Back to Work
By 5by5
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Podcast Description
Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin on productivity, communication, work, barriers, constraints, tools, and more. Hosted by Merlin Mann & Dan Benjamin.
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
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1 |
Back to Work 69: Seven Dwarfs of Bad Emotion | TOPIC: Boogers and Expectations | 5/29/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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2 |
Back to Work 68: The Black Queen is Killing Me | TOPIC: Incentive, Inspiration, and Motivation | 5/21/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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3 |
Back to Work 67: Ad Hoc Bra | TOPIC: Trying On The Change | 5/15/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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4 |
Back to Work 66: Horseradish on My Raccoon | TOPIC: The Pete Campbell Problem | 5/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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5 |
Back to Work 65: A Light Dusting of Life | TOPIC: Stressing Out About Stress | 5/3/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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6 |
Back to Work 64: Frozen Poster | TOPIC: The Surprising Problems of "Doing What You Love" | 4/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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7 |
Back to Work 63: Bold with the Scissors | TOPIC: Agency, Independence, and Outing Your Makebelieve "Partners." | 4/16/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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8 |
Back to Work 62: Cultural Molasses | TOPIC: Karmasucks, No-Sayers, and Black and White Thinking | 4/9/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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9 |
Back to Work 61: I Handed Him My Luke | TOPIC: Infrastructure for Staying in Touch | 4/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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10 |
Back to Work 60: Living Inside an Unfinished Thing | TOPIC: Learning to treat your work as a platform. | 3/26/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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11 |
Back to Work 59: Brains All the Way Down | TOPIC: How work culture's like children. | 3/19/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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12 |
Back to Work 58: Girl with the QR Tattoo | TOPIC: Changing Inputs Dan turns Merlin's technical difficulties into a discussion of discovering and paying attention to things that have a high ROI. ¿Que hacer? | 3/12/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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13 |
Back to Work 57: Start with Anger, End with a Sign | TOPIC: Anger and Effectiveness | 3/5/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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14 |
Back to Work 56: One Giant Beholder Dinosaur | TOPIC: The Cost of Clutter | 2/28/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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15 |
Back to Work 55: The Pickles Never Touch | TOPIC: Agency, Dignity, and Why We Work. | 2/21/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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16 |
Back to Work 54: Freemium Mason | TOPIC: Grit and Care and Sacrifice | 2/16/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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17 |
Back to Work 53: The Wages of Security | TOPIC: Work Environments and 10x More | 2/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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18 |
Back to Work 52: Walk the Coastline, Bitches | TOPIC: The Hidden Cost is the True Cost | 1/31/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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19 |
Back to Work 51: Living Inside the Nonsense | TOPIC: Slipping on Dates, Sliding on Days | 1/24/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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20 |
Back to Work 50: The Pork Soup Paradox | TOPIC: What to do if you fear a layoff. | 1/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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21 |
Back to Work 49: The Field of Completion | -- | 1/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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22 |
Back to Work 48: An Abrupt Existential Jerk | TOPIC: How habits get made. | 1/3/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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23 |
Back to Work 47: Utter Failure & Hotel Steak | TOPIC: Resolving to skip the New Year's resolutions. | 12/27/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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24 |
Back to Work 46: Not Counting the Mezzanine | Topic: The Meta-Distractions of "Minimalism" | 12/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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25 |
Back to Work 45: Finagling the Tree Bag | Topic: The Narcissism of Small Differences | 12/13/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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26 |
Back to Work 44: Circuitous Bridge of My Own Design | Topic: Moving from dumb nouns to awesome verbs. | 12/7/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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27 |
Back to Work 43: I Return Null | Topic: Asking questions in order to find better questions | 11/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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28 |
Back to Work 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. | 11/22/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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29 |
Back to Work 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 | 11/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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30 |
Back to Work 40: Dirty South Is Off the Menu | Dan and Merlin talk about what it means for Google to change the meaning of "plus," and how it might bolster the production of "stuff and needy." They also consider options for "getting unstuck" with a creative project—how, sometimes, the constraints c | 11/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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31 |
Back to Work 39: A Source of Rice with Velocity | On strength and tolerance. Dan and Merlin talk about the many facets of strength, including the complexity of knowing what to be strong about, to whom, and when. It's about way more than nailing the "clean and jerk" or yelling at Sips-His-Coffee-Rea | 11/1/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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32 |
Back to Work 38: Sorry. You Can't Have a Candle. | On improving presentation culture. Dan and Merlin talk about bombing the deck, advancing the slides, and striving to improve the self-perpetuating bad culture of presentations. Slide?!? (Also, kid germs in the spaghetti, meeting the angry corn gu | 10/25/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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33 |
Back to Work 37: It's Never Not Everywhere | This week, Merlin loves and hates iCloud while loving and REALLY loving Dropbox. He and Dan observe angry corn, discuss emailing files to yourself, wonder what to do with an ugly photo, and explore Mr. Noodle's brother, Mr. Noodle. | 10/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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34 |
Back to Work 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 yo | 10/11/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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35 |
Back to Work 35: Why My Pants Were On Fire | How to handle job interviews. Merlin and Dan can't solve the problem of interviews being dumb, but Merlin will tell you what is wrong with you, how long you'll have to wait for your resume to get you a job, how Larry Wall interviews for a Perl job, an | 9/27/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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36 |
Back to Work 34: Rectangular Door Conspiracy | How to say "no." Merlin talks with Dan about saying No to toilet paper diamonds, mints on pillows, and things you don't have the wallet for instead of saying Yes to a crate of bananas you don't have enough information about or giving a qualified Yes to | 9/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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37 |
Back to Work 33: The Hypocrite You Can Live With | Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin have a totally natural emotional reaction to the unreasonable demands they place on themselves after reading The Spongebob Report. Maybe they wouldn't have offended non-ex-Marines if they had just taken some time and consulted | 9/13/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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38 |
