The How This Works show

This episode of How This Works addresses adult subject matters and contains adult language. As a marketing veteran, Brad breaks down the world of cannabis in this conversation with Skipper. There are stops along the way to talk about Shakespeare, punk rock, William Randolph Hurst, how the illegality of marijuana affects the prison/jail system in this country, the history of reefer madness, how President-elect Biden and speaker Pelosi are closer in age to the assasination of Lincoln than to the present day, H.R.3884 - MORE Act, and the tobacco industry among other subjects. Learn about happens to the human body when you smoke, eat, drink, or otherwise consume cannabis and CBD products. Also, what you should look out for when you're looking for quality CBD products. Brad also talks about his recent work with Tha Hood Squad, a nonprofit street organization, black and brown led, working to fight against overpolicing, racial profiling, and living with gentrification in east Palo Alto (northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California) — which is right across the street from a significantly more afluent part of town. This episode contains some explicit language and adult subject matter. Stay tuned after the outro music to hear Skipper lay out with some expletives about one of the goals of How This Works, "F-word it, own the thing that you know!" This episode was edited and mastered by Troy Lococo.Special Guest: Brad Bogus.Links:Remembering Longtime Theatre Director Sidney BergerWinter's Tale by William ShakespeareOn "The Winter's Tale""Titus" (1999) with Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, and Osheen Jones among othersJulie Taymor, from WikipediaJulie Taymor's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (2014)"Reefer Madness" by Eric SchlosserH.R.3884 - MORE Act of 2020The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018What are Terpenes?Decarboxylating Cannabis: Turning THCA into THCCannabigerol (CBG)Tha Hood SquadTha Hood Squad on InstagramIntro and outro song: "Zombie Nation" by Jose Travieso

Recorded at the end of October 2020, Jackie and Skipper talked about some number of topics, including how being parents helped them both do better work, how Jackie thinks about recruiting as an art and a science, how fit is both important for the job seeker as well as for the company, how you should never settle for a job (unless you're a contractor), how all designers should have a portfolio, and how important it is to do your research before you apply for a job. Our show starts with a flub but we quickly recover. We talk about what it means when a designer uses off-the-shelf templates for their resume. Jackie's advice? Designers, design your resume. Also, send the right cover letter. Stay tuned after the outro music for a triumphant moment where technology didn't win. Which means we won. And that's always a good day. 😂Special Guest: Jackie Velasquez-Ross.Links:InVisionGoodby Silverstein20 Years of ‘Got Milk?’Level StudiosFacebook is merging Messenger with Instagram's direct messages - MashableClosed Mouths Don't Get FedThe future of work: By 2025, 36 million Americans will be remote workersJackie on LinkedInJackie on S01E01 of Outsights-In by KPN TechniumIntro and outro song: "Zombie Nation" by Jose Travieso

We talk with Dr. Peter Chin-Hong from University of California, San Francisco about his expertise as an infectious disease clinician on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19. We'll talk about the current state of the pandemic in California, around the country, and in the world at-large. We also get into what's happening with the vaccines (including the FDA approved Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that uses mRNA to rewire a genetic trigger to the viral proteins) as well as other therapeutics, pandemic fatigue, and how holiday travel might work as other get togethers. But we didn't just talk about the biology or healthcare. We also talked about how Peter — or as his students call him, PCH, which are his initials as well as California's famous Pacific Coast Highway — got interested in medicine while he was growing up in Trinidad and Tobago. We also talked about racism is a public health concern and how Twitter provided not only community for him this year but also a way to learn from others in the larger medical community. Stay tuned until the end of the episode for a funny bit waxing about technology problems while recording.Special Guest: Dr. Peter Chin-Hong.Links:Wikipedia entry on Trinidad and TobagoA collection of the latest on Coronavirus (COVID-19) news from GoogleCOVID-19 vaccine distribution at UCSFCoronavirus vaccine trackerFDA approves Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine for distributionModerna COVID-19 vaccine awaits FDA approval. What is known about the drugmaker?Helen Chu from University of WashingtonThe U.S. Covid death toll tops 300,000 as vaccine distribution beginsGrocery shopping tips in COVID-19 from Dr. Jeffrey VanWingen — revised March 31, 2020COVID-19 deaths surpass 9/11 deaths in single dayIntro and outro song: "Zombie Nation" by Jose Travieso

