Reconcilable Differences

#192: The End Table is Not Your Enemy

September 30th, 2022 · 89 minutes

John has concerns about why his fans are spinning up, and Merlin interrogates his recent obsession with the previous vice president.

The main topic this week concerns a question that's been banging around in Merlin's brain forever: is John inoculated against stress?

Once the usual arguments about wording and meaning have been (mostly) sett…

#191: Love and Cleaning

September 17th, 2022 · 96 minutes

John learns a little about a legendary Hollywood producer, and Merlin may not know how to do his job.

Apple announces some new products, London Bridge is down, and your hosts continue their tour of mini-topics.

#190: Three Whys Later

September 2nd, 2022 · 81 minutes

Things kick off with a brief debate on whether using things wrong makes you a hacker.

In Follow-Up, John has updates on that announcement about dropping a device in a plane seat, and Merlin expresses skepticism about announcements in general.

Then, there's some updates related to the prior discussion of performance reviews. Believe it or not…

#189: The Cutting Edge of Technological Grievance

August 19th, 2022 · 100 minutes

In Follow-Up, John reminds everyone that RecDiffs listeners knew what’s bad about TV stands before any of the normals.

John also shares his Vacation Results—alongside some anthropological observations on the state of air travel in 2022.

Finally, your hosts dig in to the continuing saga of John’s TV.

(Recorded August 9, 2022)

#188: Ten-Year Cleanse

August 6th, 2022 · 65 minutes

This week finds both John and Merlin helping things leave their house.

In our members-only bonus show: John previews vacation planning progress.

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(Recorded on Tuesday, July 19, 2022)

#187: Beauty Fades

July 22nd, 2022 · 91 minutes

Once John is ready, things kick off with a discussion of Merlin's increasing asymmetry.

Follow-up concerns pinned messages. Merlin thinks Marco still doesn't understand what a priority is, and John thinks skeuomorphism doesn't mean what it used to mean.

John graciously saves Merlin's sanity, and then your hosts express skepticism about the…

#186: QD-OLED Vaccine

July 8th, 2022 · 91 minutes

Things kick off with Merlin proposing a new title for himself which John immediately vetoes for cause.

In Follow-Up, John claims that he knows what month it is, plus there's some promising new data on John's TV project.

👉 Time is running out, so please consider buying our shirt.

The main topic concerns the qu…

#185: A Shirt’s Journey

June 24th, 2022 · 76 minutes

Things kick off with an immediate derail into Merlin's Apple Health data, with John noting that he never liked Statistics.

Next up, your hosts have—at least by their standards—a pretty big announcement. This leads to an appropriately in-depth exegesis into the process of making and selling a t-shirt.

Side topics include Scott Pilgrim, Jav…

#184: Back Door Preparation

June 11th, 2022 · 109 minutes

Telling strangers what you do for work, Merlin's life as a Ricky Montgomery dad, and How to Talk to People.

In our members-only bonus show: John has questions about Merlin's Bike Results, and Merlin has gotten religion about how we make cities.

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#183: The Pinching Opportunities

May 27th, 2022 · 111 minutes

Things kick off with a dive on the hacker mindset, black swans, corner cases, and the exception that proves the rule. Whatever that means.

This leads to a side trip into security, troubleshooting, and the difference between non-linear thinking and untethered madness.

Finally, in a conversation both sprawling and comically on-brand, your hos…