REWORK

Latest Episodes:

Mr. DHH Goes to Washington Jan 28, 2020

Show notes

Basecamp co-founder and Chief Technology Officer David Heinemeier Hansson has been ranting on Twitter about monopolistic practices in Big Tech for a while, and he recently got an unexpected opportunity to air his grievances about Google, Apple, and Facebook in front of a congressional subcommittee. In this episode, David debriefs on his experience and Basecamp's data analyst, Jane Yang, talks about her work helping David prepare for his appearance.

Show Notes

Judiciary Committee page about the hearing, including a video of the event - 1:37

"Pick A Fight," our episode about why David enjoys arguing on Twitter - 2:38

"Open Source Beyond the Market," David's 2019 RailsConf keynote - 4:59

"The Google Ads Shakedown," our episode about our displeasure with the way Google handles ads in search results - 5:51

"100% Facebook-Free," our episode about pulling Basecamp from Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp - 6:42

Previous subcommittee hearings on "Online Platforms and Market Power" - 8:01

David's prepared remarks - 8:35

Congressman Ken Buck - 11:25

The other witnesses were Patrick Spence of Sonos, David Barnett of PopSockets, and Kirsten Daru of Tile - 12:13

"PopSockets CEO says Amazon uses 'bullying with a smile' to press for lower prices" (CNBC) - 13:02

"Everything we know about Apple's Tile-like item tracking device" (9to5Mac) - 19:22

"Apple's Flashlight Is Why We Can't Fund Nice Dumb Things" (TechCrunch) - 19:40

The story of Steve Jobs calling Dropbox a "feature" is recounted in this 2011 Fortune article - 20:23

"Here's how we can break up Big Tech" (Elizabeth Warren) - 26:29

Goldman Sachs estimated that Google paid Apple $9.46 billion in 2018 to be the default search engine - 26:50

The European Union's landmark antitrust case against Microsoft required it to offer a choice of browsers to Windows users - 27:08

NerdWallet's explainer of the Glass-Steagall Act - 27:24

A New York Times explainer of the Overton window - 31:13

You Never Forget George Pappageorge Jan 21, 2020

Show notes

Basecamp CEO Jason Fried is back in the studio with an update on the company's Chicago headquarters. Basecamp will be leaving its office this summer after a 10-year run, and Jason is looking at a number of options—including a space that will bring him full circle with one of his original 37signals partners.

Show Notes

"Office Space," our last episode about the fate of the Chicago office - 00:45

Brininstool+Lynch, the architects behind Basecamp's office - 6:54

Carlos Segura, who co-founded 37signals with Jason and Ernest Kim - 13:13

Coudal Partners is the Chicago design firm that makes Field Notes - 20:49

Chicago artist Nate Otto has worked with Basecamp for many years - 21:17

You never forget George Pappageorge - 21:33

Less Business, More d20s Jan 14, 2020

Show notes

Matthew Vincent, a member of Basecamp's Ops team, spoke at Nomad City 2019 about life as a remote worker. Close your eyes and pretend you're in the Canary Islands as you listen to this audio version of Matthew's talk.

Show Notes

Matthew Vincent's Nomad City speaker bio - 00:30

Nomad City - 00:34

d20 System (Wikipedia) - 1:23

"Thirteen Months of Working, Sleeping, and Eating at the Googleplex" (Bloomberg Businessweek, July 2015) - 2:21

"Which Googler holds the record for living at Google HQ?" (Quora) - 2:23

Ben Discoe's LinkedIn - 3:06

Entry in Basecamp's handbook about the Continuing Education Allowance - 7:18

The tweet that Matthew references - 9:00

Automatic Check-ins - 14:00

Basecamp's Employee Handbook - 21:36

Shape Up by Ryan Singer, Basecamp's guide to product development - 21:48

All of Basecamp's books - 22:03

Videos for Nomad City 2019 talks - 28:45

Welcome Aboard Jan 07, 2020

Show notes

Welcome back! We're kicking off the new year with an episode full of practical advice about onboarding new employees. Ashley Bowe from Basecamp's customer support team talks about how they welcome and train new colleagues, and leadership coach Karen Catlin of Better Allies shares advice and examples of what companies can do to build more inclusive cultures.

