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What Works

What Works

406 Episodes • By Tara McMullin • www.whatworkspodcast.com
"Work" is broken. We're overcommitted, underutilized, and out of whack. But it doesn't have to be this way. What Works is a podcast about rethinking work, business, and leadership as we navigate the 21st-century economy. When you're an entrepreneur, independent worker, or employee who doesn't want t ...more
Careers Management Business
What Works
What Works
@whatworks
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EP 470: Rethinking Creativity—A Cautionary Tale
Good luck going anywhere today without running into ... more
Apr 25 2024 21m
Chapter 1 7 sec
Chapter 2 1 min
Creativity is everywhere
Chapter 3 1 min
Introduction
Chapter 4 1 min
Samuel W. Franklin's Cult of Creativity
Chapter 5 1 min
A surprisingly recent history
Chapter 6 3 mins
4 reasons for the creativity explosion
Chapter 7 1 min
The idea of creativity cannot be separated from its political & economic valence
Chapter 8 52 sec
Creative entanglements
Chapter 9 3 mins
Meet, "the creative"
Chapter 10 1 min
Introducing "the creator"
Chapter 11 4 mins
Creativity can still be source of radical power
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NEW: World-Building for Business Owners
I'm teaching a new workshop on May 15 & 16, 2024... more
Apr 19 2024 9m
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EP 469: Building Solidarity in the Creator Economy with Kate Tyson & Charlie Gilkey
"How do I want to live?" Philosopher Rahel Jaeggi sa... more
Apr 18 2024 34m
Chapter 1 48 sec
The promise of the creator economy
Chapter 2 1 min
An overflow room for the surplus elite
Chapter 3 1 min
How do you want to live?
Chapter 4 47 sec
Asking better questions about the creator economy
Chapter 5 2 mins
1. What are we willing to do to be heard?
Chapter 6 3 mins
Creating for humans versus creating for the algo
Chapter 7 1 min
2. What do we expect from platforms in return for our labor?
Chapter 8 1 min
A closer look at creator math
Chapter 9 3 mins
Casey Newton, from Platformer, on the value of Substack subscribers
Chapter 10 36 sec
Platforms can alter how we see our whole businesses--not just the marketing
Chapter 11 1 min
3. How do you want to contribute to your communities?
Chapter 12 2 mins
Charlie's switch to Substack
Chapter 13 2 mins
The risks of going all in on a platform
Chapter 14 3 mins
What do we want to build together?
Chapter 15 2 mins
Creating relational layers outside of the algos & platforms
Chapter 16 18 sec
5. How will we organize?
Chapter 17 2 mins
Algoactivism
Chapter 18 1 min
Revisiting: How do I want to live?
Chapter 19 1 min
Credits
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EP 468: Figuring Out the Creator Economy with Charlie Gilkey & Kate Tyson
It seems the creator economy is booming. Or is it?An... more
Apr 11 2024 50m
Chapter 1 1 min
Welcome to the unwieldy conversation hour
Chapter 2 3 mins
"I don't think the creator economy should exist"
Chapter 3 2 mins
"People are getting confused about... am I marketing? Am I just being an artist?"
Chapter 4 5 mins
Who is a creator? And are you one?
Chapter 5 3 mins
What is digital sharecropping?
Chapter 6 2 mins
What's the difference between art and content?
Chapter 7 2 mins
"The point of making content is to get an outcome"
Chapter 8 2 mins
Platforms run on preferential attachment
Chapter 9 6 mins
Creator economy? Try Vector Economy.
