Podcast
Systematic
Hosted by Brett Terpstra · EN
Brett Terpstra explores the idea that all work is creative work, welcoming a different guest each week.
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
261: Kids in the System with Jeff Severns Guntzel
Jun 5, 202100:54:27Tap to summarizeThis week’s guest is Jeff Severns Guntzel, an investigative researcher with 20 years of journalism and humanitarian work under his belt. He joins Brett to talk about the juvenile detention system, prison abolition, activism, good deeds through hardware hacking, and trips to the garbage dump. Sponsor Upstart is the fast and easy way to pay off your debt with a personal loan –– all online. Visit Upstart.com/SYSTEMATIC to get your fast approval with up-front rates. Show Links discoverlexproject.com Twitter/jsguntzel Instagram/forestofthings The Baghdad I knew:Before and after the fall Top 3 Picks The Dump Dotfiles from Start to Finish-ish Dotbot UFO News Join the Community See you on Discord! Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at systematicpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app. Find Brett as @ttscoff on all social media platforms, and follow Systematic at @systmcast on Twitter. Transcript Brett Brett: [00:00:00] [00:00:00]This week’s guest is Jeff Severns Guntzel an investigative researcher with 20 years of journalism and humanitarian work under his belt. How’s it going? Jeff, [00:00:16] Jeff: [00:00:16] It’s going very well. Thank you. [00:00:17] Brett: [00:00:17] do you know when the last time you were on the show was [00:00:21] Jeff: [00:00:21] Oh, I had just left a job in public radio, so I want to say it was like 2013 or something. [00:00:28] Brett: [00:00:28] 2014, very close. [00:00:30] Jeff: [00:00:30] 14. Oh God, I should’ve listened back. Or I only have so many things to say. [00:00:35] Brett: [00:00:35] Well, it’s been long enough that if anyone still remembers the last time you were on, I’m sure they won’t mind a refresher, but we have new stuff to talk about since then, too. [00:00:45] Jeff: [00:00:45] Yeah, I haven’t heard anything about people still talking about it to this day. So I’m just going to assume we can call this a clean slate. [00:00:51]Brett: [00:00:51] So this just for listeners this will be the last official episode of [00:01:00] systematic on this. We’ll call it a season. I’m going to take a little break after this. There might be a bonus episode. Jeff May have something to say about that, but at least a month or two we’re gonna go dark and hope to be back soon. [00:01:14] But anyway, that sounded like I was finishing the show, but [00:01:18] Jeff: [00:01:18] nah, [00:01:19] Brett: [00:01:19] I [00:01:20] Jeff: [00:01:20] it’s just, I buy it as a season finale. [00:01:23] Brett: [00:01:23] So you have the distinguished honor of being the season’s final guest. [00:01:30] Jeff: [00:01:30] I thank you. [00:01:31] Brett: [00:01:31] SSo what do you do for a day job right now? [00:01:35] Jeff: [00:01:35] What I do for a day job is what I call investigative research. There is a thing called investigative research in the sort of academic research world, which I am not a part of. But it seems to have, it seems to have fizzled a little. So I’m just like borrowing it for a little bit. So I don’t have to explain, like, I’m not a journalist anymore, but I’m still doing journalists, like things with that said I’m not a journalist anymore, but I’m still doing journalist- [00:02:00] [00:01:59] like things. I started working on a project with a small team of people in Omaha, Nebraska about four years ago. And the purpose of the project is to. Really get inside the experiences of the kids there who are going through the juvenile justice system and their families and their siblings. [00:02:20] And to really kind of understand how how experience with the system ripples through an individual’s life, but also through their family life and their social life and all of that stuff. Because we don’t spend too much time talking about that. And so the way that project works is I am not interviewing kids. [00:02:37]Instead we have a team of people. I have these amazing colleagues in Omaha who have been interviewing kids who have experience working with kids who themselves have experience with the system. So that it’s not, I mean, in my case, it’s not a white guy coming in from Minneapolis, gathering up stories, tucking them under my arm. [00:02:59] And flying [00:03:00] back to Minneapolis, right? Like that model should die. And this model we felt was like going to be something a little different. So we started this project called the lived experience project, and it was initially to collect stories and then figure out what the stories or the kids were telling us should happen next. [00:03:17]Where my job comes in is, you know, it only took us about a dozen interviews to realize that if we’re going to be having Frank conversations with kids about their experiences in the system, that we’re going to start hearing about ways in which the system harms them. [00:03:32] And we didn’t want to be in a situation where things like that were being shared with us. And we were just filing it away in our database of interviews. We wanted to be sure that we took those cues when they came, even if they were implicit, like if someone said something subtle about a certain facility, but it kind of matched something subtle. [00:03:52] Someone else said about a facility, my job was to go, okay, what are the other ways of knowing here? Right? We’re not going to, [00:04:00] we’re not going to put it on this kid to tell us everything that happened, because that puts them in a really It puts them in a potentially dangerous situation and it puts a lot on them. [00:04:08]When I was, you know, doing reporting the kind of main rule when you got information from a source was, first thing you do is go try to get it from something else so that you can kind of shield your original source of that story or that document or whatever. So I was taking that approach and I had to kind of start from scratch because in a way, like in these interviews, we weren’t learning super specific things, right. [00:04:32] But we were learning types of harm in the system. We were learning ways you can be harmed. We were learning how kids defined harm, which is very different from kid to kid based on whatever their sort of norms are. And so I, in a way kind of broke off of all of that and just focused on how can I see into this system, which is very opaque. [00:04:55] And in some cases necessarily opaque, but in some cases, [00:05:00] That opaqueness kind of protects people who are doing harm in the system. So how can I see in? And so my job became working with public documents, pulling whatever data I could about any given facility from like 911 data to tracking down court records that discuss what life was like in that particular facility. [00:05:19]I would cold call former staff of different facilities. I would talk to state agencies, all that stuff all as a way of sort of. Seeing into the system so that I can start to see patterns and red flags which was something that was not previously possible in Douglas county, juvenile justice system, or actually just wasn’t previously done, I guess. [00:05:38] And so that’s what I do. I’m like, I’m a journalist in this very, I’m an investigative researcher, investigative journalists in this very narrow sort of scope that is not even my hometown that I’ve been doing for a few years now. And that I really hope when we’ve really kind of nailed down this model can be not s...