Back to Work 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.' | 9/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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39 |
Back to Work 31: You Can Polish AC/DC All Day Long | With Dan on sabbatical, Merlin is joined by John Roderick of The Long Winters to talk about life as a bull in a china closet, craving real-world constraints, making better records, and being banned for life from Interpol's corn chip bowl. | 8/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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40 |
Back to Work 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." | 8/23/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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41 |
Back to Work 29: I Download FLAC | With Dan on sabbatical, TV's Rob Corddry talks with Merlin about Getting Things Done, writing, fear, and finding success as a blood-soaked clown. | 8/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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42 |
Back to Work 28: One Little Red Egg | Dan and Merlin talk about kid stuff, including the threat of Hot Wheels® donation, the inevitability of skinned knees, the nefariousness of the hospital gift basket, plus an important way every Dad has to go pro. | 8/9/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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43 |
Back to Work 27: Danny, Hold the License Plate | Merlin and Dan discuss the shameful state of film school, the realities of Ape Law, Merlin's rock opera, and the subliminal downside of Spongebob's big promotion. | 8/2/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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44 |
Back to Work 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 | 7/29/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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45 |
Back to Work 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. | 7/22/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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46 |
Back to Work 24: The Daddy for your Destiny | Dan's in a closet, but Merlin has a lot of FU from the last show: good jobs don't get posted on Craigslist and while you may not know what's gonna happen next, you're not just gonna install Xcode and retire on your angry bird so either do your research, g | 7/12/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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47 |
Back to Work 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 | 7/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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48 |
Back to Work 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 | 6/28/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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49 |
Back to Work 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 everyt | 6/22/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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50 |
Back to Work 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 | 6/14/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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51 |
Back to Work 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 Mer | 6/7/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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52 |
Back to Work 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. | 5/31/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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53 |
Back to Work 17: Brick Building Full of Lies | Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin talk about checking email under the table to catch up on your 27 high priority tasks, a good time to use the word priority, blowing cycles on meeting with Narnia's stakeholders, and getting tasks out of your dreamcatcher. | 5/27/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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54 |
Back to Work 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. | 5/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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55 |
Back to Work 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. | 5/10/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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56 |
Back to Work 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. | 5/3/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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57 |
Back to Work 13: The Kid's Great | Dan and Merlin talk about "Cranking" - Merlin's latest post at 43folders.com. | 4/26/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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58 |
Back to Work 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. | 4/19/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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59 |
Back to Work 11: Johnny Heuristic | Merlin Mann joins Dan Benjamin to talk about evolution, investing in roulette, taking smarter chances and futureproofing your passion. | 4/12/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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60 |
Back to Work 10: At Last the 'Inspiration' Show | -- | 3/29/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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61 |
Back to Work 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. | 3/22/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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62 |
Back to Work 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 | 3/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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63 |
Back to Work 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 | 3/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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64 |
Back to Work 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. | 3/1/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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65 |
Back to Work 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 | 2/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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66 |
Back to Work 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 t | 2/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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67 |
Back to Work 3: The Second Arrow | Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin discuss ADD, Buddhism, mindfulness, concentration, and insight. | 2/1/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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68 |
Back to Work 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 b | 1/25/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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69 |
Back to Work 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 | 1/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 69 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
I could listen to this all day
Merlin is the brilliant but lovable eccentric while Dan is an articulate every-man. Together they raise the bar of discussions about "productivity". If you don't hear at least 10 really important points about how to get "Back to Work" from their discussions you must be listening with your "lizard brain". Listen to this podcast, seriously … It's almost spiritual.
I like this Marlin fellow
Dear Dan,
I like this Marlin fellow. I don't know where you found him, but I think he might be even more entertaining than that John Grubber guy on that other show that you have about James Bond movies. Keep up the good work!
I give up, I just don't "get" Merlin Mann
First off, I'm not an IT guy/web developer/app developer, I'm just a guy that loves listening to Apple-centric podcasts. I've heard Merlin Mann on a few other podcasts and I thought he came across as discombobulated, rambling, and tangential. So I thought I'd give him another chance with his own Podcast with seasoned podcaster Dan Benjamin. And guess what? Merlin Mann is just as discombobulated, rambling, and tangential.
People have him on their shows (and this) as if he's some sort of authority on something, yet no one can define what that something is. He talks about productivity and "getting to work." Yet as far as I can tell, besides a few niche websites, he doesn't actually do anything productive. His "product" is telling others how to be productive.
His entire schtick, for lack of a better word, comes across as overly manufactured. He's eccentric and manic, because he was born with a name like "Merlin Mann [the] III." Who names their kid Merlin, unless you want to set him down a path of nerdom and eccentricity. And so Merlin Mann fulfills his role of a professional eccentric.
Maybe I'm not giving him a chance, but I only have so much free time in a day, and I think I've given all I can to this professional rambler. This podcast stands in stark contrast to another 5by5 podcast, "Build and Analyze" with Marco Arment. Marco comes across as creative, insightful, pleasant, and extremely bright. I think I'll go back to that one, as well as the James Bond review show err....I mean..."The Talk Show"
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