HeyJaredOn the Desk of Brian
Pull up a chair and take a look at what’s on the desk. Each episode of On the Desk of Brian delivers quick takes and thoughtful commentary on a rotating mix of tech, sports, productivity, entertainment, and economics.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 6
- Latest publication
- Sep 17, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 9, 2026
Latest episodes
Episode 036: Caps, Costs, Contracts (opens the original)
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🎙️ Episode 036: Caps, Costs, Contracts 📊 National Debt & Voters — 83% of voters worry about the $40 trillion national debt, but Newsweek's Aliss Higham notes abstract numbers rarely beat kitchen-table concerns at the ballot box. 🪟 Windows 11 Snap Layouts — PCMag's Michael Muchmore and Chris Hoffman break down how Snap Layouts and Snap Assist let you instantly arrange windows without manual resizing. 🔋 The Death (and Return) of Removable Batteries — Slashgear's Alvin Wanjala explains why thinner
Episode 035: Read, Lease, Retire (opens the original)
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🎙️ Episode 035: Read, Lease, Retire 💰 A comfortable retirement now runs about $1.16M for couples ($579K each) vs. $898K for singles — and where you retire swings that number by hundreds of thousands (Investopedia/Peter Gratton) 😴 Sleep isn't just rest — it's a second state of consciousness where the brain consolidates memory, processes emotion, and works through stress via dreams (Discover Wild Science/Sameen David) 📖 Reading fiction (not just nonfiction) boosts empathy, social cognition, and gi
Episode 034: Recharge, Rewatch, Re-sign (opens the original)
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🎙️ Episode 034: Recharge, Rewatch, Re-sign 💻 MacBook Air Shortages Persist — Despite raising prices from $1,099 to $1,299, Apple still can't keep up with demand — buyers face 2-6 week waits, longer for higher-RAM configs. ✈️ The Science of Avoiding Burnout — Dr. Brittany McGeehan's research says 7-8 day vacations (not shorter trips) create lasting psychological resets — and the third day is when relaxation actually kicks in. 📺 Your Smart TV Is Watching You — Automatic Content Recognition tracks
Episode 033: Pi Prices, Packer Deficits, and Prime Time AI (opens the original)
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🎙️ Episode 033: Pi Prices, Packer Deficits, and Prime Time AI 💰 Economics — Back-to-school shoppers tighten budgets as 57% of parents expect the economy to worsen (Scripps News); families lean on supply drives and secondhand deals. 📊 Productivity — Quartz shares 20 Excel tricks to save hours every week, from shortcuts to conditional formatting. 🥧 Tech — Raspberry Pi prices soar, opening the door for cheaper x86 mini PCs (MakeUseOf). ⚽ Ted Lasso — Season 4 kicks off August 5; here's what to remem
Episode 032: Delete Your Movies, Cap Your Loans (opens the original)
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🎙️ Episode 032: Delete Your Movies, Cap Your Loans 🎓 Grad School Loan Caps — New federal caps ($20,500/year, $100K total) aim to pressure schools to lower tuition, though researchers are split on whether the strategy will actually work — or just push students toward pricier private loans. 🍽️ The Psychology of Clearing Plates — Stacking plates after a meal might look kind, but a psychologist says it can mask insecurity — though the same "helper" instinct boosts workplace productivity by 16%, per
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