Transcribe →260: Autism and Women with Betty and Colleen McCluskey
May 14, 202100:54:28Tap to summarizeThis week’s guests are Betty and Colleen McCluskey. Betty is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Wisconsin with a special interest in Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Colleen McCluskey is a graduate student with Asperger’s Syndrome attending the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UWEC) and pursuing an English Master’s Degree. They join Brett to talk about autism in females, living with autism, and where research on Autism Spectrum Disorder currently stands. Sponsor Upstart is the fast and easy way to pay off your debt with a personal loan –– all online. Visit Upstart.com/Systematic to get your fast approval with up-front rates. Show Links Psychological Resource Center, LLC What is Autism Spectrum Disorder Top 3 Picks Betty: Asperger’s Syndrome – A Guide for Parents and Professionals – Tony Attwood Autism in Heels – The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum – Jennifer Cook O’Toole Temple Grandin (2010) Colleen: I Think I Might Be Autistic: A Guide to Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis and Self-Discovery for Adults – Cynthia Kim The Autistic Brain: Helping Different Kinds of Minds Succeed – Temple Grandin Neurowonderful: Ask An Autistic Video Series, Amythest Schaber Join the Community See you on Discord! Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at systematicpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app. Find Brett as @ttscoff on all social media platforms, and follow Systematic at @systmcast on Twitter. Transcript Brett: [00:00:00] [00:00:00]My guests this week are Betty and Colleen McCluskey. Betty, you were on the show back in 2017 and we talked about autism and autism spectrum disorder. And since that time autism has become part of my life. A loved one in my life is going through the we’re learning a lot about ASD right now. [00:00:27]So I definitely wanted to have you back and you brought your daughter Colleen with you. So I’m going to let you guys do your own intros buddy first just who you are and what you do. [00:00:40] Betty: [00:00:40] Betty McCloskey. And I’m a clinician in private practice in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. I have a master’s. Degree in guidance and counseling and a licensed professional counselor in the state of Wisconsin since 1992, I think my journey into autism is personal and has turned professional. My husband, who is a [00:01:00] Rutgers PhD in earth, science was diagnosed with autism and our lovely daughter who’s joining us today. [00:01:06] Colleen is also diagnosed in third grade with autism. I’m sure my cat has autism. So self-defense first off, got me really into the autism community. And the more I learned about this amazing group of people, the more I spend more time in there, I’m a member of the board of directors, of the state of Wisconsin autism society. [00:01:30] I work with Wisconsin facets for mediated. IEP is for children who are underserved in public schools. I do all kinds of volunteer work in the community, but my passion is autism because the people I’m passionate about live there. [00:01:45]Colleen: [00:01:45] Okay. So my name is Kelly McCluskey and I’m actually just graduating from the university of Wisconsin, Eau Claire with an English master’s degree, specifically in literary analysis and textual interpretation. That sounds like a mouthful, but [00:02:00] basically it’s a. I get paid to read about comic books. [00:02:03] So that’s fun. No, but currently I have a BA in English from the university of Wisconsin, green Bay and associates in ethnic studies from the university of Wisconsin marathon County. I also have a teaching license earned through UWA green Bay. And like Betty said, I am autistic. I was diagnosed in third grade with Asperger’s syndrome, but as of the DSM-V Asperger’s syndrome has kind of been folded into the rest of the autistic diagnostic criteria. [00:02:28] So I feel a little bit more comfortable just saying autism now. I consider myself a really strong advocate for people on the spectrum and people with Like sort of sister diagnoses ADHD and add tend to manifest with autism other instances of socio communicative disorders, which are basically higher than normal difficulty with neuro-typical social conventions which can be caused by just about anything, honestly. [00:02:52]That’s very similar to so during my advocacy stuff I’ve presented at a lot of different conferences most [00:03:00] notably IWC, which is international writing center association. And that I believe was about two years ago. And I presented on how you might talk about autism in the college writing center. [00:03:10]One of my big things is again, I’m an English major, but I also have a background in forensics and theater speaking forensics, not the crime kind. But. I think that being able to talk openly about autism and to acknowledge its existence along with any other mental health struggles, it’s like if we can acknowledge that it exists and kind of talk about it, frankly, then we’re one step closer to not just autism awareness, but autism acceptance. [00:03:38]I’ve also presented at ASG w autism society of greater Wisconsin conference. Gosh, it’s, I think I’ve done it like probably close to five times now. Maybe more. I can’t remember. But we go every year. It’s very cool. It’s also awesome to see all of the new research and stuff that people have to talk about because it kind of keeps you on the ball with stuff like that. [00:03:58]But yeah, that’s mostly [00:04:00] me. Apart from that, I’m really into like, drawing making art in general hiking. And my academic interests are, you are like comic books and experimental storytelling specifically, like with hypertext and stuff. [00:04:12]Brett: [00:04:12] So, I’m curious about where autism research has gone in recent years. I’ve got a good kind of history I guess a rough background of what ASD is and how it was diagnosed, but I’m really curious about what’s fresh and new for autism research. [00:04:29]Betty: [00:04:29] There’s not a lot, you know, there, there is a lot, there’s always something that’s new, but a lot of what we think of as new is repackaged old. And there are a lot of a lot of the newer things are based on ABA, which has been since the 1960s. Love us, L O V a S introduced us to applied behavioral analysis and it’s kind of a touchstone. [00:04:54]There’s a lot of controversy surrounding it. And I re I was introduced to it in graduate school, of [00:05:00] course, in the early nineties. And we had what we had the, we called it the toast and jelly video because it was a little girl and they were showing us how to do applied behavioral analysis treatment. [00:05:13] And the third, I would say, would you like some toast and jelly? And the little girl had echolalia, can we say, just repeat what they hear? And she would say, would you like some toast and jelly and therapists would be holding the toast with jelly and say, no, like some toast and jelly. And she would say, no, would you like some toast and jelly? [00:05:32] So until she would say, I would like some toast and jelly, she couldn’t have her toast in jail. So think about Pavlov’s dogs and training them and to the bell and the food and the saliva. That’s kind of how ABA works. And while it’s very good in theory BF Skinner influenced love us to start this program. [00:05:53] And if you remember BF Skinner with a Skinner box where he had the rats that pushed the little [00:06:00] levers, some people don’t know that BF Skinner also raised his daughter in a BF Skinner box until the age of about two and a half. Isn’t that frightening. And there are pictures. If you choose to look online, you will find BF Skinner’s daughter who spoke about it later as an adult. [00:06:15]But let’s not go there. So what ABA does is it reinforces behavior through presence in treats and positive interaction. And there’s a lot of controversy surrounding that. So it’s morphed because we need a kinder, gentler way because ever...
Transcribe →259: Restoration with Patrick Rhone
Apr 22, 202101:19:37Tap to summarizeThis week’s guest is Patrick Rhone, writer, blogger, technology consultant, mental health advocate and home restoration enthusiast. He joins Brett to talk mental health, home restoration, and some of his favorite tools. Sponsor Upstart is the fast and easy way to pay off your debt with a personal loan –– all online. Visit Upstart.com/Systematic to get your fast approval with up-front rates. PDFpen is the ultimate tool for working with PDFs on Mac, iPad and iPhone. Learn more about PDFpen and PDFpenPro at smilesoftware.com. Show Links Rhoneisms – by Patrick Rhone Whoa to Wow Patrick Rhone Micro.blog IFTTT Day One Systematic 180: Everything Exploded with Patrick Rhone Mental Health Minnesota NYT – Languishing Mental Health Minnesota The Piggyback Guy Top 3 Picks Keychron K2 Ugmonk Analog Dash/Plus System Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy Nnedi Okorafor Neuromancer Snow Crash The Road Less Traveled Your Money or Your Life Join the Community See you on Discord! Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at systematicpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app. Find Brett as @ttscoff on all social media platforms, and follow Systematic at @systmcast on Twitter. Transcript Patrick and Brett Brett: [00:00:00] [00:00:00] [00:00:07] This week’s episode is brought to you by PDF pen and upstart.com. My guest this week is Patrick Rhone. It’s been, uh, since about 2016, since you’ve been on, what are, you introduce yourself these days? [00:00:26] Patrick: [00:00:26] Um, well, I guess I’m still a writer. Um, I am still a blogger. I am still a technology consultant. Uh, I am, uh, still, uh, very, uh, deeply involved in, um, um, mental health as a, uh, as a passion, um, and a, and an advocate and, uh, and a, um, you know, mental illness, survivor myself. Um, and, uh, I [00:01:00] also, uh, found on now and the home restoration game, uh, Where, where, uh, I, uh, my wife and I have long been an interest in property ownership and whatnot, but now we are actively like, like looking for properties to purchase and to fix up and to themsel. [00:01:26] But one at a time, at least I’m trying to hold her. [00:01:32] Brett: [00:01:32] Yeah, well, uh, you have, uh, you have, you’ve journaled your, uh, your kind of, uh, progress through at least one home. Now, how many, how many homes have you done? [00:01:43] Patrick: [00:01:43] So this really started back in 2011. We bought a house for $7,200. [00:01:54] Brett: [00:01:54] Wow. [00:01:55] Patrick: [00:01:55] Um, and that was all on closing costs and everything, $7,200. [00:02:00] Um, and, but it was a category, two vacant building. I E what that means is, uh, you know, the, the system, the city had listed it as a vacant building, and there are certain things that had to be done within a certain period of time in order to purchase this property. [00:02:19] Um, you had to pledge to get these things done in that period of time. Um, and, uh, uh, Kind of had to be done, you know? Well, um, yeah, you know, it was going to be inspected and the, he was going to be