Episode notes
So a couple of weeks ago, I downloaded Final Cut Pro and committed to learning how to use it. Despite logging hundreds, if not thousands, of hours in other video editing software, this is a big challenge. I took some time to reflect on how I make sense of learning a new skill like this—because learning new skills is an essential component of navigating the 21st-century economy. Footnotes : Read the essay version of this episode here. The Adult Learner by Malcolm Knowles " Apple Creator Studio is launching to take on Adobe " on The Verge Registration for Making Sense, an 8-week workshop…
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What Works
Tara McMullin · Business · English
Work is central to the human experience. It helps us shape our identities, care for those we love, and contribute to our communities. Work can be a source of power and a catalyst for change. Unfortunately, that's not how most of us experience work—even those who work for themselves. Our labor and cr
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30 Apr 2026 · 41 min
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20 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 6 min
The Wages of Hierarchy
On March 11, the 5-time World’s Best Restaurant, Noma, began a 3-month Los Angeles residency. The vanguard establishment of New Nordic Cuisine, was finally available to Americans without an international flight. All-inclusive bookings—sold out well ahead of opening day—went for $1500 per person. Diners, arriving in luxury vehicles with tinted windows, anticipated the hyper-local, painstakingly presented menu designed by Noma’s celebrated chef René Redzepi. But first, they had to make it past the protesters. They held signs that said, “Noma broke me,” “Prestige is not a paycheck,” and “No…
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12 Mar 2026 · 26 min
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12 Feb 2026 · 10 min
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5 Feb 2026 · 54 min
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It's no secret that one of my, let's say, special interests is higher education. The reasons for this are at least threefold. First, I have a kid heading off to college next year. Second, I have past regrets and future fantasies about the academy. And third, the world of work and the realm of education overlap in myriad ways. Work and education have always had a close relationship. Access to education influences access to different types of work. New forms of work influence how we organize and deliver education. I've been talking about doing an episode or a series on the intersection of…
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22 Jan 2026 · 21 min
Circling Back
How often do you revisit old work? Do you have systems for circling back to what you've created in the past to see how you could improve upon it or take it in a new direction? In this episode, I consider the practice of circling back through Mckenzie Wark's theory of "hacking." And I explain why my latest project, Blank Slate, is a hack and how it came to be. Footnotes: Read the essay version of this episode. Learn more about rethinking your small business status quo with Blank Slate . " Broken Links " by Tara McMullin on What Works Capital Is Dead: Is This Something Worse? by Mckenzie Wark…
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