Pick up the Phone

This week's Desk Chair Expert, Awad, is a transportation engineer, and I start out the episode trying to figure out what the heck that even means. We dive into the important role public transit plays in a community as well as debating what makes a good subway system and I give my Full Official Review of the Washington, D.C. metro. Awad explains his previous work with autonomous vehicles and we compete to see who had a worse driver'...

The theme of this episode is all things New! Meghan, the featured Desk Chair Expert, gives her thoughts on New Years' resolutions, realizing you don't like your major and choosing a new one, how to establish yourself in a new city, and what new technologies are emerging that make her most excited. Listen for stories about how our friendship was love at first nerdy sight (we met in math class) and ways we were able to make friends a...

Today's Desk Chair Expert is Brendan, another friend from my college comedy days. We catch up on what he's been up to in the years since, particularly what it's like to try and pursue acting on top of a full-time job. Brendan shares his honest and helpful advice on how to meet other entertainers, what to look for in an agent, and what to expect if you're not super wealthy and/or a nepotism baby. He also does his best assessment of ...

What happens when you combine two Recovering Former Tryhards? You get this week's podcast with our Desk Chair Expert, Paolo. He gives us all the info that Queen's Gambit didn't, including which kinds of chess boards are the most annoying to play on, who caused the latest chess scandal (because apparently those exist), and what the heck a "gambit" even is. Then we turn to his time as a Resident Advisor (RA) at university. Paolo and ...

Coming in hot, I tell everyone about my childhood envy over not having a celebrity lookalike but why I actually think that's kind of a good thing now. Then I admit why I think I'm too privileged to go camping (I swear it's not as controversial as it sounds) (someone please tell me if you can wear contacts on a camping trip). Closing it out is a recent conclusion I've come to about the official worst job a person can have. Beware.

PS...

You ever have that one friend that is always turning anything small into a Whole Big Thing? For me, that person is this week's Desk Chair Expert, Agustin. We get to hear about this summer's Big Thing, biking across the USA (featuring billboards, bar crawls, and a North Dakota monastery). Then I ask Agustin to reflect on his own mindset and we share our thoughts on how to make your own fun and how to deal with the pressure to race t...

Wholesome episode alert!! Today's Desk Chair Expert is one of my closest friends, Jillian, and we're talking about our thoughts on what makes a strong friendship. Starting with the story of how we met at a culty/nerdy summer camp, we recount how we ended up friends (we're not actually sure) and how we've stayed friends despite never living in the same place. We discuss some of the highlights and most difficult times in our friendsh...

We're getting meta this week and I'm giving all of my best tips, tricks, and mistakes to avoid about starting a podcast. After three months of doing this, I've learned a lot, so I'm taking you all through that journey -- complete with a lot of late nights designing and editing. In part one, I'm focusing on how to even come up with a "good idea" and then how to turn that idea into a fully formed brand that is compelling to new liste...

Today's Desk Chair Expert grew up in San Antonio and moved to Houston and I'm absolutely taking advantage of him being my only Texas friend for this episode. I ask Jacob to walk us through the evolution of the Texas music scene, from the Geto Boys to Chopped & Screwed remixes. We also talk about what counts as "the South" and how rap changes across Southern cities. Jacob and I try to answer some of Texas' biggest mysteries, inc...