watching and that sort of thing. Um, and so, uh, and so yeah, $7,200 and we, the nice thing about buying a home that needs a lot of work, um, is that, uh, especially for very little money is that you can kind of. [00:02:54] Learn how to do a lot of this stuff by diving in and trying it, bring it up [00:03:00] and trying again, because you know, what do you have to lose? It’s only somebody $200. So if you make a $500 mistake, well, you know, Hey, you’re, you’re still way ahead. Um, Hmm. So, uh, and so, yeah, we, uh, we still own that house. Uh, it is currently, uh, the one that my, the one my dad lives in, um, Uh, and we kind of bought it with that in mind with the idea that, Hey, one of our parents may need, may need some help, you know, coming up, they’re not getting any younger and you know, who knows they might need a place to be and, you know, and, uh, at an affordable price or maybe even no price at all. [00:03:44] And we may need to put them up somewhere and we’d rather not have them live with us. Uh, so yeah, we kind of bought it without purpose in mind, but we live in an 1886, a Victorian home. And [00:04:00] so, uh, that my wife purchased in 1993 as a HUD home. Um, And, uh, and so once again, uh, it was in a major disrepair. Got it. [00:04:12] Very cheap. Uh, she, and, uh, and Mr. Gladhill number one, uh, put a lot of time into it, fixing it up, and then, uh, they divorced. And then when I came into the scene, uh, you know, we continued on projects around here. [00:04:27] Brett: [00:04:27] So like I’ve watched you like gut, uh, some of these homes that you’ve worked on, have you done the same to your own home? [00:04:35] Patrick: [00:04:35] uh, well, I mean, certainly two rooms, uh, in, in my, in the home and, and really with, with the, the one I’m working on now, you know, we’re, we’re gutting rooms, right. That need to be the need to be gutted. Um, you know, but there, and the nice thing about the house we’re doing now is that there’s only really. [00:04:59] Really [00:05:00] three of those rooms that really need that kind of gutting the rest of everything else is pretty. Okay. And it’s going to be mostly, yeah, mostly kind of clean up and cosmetic stuff, but, um, but certainly with the, with the new one. Um, but, but yeah, certainly in this one, um, the room that is currently our library, um, had, uh, You know, the plaster literally falling off the walls. [00:05:26] And it was, I mean, it was, it was pretty bad, you know? Um, and, uh, same with, uh, what is currently, um, are mine and my wife’s bedroom, similar sort of thing. I mean, it was, you know, cracked, plaster, everything everywhere and, you know, just the original, the pine floors, um, because it was not, it was not an unusual, um, cost saving measure in Victorian times to, um, uh, put a fair bit of [00:06:00] money into the public spaces in the home. [00:06:03] I E the first floor, um, you know, and the dining room and the living room of the parlor and that sort of thing. Um, and then not put as much money into the second floor. And the non-public spaces. Um, and so, uh, it was not unusual. Uh, we’d like to think, Oh, they, you know, had these beautiful hardwood floors throughout not, was not the case with a lot of Victorian homes. [00:06:28] Those nice floors on the second floor were they usually added later. Oh, and, uh, originally we’re just a, um, um, pine or, or, or, um, or Alder or Poplar. Poplar was very, um, uh, very popular choice, um, for, uh, for floors. And it was just kind of standard plank flooring that then they would put, um, um, a four cloth over, um, which was, um, basically think of it like, um, like carpeting, except it [00:07:00] was, it’s kind of the mid point between carpeting and a rug is essentially a rug that, um, tha...
Transcribe →258: Stuff of Lore with Aaron Mahnke
Apr 15, 202100:46:08Tap to summarizeThis week’s guest is Aaron Mahnke, the creator of the Lore podcast and the small empire that’s grown up around it. He joins Brett to talk about Lore, podcasting, and how life can change when you least expect it. Sponsor Nebia: The Nebia by Moen Spa Shower uses 45% less water while providing a serious upgrade to your shower time. The first 100 people to use code overtired at Nebia.com will get 15% off all Nebia products. Just head to Nebia.com/systematic. Show Links aaronmahnke.com grimandmild.com twitter.com/amahnke instagram.com/amahnke Top 3 Picks Chris Reeves Sebenza pocket knife Immortals Fenyx Rising The Battle of Polytopia Oura Ring AutoSleep Join the Community See you on Discord! Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at systematicpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app. Find Brett as @ttscoff on all social media platforms, and follow Systematic at @systmcast on Twitter. Transcript Systematic 258 Brett: [00:00:00] [00:00:00]My guest this week is Aaron Mahnke he’s the creator of the Lore podcasts and a small empire. That’s grown up around it. How’s it going, Aaron? [00:00:15] Aaron: [00:00:15] Hey, Brett, I am doing well. I’m doing well. How are you? [00:00:17]Brett: [00:00:17] I’m good. I haven’t talked to you since 2016 and at that point a lot had happened since the last time I talked to you before that, and I feel like things have only exponentially grown for you since then. [00:00:32] Aaron: [00:00:32] Things are indeed busy. Yes. And I like it that way. It’s been really fun. [00:00:38] Brett: [00:00:38] Yeah. So I think we talked about this back in 2016, but when I first became aware of you kind of cross paths with you, you were of tossing ideas against the wall with frictionless workflow stuff and kind of putting out things like index cards and whatnot. And then all of this sudden. [00:01:00] You put out a podcast that I don’t think you had like strong, a strong inclination that it was going to change your life. And it, it did. [00:01:12] Aaron: [00:01:12] It did it really did. Yeah. I tell people when they ask me, you know, how did you start lore? I say, have you ever seen one of those detective movies where the. You know, the clever detectives in the library of this English Manor and he sort of leans on a bookshelf and a door swings open because he leaned on the right thing. [00:01:28]That’s how I fell into this. It was all complete happenstance and I have just been making it up as I go ever since. [00:01:37] Brett: [00:01:37] Laura gained more and more popularity. Eventually got. Optioned as an Amazon show. What other Lore specifically, we’ll talk about some of your other shows soon, but like what other major avenues has Laura taken since then? [00:01:51] Aaron: [00:01:51] Shortly after the TV offers rolled in, I had a number of literary agents reach out they’re these mythical [00:02:00] people that a lot of authors don’t think actually exist because. It’s so hard to attain. And I had a lot of them knocking on my door, which was super great. So I teamed up with one of them sold a three book lore series to penguin random house. [00:02:12] The first of the books came out the same. I think the same. It was the same month. I, it might’ve been the same week as the first season of the TV show. So it was sort of a big October, 2017, I think 17 and 18. I think that was the 2017 was the, was like the big month where everything landed. Yeah. And and then, I don’t really think of it as a spinoff, but I’ve taken Lore on the road, you know, we’ve done. [00:02:35]Chad who composes music for the show. He’s a amazing classical pianist. He’s got an album out now. That’s just tearing up the charts in his category. He recorded at Abbey road. He’s signed on with Decca records legendary. Record that. Yeah he’s the bomb and we’ll go on tour and do 15 or 20 cities across the country over the course of a few months, just, you know, go out and do a few come back home recuperate and do lore live in front of an audience of a [00:03:00] thousand or two people. [00:03:01]It’s always a really fun time. [00:03:03] Brett: [00:03:03] That’s amazing. So you started production company, I think is what you would call it grim and mild. [00:03:09] Aaron: [00:03:09] Yeah. Yeah. About three years ago, was it three years ago? Two and a half. I, heart radio approached me and they said, Hey, we love what you do with lore. And we want you to make more shows. And so what we want to do is we want to Pay you for your services, but also provide you with production, muscle, and staff and people who can take your ideas and make them into shows. [00:03:29] And the first thing we launched was a show called cabinet of curiosities which is my love letter to Paul Harvey and the rest of the story and a little bit of uh Ripley’s believe it or not. And it comes out twice a week. Each episode has two tiny five minute stories in it that are these little. [00:03:44] You know, delightful, wonderful, curious, vignettes about inventions are amazing people. And then after that, it’s just been that’s the same model for every show. And when I went to re up that deal a year later, or two years later, I guess it’s been three because I just hit the year [00:04:00] Mark on grim and mild. [00:04:01] Anyway, I needed a more of a. I needed to hire people I needed at the time I was doing cabinet with contracts, Unobscured. And then unobscured, that was another show I brought on. And I was doing that with paid contractors, but I wanted to hire people and, you know, give health insurance and all those benefits and have people on staff who could do other things too. [00:04:19] So I started a production company to sort of be the umbrella for that expensive venture. And and now everything is sort of bundled up under that umbrella that I guess it’s a network in a sense of grim and mild. [00:04:31] Brett: [00:04:31] How big is your team now? [00:04:33] Aaron: [00:04:33] I have five paid staff members. And I have another, I think three contractors who still, they’d rather just be contractors, they’re doing it, you know, around a day job or things like that. [00:04:43]I think, you know, Harry Marks he’s floated in our circle for years. Harry writes cabinet for me. He’s my main guy for cabinet. Yeah. And he does that around a full-time job. So there’s no need to hire him and all that. Yeah, it’s great. So yeah, th the team grows as it needs to and, you know, [00:05:00] there’s seasons for a lot of these shows and ebbs and flows, and so people can move around and, you know, we’re developing other stuff and working on other shows that haven’t come out yet. [00:05:08] And it’s exciting. We do team meetings every month, every every Monday and writers’ rooms for different shows on a regular basis. It’s it feels like a. The production company. [00:05:18] Brett: [00:05:18] Like I’m just. I did not succeed at being independent. Like I recently took a day job after a decade of doing my own version of throwing things against the wall and seeing what sticks and I feel like I am the typical story of people who try to make it independently. [00:05:35] And you are the very atypical story of of independent success. [00:05:41]Aaron: [00:05:41] Yeah. I like, you know, I’ve said it already and I’ll say it many times today, but I am making this up as I go. I. There was no manual to tell me what to do. It did help that I was running A small one person de...