Chapter 10 2 mins
"To be successful in the creator economy long term, you have to become a synthesist"
Chapter 11 3 mins
"We've created virtual social goods"
Chapter 12 4 mins
"Feeding the algo"
Chapter 13 3 mins
The "third elephant in the room"
Chapter 14 2 mins
"It also distorts what we're creating"
Chapter 15 3 mins
Conclusion: pay close attention
Chapter 16 2 mins
Credits
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EP 467: Organizing Indie Labor with Chiarra Lohr
The labor market has undergone a sea change in the l... more
Apr 4 2024 38m
Chapter 1 47 sec
Internal competition makes it harder to see common struggles
Chapter 2 1 min
How the ISG is doing things differently
Chapter 3 2 mins
Why independent workers don't have the same rights as other workers under the NLRA (or the NLSA)
Chapter 4 1 min
Working in solidarity with other organizations
Chapter 5 2 mins
Success: Fighting the reserve payments policy
Chapter 6 34 sec
Success-in-the-making: the COOL Online Act
Chapter 7 25 sec
Success-in-the-making: the Marketplace Accreditation Program
Chapter 8 1 min
The ISG is also focused on education & member enrichment
Chapter 9 1 min
Conclusion: we have an opportunity
Chapter 10 1 min
Credits
Chapter 11 59 sec
April 2022 Etsy Strike
Chapter 12 46 sec
Introduction
Chapter 13 1 min
More on the 2022 strike
Chapter 14 4 mins
The Lowell mill girls and early labor organizing
Chapter 15 2 mins
The push for a 10-hour workday
Chapter 16 1 min
Chiarra's origin story
Chapter 17 2 mins
Etsy is a platform, which complicate organizing
Chapter 18 1 min
Platform policies impact who is on the platform, what is successful, and how businesses are structure
Chapter 19 1 min
Example: shipping policies
Chapter 20 53 sec
Example: production partners
Chapter 21 2 mins
Example: the Star Seller program
Chapter 22 2 mins
A labor monopsony?
Chapter 23 1 min
Etsy passes off platform problems as individual problems
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EP 466: Making Room for Others with Leonie Smith
The Center for Nonviolent Communication describes wh... more
Mar 21 2024 32m
Chapter 1 2 mins
What if meetings came with instructions?
Chapter 2 4 mins
A bias toward sameness
Chapter 3 1 min
Introducing Leonie Smith, founder of The Thoughtful Workplace
Chapter 4 1 min
Violence is embedded in Sameness
Chapter 5 1 min
What is nonviolence?
Chapter 6 2 mins
What is Nonviolent Communication?
Chapter 7 2 mins
Example: how to request accommodation
Chapter 8 1 min
Welcoming diverse forms of expression
Chapter 9 2 mins
Managing a wider range of expressions (without it getting out of control)
Chapter 10 2 mins
"Widen our window of tolerance" for normative behavior
Chapter 11 2 mins
How do we know if what we're doing is working?
Chapter 12 1 min
Leonie's vision for the thoughtful workplace of the future
Chapter 13 1 min
Simone Weil on reading people
Chapter 14 1 min
Byung-Chul Han on listening
Chapter 15 2 mins
Credits
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EP 465: Learning Empathy from Copywriters & Doppelgangers with Samantha Pollack
I have learned a lot about cognitive empathy by lear... more
Mar 14 2024 35m
Chapter 1 1 min
Introduction
Chapter 2 3 mins
Doppelganger by Naomi Klein
Chapter 3 4 mins
The tension between who we are and who we want to become
Chapter 4 3 mins
Behind the scenes of Samantha's copywriting process
Chapter 5 3 mins
How Samantha learns more about her client's customers
Chapter 6 1 min
How to write in someone else's voice
Chapter 7 4 mins
How to write in someone else's voice
Chapter 8 4 mins
Two more tools for learning about customers
Chapter 9 46 sec
Sometimes people surprise you
Chapter 10 4 mins
What's the difference between the person and the personal brand?