Show Notes

Basecamp's Support team - 00:47

The Better Allies Approach to Hiring by Karen Catlin - 1:03

"Hire When It Hurts," our episode about hiring - 2:51

Entry in Basecamp's handbook about summer hours - 6:44

"I've never had a goal" (Signal v. Noise) - 7:36

Shaun talks about not eating lunch for a week in "Workaholics Aren't Heroes" - 9:03

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson write about the joy of missing out in this Quartz essay - 14:39

Karen Catlin on Twitter | her website | Better Allies on Twitter | Better Allies website - 19:28

The Uber leather jacket debacle was chronicled by Susan J. Fowler in her now-famous essay about working at Uber - 22:43

BONUS - The Knight Before Christmas Dec 24, 2019

Show notes

Listeners may remember that last year Wailin watched ALL of the holiday rom-coms and decided to share them with me on our ill-advised holiday bonus episode. Well, we're bringing it back! This year Wailin made Shaun watch The Knight Before Christmas. It's got magic, chivalry, time travel, wide-legged pants, and an inexplicable post-credit scene. Is the holiday bonus episode still ill-advised? Yes. But, is it fun? Also, yes! Happy Holidays to all of our listeners and we'll be back in 2020 with more stories.

Are The Kids Alright? Dec 17, 2019

Show notes

In this anxious era of bullying, teen depression, and school shootings, tech companies are selling software to schools and parents that make big promises about keeping kids secure by monitoring what they say and write online. But these apps demand disturbing trade-offs in the name of safety. In this episode, we dive into the normative, privacy, and transparency implications of this software for both schools and families, and examine how the rush to fix societal problems with technology can amplify harm to young people while enriching companies that stand to profit from increased surveillance.

Show Notes

Gennie Gebhart's bio | Twitter - 00:38

Electronic Frontier Foundation - 1:02

The EFF's 2017 report on student privacy (PDF) - 1:12

"Facial Recognition Tech Comes to Schools and Summer Camps" (Wall Street Journal) - 1:32

"Heal the Internet," our episode on removing tracking pixels from emails - 2:06

"Big Brother at the Office," our episode on workplace surveillance - 2:10

Previous episodes on Big Tech include "100% Facebook-Free," "The Google Ads Shakedown," and "Nevermore, Amazon" - 3:19

"Breaking the Black Box," our episode about algorithmic bias - 3:24

Caroline Haskins on Twitter | her stories for Vice | her stories for BuzzFeed News - 3:51

BuzzFeed News' series on schools and surveillance - 4:04

"Gaggle Knows Everything About Teens And Kids In School" (BuzzFeed News) - 4:06

Gaggle - 4:08

Bark - 7:05

This Vice article takes a closer look at Bark's self-reported safety statistics in North and South Carolina - 7:29

ManagedMethods - 8:31

Bark's FAQs about its Parent Portal - 8:57

Ryan Stanley's op-ed for the Juneau Empire - 10:14

"School computer monitoring program makes botched debut" (Juneau Empire) - 11:10

"Schools make adjustments to Bark" (KINY in Juneau) - 11:15

More anecdotes about false positives can be found in this Guardian piece about school surveillance - 12:25

"Cruel and Unusual Punishment: The Shame of Three Strikes Laws"

Lab Week Dec 10, 2019

Show notes

Get out your Bunsen burner! It's time to do some experiments. In this episode, we talk to two businesses that aren't afraid to try new things. First, the three founders of The Mad Optimist, a soap company in Indiana, talk about letting customers choose what they pay for their products. Then Natalie Nagele, the co-founder and CEO of software company Wildbit, talks about an ongoing experiment with four-day work weeks and what she's discovered about productivity, happiness, and deep work.