Transcribe →257: A Freewheeling Conversation with Tris Hussey
Apr 1, 202100:56:56Tap to summarizeThis week’s guest is Tris Hussey, a freelance content marketer. He joins Brett for a wide-ranging discussion about writing, mind mapping, software tools, and Cadbury Cream Eggs. Sponsor Nebia: The Nebia by Moen Spa Shower uses 45% less water while providing a serious upgrade to your shower time. The first 100 people to use code overtired at Nebia.com will get 15% off all Nebia products. Just head to Nebia.com/systematic. Show Links trishussey.com My Ink Stained Fingers linkedin.com/in/trishussey twitter.com/TrissHussey Marked 2 nvUltra MindManager Chuck Frey Scapple Popclip WebMD Popclip extension Curio MultiMarkdown Composer iThoughtsX Bear Top 3 Picks Snowpiercer on Netflix Invincible on Amazon Just Add Magic M.A.S.H. Spring Cadbury Cream Eggs Join the Community See you on Discord! Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at systematicpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app. Find Brett as @ttscoff on all social media platforms, and follow Systematic at @systmcast on Twitter. Transcript Systematic 257 Brett: [00:00:00] [00:00:00] [00:00:06] this week’s guest is Tris Hussey, a freelance content marketer. How’s it going, Tris? [00:00:12] Tris: [00:00:12] Brett, It’s great. And we were just talking last week about stuff. So it’s, it’s an honor to be on this podcast. [00:00:18] Brett: [00:00:18] that the, [00:00:18] Tris: [00:00:18] So flattered. [00:00:19] Brett: [00:00:19] the easiest way to get on systematic is to have me on your podcast first. [00:00:24] Tris: [00:00:24] All right. So then if I want to be on again, do I have to have you on again? Which would be fine, but [00:00:30] Brett: [00:00:30] I don’t think it works twice. [00:00:31] Tris: [00:00:31] no. Okay.Ok. [00:00:33] Brett: [00:00:33] you have to wait for the rotation, come back around. Like after I took a year off of systematic and then. Since starting it back up. Most of my guests have been people that were on like five, six years ago and like catching up with them. But, uh, it turns out you’re okay. [00:00:52] So I, I feel like we’ve known each other in a digital sense for a long time. And I had it in my head in my head that you had actually [00:01:00] been on systematic before, but you haven’t. [00:01:02] Tris: [00:01:02] But I haven’t. No, but we have known each other in the digital sense for a very, I think probably almost 10 years. [00:01:08] Brett: [00:01:08] How did we, how did we first connect? [00:01:10] Tris: [00:01:10] Oh, it was, I think it was, well, I was still a professional blogger and tech journalist and doing a lot of writing and I think I, I might’ve stumbled on nvALT. And, uh, then quickly saw Marked, the first version came out and scoop that up in a heartbeat. And then when Marked 2 came out, I grabbed that and then I’ve just kind of followed the stuff you do. [00:01:39] Not that I understand all of it because when you and Christina Warren were talking in your last overtired episodes, like, wow, I have no idea what they’re talking about, but it sounds so cool. I wish I could do those things. [00:01:52] Brett: [00:01:52] Yeah. That episode, like w our audience is by and large super nerdy. But then [00:02:00] again, when I say things like that, I realize I work off of assumptions. And we don’t get a lot of like data on who actually listens to the show other than like random tweets. So, you know what? I don’t even know what my, my primary demographic for this show is. [00:02:18]Tris: [00:02:18] I would say humans who are interested in learning new. Things, if the, if, if the episodes that I’ve seen [00:02:25] are any indication. Yeah. [00:02:28] Brett: [00:02:28] Curious humans. That’s that’s my, that’s my target demo. [00:02:32] Tris: [00:02:32] Curious humans, they’re, they’re all usually the most fun humans. So [00:02:36] Brett: [00:02:36] So what, uh, how do you define content marketing? [00:02:40]Tris: [00:02:40] Uh, I, I think it is the, the teenage version. Of professional blogging, which means you’re, you’re creating content for a business to help them meet some kind of, [00:03:00] some kind of business goal. Whether it’s more leads or more app downloads or just thought leadership in general. Um, any, any of those things. And I really do it. [00:03:12] It did come right out of professional blogging. When I’m asked about that as well, I’ve been content marketing for 16 years and people look at me or, you know, the raised eyebrow goes up. It’s like, well, I know it wasn’t called that back then, but that’s what it was when we were business blogging. It really was, it was content marketing. [00:03:27] We just didn’t realize it yet. [00:03:29] Brett: [00:03:29] So w w what is teenage version mean? [00:03:32] Tris: [00:03:32] It means we still have a lot to learn. And I think we have a lot of angst. Um, yeah, I think content marketing is, it’s kind of, maybe we’re almost ready to graduate from high school as in content marketing, but I don’t think we’ve hit our stride. And I think there’s a lot of experimentation going on, which is great, which is what all your teenage years are about. [00:03:57] Um, there’s certainly the emo crowd in [00:04:00] the, in the, the, the popular kids crowd and, uh, the, you know, the drama and band group in, in the geeks, in, in content marketing who are. Seeing where this is going to go. Cause I think it’s too early to really pigeonhole it because we’re still figuring out what really the best things are. [00:04:23] Because not that long ago, people only thought about content marketing, I think as blogging. And they didn’t look at the whole picture, which is like podcasting and audio, um, and webinars and those expanded versions, or even, you know, posting on LinkedIn, um, and other social media, like people didn’t think they thought, uh, early on, you know, Twitter, you know, like I’m going to share this on Twitter. [00:04:50] And it’s not really part of my content marketing, but it is, it all has to be part of the same story. The story has to be all part of the same thing. So we’re still figuring it out. And I think once, you know, we, we [00:05:00] finished high school, we’re getting into college and we, uh, go into our, maybe our, our philosophical phase. [00:05:09] Right. We’re going to hang it around drinking, um, obscure imported beer or smoking clove cigarettes. And, uh, talking deep thoughts about the true meaning of content, then we’re going to kind...
