week, Dan and Merlin talk about lots of recent experiences with the weird and often-frustrating world of streaming TV. What a mess. by Back to Work
80 min listen
422: Magic Rub by Back to Work
71 min listen
260: Stuck in Green Forever: TOPIC: Grab Bag. by Back to Work
122 min listen
339: True Love Weighs: TOPIC: Don't provoke Dan. by Back to Work
87 min listen
314: Which Fellini You Want to Be: TOPIC: "Remember this film is supposed to be a comedy." by Back to Work
102 min listen
346: Disagreement of the Genders: TOPIC: Turns out. by Back to Work
79 min listen
262: Large Platinum Spoon: TOPIC: Staying out of Technology Detention by Back to Work
144 min listen
215: Legacy Cat: TOPIC: With great power comes…uh, uh, what-have-you. by Back to Work
100 min listen
265: Especially Doris: TOPIC: Welcome to Costco. I love you. by Back to Work
125 min listen
237: Slow Your Roll: TOPIC: Stop that train! by Back to Work
98 min listen
338: Ambush Site: TOPIC: It's like elevator buttons. by Back to Work
87 min listen
393: Legacy Meat Stuff by Back to Work
88 min listen
Ep 240: An Amazing 3D Printer, A Look Inside Raspberry Pi 5, and Cameras, Both Film and Digital: Date notwithstanding, it's your lucky day as Elliot and Dan get together to review the best hacks of the week. For some reason, film photography was much on our writers' minds this week, as we talked about ways to digitalize an old SLR, and how... by Hackaday Podcast
67 min listen
312: Snake Eating Its Own Goodwill: TOPIC: You're living in the future! by Back to Work
99 min listen
PMC 193: Matt Mira: Matt Mira ("The Nerdist Podcast") joins Cole and Vanessa to chat about Spectre, Apple devices, the size of Daniel Craig, Chopped Tank, lens flares, Children of Men, 80's on 8, Starship Captains, the Genius Bar, The Olsen Twins' Christmas List, Austin... by Pop My Culture Podcast
80 min listen
353: Superagency: Your hosts respond to a listener's question about the difficulty of choosing a career path that wasn't what you'd expected. by Back to Work
101 min listen
328: Donkey in a Biscuit: TOPIC: Asterisks and Question Marks. by Back to Work
103 min listen
80: Tangled in Version Numbers: 52X CD-ROM drives, TiVo Roamio OTA for cord-cutters, version numbers, podcast patents, and trolling via domain names. by Accidental Tech Podcast
88 min listen
Trek TV Episode 206 - Star Trek: The Next Generation S05E11 - "Hero Worship": In this episode of Trek TV we discuss Star Trek: The Next Generation S05E11 - "Hero Worship". Hosted by Tracy and Vaughn. Guest-starring Derek and Jared. by Trek TV - The most ambitious Star Trek podcast on the internet!
64 min listen
310: Nominally Mine: TOPIC: My place is here—I fight with you! by Back to Work
80 min listen
Episode 28:Spec Spidey Cartoon, One More Day Message Board Questions: The One More Day, takes two days to finish up. The gang wraps up the dozens of message board questions. We discuss our likes and dislikes of the Amazing Spider-Man title. We also discuss more about the new animated series "Spectacular Spider-Man." We e... by Spider-Man Crawlspace Podcast
65 min listen
247: On a Farm with a Monkey: TOPIC: A Mark on a Page by Back to Work
83 min listen
RFI Podcast Volume 9 Special Insert – Christmas show!: Merry Christmas everyone! In this episode Vince, Matt and Nick sit down and talk about a game called Four Against the Darkness, a Solitaire dungeon-delving pen-and-paper game, how it works and then talk about a free adventure called Four Against Krampu... by Roll For Initiative
34 min listen
443: Immediate Electric Smugness: Dan has an automotive collision anecdote, while Merlin has thoughts on how preparation fails us in extreme moments. by Back to Work
80 min listen
Quines, Polygot Code, and Other Fun Computations: Today, previous guest and my neighbor Don Mckay and I will discuss items from the endless fascinating Cursed Computer Iceberg Meme. The Iceberg is a giant list of "the peculiarities and weirdness of computers." We each a few items from the list and... by CoRecursive: Coding Stories
61 min listen
420: Baby Thorin by Back to Work
67 min listen
357: Scrolling Carousel of Pain: Hey, Twitter is trending pound sign back to work! by Back to Work
87 min listen

Discover this podcast and so much more

Episode 267: Dear Iowa, I Have Enjoyed Your Corn

Episode 267: Dear Iowa, I Have Enjoyed Your Corn

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from Back to Work

Related podcast episodes