Show Notes

The Mad Optimist website | Facebook | Instagram - 00:45

You can find The Mad Optimist's live revenue number in their Humanifesto under "We practice radical transparency" - 9:43

Natalie Nagele on Twitter - 16:51

Wildbit website - 16:53

Basecamp's entry on Summer Hours in the company handbook - 16:57

Deep Work by Cal Newport - 18:54

Venture Capital and Control with Dave Teare Dec 03, 2019

Show notes

Dave Teare is the co-founder and official "heart and soul" of 1Password, which recently raised $200 million in its first round of venture capital. Basecamp is a longtime happy customer of 1Password and also a longtime critic of venture capital, so the funding announcement led to some back-and-forth on Twitter between Basecamp co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson and Dave Teare. In this episode, DHH and Dave get on the phone to hash out their feelings about venture capital and what this funding round means for 1Password's future.

Show Notes

"Open Source and Power with Matt Mullenweg," our episode featuring a phone call between DHH and Automattic's Matt Mullenweg - 00:34

DHH's tweet about Automattic's funding round - 00:49

Dave Teare on Twitter | 1Password - 00:56

1Password's blog post announcing the funding round - 1:02

DHH's tweet about 1Password's funding announcement - 1:04

"A love letter to DHH and others concerned about our recent funding announcement" - 1:30

"Bezos Expeditions invests in 37signals" (Signal v. Noise) - 1:55

1Password co-founder Roustem Karimov on Twitter - 3:10

DHH's Ruby on Rails demo about building a blog engine in 15 minutes - 3:30

"Conceal, don't feel" is a lyric from Frozen's Let It Go - 14:14

"Inside WeWork's week from hell: How the mass layoffs went down" (CNN) - 19:16

"The day I became a millionaire" (Signal v. Noise) - 21:22

"It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work" - 25:31

Apple's Differential Privacy policy (PDF) - 26:25

Our Incredible Journey (Tumblr) - 31:42

"The Mess at Meetup" (Gizmodo) - 32:08

"Meetup wants to charge users $2 just to RSVP for events — and some are furious" (The Verge) - 32:18

"Patreon now offers creators 3 plans, with fees ranging from 5-12%" (VentureBeat) - 32:45

An irate forum post about Dropbox's new storage plan - 33:12

"GitHub is trying to quell employee anger over its ICE contract. It's not going well" (LA Times) - 34:55

"The deal Jeff Bezos got on Basecamp" (Signal v. Noise) - 39:20

"How to Fly a Horse" by Kevin Ashton (Wikipedia) - 41:00

Calm in the Political Storm Nov 26, 2019

Show notes

Workplace cultures in politics and tech share many similarities: Overwork is glorified; long hours are the norm; employees are expected to respond to communication instantly, no matter the day or time; and those that opt out are seen as lacking hustle or ceding ground to competitors. Marty Santalucia, a political consultant in Pennsylvania, wanted to do things differently. In this episode, he talks about applying calm work principles to an industry that's known for the opposite dynamic.

Show Notes

NPR's Up First podcast - 00:51

FiveThirtyEight's Politics podcast - 00:55

Dan Sinker's website | Twitter - 1:15

impeachment.fyi - 1:21

Marty Santalucia on Twitter - 2:55

MFStrategies website | Twitter - 2:58

"Sanders Campaign, Workers Ratify Union Contract" (NPR) - 22:23

Bonus link! The New York Times asked 2020 Democratic candidates how much sleep they get a night and filmed the responses.

BONUS - Basecamp: This Time It's Personal Nov 22, 2019

Show notes

Basecamp has a long history of experimenting with "freemium" models and recently launched its most generous free plan yet: Basecamp Personal. Co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson talk about the debate and data analysis that went into the launch, what makes this a little scary, and why it's healthy for a business to experiment.

Show Notes

"Launch: Basecamp Gets Personal" (Signal v. Noise) - 00:13

37signals' 2004 announcement about the launch of Basecamp - 1:44

Basecamp's announcement about closing Backpack to new signups - 2:18

"Launch: Basecamp 3" (Signal v. Noise) - 2:31

Our episode about finding an SEO consultant - 7:10

Our episode introducing Basecamp's new head of marketing - 7:18

Basecamp's ace Support team - 23:46

Our episode about the Apple Card controversy and algorithmic bias - 25:06

Basecamp Personal on Product Hunt - 26:10

Basecamp's "Until the End of the Internet" policy - 26:53