Transcribe →256: Just Build Things with Tiffany White
Mar 25, 202100:35:15Tap to summarizeThis week’s guest is Tiffany White, an independent software developer. She joins Brett to talk about getting started in a tech career, some indie filmmaking, and some classy Top 3 Picks. Sponsor Mint Mobile: Cut your wireless plan to $15 a month and get the plan shipped to your door for FREE by visiting mintmobile.com/systematic. Show Links insta/trwhitemedia tiffanywhite.blog tiffanywhite.dev @tiffanywhitedev www.freecodecamp.org Code & Supply Udemy App Ideas GlassDoor Moment for iOS Harrisburgers with Cameras DJI Mini 2 Top 3 Picks Canon M50 Canon M100/M200 HiFiMan Drop headphones Ultimate Hacking Keyboard WASD Custom Keyboards Hue Light Strip Home Assistant Join the Community See you on Discord! Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at systematicpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app. Find Brett as @ttscoff on all social media platforms, and follow Systematic at @systmcast on Twitter. Transcript Tiffany White Brett: [00:00:00] [00:00:00]My guest this week is Tiffany White, an independent software developer. Thanks for being here, Tiffany. [00:00:11]Tiffany: [00:00:11] Thank you for having me, Brett. [00:00:13]Brett: [00:00:13] So when did you first start to code? [00:00:17]Tiffany: [00:00:17] early 2015. I just was. Thinking that I needed a career change. And someone mentioned the Brico camp to me and I started learning right there. [00:00:31] Brett: [00:00:31] What were you doing before that? [00:00:33]Tiffany: [00:00:33] I was doing absolutely nothing before that. I was going to school For a long time, just basically a professional student who was trying to get a degree in English and perhaps, get an MFA in writing. But as someone who didn’t have any money, I felt like that wasn’t an appropriate career choice at the time. [00:00:57]Brett: [00:00:57] Need them, you need to have money to be here. And [00:01:00] MFA and lit. [00:01:01] Tiffany: [00:01:01] Oh, yes. Oh yes. So I I lived in Pittsburgh at the time and there were a whole bunch of techniques out there and I went to one coding supply is one of the biggest ones out there learned a little Ruby and decided that’s what I wanted to do. [00:01:15]Brett: [00:01:15] And you went to school for a little while [00:01:19]Tiffany: [00:01:19] Yeah. I went to the [00:01:20]Brett: [00:01:20] For a code. [00:01:21] Tiffany: [00:01:21] Yeah. Yeah. I went to Pitt on their university of Pittsburgh for computer science for two years. It was interesting to see how different that environment was compared to me learning on my own. There was just, I don’t want to say. That it was a bad experience. [00:01:43] It was a different experience because you’re learning more theory and more algorithms and data structures and things like that. That things that you aren’t really going to use on the job? At least when I was working as my previous job, I didn’t use [00:02:00] any of that stuff. It did teach you how to think how to learn, how to think about abstractions. [00:02:07]But I just, I found that the courses that I need to take along with the computer science courses that I was taking just did not, I just didn’t want to, so to take those, I was getting older and I just, I didn’t want to continue to go through that route. So I decided I was just going to do it on my own plus Pitt is expensive. [00:02:28] So there was that. [00:02:30]Brett: [00:02:30] So do you feel like going through things like free code camp that you got perhaps a more useful education that way? [00:02:37]Tiffany: [00:02:37] Yes, I think so. They do have their, algorithm and data structures. Part of the pre co camp that’s really invaluable. So when I started free code camp, it was right at the beginning of Ricoh camps existence. So they were basically, aggregating different. Different sources for you to learn. [00:02:57]Then they made their own curriculum [00:03:00] and then have improved upon it for the past six years. And it’s just, it’s an amazing resource and it’s free, and I learned a good bit there and I would recommend it to anyone starting out, like wanting to learn how to code it’s. It’s great. And it’s not just web development. [00:03:16] It’s not just JavaScript. They have Python now and machine learning. So check it out. [00:03:22] Brett: [00:03:22] So you were able to parlay that then into an actual industry job. You went from. A an English major to working in tech. W did you, was there an uphill battle to try to get that first job without a college degree? [00:03:38]Tiffany: [00:03:38] There was and it wasn’t so much that. The lack of a degree for me, I got, there were people who reached out to me from like Google and Twitter and things like that. I think what it was for me was my lack of building anything useful. When you [00:04:00] go to free coop free code camp, and you work on the curriculum, there are projects that you need to do, are things you need to do projects to actually want to the next section to get a certificate or whatever. [00:04:12]And I wasn’t doing that. I was going to different tutorial sites and, Feeling like I was doing things by doing code alongs and things like that. And that, that hindered me more than not having a computer science degree. [00:04:30]Brett: [00:04:30] What would the recommendation there be if someone were following in your path, what would you say to do differently? [00:04:36]Tiffany: [00:04:36] I would tell them to. Build things learned a little bit from safe Rico camper. You Demi course learn whatever you can. From there, you don’t need to finish those things. Learn the basics and start building a project and continue to dip in and out of. Tutorials, but don’t just spend time spinning your wheels, doing [00:05:00] these things because you’re not actually learning anything. [00:05:02] You’re not synthesizing the things that you’re learning and applying them to something real, a real world project. And not just a project that you get from like a Demi course. But a project that you’ve thought of. On your own, like even take a, an idea from a repo that I found on GitHub called app ideas, you can take an idea from there and then start building it with the stuff that you’ve learned from whatever tutorial you have been doing. [00:05:32] So I think that building a project and several projects is going to help you in the long run, learn how. Programming works and learn how to be a developer and landing your first software job. [00:05:51] Brett: [00:05:51] It’s interesting that you say that I, because that’s the only way that I. Can learn. I don’t think I’ve ever finished an [00:06:00] online course of any kind. I dropped out of a computer science degree after a year. Like I only learned by creating my own projects and lik...
