351 episodes

It's easy to lose your way in the 21st-century economy. The world of work and business is changing so rapidly that you might start focusing more on how to keep up than how to live a meaningful life. What Works is a podcast for entrepreneurs, independent workers, and employees who don't want to lose themselves to the whims of late-stage capitalism. Host Tara McMullin covers money, management, culture, media, philosophy, and more to figure out what's working (and what's not) today. Tara offers a distinctly interdisciplinary approach to the discourse around business, work, and personal growth.

What Works Tara McMullin

    • Business
    • 4.8 • 233 Ratings

It's easy to lose your way in the 21st-century economy. The world of work and business is changing so rapidly that you might start focusing more on how to keep up than how to live a meaningful life. What Works is a podcast for entrepreneurs, independent workers, and employees who don't want to lose themselves to the whims of late-stage capitalism. Host Tara McMullin covers money, management, culture, media, philosophy, and more to figure out what's working (and what's not) today. Tara offers a distinctly interdisciplinary approach to the discourse around business, work, and personal growth.

    EP 452: This Daily YouTube Show is a Rich Text

    EP 452: This Daily YouTube Show is a Rich Text

    This is the second edition of Cold Pitch, an experimental project from YellowHouse.Media about media, curiosity, and identity. In this edition, Sean and I talk about our favorite daily YouTube show, Good Mythical Morning.
    It's the backbone of our evening routine, the content we rely on to draw a thick line between the workday and rest time, and, as you'll hear, a rich text.
    Footnotes:


    Good Mythical Morning on YouTube
    Ear Biscuits on YouTube
    "Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal" on Wikipedia
    "From Work to Text" by Roland Barthes
    "Parasocial Interaction" on Wikipedia
    "Mass Communication and Para-Social Interaction" by Donald Horton and R. Richard Wohl in Psychiatry

    "We Found Extremely Rare Toys in These Blind Boxes" on GMM
    "Five Guys vs. Shake Shack | FOOD FEUDS" on GMM
    "Our 2500th Episode!" on GMM
    "We React to Photos That Will Break Your Brain" on GMM


    ★ Support this podcast ★

    • 25 min
    EP 451: An Inbox Full of Lies

    EP 451: An Inbox Full of Lies

    Over the next few weeks, I've got something a wee bit different for you! This is the very first edition of Cold Pitch, an experimental media project from YellowHouse.Media. Cold Pitch explores media, curiosity, and identity through a variety of forms and methods.
    In this first edition, Sean McMullin (my husband & partner at YellowHouse.Media) and I talk about, well, cold pitches. A cold pitch, simply put, is a request to a stranger to do something for you. Podcasters deal with cold pitches every single day. Most are terrible. Not only are they irrelevant and poorly executed—they most often start with an outright lie.
    I have feelings. Clearly.
    In this conversation, we talk about the social "meat space" basis of a cold pitch, the psychology of email, what you might learn from the autistic folks in your life about honest & direct communication and more.
    If you dig it, follow along with Cold Pitch at coldpitch.substack.comAnd you can find a written version of this edition, along with links to references, here: https://coldpitch.substack.com/p/an-inbox-full-of-lies


    Learn more about YellowHouse.Media, our audio production agency
    Find out more about Sean McMullin
    Support What Works


    ★ Support this podcast ★

    • 30 min
    EP 450: The Will to Share Power with Tania Luna

    EP 450: The Will to Share Power with Tania Luna

    This is the final installment in Strange New Work, a series that uses speculative fiction to explore radical work futures.
    Power. Some fear it. Others hoard it. Some with power speak softly. Others carry a big stick. Power is charisma, or coercion, or violence. Power is name recognition, or money, or computer code.
    Regardless of your definition or perceptions of it, power plays a critical role in how we work.
    Today, we explore power—what we can do with it, how we can grow it, and, critically, how we can share it—because power in the future of work will look very different than it does today.
    Footnotes:

    Find out more about Tania Luna

    Lead Together by Tania Luna

    The Power Paradox by Dacher Keltner

    The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
    "The Lathe of Heaven" BBC film adaptation
    "Mary Parker Follett—Creativity and Democracy" by Gary M. Nelson in Human Service Organizations

    "There Is a Better Way to Use Power at Work. This Forgotten Business Guru Has the Secrets" by Matthew Barzun in Time Magazine

    "Content Decision Making" via Sociocracy For All

    Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown

    The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
    "A Band of Brothers, a Stream of Sisters" by Ursula K. Le Guin