Chapter 11 1 min
Doppelgangers remind us to be curious about ourselves, others, and how we're all connected
Chapter 12 2 mins
Credits
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EP 464: Decoding Accessibility with Erin Perkins
Typically, the question of accessibility online is c... more
Mar 7 2024 31m
Chapter 1 3 mins
Backstage Pass
Chapter 2 1 min
Introduction
Chapter 3 1 min
Accessibility is a Complex Form of Perception
Chapter 4 2 mins
Erin's Trouble Accessing Online Content
Chapter 5 1 min
Recognizing Disability
Chapter 6 1 min
A Politics of Wonder
Chapter 7 2 mins
The Inaccessibility Tax
Chapter 8 2 mins
The First Steps to Accessibility
Chapter 9 1 min
Practicing Open-Minded Empathy
Chapter 10 4 mins
Expanding Our Circle of Recognition
Chapter 11 2 mins
Uncovering Our "Half and Half" Nature
Chapter 12 3 mins
Biographical Illumination
Chapter 13 2 mins
Credits
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EP 463: A Brand is a Constellation with N. Chloé Nwangwu
How do you get seen in a world that doesn't see you?... more
Feb 29 2024 30m
Chapter 1 1 min
Aren't we all the same?
Chapter 2 1 min
Introduction
Chapter 3 1 min
"Institutionalized rejection of difference" Audre Lorde
Chapter 4 2 mins
The Mythical Norm
Chapter 5 2 mins
Underrepresented vs underrecognized
Chapter 6 1 min
Access and recognition go hand in hand
Chapter 7 7 mins
Visibility biases and invisibility taxes
Chapter 8 1 min
What is a brand?
Chapter 9 1 min
A brand in action on the global stage
Chapter 10 2 mins
A "politics of wonder"
Chapter 11 3 mins
Circle of recognition
Chapter 12 3 mins
Conclusion
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EP 462: Decoding the Language of Empathy
Today, we peel back the layers of a term that's beco... more
Feb 22 2024 34m
Chapter 1 7 sec
The Language of Empathy
Chapter 2 1 min
Corporate Empathy
Chapter 3 3 mins
Empathy's Origin Story
Chapter 4 5 mins
My Empathy Engine
Chapter 5 4 mins
Empathy in Richard Powers's Novel, Bewilderment
Chapter 6 4 mins
The Double Empathy Problem
Chapter 7 1 min
No, Really: What Is Empathy?!
Chapter 8 1 min
1. Empathy can be cognitive and/or affective.
Chapter 9 30 sec
2. Empathy is a product of imagination.
Chapter 10 55 sec
3. Empathy is situational.
Chapter 11 4 mins
Recognizing Difference Is Part of Empathy
Chapter 12 3 mins
Simone Weil's Attention
Chapter 13 3 mins
Attention (and Empathy) Isn't Attached To Outcomes
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This is Not Advice: Process Entropy & Process Evolution
Are you waiting for a glorious day with your system,... more
Feb 20 2024 11m
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EP 461: My Nemesis
Our beliefs leave an indelible mark on how we intera... more
Feb 15 2024 21m
Chapter 1 13 sec
My Nemesis
Chapter 2 3 mins
Introduction
Chapter 3 1 min
Rethinking Beliefs That Impact Quality of Life
Chapter 4 4 mins
Star Trek: Nemesis
Chapter 5 51 sec
Human-Shaped Hole
Chapter 6 4 mins
Technoableism
Chapter 7 2 mins
Narratives of Overcoming
Chapter 8 2 mins
Bad-Difference versus Mere-Difference
Chapter 9 1 min
You're invited to Rethink Work
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EP 460: In Defense of Gimmicks
The proliferation of derivative nonsense on various ... more
Feb 8 2024 29m
Chapter 1 8 sec
Gimmicks
Chapter 2 2 mins
Introduction
Chapter 3 1 min
What Makes This Remarkable: Gimmicks
Chapter 4 4 mins
Frankie's Cultural Observations
Chapter 5 5 mins
The Gimmick as a Medium
Chapter 6 3 mins
Gimmicks are like Poetry
Chapter 7 4 mins
Citing Theorists to Think About TikTok
Chapter 8 3 mins
Intertwingularity and Hyper-rationality
Chapter 9 1 min
New Media Influence How We Think
Chapter 10 1 min
Conclusion
Chapter 11 2 mins
You're invited to Rethink Work
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EP 459: Sorry, self-promotion doesn't work
Last week, Vox published an article by internet cult... more
Feb 6 2024 28m
Chapter 1 1 min
Introduction
Chapter 2 1 min
Enshittification
Chapter 3 4 mins
Self-promotion doesn't work
Chapter 4 3 mins
There's an alternative approach that works better
Chapter 5 4 mins
Canva pre-designed templates offer ideas for another way
Chapter 6 2 mins
The 3 R's of Digital Content
Chapter 7 3 mins
1. Respect the medium
Chapter 8 1 min
2. Respect the audience
Chapter 9 1 min
3. Redistribute the idea
Chapter 10 2 mins
Next steps
Chapter 11 2 mins
You're invited to Rethink Work
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EP 458: How many layers are too many?
