The Gab Lab

Main Topic: Nick asks Ben about naps. Highlights: The secret to a good nap Ideal napping environments Favorite napping memories Industrial napping Parental attitudes toward napping Nap research ideas The future of naps

Main Topic: Ben asks Nick about excuses. Highlights: Excuses vs Explanations Are excuses necessarily negative? Excuses in therapy Regular excuses vs made up excuses The opportunity cost of habitual excuse-making Excuses and apologies How to apologize well Internal excuse-making The two uses of “I’m sorry.” Excuses in Buffalo ranches and European hostels

Nick asks Ben about children's books.

Main Topic: Nick asks Nick about children’s books. Highlights: Ben is Hyperlexic Jack’s Taste in board books Reading routines Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You What aspect of reading do kids respond most to? What’s special about physical books? Eric Carle Books Dr. Seuss Books Classic vs Contemporary Children’s Books Our Animal Friends at Maple Farm Children’s Non-Reading Anxiety Books as a platform for teaching parents about their world.

Main Topic: Ben asks Nick about apps. Highlights: Nick’s favorite hors d’oeuvres Appetizers vs Snacks Lightning Round! First smartphone Favorite app Most used app Most longed for app When are PCs still needed? Dumbest app Most dramatic app fails App usage and organization strategies Specificity vs generality in apps (bundling vs unbundling) App changes App update lamentations and appreciations Apps re-shaping us

Main Topic: Nick asks Ben about hammocks. Highlights: Ben’s hammock expertise Solo vs group hammocking Hammock precautions Hammock dynamics Pirate Hammocks vs Preppy Hammocks Hammock positioning Lightening Round Hammock Man Hammock cocktails Hammock playlists Hammock weather Indoor/cold weather hammocks Hammock purchasing Millennials and their hammocks One more Hammockdote

Main Topic: Ben asks Nick about photography. Highlights: Origin stories & Great Aunt Mildred Analogue photography nostalgia Photo favorites Photo regrets Photo motivations Ben’s strongly held screensaver convictions Photos in publishing How to talk about photos (and haircuts) Pro tips Photo staging Ineffable photo subjects Nick’s idea for a photo coffee table book Equipment malfunctions and frat boys Are there pre-requisite talents for photography? Humans of New York Henri Cartier-Bresson

Main Topic: Nick asks Ben about vacation. Highlights: Vacation playlist Why do we really go on vacation? Ben’s childhood vacation Relaxation vs novelty Buffer days Is Ben becoming a more boring person? Vacation nostalgia Lightning Round! The best vacation movie Optimal number of people on a vacation Staycations How much say should teenagers have on vacation planning? What do people get wrong about vacation? Ben’s rules for vacation Many small vacations or one big one? Ben’s ideal vacation Ben’s vacation bucket list One vacation everyone should do Nick’s vacation memories

Main Topic: Ben asks Nick about parenthood. Highlights: Our parent’s favorite stories to tell about us Hanging out with future children or younger parents? Yelling and Smiling Inherited parenting procedures Daytime TV Guilt Wall Calendar Rules “Family together reading” Bilingualism Sources of parenting wisdom Contrarian parenting Baby gadget technology Bibs Joggers Superfluous onsie snaps Pee stripes Games Crucial lessons

Main Topic: Nick asks Ben about passion. Highlights: How do I find my passion? How to find yourself: backpacking or contemplation? Enjoyment, talent, and responsibility Can you be passionate and incompetent? Can you pick a passion? The Vehement Passions Passions vs your passion Nick’s future world dictatorship and the retiring of overextended words Shakespeare and TS Eliot Why do you want to find your passion: purpose or pleasure? Should everyone be passionate about their work? The West Wing Adaptation Paul Personalities Are some people incapable of finding a passion? Passion vs calling What comes first: talent or interest? What’s Ben passionate about? What’s Nick passionate about?

Main Topic: Ben asks Nick about disagreement. Highlights: Strategies for muting conversations The right conditions for a disagreement The proper ends of disagreement: persuasion or exploration? Nick Wignall Truth Bombs™ When do disagreements actually change our minds? Underrated/Overrated: MJ & JT Devil’s Advocacy When disagreements go poorly When disagreements go well So, do we need to disagree more on this podcast?

Main Topic: Nick asks Ben about podcasts. Highlights: Ben’s current podcast listening lineup What makes podcasting unique? Changes in podcast listening habits Favorite Gab Lab episodes Abstract vs concrete topics How Ben comes up with new questions Show format Topic sources and themes Show feedback How Ben describes the Gab Lab Strengths and weaknesses Potential new directions Podcasting advice

Main Topic: Ben asks Nick about Ingenuity. Highlights: Pre-show: Threat levels and earthquakes Examples of ingenuity Apollo 13 The Martian Gravity iPod click wheel Appreciating ingenuity Ben plugs his masters thesis Expert vs layman ingenuity Big picture ingenuity Shazam Characteristics of ingenuity Nick’s minor ingenuity in therapy Cultivating ingenuity Prerequisite skills for ingenuity Testing for ingenuity Ben’s ingenuity Nick’s ingenuity Designing teams of ingenuity Scaffolding The Mysterious Island The Avengers, interview with Joss Whedon Drafting a historical dream team of ingenuity Einstein’s kidnapped brain Horcruxes Phrenology Matt Damon’s fruit When Miss Marple comes to town

Main Topic: Ben asks Nick about Ingenuity. Highlights: Pre-show: Threat levels and earthquakes Examples of ingenuity Apollo 13 The Martian Gravity iPod click wheel Appreciating ingenuity Ben plugs his masters thesis Expert vs layman ingenuity Big picture ingenuity Shazam Characteristics of ingenuity Nick’s minor ingenuity in therapy Cultivating ingenuity Prerequisite skills for ingenuity Testing for ingenuity Ben’s ingenuity Nick’s ingenuity Designing teams of ingenuity Scaffolding The Mysterious Island The Avengers, interview with Joss Whedon Drafting a historical dream team of ingenuity Einstein’s kidnapped brain Horcruxes Phrenology Matt Damon’s fruit When Miss Marple comes to town  

Main Topic: Nick asks Ben about Curiosity. Highlights: Pre-show: Happy New Year Rules Mini Lightning round: Curiosity, overrated or underrated? The big question: Is curiosity something primarily learned or inherited, and if the former, how to cultivate it if you don’t have much of it? The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles Wonder + powers of observation Defining curiosity Is curiosity an activity or mood? How curious are we, really? The importance of cultivating curiosity Curiosity and fatherhood Prurient curiosity Rear Window Losing curiosity Very curious people Not very curious people Cultivating curiosity as an adult Curiosity exercises Humans of New York A test for curiosity Characteristics of the curious person

Main Topic: Ben asks Nick about Boats. Highlights: Pre-show: A lot’s happened Are you pro boat? Preferred boating experience Southwest boating Bizarre touchy Texas pride Boat stories Boat building Aquatic Accidents Why do all childhood stories occur at 10 years old? Boating liabilities Desert island assets Boat ownership Luxury splurges Making it rain at the Genius Bar © Really nice pants Why boats?

Main Topic: Nick asks Ben about Names. Highlights: Name envy Favorite names How we choose names Naming methodologies The psychological impact of names Old Testament names Nicknames Herbert Widget Naming as: Gift giving Imposition Signalling Naming for mumblers Changing names What if your kid wants to change their name? Band names Protagonist names Naming past and future      

Ben asks Nick about comfort.

Nick asks Ben about tuxedos.

Ben asks Nick about dramedy.