    ★ Support this podcast ★

    • 33 min
    EP 449: The Most Undervalued Skill of the 21st-Century Economy

    EP 449: The Most Undervalued Skill of the 21st-Century Economy

    This is the penultimate episode of Strange New Work, a special series from What Works that explores the future of work through the lens of speculative fiction.What's the most undervalued skill of the 21st-century economy? Moderation.
    I very well might be forgetting something. But with more of our lives and work showing up online every day, the way our feeds, data, and connections are moderated is critical to our daily lives. Moderation can be many things—it's how platforms are designed, how content is incentivized or de-incentivized, and how communication between people is mediated. Some moderation is done structurally, some is done with code, but lots of moderation is done by real people all over the world.
    In this episode, I take a close look at the skill of moderation, its role in our evolving tech futures, and the politics that complicate this essential work.
    Footnotes:

    "Welcome to hell, Elon" by Nilay Patel on The Verge

    "Why Elon's Twitter is in the Sh*tter with Nilay Patel" on Offline with Jon Favreau


    Fall; Or, Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson

    Work Without the Worker by Phil Jones
    "Content Moderation is Terrible by Design" featuring Sarah T. Roberts on Harvard Business Review

    "Moderating Social Media" on the agenda on YouTube
    "How Microwork is the Solution to War" by Ben Irwin on Preemptive Love
    "Reddit faces content quality concerns after its Great Mod Purge" by Scharon Harding

    Rosie Sherry on tips for content moderation
    "Neal Stephenson Explains His Vision for the Digital Afterlife" on PC Mag
    Love What Works? Become a premium subscriber for just $7 per month. Your subscription helps make my work sustainable and gets you access to twice-monthly This is Not Advice episodes, quarterly workshops, and more. Click here to learn more and preview the premium benefits!


    ★ Support this podcast ★

    • 35 min
    BONUS: A Quick Pep Talk

    BONUS: A Quick Pep Talk

    I've got something short, sweet, and really special for you today. Sean, my husband, my go-to extrovert shield, and the co-founder of YellowHouse.Media has a new project that is pretty cool, if I do say so myself.
    It's a hotline! Or rather, it's a weekly call-in prerecorded pep talk. It's sort of like a podcast, but you have to call a phone number to hear it. Trust me, this is a very Sean thing to do.
    Each week, he shares a fresh pep talk along with a poem, some tunes, and other audio goodies. You just select from the phone tree which you'd like to hear. Plus, you can even leave him a message yourself! 
    You can hear this week's edition by listening to this quick episode. Or, dial 1-406-200-8460 to get the full experience. You can also learn more about Sean and grab the number from his website: seandmcmullin.com.
    Without further ado, here's this week's dial-in affirmation for daily living!


    ★ Support this podcast ★

    • 4 min
    EP 448: Made for Work

    EP 448: Made for Work

    This is the 6th installment of Strange New Work, a special series that uses speculative fiction to explore radically different work futures.
    Find the work you were born to do. Do what you were meant to do. Discover the work that makes you feel alive.
    We've all heard these messages. Crack open any career, self-help, or personal development book on your shelf, and you're sure to find a similar message. It seems pretty convenient that our "purpose" in life is work, doesn't it? In this episode, I unpack the "made for work" message, take it to its logical sci-fi ends, and draw on a key idea in the sociology of work to consider how we might shape the next 40 years into something more humane.
    Footnotes:

    "If you 'don't dream of labor,' should organize for socialism" by Caitlyn Clark for Jacobin


    Embassytown by China Miéville

    Translation State by Ann Leckie

    The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz

    The New Spirit of Capitalism by Eve Chiapello & Luc Boltanski
    Love What Works? Become a premium subscriber for just $7 per month. Your subscription helps make my work sustainable and gets you access to twice-monthly This is Not Advice episodes, quarterly workshops, and more. Click here to learn more and preview the premium benefits!


    ★ Support this podcast ★

    • 27 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
233 Ratings

233 Ratings

Amanda_6 ,

Fanastic Resource!

If you’re looking for inspiration on how to be an intentional entrepreneur, this is the podcast for you. I recently listened to episode #407 about going slow and it stopped me in my tracks. Tara’s analogy of baking bread encouraged me to take a longer walk that day and has stuck with me ever since. I tend to go-go-go as an entrepreneur and her words have helped me slow down and embrace whatever moment I’m in.

PaigeBPodcasting ,

Great Show!

Listening to this podcast is very informative. Tara discusses a wide array useful topics and invites the top experts to contribute. You’ll be sure to walk away with a better understanding of the steps you need to take to increase the success of your business.

Carolyn Mackin ,

Helpful and inspiring

Tara has been a guiding light for many years to help me navigate my art business. I’m especially loving the tone she set for 2023 as I continue to make my business and life work for me and my family.

Top Podcasts In Business

Boston Consulting Group BCG
Ramsey Network
WaitWhat
NPR
Money News Network
DOAC

You Might Also Like

Todd Henry
Andy J. Pizza
Gretchen Rubin / The Onward Project
On Being Studios
Pushkin Industries
Lemonada Media