How This Works

Starting under mentorship with James Beard winner Barbara Lynch, Nicolai Lipscomb has chefed at some of the best restuarants in the world, full stop — Arzak, El Celler Can Roca, at Fundacion Alicia with scientists and nutritionists under the direction of Ferran Adria and Pere Castells, the list goes on and on. And so this conversation with Skipper Chong Warson ranges the globe, starting in Half Moon Bay, Calif. to bungee jumping outside Vancouver Island, British Columbia to working in high pressure kitchens in Boston, Mass.; San Sebastián, Spain; Girona, Spain; and back to northern Calif. again among other locations. The topics range from talking about thrill seeking in motorcycle riding/bungee jumping, homemade Eggo waffles cooling on chopsticks, falling into and grinding through the ever challenging work of making and serving some of the most highly regarded food in the world while racing the clock and the swirling kitchen chaos, the requisite patience to not rush food, the secret to great paella, the importance of downtime in working as a chef, and the brain drain in running restuarants that's happening during COVID-19. One thing that we learned is that restaurants are the number one employer in Calif. And working backwards from the idea that the golden state has 1/8 of the United States population and by some estimates the various 2020 shutdown orders will end up closing 50% of restaurants that aren't backed by chains or corporations, that's a huge impact of which we weren't aware. While recording, Skipper mistakingly attributes Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours of work equals mastery theory to "Blink" instead of "Outliers". (He corrected it with Nicolai offline as soon as he was able.) Stay tuned after the outro music for a bit of tape where Nicolai first mentions working on the line for the first time in six years. This episode was edited and mastered by Troy Lococo. Special Guest: Nicolai Lipscomb.

Having grown up with the idea that she wanted to perform and make music, Selena Rosanbalm talks with Skipper about being a musician and the work she’s done to write, record, release, and promote an independent album in 2020 with everything that's going on. The conversation has a wide swing, starting with her love of yacht rock (think Michael McDonald or Hall & Oates or the Doobie Bros), her fear of things underwater, her early thrill with performing "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" from The Lion King, the number system for calling the chords of the songs to everyone on-stage, how some musicians are still producing new cassette tapes, how being an independent musician is more work than it may seem (because not everyone's Bono), Black Sabbath's debut album done in one take (allegedly), how the name Rosie and the Ramblers came about, and how the cover art for Selena Rosanbalm started with a piece of photo equipment. Stay tuned after the outro music for a piece of tape where Skipper asks if Selena and the members of her backing band wear masks when performing. This episode was edited and mastered by Troy Lococo. Special Guest: Selena Rosanbalm.

This episode of How This Works addresses adult subject matters and contains adult language. As a marketing veteran, Brad breaks down the world of cannabis in this conversation with Skipper. There are stops along the way to talk about Shakespeare, punk rock, William Randolph Hurst, how the illegality of marijuana affects the prison/jail system in this country, the history of reefer madness, how President-elect Biden and speaker Pelosi are closer in age to the assasination of Lincoln than to the present day, H.R.3884 - MORE Act, and the tobacco industry among other subjects. Learn about happens to the human body when you smoke, eat, drink, or otherwise consume cannabis and CBD products. Also, what you should look out for when you're looking for quality CBD products. Brad also talks about his recent work with Tha Hood Squad, a nonprofit street organization, black and brown led, working to fight against overpolicing, racial profiling, and living with gentrification in east Palo Alto (northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California) — which is right across the street from a significantly more afluent part of town. This episode contains some explicit language and adult subject matter. Stay tuned after the outro music to hear Skipper lay out with some expletives about one of the goals of How This Works, "F-word it, own the thing that you know!" This episode was edited and mastered by Troy Lococo. Special Guest: Brad Bogus.

Recorded at the end of October 2020, Jackie and Skipper talked about some number of topics, including how being parents helped them both do better work, how Jackie thinks about recruiting as an art and a science, how fit is both important for the job seeker as well as for the company, how you should never settle for a job (unless you're a contractor), how all designers should have a portfolio, and how important it is to do your research before you apply for a job. Our show starts with a flub but we quickly recover. We talk about what it means when a designer uses off-the-shelf templates for their resume. Jackie's advice? Designers, design your resume. Also, send the right cover letter. Stay tuned after the outro music for a triumphant moment where technology didn't win. Which means we won. And that's always a good day. 😂 Special Guest: Jackie Velasquez-Ross.

We talk with Dr. Peter Chin-Hong from University of California, San Francisco about his expertise as an infectious disease clinician on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19. We'll talk about the current state of the pandemic in California, around the country, and in the world at-large. We also get into what's happening with the vaccines (including the FDA approved Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that uses mRNA to rewire a genetic trigger to the viral proteins) as well as other therapeutics, pandemic fatigue, and how holiday travel might work as other get togethers. But we didn't just talk about the biology or healthcare. We also talked about how Peter — or as his students call him, PCH, which are his initials as well as California's famous Pacific Coast Highway — got interested in medicine while he was growing up in Trinidad and Tobago. We also talked about racism is a public health concern and how Twitter provided not only community for him this year but also a way to learn from others in the larger medical community. Stay tuned until the end of the episode for a funny bit waxing about technology problems while recording. Special Guest: Dr. Peter Chin-Hong.

We recorded this episode when the west coast fires were raging all up and down California, Oregon, and Washington state in Sep 2020. We talked about Amy's journey to becoming a stage actor as well as what her world looks like today as a company member for Oregon Shakespeare Festival (https://www.osfashland.org) (OSF) during COVID-19. One thing we talked about during this episode is how much the arts bring into the U.S. economy every year — on average, $877B is added to the economy, it employs 5.1M people, and is 4.5% of the GDP. Stay tuned until the end of the episode for a funny bit of tape about the "Scottish play". Special Guest: Amy Kim Waschke.

We recorded this episode in Sep 2020 and we talked about Jake's work as a designer and creative director, the notion of focused work, why he started You're Better Than Brunch, and cofounding Caveday with Jeremy Redleaf and Molly Sonsteng. Like so many of us working from home these days, you'll hear Jake's daughter waking up just after the introduction questions before we get into main discussion about focused work and distraction. We also talk about the 2017 University of Chicago study where they look at the effect of brain drain with smartphones — even when your phone is upside down on a table, even on airplane mode — and how it challenges our cognitive abilities. Did you know that Microsoft did a parallel study that showed that the average focus time in the office is 40 seconds? Stay tuned after the outro music for a funny bit of tape asking about the background noise and a strangled pause from Skipper. Special Guest: Jake Kahana.

On How This Works, we will talk to people about some topic that they know incredibly well. Earlier this year, the COVID-19 pandemic came upon us — shutting down workplaces, schools, and, basically, our lives came to a standstill. And with it came lots of questioning facts, opinions, and authority in general. And so, we wanted to find out more about how other people had come into their beliefs and how they've become an expert in their specific worlds. Maybe it's something they do for work, maybe it's a hobby, maybe it's something in between. All of that to say, we're going to talk to 100 people — some are folks we already know, many of whom we haven't met yet — and have them explain how this works, this being something they know very well. The first episode with Jake Kahana will launch on Dec 1, 2020. p.s. You know that feeling, of being so excited that you can hardly wait for the first day of school and yet you're so nervous you're afraid you're going to throw up? That's how we feel right now.