Layers. Unless we're talking about cake, you can hav... more
Jan 25 2024 24m
Chapter 1 6 sec
Layers
Chapter 2 3 mins
Layers of Sound
Chapter 3 1 min
Overstimulation and How I Cope
Chapter 4 2 mins
Sensory Overload and Work Stress
Chapter 5 3 mins
A New Model for Understanding Stress (Richard Lazarus & Susan Folkman)
Chapter 6 2 mins
The Layers of Work Stress
Chapter 7 5 mins
6 Categories of Work Stress
Chapter 8 3 mins
Managing Stress by Removing Layers or Asking for Accommodation
Chapter 9 2 mins
Course Info & Credits
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EP 457: How to Define Hard-to-Define Work Stress
So, you're stressed. Or work feels intense. Or you'r... more
Jan 18 2024 22m
Chapter 1 1 min
The Factory
Chapter 2 2 mins
The Factory Metaphor in Job Creation
Chapter 3 56 sec
Rethink Work Course
Chapter 4 2 mins
Why the Factory is a Sticky Metaphor
Chapter 5 8 mins
The Factory Worker, The Bus Driver, and The Creative/Knowledge Worker
Chapter 6 3 mins
The Problem with the Factory Metaphor
Chapter 7 2 mins
Course Info & Credits
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EP 456: Reprogramming Our Source Code
Why is it that our bodies and brains tend to functio... more
Jan 16 2024 20m
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EP 455: The Case for Uncertainty (And How to Navigate It)
The only sure bet is uncertainty. As we start a new ... more
Jan 4 2024 29m
Chapter 1 22 mins
Navigating Uncertainty
Chapter 2 7 mins
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EP 454: Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey Stuff
Today, a short meditation on time, the end-of-year s... more
Dec 21 2023 12m
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EP 453: Fear of Loathing in Lancaster
This is the 3rd edition of Cold Pitch, an experiment... more
Dec 15 2023 43m
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This is Not Advice: How a Syllabus Could Change the Way You Plan
Planners and project management apps reinforce linea... more
Dec 12 2023 9m
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EP 452: This Daily YouTube Show is a Rich Text
This is the second edition of Cold Pitch, an experim... more
Dec 7 2023 25m
Chapter 1 1 min
EP 2: This YouTube Show is a Rich Text
Chapter 2 2 mins
Cold Open
Chapter 3 3 mins
A Rich Text
Chapter 4 1 min
Modeling Friendship
Chapter 5 1 min
From Work to Text
Chapter 6 3 mins
Parasocial Interaction
Chapter 7 3 mins
Audience Participation
Chapter 8 5 mins
Four Grown Ass Adults
Chapter 9 2 mins
Modeling Growth
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EP 451: An Inbox Full of Lies
Over the next few weeks, I've got something a wee bi... more
Nov 30 2023 30m
Chapter 1 2 mins
Script
Chapter 2 24 sec
Show ID
Chapter 3 6 mins
Intro
Chapter 4 1 min
Context Collapse
Chapter 5 5 mins
Medium is the Message
Chapter 6 2 mins
Perspective-Taking
Chapter 7 10 mins
The Honesty of a Press Release
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EP 450: The Will to Share Power with Tania Luna
This is the final installment in Strange New Work, a... more
Nov 2 2023 33m
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EP 449: The Most Undervalued Skill of the 21st-Century Economy
This is the penultimate episode of Strange New Work,... more
Oct 26 2023 35m
Chapter 1 13 mins
EP 7: Moderation is the Skill of the Future
Chapter 2 21 mins
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