The Standing Desk Podcast

Disclaimer: the bad audio gets fixed at 1:30! Dan and Ben revisit shorts in the office, binging vs. waiting a week for a new episode of a show, whether cable television or YouTube TV is worth it, the current entertainment landscape, AI costing more than human labor, and more. They round out the episode pitting Claude and ChatGPT against each other in a faux interview. 

Dan and Ben discuss Clavicular and all the latest jargon (looksmaxxing, jestermaxxing, mogging, etc.), an idea for fixing Uber/Lyft, a Waymo scandal, a politically divisive garment, and a ranking of corporate slop bowls.

On this episode, Dan interviews Ben about his career, odd jobs, dream jobs, virtues, hobbies and more.

Dan and Ben discuss a financial would you rather before diving into a full-on debate about working from home vs. being in the office full-time. 

Dan and Ben discuss the end of cooler talk, airplane earbuds, Delta superiority, the indoor golf league, shows we refuse to watch no matter how bored we are, rating life mantras, 2026 predictions and more.

Dan and Ben discuss the best prebiotic soda we’ve ever had, Cherry Fanta while landscaping, the final tipping rules, concert openers, bizarre uses of free will, the DC universe of diabolical content creation, the best prank of all time, and more.

Dan and Ben discuss Mr. Pibb, Sprite Zero, RFK Jr.’s impact on lemonades, the Colbert Late Night cancellation, ads before a movie, streaming vs. movie theaters, Superman (2025), 3D movies, the heat in New York vs. places like Arizona and Florida, thoughts on wearing shorts in the office, and putting former employers in your LinkedIn and Twitter bios.

Dan and Ben sit down with FloQast account executive — and former business development representative — Matt Strake to discuss chicken cutlets, good cold call strategies, bad cold call strategies, the worst cold calls he’s ever had, parrots, the nine innings challenge, and more.

Dan and Ben discuss an anvil prank, the Justin Bieber paparazzi interaction, Ben’s encounter with an entrepreneur, a life insurance sales pitch, ad structures, Kim Kardashian’s interaction with ChatGPT, and more. 

Dan and Ben discuss a surprisingly good birthday card, a Saratoga water review, popsicles vs. Otter Pops, bribery as a sales tactic, Jony Ive joining OpenAI, wearable technology and whether it’ll ever catch on, a power ranking of job perks, and more.

Dan and Ben discuss comparisons between Sabrina Carpenter and Katy Perry, hydration drinks, frozen lemonade, 100 men vs. one gorilla, teams of people who could beat a gorilla in a fight, an interesting character at a bar, rules for wearing merch from movies, plays/musicals and TV shows, AI wearable recording devices, AI meeting summaries, an app that’s essentially Uber for personal security, and m...

Dan and Ben discuss antioxidant teas, pink lemonade drinks, Katy Perry in space, an AI lawyer, Human vs. Hamster, gym etiquette, the Mount Rushmore of white rappers, and more.

Dan and Ben discuss piña colada coffee creamer, craft-brewed tea, an interesting cold call method, our ideas for cold call approaches, two LinkedIn posts about B2B sales, using ChatGPT to draft LinkedIn posts, the Studio Ghibli AI art trend, new-age baseball food (giant sandwiches and tiramisu), thoughts about sneezing and saying bless you, career advice, and more.

Dan and Ben discuss milk, the flavor “seaberry,” a corporate espionage scheme between Deel and Ripling, Amazon’s attempt at corporate espionage, Lollapalooza headliners and the criticism of Gracie Abrams headlining, a tier list of credit cards based on aura, and more.

Dan and Ben discuss root beer-flavored sparkling water, flavor chemist salaries, Naked Juice copycats, virtue signaling on social media when it comes to entertainment and work, New York Magazine’s list of impressive interview questions, immigration gold cards, the “startup mentality” of this administration, Southwest Airlines’ new bag policy, the many problems of airline seating tiers right now, t...

Dan and Ben discuss revenge quitting, the ethics behind giving notice, interpersonal dynamics of leaving a job, corporate catfishing, anti-perks, reverse mentoring, burnout blocking, micro-retiring, a review of the Super Bowl half-time show, and more. Ben also shares his top five of the week, which includes “Best,” and “Circle Back.”

Dan and Ben discuss compliance training, aptitude tests in interviews, matching someone’s tone in sales calls, LinkedIn connection rules, DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), Kava, Kava bar experiences, tingly mouths, R. Kelly, funding for probiotic sodas, office lighting, restaurant lighting, The Apprentice, and more. Dan also shares his top five of the week, which includes Threads and Red...

Dan and Ben discuss the continued return-to-office push, whether you’re more productive in the office, the arguments for full in-office work, whether we’d move for a job, whether we help the handoff of drinks between flight attendant and passenger, financial advice for teenagers, more probiotic drinks, Stevia leaf extract, and horrible sales advice. Ben also shares his top five of the week, which...

Dan and Ben discuss our fourth calendar year doing the pod, Elon Musk’s burner account Adrian Dittmann, his attempt to convince a streamer he’s Adrian Dittmann and definitely not Elon Musk, AI profiles on Instagram, apps are too complicated now, a simpler time with one-function apps, whether fewer companies will go public in the future, organic colas, movie seat stealers, an interaction with an un...

Dan and Ben record in person to discuss coffee badging, Delta’s new partnership with Shake Shack, why gift guides are bad, Good Housekeeping’s gift guide (which includes bidets, an AirTag wallet, a mini chainsaw, and a password book), two drinks offered at La Grande Orange in Phoenix, the rights to a parlay as a White Elephant gift, the drones over New Jersey, and more. Ben also gives his Top Five...

Dan and Ben discuss approaches to a work white elephant party, Ben’s white elephant gift selection this year, a crazy HR email following a company survey, the leaders in private jet miles and emissions this year, whether Elon’s cabinet position will lead to a higher adoption of electric cars, a new Liquid Death flavor, some takes on Secret Santa, Hawk Tuah’s cryptocurrency scandal, investing vs. b...

Dan and Ben talk about their approaches to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Ben’s distaste for needless kitchen gadgets, a hot take about record Black Friday spending, a clickbait headline about robots, Salesforce’s AI sales team, AI in sales, replying to cold sales emails, receiving cold sales calls, cucumber limeade, relaxation drinks, and the Bluesky resurgence. Ben also shares his Top Five of th...

Dan and Ben discuss a Starbucks line-cutter, Mark Zuckerberg’s song with T-Pain, Zuck’s brand transformation, a LinkedIn post about Fortnite, a fun fact about UGGs, a rating of email signatures on a professional/casual-fight/kiss matrix, our own email signature preferences, and more. Dan also shares his Top Five of the week, which includes Dansby Swanson and Mr. Rogers. 

Dan and Ben discuss a hiring manager with no empathy, the decline of fortune cookies, a fortune cookie startup idea, a military recruitment psy op, strawberry milk, Diet Dr. Pepper vs. Diet Coke, Ben’s questionable gym attire, American Airlines’ new system to combat “gate lice,” Collins Dictionary’s words of the year, and more. 

Dan and Ben discuss Instagram profile cards, modern alternatives to business cards, discontinued Guinness World Records, camel wrestling, pyramids of pennies, fat cats, untimed gluttony, eating airplanes, Ben’s alter ego, being buried alive, the record for beers consumed in an hour, boxed tea (again), Calypso limeade, the etiquette of taking calls in an Uber, a New Illuminati theory featuring frie...