Transcribe →255: A Weighty Discussion with April Herndon
Mar 19, 202101:00:00Tap to summarizeThis week’s guest is April Herndon, an English professor and author (and many other things). She joins Brett to talk about fat advocacy, her Appalachian roots, and the joys of punching bags. Sponsor Nebia: The Nebia by Moen Spa Shower uses 45% less water while providing a serious upgrade to your shower time. The first 100 people to use code overtired at Nebia.com will get 15% off all Nebia products. Just head to Nebia.com/systematic. Show Links April Herndon at WSU Fat Blame: How the War on Obesity Victimizes Women and Children Top 3 Picks Choice Everlast Punching Bag Lipstick Stunna by Fenty Join the Community See you on Discord! Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at systematicpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app. Find Brett as @ttscoff on all social media platforms, and follow Systematic at @systmcast on Twitter. Transcript April [00:00:00] April: [00:00:00] Okay, [00:00:00] Brett: [00:00:00] Hi, I’m Brett Terpstra and you’re listening to systematic. My guest this week is April Herndon, a professor of English. How’s it going April? [00:00:10] April: [00:00:10] good. I mean, as well as it can be in a pandemic. Thanks for asking. [00:00:13] Brett: [00:00:13] I feel like there’s a lot more to your introduction. You are in my mind a lot more than just a professor of English, but I wasn’t sure where to go with it after that. [00:00:22]April: [00:00:22] It could go a lot of different places. I appreciate you sort of letting me be all of the different. Things I am. You know, in addition to teaching English, I have an interdisciplinary degree. So I’ve taught science and technology studies. I was a director of a non-profit organization called the intersex society of North America, where I did medical advocacy. [00:00:42] For children who are born with mixed reproductive and or sexual anatomy I’ve been on a steering committee, started a union at Michigan state, or help start that union. That certainly wasn’t a solo effort. So yeah, I’ve done a lot of different things and have finally settled here in Winona as a professor of English. [00:01:00] [00:00:59] Brett: [00:00:59] Did you go to Michigan state? [00:01:01] April: [00:01:01] I did. [00:01:02] Brett: [00:01:02] And why did I assume you had gone to school in the South? [00:01:05]April: [00:01:05] Well, because I’ve still got a really, really strong accent, even though I haven’t lived in Appalachia since I was 18. So I was a Michigan. Let’s see, how long was I in Michigan? I was in Michigan for seven years and then came to Minnesota and I’ve been at Winona state for 15 years and still the accent lingers. [00:01:25] So yeah, you think if I’d gone to school in the Midwest a little bit more of this would have faded, but, uh, it’s got some pretty good sticking quality. [00:01:31] Brett: [00:01:31] So you are, we’re going to talk a lot about how I know you through Facebook, because that is where I, I learned the most about you and you are a, you. Frequently use colloquialisms, but you never use the same one twice. Are the colloquialisms you use? Are they real or are you just really good at making up Southern sounding colloquialisms? [00:01:56]April: [00:01:56] A mix of both. Um, I do have my own phone [00:02:00] for things. There’s no doubt about that. That’s a family inherited trait. My dad was incredibly quick with it, but a lot of them really are Appalachian sayings. And I think one of the things that people really forget about when they think about that part of the country and the poverty comes to mind, um, the coal mining industry comes to mind. [00:02:20] But they forget that for a very long time, Appalachia has had an incredible oral tradition. These were people who, although they were not formally educated, love to tell stories, passed on all kinds of really important ideas and skills and all of that was done through language. And so from an Appalachian perspective, you know, why would you say that the road outside is slippery? [00:02:43] When you could say it’s a slickest, greenhouse, not. Right. I mean, it’s waving more vivid people. Remember that, you know, that makes an impression. I mean, somebody says that to you. You think I better get my ice cleats on you? Don’t just go run out there, like to check it out. You already know it’s rough. [00:03:00] So yeah, I do have a lot of those. [00:03:01] And like I said, that that’s part of the Appalachia that I wish people knew more about. [00:03:06] Brett: [00:03:06] Did that kind of a fascination with the oral history play into your, uh, eventual education and English and professional life in English. [00:03:18]April: [00:03:18] For sure. Um, one of the things that was really interesting to me is I didn’t really have an incredible appreciation for Appalachia when I was still in high school. Um, you know, for me it seemed like a place to get out of. I looked around. I saw people who were living in poverty and I loved my family, especially my maternal grandparents and my maternal grandmother, like huge influence on my life, taught me more stuff than I can even start to count up, but I wasn’t sure what I would do if I stayed there. [00:03:50] And that was sort of my main impression was. Leave when I got to college and I started taking English classes and had professors who were teaching Appalachian literature. [00:04:00] And I really started to understand that we had our own culture. We had our own dialect. Um, we had this really rich tradition of telling stories. [00:04:12] It really made me want to learn more about it. And I do think that’s one of the biggest reasons that. I went as far as I did in terms of my education. And in terms of studying English, is that for me, the literature was a window onto a place where I had actually lived and it still made me see a different, and that’s. [00:04:33] That’s a really a powerful statement about the effect that words and storytelling can have on someone to take somebody that grew up there and show them a different set of stories and help them see that thing that they’re so familiar with in a different way. That’s amazing. [00:04:50]Brett: [00:04:50] Yeah. That’s awesome. So one of the topics that, uh, that I know you post on frequently and have even written a [00:05:00] book about is fat advocacy. Is that the right word for it? [00:05:04] April: [00:05:04] Yeah. That’s one way to say it. There’s a, if you want to think about it from a medical perspective, there’s a movement called health at every size. Um, and most of us who are in the health at every size movement and that’s more medical professionals. And then folks like me who publish in a field that we call fat studies. [00:05:21] Um, we’re all people who are trying to help other folks understand that fatness very much like gender or race or class or disability that these are constructed social categories. And although there are things about people’s bodies that underlie all of those, the meanings that we attribute to those things, those are social constructions and we choose. [00:05:44] How to construct those meanings. And so we’re all working for a world where, when we talk about fatness, we’re talking about it, not as a stigmatized trait, but more, just a neutral descriptor of how people’s bodies happened to be in the world. [00:05:58] Brett: [00:05:58] Yeah. So [00:06:00] the, uh, the title of the book is fat blame. The war on obesity, victimizes women and children. Um, so first of all, let’s define, there’s been how, how long has this idea of, uh, the, um, PA UPenn and not pandemic [00:06:17]Epidemic! I got pandemic on the brain. [00:06:20] April: [00...
Transcribe →254: The Psychology of Addiction with Steve Daviss, MD
Mar 11, 202101:06:20Tap to summarizeThis week’s guest is Dr. Steve Daviss, a consultation laison psychiatrist. He joins Brett to talk about pandemic psychology, addiction, ADHD, note taking, and a bit of making music with code. Sponsors Mint Mobile: Cut your wireless plan to $15 a month and get the plan shipped to your door for FREE by visiting mintmobile.com/systematic. TextExpander: The tool neither Christina nor Brett would want to live without. Save time typing on Mac, Windows, iOS, and the web. Listeners can save 20% on their first year by visiting TextExpander.com. Show Links Linkedin/drdaviss Twitter/@HITshrink Schematic of addiction reward circuitry (from Dr George Koob, NIAAA) Support for mental health and addiction recovery during COVID My Three Shrinks podcasts Shrink Rap: Three Psychiatrists Explain Their Work (borrow from OpenLibrary) Top 3 Picks David Lubbers — Persistence of Vision Wayback Machine SonicPi Join the Community See you on Discord! Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at systematicpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app. Find Brett as @ttscoff on all social media platforms, and follow Systematic at @systmcast on Twitter. Transcript 254 Steve Daviss [00:00:00]Brett: [00:00:00] [00:00:00] This week’s guest is Dr. Steve Davis. He’s a consultation liaison psychiatrist. Hi Steve. [00:00:07] Steve: [00:00:07] Hey, Brett. Uh, thank you for a vitamin onto your show. [00:00:11] Brett: [00:00:11] Oh, absolutely. Uh, tell me what a, uh, consultation liaison psychiatrist does. [00:00:18] Steve: [00:00:18] Uh, that’s a great question. Um, so. Uh, consultation, liaison psychiatrist. Uh, the words in that phrase, essentially refer to psychiatrists who work in typically medical settings. Um, often hospitals emergency room. Sometimes it might be nursing homes, um, and. Uh, the focus is really, I’ve got somebody here with some sort of problem, and I need a psychiatrist to, uh, evaluate and see if they have a psychiatric problem that might be contributing or, uh, the person has [00:01:00] psychiatric symptoms. [00:01:01] We think it might be XYZ, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, uh, alcohol withdrawal. Um, but we know we want a second opinion. So that’s, that’s really what we do. We work in hospital settings generally. Um, and that’s where I spent most of my career, I guess, working in either hospital settings or other kind of primary care setting. [00:01:24] It’s like a FQHC federally qualified health center or primary care offices. Um, so that in essence is what a cl psychiatrist, uh, does. Uh, I’m also, uh, an addiction psychiatrist, um, frankly, It’s hard to do psychiatry without also doing addiction. Uh, and I’ve done a lot of, um, uh, work around addiction. In fact, I’m currently the president of the Maryland DC society of addiction medicine, which is a chapter of the larger national main addiction [00:02:00] organization, which is a, or the American society of addiction medicine. [00:02:03] Brett: [00:02:03] So you do a lot more, um, uh, consultation than actual long-term seeing of patients, at least in your capacity as a consultation liaison, then. [00:02:14] Steve: [00:02:14] Um, I had been, um, my career has kind of, um, O taken a winding path. I, you know, I started off doing, uh, actually frankly, schizophrenia