Back to Work
It's your show.
5by5
Show overview
Back to Work has been publishing since 2011, and across the 13 years since has built a catalogue of 643 episodes. That works out to roughly 900 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a weekly cadence.
Episodes typically run an hour to ninety minutes — most land between 1h 13m and 1h 33m — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. It is catalogued as a EN-US-language Technology show.
The catalogue appears to be on hiatus or wound down — the most recent episode landed 2.1 years ago, with no new episodes in over a year. Published by 5by5.
From the publisher
Back to Work is an award winning talk show with Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin discussing productivity, communication, work, barriers, constraints, tools, and more.
Latest Episodes
View all 643 episodesEpisode 644: A Tony Bennett Hair Hat
An important discussion about aging as examined and explained through the lens of James Howlett.
Episode 643: The Price of Lies
Merlin thinks LLMs have raised the bar for voice assistants in general and Siri in particular. Dan and his kid watch the excellent HBO series, Chernobyl. <figure> <img src="https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/3/316b04e9-2b1f-4ccb-98f1-28fe023874a8/Tb0v3K1Z.jpg" alt="Merlins weird, truncated contexts in Things." title="Screenshot of Merlin's current contexts in Things" /> <figcaption>Merlin&#8217;s weird, truncated contexts in Things.</figcaption> </figure>
Episode 642: A Better Roll of Toilet Paper
Your hosts discuss facial hair, notebooks, the metric system, flexing about local weather, and becoming the bathroom supplies you want to see in the world.
Episode 641: Germans in the Wild
Travel is not always about traveling, but it is definitely always about your life.
Episode 640: Bob's Big Mess
A classic odds n' sods episode. Plus, Merlin has thoughts about memory and ecosystems, and Dan is considering jetting through an eclipse. e640 Bob Evans https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/3/316b04e9-2b1f-4ccb-98f1-28fe023874a8/9RoymJk5.jpeg
Episode 639: The Commodore's Club
Dan talks about what he's learned from traveling a bunch, and Merlin thinks a lot of weirdness comes from our twin fears of boredom and inconvenience.
Episode 638: A New Kind of Bullet
A classic odds n' sods episode.
Episode 637: The Minimally Viable Log Cabin Channel
Merlin conducts a deep dive on being busy versus being time-constrained, and Dan has some updates on his task management odyssey.
Episode 636: Honoring My Pivot Table
Dan is navigating the landscape of task management apps, and, shockingly, Merlin has some thoughts.
Episode 635: Buffet de Canard
Dan and Merlin kick off the new year with a wide-ranging look at how tools and motivations evolve with how we work.
Episode 634: Nominally Future-Resistant
A fairly epic episode covering health tracking and self-quantization. Remember: data doesn't have to hurt.
Episode 633: A Self-Aware Old Man
Your hosts talk about how we perceive the world and the challenge of mindfully updating our perceptions.
Episode 632: Big Strong Beef Boy
Dan and Merlin are excited about technologies that have found a place in their lives. What a blessed season of thanks! Runner-Up Titles: A Lot of Their Unhappiness Came from Me The Smell of a 15-Year-Old My Trans Daddy is a Fox Las Vegas Poops
Episode 631: Little Bit of Dirty Grey
Merlin has more on generative AI, and Dan has a sweet new watch.
Episode 630: Monchichabowsky
On AI and curiosity.
Episode 629: Benjamin Franklin's Disease
And and Merlin have a wide-ranging discussion.
Episode 628: Beating Yourself Up at Scale
Talk of eyes, intentionalities, and HDMI.
Episode 627: Unscheduled Dirt Event
Merlin claims he's not going to do any work for this one, and Dan has some advice for travelers.
Episode 626: Chekhov's Lightsaber
Your hosts catch up on some great media, and Merlin expounds on the magic of Channels. Also, Merlin logrolls a recent podcast episode and re-extolls the power of dictation.
Episode 625: Chapters of Madness
Dan and Merlin have a wide-ranging discussion.