We recorded this episode when the west coast fires were raging all up and down California, Oregon, and Washington state in Sep 2020. We talked about Amy's journey to becoming a stage actor as well as what her world looks like today as a company member for Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) during COVID-19. One thing we talked about during this episode is how much the arts bring into the U.S. economy every year — on average, $877B is added to the economy, it employs 5.1M people, and is 4.5% of the GDP. Stay tuned until the end of the episode for a funny bit of tape about the "Scottish play".Special Guest: Amy Kim Waschke.Links:Robyn HuntThe Suzuki Method for actingThe Vampire Cowboys, a theatre company in New York, New YorkRobert Ross Parker"Vietgone" by Qui Nguyen — an NPR story from 2016 when Nguyen's play ran at Manhattan Theater Club"Poor Yella Rednecks" by Qui Nguyen — a story from the LA Times when Nguyen's play ran at South Coast RepMary Zimmerman's "The White Snake"Oregon Shakespeare FestivalOSF support of the Almeda fire rebuilding effortFrom Artnet 2018, an article about the number of dollars and jobs in the artsIra Glass' secret of success in creative work — from Maria Popova's Brain Pickings in 2014 — "Nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish somebody had told this to me — is that all of us who do creative work … we get into it because we have good taste. But it’s like there’s a gap, that for the first couple years that you’re making stuff, what you’re making isn’t so good, OK? It’s not that great. It’s really not that great. It’s trying to be good, it has ambition to be good, but it’s not quite that good. But your taste — the thing that got you into the game — your taste is still killer, and your taste is good enough that you can tell that what you’re making is kind of a disappointment to you..."Amy Kim Waschke's websiteIntro and outro song: "Zombie Nation" by Jose Travieso

We recorded this episode in Sep 2020 and we talked about Jake's work as a designer and creative director, the notion of focused work, why he started You're Better Than Brunch, and cofounding Caveday with Jeremy Redleaf and Molly Sonsteng. Like so many of us working from home these days, you'll hear Jake's daughter waking up just after the introduction questions before we get into main discussion about focused work and distraction. We also talk about the 2017 University of Chicago study where they look at the effect of brain drain with smartphones — even when your phone is upside down on a table, even on airplane mode — and how it challenges our cognitive abilities. Did you know that Microsoft did a parallel study that showed that the average focus time in the office is 40 seconds? Stay tuned after the outro music for a funny bit of tape asking about the background noise and a strangled pause from Skipper.Special Guest: Jake Kahana.Links:Parkinson's LawPaul JarvisSeth GodinDerek SiversTristan HarrisTina Roth EisenbergJocelyn K. GleiFast Company article on CavedayMihaly Csikszentmihalyi's TED talk on Flow2017 University of Chicago study on smart phones — Even having your phone on your desk–even if it’s upside down even if it’s airplane mode– temporarily reduces your cognitive abilities. In other words, it makes you dumber.Microsoft study on focus time for work — 40 seconds!Caveday on monotaskingLinda Stone on continuous partial attentionJake KahanaIntro and outro song: "Zombie Nation" by Jose Travieso

On How This Works, we will talk to people about some topic that they know incredibly well. Earlier this year, the COVID-19 pandemic came upon us — shutting down workplaces, schools, and, basically, our lives came to a standstill. And with it came lots of questioning facts, opinions, and authority in general. And so, we wanted to find out more about how other people had come into their beliefs and how they've become an expert in their specific worlds. Maybe it's something they do for work, maybe it's a hobby, maybe it's something in between. All of that to say, we're going to talk to 100 people — some are folks we already know, many of whom we haven't met yet — and have them explain how this works, this being something they know very well. The first episode with Jake Kahana will launch on Dec 1, 2020. p.s. You know that feeling, of being so excited that you can hardly wait for the first day of school and yet you're so nervous you're afraid you're going to throw up? That's how we feel right now.