research way back in the day. Um, and. Uh, I wanted to go into, uh, research, uh, primarily because it that’s what attracted me to psychiatry and medicine in the first place. I, um, uh, growing up, I had a, um, uh, family members who developed schizophrenia at a young age in their teens, uh, which is oftentimes when it develops and the. [00:02:54] Uh, just to see, you know, these loved ones of mine transform [00:03:00] with hallucinations and seeing numbers floating in the air. And it just kinda made me made, you know, I was younger than them. I was probably 11 or 12 and made me wonder how does the brain do this weird stuff? Um, and I was kind of a geeky kid to begin with. [00:03:15] Uh, so that just was something to focus on and, um, I never let go of it. I mean, that’s really, what’s driven my. My, my career is how does, how does it happen that the brain gets broken like that and how to fix it? [00:03:32] Brett: [00:03:32] do you think it’s a typical fo it surprises me that you’re still fascinated now by what you were fascinated by when you were 12. [00:03:43] Steve: [00:03:43] yeah, well it reminds me of, um, you know, so I, so I went into. Uh, kind of a research research career. I actually started out as an MD PhD candidate. Um, and then, uh, [00:04:00] Uh, when I was driving around to, um, residencies, you know, you go to four years of medical school after college, four years of medical school, then internship and residency for psychiatry, which is, uh, uh, typically four years. [00:04:15] Um, and then maybe a fellowship or, or start your career. And as I was driving up to Dartmouth, um, and New Hampshire, um, for my interview on the radio, Um, there was an NPR, a story about how they found the gene for schizophrenia. And, um, I remember kind of shouting, you know, and exclamation as I’m driving. Um, Oh, this is great. [00:04:42] And then my next thought was, Oh, well, I guess they solve that problem. Maybe I won’t go into research. Um, as we know, it’s never as simple as it seems. Uh, there are, you know, a bazillion genes that seem to. I have something to do with, uh, schizophrenia and, um, [00:05:00] it remains, uh, mental health in general, um, remains, uh, to me a very interesting, challenging area. [00:05:09] Um, although over the years, my interest have gone from research, you know, causes it, how to treat it, um, to more mundane, but probably much more important things like, uh, we know what good care looks like. We sometimes don’t know how to get it to people. You don’t know how to get it to them, where to get it to them, how to make it affordable, how to make it effective. [00:05:36] So a big part of, um, psychiatry nowadays is often, uh, uh, implementation research, how to. Get people, the care that they need, it’s a little sad, um, that it is like that. Cause we don’t seem to have as much trouble getting diabetes treatment to people and blood pressure treatment to people. Uh, but it continues to be a problem. [00:05:57] Brett: [00:05:57] Do you, I think that, uh, I mean, there’s been a lot of [00:06:00] talk over the last couple of years about mental health, especially mental health in America. Do you feel like things are changing, uh, that there actually is more of a light being shined on those problems? [00:06:12] Steve: [00:06:12] I do. Um, you know, it’s been something that’s been changing, I think over the years, but, um, over the past, I would say five, eight years or so there seems to be an increasing. Recognition of the centrality of mental health and by, and when I say mental health, I mean like mental health and addiction, I, I, a lot of people split those two things separately. [00:06:39] I think of them, many of us think of them as, as together, it’s all brain stuff. Um, and so, uh, the, uh, th the recognition that if you don’t. Address those issues, then somebody’s health, physical health suffers as well. And so you’ve got to [00:07:00] do both and if you don’t do both, you’re not going to do a good job. [00:07:04] If you’re just focused on physical health, like diabetes, you won’t do a great job with that, unless you’ve got the mental health stuff under your ...
Transcribe →253: The Thing About Poker with Victor Agreda Jr.
Mar 4, 202100:41:16Tap to summarizeThis week’s guest is Victor Agreda Jr, a polymath for hire. He joins Brett to talk startups, poker, comedy, and mental health. Sponsor Nebia: The Nebia by Moen Spa Shower uses 45% less water while providing a serious upgrade to your shower time. The first 100 people to use code systematic at Nebia.com will get 15% off all Nebia products. Just head to Nebia.com/systematic. Show Links victoragreda.com @superpixel Instagram/Superpixel5 Mario the Maker Magician Atypical Kegan Peele History of Sketch Comedy Top 3 Picks M1 MacBook Air Magic is Dead Ukelele Amanda Palmer Tiny Tim Join the Community See you on Discord! Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at systematicpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app. Find Brett as @ttscoff on all social media platforms, and follow Systematic at @systmcast on Twitter. Transcript Victor [00:00:00] Brett: [00:00:00] This week’s guest is Victor Agreda Jr. [00:00:02] A polymath for hire? How’s it going, Victor? [00:00:06] Victor: [00:00:06] Uh, it’s going well, [00:00:07] Brett: [00:00:07] What’s a, what’s a polymath. [00:00:10]Victor: [00:00:10] you know? Uh, it’s it’s funny. So I’m, I’m actually in a startup right now. We’re we’re in stealth mode. Uh, I don’t know when this will air, but we might be out of stealth mode by then. But the thing is, is that one of our, uh, one of our teammates was putting together, you know, the requisite investor deck, and they put me as polymath. [00:00:26] I actually had to look it up and it’s basically a nice term for Jack of all trades master of none. [00:00:31] Brett: [00:00:31] Oh, that is, that’s a way class. Your way to say that. Huh? Yeah, I had that. I had the actual job title, Jack of all trades for awhile. Uh, when I worked at agile, because I couldn’t, because there wasn’t really good at any one thing. [00:00:48]Victor: [00:00:48] Well, you know, it’s, it’s sort of like, uh, nowadays in it, there’s a bunch of different job titles that will earn you money even like more money, even though you’re kind of doing. A similar thing that maybe 10 years ago [00:01:00] would have just been it admin. Right. And so it’s sorta like that. If you say polymath versus Jack of all trades, I think you can, you can. [00:01:07]Brett: [00:01:07] So last time you were on systematic. I was 34 years old. [00:01:12]Victor: [00:01:12] Holy cow. [00:01:13] Brett: [00:01:13] It has been eight years since, since we’ve talked on the show, we have talked in person even since then, [00:01:19]Victor: [00:01:19] That’s right. [00:01:21] Brett: [00:01:21] it’s been eight. I like, I vividly remember talking to you. About, uh, magic and comedy. And I did not realize how long it had been until I looked it up just before we said [00:01:33]Victor: [00:01:33] Time flies, man. [00:01:35] Brett: [00:01:35] so, uh, so what are you up to these days? [00:01:37]Victor: [00:01:37] Well, uh, it’s funny because I’m picking up magic again. Uh, comedy is obviously kind of off the, the. The plan with the pandemic. What I do know people who are doing comedy shows, there are still open mikes, believe it or not in my area. Um, but I’m not going to any of that stuff. I’ve, I’ve picked up magic is kind of a side thing to just kind of play with. [00:01:59] But that [00:02:00] routed me towards a couple of other things that are somewhat in my wheelhouse as well, which is, uh, puppets. And, um, I’ve, I’ve long been a fan of the Muppets last year. I read the well actually year before that I read the. Biography of Jim Henson and it was very inspirational. And so, uh, aside from my work as a writer and, and doing some PR and doing some other sort of side stuff, I’ve, I’ve really gotten into puppetry, um, and working on a little show with puppets that really talk about feelings and kind of the human condition. [00:02:34] Brett: [00:02:34] Wow. Yeah. So where I was on, uh, I didn’t interview with a puppet. I believe the name was Maddie. And so that was for this show. You’re speaking of. [00:02:47] Victor: [00:02:47] That’s correct. Yeah. Maddie is the station manager for QTF M and this is a group of puppets that have come from another dimension, uh, in this weird looking sort of tugboat, this interdimensional tugboat. Uh, I figure if [00:03:00] Dr who can ride around in a police box from the 1950s, uh, these guys can be in a, uh, a tug boat. [00:03:06] And, uh, QTF em, is this sort of pirate radio station from another dimension. And they’ve come here. Uh, somewhat accidentally, but also kind of on accidentally on purpose, uh, to study human beings and to learn about human beings. [00:03:19] Brett: [00:03:19] all right. And is this, is this live yet? [00:03:23]Victor: [00:03:23] Not yet. No, I’m, I’m, uh, I’m going to be slowly working on this, um, in my spare time and I’ve, I’ve conducted, you were actually the second interview that I did. And I’m working on about, I think, six more interviews and then we’ll have, I think four episodes, uh, that we’ll have all kinds of different things. [00:03:40] So I even have a little bit of magic that I practiced on Instagram live over the summer. When the pandemic really hit the lockdown hit, I was like, Oh, let’s try out some of this, you know, video magic stuff. And, and that was a fun experiment. [00:03:54] Brett: [00:03:54] Complete. Absolutely. Coincidentally, my last guest was David Wayne, who was also doing [00:04:00] magic on Instagram. [00:04:01]Victor: [00:04:01] Oh wild. What are the odds? [00:04:04] Brett: [00:04:04] And, and talking to you right now is making me realize there’s a friend of mine owns LARC toys in, I think it’s Kellogg, Minnesota. But it’s one of the, uh, one of the premier toy stores in the country and, uh, as kind of a creative outlet, he designs all of these puppets. [00:04:26] And, um, I, I guess they’re all, they’re all puppets. Even if you don’t put your hand in them, right. Like, So these big animatronics and like he has a blast, he has a, a huge troll puppet that controls a smaller puppet, like Maryann that style I should show you this stuff. You guys would get a kick out of each other’s work. [00:04:48] I’m sure of it. [00:04:50] Victor: [00:04:50] Yeah, that’s amazing. Well, I I’ve got some, I’ve actually got a raspberry PI and some servo motors and stuff. And so my son is, is really he’s on a robotics team and that’s [00:05:00] something that I think once the robotics season is over, we’re going to play with. Some possible robotic puppets are like assisted. [00:05:06] There’s actually a guy named Mario the magician. Uh, well, Mario, the maker magician, I think is actually his title and you should check out his stuff because he kind of reminds me of, I can’t remember her name now, but the one who did like the crazy robots, you know, that would like fling cereal and that kind of thing. [00:05:23] Um, it’s very kin...
