Reconcilable Differences

In Follow-Up, John has updates on his omnibus home improvement project. As a main topic, Merlin is interrogated about his AI journey. (_Recorded on Tuesday, August 8, 2023_)

John reports in with his Vacation Results, but he seems reluctant to set Merlin up with his aunt. For this month's members-only bonus show, your hosts discuss _Hack My Home_ and the world of home makeover TV shows. You can [sign up today](https://www.relay.fm/rd/join) to hear all the member episodes, get more bonus stuff, and, yes, support our program. (_Recorded on Tuesday, July 25, 2023_)

Things kick off with an exploration of sharing a mic on-stage and the Battle of Stalingrad. John reminds Merlin he's repeatedly tried to get him into airplane videos. John's effort to get his username on a new site is being thwarted by a mom who claims to work too hard. Lemongrab is discussed, and this leads to a real time review of your hosts' avatars on select streaming service. On *my* account?...

A question about question marks becomes a fairly detailed exploration of proper calendar usage and workplace culture. This inexplicably leads to a conversation Merlin recently had about engineering. John has some Follow-Up on how Vision Pro might handle being used in unusual situations. Casting the right shadow is *hard*. Next up, John has questions about Merlin's new interest in onions. Plants ar...

In follow-up, John addresses a question from one of Merlin's co-hosts in which John agrees that Merlin is weird. Also, there's a new movie that John saw and that Merlin hasn't (at the time of recording), and John wants Merlin to figure out how it lost part of a star on his letter box dee. As a main topic, your hosts talk about Apple's recent Vision Pro announcement. (_Recorded on Tuesday, June 13,...

At last, the pop quiz show. Then, for this month's members-only bonus show, your hosts discuss their summer plans. (_Recorded on Tuesday, May 30, 2023_)

Things kick off with some sundry food talk. John shows no interest in party-cut pizza or fruit juice concentrates, and Merlin identifies a perplexing class of food that's made of the wrong food. Follow-up brings updates on how John tries to make his app play nice with macOS weirdness, and there's some important reconsideration regarding what Larry Mullen, Jr. actually said about the location where...

Things kick off with Merlin giving John a pop quiz on music and a font. Merlin would also please like a special episode for his birthday. After an admittedly overdue U2 Tangent, John gives Merlin a pop quiz on what their show is about. Then, Merlin clarifies what John can expect from an omnibus "Before Show" super-episode. Follow-Up covers John's count of Steam games, much *Succession* lore, plus...

Merlin explains his laundry number, and John has some quick Follow-Up on bathroom cups. Next, for reasons he can't remember, Merlin wanted to learn more about a video game platform, and John obliges. Then, it's time for John—who's behind on his podcasts—to catch up on what Merlin has been up to, and Merlin obliges. (_Recorded on Monday, April 18, 2023_)

What happens in the bathroom can no longer stay in the bathroom. For this month's members-only bonus show, Merlin shares his surprising Vacation Results. You can [sign up today](https://www.relay.fm/rd/join) to hear all the member episodes, get more bonus stuff, and, yes, support our program. (_Recorded on Monday, April 3, 2023_)

Things kick off with Merlin teaching John a thing people used to say in Florida. Then, John ends up repeatedly having to say a phrase that doesn't really seem like the kind of thing that John ever says. Old concert t-shirts are researched and considered. This somehow leads to a discussion of where things go that then transitions nicely into a new installment of the fan-favorite "Secret Weird Thing...

Things kick off with Merlin's noisy electronic livestock and a frustrating health update from John. Whose family now hates him. In Follow-Up, Mr. Siracusa provides his son with a correction on The Novocaine Story, which leads to a digression into how John's dad writes text messages........ This ends up providing a great segue into the main topic: how memory breaks, and how we try to address it. Be...

Things kick off with Merlin auditioning a new on-air style, and John coughing in a way that portends imminent [health developments](https://atp.fm/523). Unsurprisingly and delightfully, there is a _lot_ of really good Follow-Up on John's recent medical adventure. Listener-experts chime in on all manner of issues. Also John reveals his test results, and Merlin feels like a hungry man. Things seem t...

Follow-up brings updates on skiing metaphors and ideas for tricking your brain into drawing a little better. Then, for the balance of the episode, John shares details of a recent medical adventure. Including an unexpectedly positive side effect. For this month's members-only bonus show, your hosts talk about _The Last of Us_ in its incarnations as both a prestige TV show and a video game series. Y...

Things kick off with a consideration of John's theoretical funeral. Merlin can't understand why John won't adopt him. In Follow-Up, your hosts briefly consider their recent bicentennial and agree that words about parts or multiples of a thing are way too confusing. As a main topic, John has questions about **Merlin's fraught history with drawing**. What's it take to get good at a thing you care ab...

Things kick off with Merlin pressing John for some candid advice on a new affectation he's been considering. John is certain that using a Dremel is not actually part of Merlin's job, but Merlin's not so sure. Photos of Mr. Miyazaki are reviewed. In Follow-Up, John has some toe updates. Mere moments after swearing he's not going to make noises and recoil, Merlin makes several noises and recoils. Ne...

Merlin is pretty proud of his dinner, but John has questions about the dressing situation. Merlin may not understand how skiing works. In Follow-Up, John shares more voices from the past, and your hosts confront an escalating international rift about the existence of a facial expression. Finally, it's time for Holiday Results, which somehow includes strong opinions on labeling leftovers, preparing...

Things kick off with a consideration of mouth noises and beloved bits. This leads to a look at entertainment that functions as comfort food. Wanna know what you're playing for? Lot of great listener Follow-Up this week, including more on British facial expressions, hassles for the proper Lex, and some prior art around "sharrow." The main topic relates to John's family archive project producing som...

Merlin shares a new insight about the pre-flight, but, as usual John disagrees. Then, there's some discussion of playlists and that time John got Merlin into Chvrches. There appears to be some continental disagreement about a ubiquitous facial expression, and John directs Merlin on some more of the things he supposedly pronounces weirdly. Your hosts might could want to explore the things it took t...

Things kick off with a quick look at the recent TicketMaster dustup. Merlin shares what a "news peg" is, and John has simple ideas for avoiding unnecessary logjams on the web. As a main topic. upon Merlin's request, John generously provides a tour of his app, [**SwitchGlass**](https://switchglass.app/). We learn what itch John was scratching and how SwitchGlass differs from various other rows of i...

Mastodon Things kick off with about ten minutes of very useful nail clipper talk. Up next, lots of good listener Follow-Up on the origins of CSS color names, how to pause a TikTok with your meat fingers, plus revealing some scalable methods for finding free money from the government. Next, comes some FU on Lifestreams that somehow kind of becomes the basis for the rest of the episode. How can we t...

Things kick off with John's strident observation of pre-show hygiene, and Merlin struggles to know his Targaryens from his Velaryons and his Valyrians. Merlin has a *lot* of problem with twins, and John mourns this new generation's lack of respect for proper media queuing. As ever, Merlin's demos are the worst. There's some brief confusion about 80s music, and, even though he's drop-tuned, Merlin...

Things kick off with an ambitious proposal to recognize outstanding work by team members and keep the relationship fresh. After ticking an item off of his "`queue`," John leads a nominally rapid-fire round highlighted by a controversial new Secret Weird Things People Do. Things wrap with a provocative Dog Update in which John leverages the love of a British TV show to re-home a new friend with Mer...

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) settled, numerous angles are explored. Including an explorati...

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.