Transcribe →252: Quarantine Comedy with David Wain
Feb 11, 202100:54:31Tap to summarizeThis week’s guest is David Wain, a writer, director, actor, comedian, talented musician and amateur magician, among other things. He and Brett talk about getting a show to Netflix, quarantine content production, and some great Top 3 Picks. Sponsor Uber for Business: Keep your customers and employees engaged and happy with vouchers for rides and food. Get a $50 voucher credit when you spend your first $200 at uber.com/systematicpod. Show Links davidwain.com Medical Police Instagram/DavidWain TikTok/@davidwain Collaborative music videos “What if They Sucked” PSA about masks with Paul Rudd SCTV nvUltra Bunch Top 3 Picks The Leftovers The Americans Hello Forever Eleven Occulus Quest Join the Community See you on Discord! Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at systematicpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app. Find Brett as @ttscoff on all social media platforms, and follow Systematic at @systmcast on Twitter. Transcript David [00:00:00] Brett:This week’s guest is David Wayne. He’s a writer, director, actor, comedian, talented musician, and aspiring magician among other things. That’s great. We’ll have you back, David, David:always great to be back, Brett, how are you Brett:is it like your fourth time? David:could be, you know, I was just, I was just talking to a friend of mine that said, because people do ask me a lot to be on random podcasts and I. Basically usually say no, but when it’s somebody sort of nerdy like you I’m like yeah, of course. Brett:Wow. Thank you. Thank you. That is a that’s an honor. Why don’t you have a podcast? David:I haven’t gotten around to it. I will. I’m sure Brett:feel, I feel like if there’s one thing the world needs right now, it’s another white guy doing a podcast. David:exactly. That’s sort of the problem. Brett:So. David:Sort of the problem with anything I want to do these days, but Brett:I have to think, though, if you were going to do a podcast, you would [00:01:00] do something I’m going to say it would be a clever heartwarming and slightly uncomfortable, David:Could be. I mean, although I’ve thought about doing podcasts about. Uh, topics that are completely outside of what people think of me as you know, like using a podcast as a, as an Avenue to talk about something totally different, Brett:but David:you know, or do it, or do a podcast just about like Rubik’s cubing or something. Brett:Of actual interest you or just so out there, it throws everyone off. David:no of interest to me, but just on different slice. But then again, maybe I’m not as widely. Uh, I don’t have as much breadth as I think I do. And so it would be pointless. Brett:All right. Well, so last time we talked, uh, what had American summer first day of camp was I think just coming out, David:Oh, my goodness. That must been like four years ago. Brett:this was 2015. David:Okay. Six years ago. Brett:Um, so w since then you’ve had your IMD peep, [00:02:00] your IMDV page, uh, lists a lot of things. I know that, uh, you did a Netflix, Netflix, what do you want to call it? A pandemic comedy thriller David:Well, well, I mean, after that, I actually did two other things on Netflix before that made a movie, which was a biopic about, um, Doug Kenney, the founder of national Lampoon. And the maker of animal house. And then I did the wet, hot American summer 10 years later. Mini-series um, and then not too long after that, we did this show that you’re talking about called medical police, which is sort of a spinoff of our other show from adult swim children’s hospital, but is, uh, Action comedy globe trotting, mission, impossible James Bond kind of show that we made for very little money about a worldwide pandemic and two doctors who are recruited to become CIA type agents to help figure out the conspiracy. And they have to go all over the world with guns and, and, uh, and their medical smarts and it’s [00:03:00] called medical place. But it’s very silly and funny. Brett:and you’re released, you released it just under the wire to not be current events. David:Correct? Yes. It was about a worldwide pandemic and we, you know, it aired on Netflix in January of 2020. Um, so timing was not great on any level, Brett:so I know that wa uh, March, April, uh, the number one movie on Netflix was contagion David:right? Brett:and it showed up at like top movies on iTunes. All of these pandemic movies did, did, uh, did the. Uh, David:Medical police. I don’t think, I don’t think we received that sort of bump. I think people didn’t, weren’t aware that, uh, of the topic of our show. I mean, it really isn’t. Um, as much, it’s not really an exploration of what a pandemic is, like as much as it is just a dumb, funny comedy. Um, and it’s a very funny, very dumb comedy and I highly recommend everyone check it out Brett:so [00:04:00] well, okay. What is your, what’s your kind of pitch? David:to watch the show. Um, Brett:I, I get what it’s about. I get the, I get the David:I would say, well, I would give you two, I’ll give you two pitches. One is if you’re at Austin, no you with any of my previous work, whether it’s wet, hot American summer or role models or children’s hospital or the state or anything like that, then you will definitely, definitely love this show. It’s a great. Addition to the Canon of very, of a very specific comedic sensibility that, uh, you will like if you liked any of those things. I just mentioned on the other hand, if you’re not familiar and also if you ever saw the show children’s hospital, this is a direct spin-off of that with the same characters. Um, if you’re not familiar with any of that, I still recommended on this regard, which is to say, um, it’s a uniquely funny, very fast paced. Fun to watch 10 episode action comedy series with a one storyline that takes [00:05:00] you in a suspenseful way from beginning to end, um, where you’re kind of involved in the storyline as well as being, you know, entertained with comedy from beginning to end and, um, is also got an incredible all-star cast, including Henry Winkler. And, um, I mean, there’s just a. Brett:Chris pine was in her, right? David:Chris pine is the wet hot Brett:hot American summer. That’s right. David:Um, but it’s, it’s a, it’s an incredible ensemble cast and it’s a Jason Schwartzman. Isn’t it. And it’s, it’s um, it’s fun for anybody who likes anything funny. Brett:yeah, I binged it right after it came out and I thought. Oh, he doesn’t need to hear from some random podcasts or who, who enjoyed the show, but I did enjoy the show David:I’m glad. I’m glad you checked it out. I’m glad you enjoyed it. It got great reviews. It did not do great in terms of people watching it, a lot of them, but you know, whatever. Brett:Yeah. So how, what goes into, uh, okay, [00:06:00] so it wasn’t a smash hit. It didn’t make anyone millions of dollars, David:Well, of course, on Netflix, they, you never really find out any specific numb...
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