Ep. 46 Special: Origin of Roderick on the Line

Roderick on the Line

Merlin Mann

Society & Culture, Johnroderick, Philosophy, Thelongwinters, Merlinmann

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2012

⏱️ 102 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ep. 46 Special: Origin of Roderick on the Line - Roderick on the Line on Huffduffer

5by5 | Back to Work #31: You Can Polish AC/DC All Day Long (August 30, 2011)

Hey, gang. Merlin here.

One year ago this week, the first episode of Roderick on the Line went up. To commemorate the occasion, I wanted to share a little bit of history with you, as well as just say, “thanks.”

Here’s the thing:

John and I have been pals for about a decade now. And, as we’ve discussed on the program from time to time, we’ve had a longstanding habit of engaging in very, very long conversations, both in-person and on the phone, about pretty much any topic you can imagine. A fact born out by any of the 40+ episodes of this show so far.

Now, in terms of the pre-pre-history of RotL, a seed was planted when I interviewed John for a thing I used to do called, The Merlin Show (n.b.: you can find video and audio of that interview over here). It was a riot to do, and I really recommend checking it out for both Roderick newbies and completists alike. You will find it very helpful. As you do.

But, the real impetus for this show arose by accident last Summer, when my Back to Work co-host, Dan Benjamin, was on paternity leave. In Dan’s brief absence, I decided to interview three interesting friends about their life and how they work. One of my victims was, of course, The Great Man himself—the bearded oracle who ended up being the titular co-host of this very program: Mr. John Morgan Roderick.

On that episode, John and I talked about lots of different stuff to be sure (full show notes below), but, as a careful listener of the current program will immediately pick up, you will also hear the genesis of what would become numerous leitmotifs from what would soon become the canonical RotL.

There’s John’s deep historical pedagogy. There’s John’s perspicacious cultural criticism. There’s John’s first singing my name to the tune of Janet Jackson’s 1986 hit, “Nasty.” There’s John (again) hearing my formal pitch to do a new podcast called, “Roderick on the Line.” And, yes: there is John’s bell.

I hope you will enjoy this important cultural document and are able to appreciate its gravitas as the undergirding for this august platform by which John helps so many people each week.

And, let it not go without saying, my having the chance to do this show with John every week is one of the joys of my life. I look forward to recording it, I look forward to “editing” it, and, yes, I really look forward to hearing the finished product. I’m proud to be involved, and I’m really grateful to my great pal for making the time to do it.

Finally, thanks to all of you for a year of listening and being helped. You are Generation Super Train, and, I hope to God you survive to find a tolerable position in John’s horribly twisted Utopian Dystopia.

In any case. Please continue.

Original Back to Work Show Notes

With Dan on sabbatical, Merlin is joined by John Roderick of The Long Winters to talk about life as a bull in a china closet, craving real-world constraints, making better records, and being banned for life from Interpol’s corn chip bowl. Special guest John Roderick.

Original Back to Work Show Links

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	D'Anst and so bad a good response to buy,
0:07.0	by, by the engine. Whenever I say your name when you're not around I do it to the tune of nasty.
0:17.0	When you're not around I do it to the tune of nasty boys by Janet Jackson. I don't know why. I don't care why I just love it.
0:27.6	I just I'm just I'm just glad I'm glad you think of me. for you I always do Mercedes boy how does that go see do you
0:37.9	want to ride on my John Roderick oh that sounds I never realize how dirty your name sounds, like Peter O'Toole.
0:44.0	I'm stealing that from Groucho Marks.
0:47.0	There are so many ways I'm like Peter O'Toole and a few crucial ways I'm not.
0:53.7	You're tall, your slender, your English.
0:56.4	You were in that Pixar movie I like?
0:59.1	Drunk.
1:01.4	I enjoy him.
1:02.1	I really enjoy him.
1:03.0	There's another one on NPR.
1:05.0	There's a show that's sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
1:08.0	I laugh out loud every time I hear that.
1:10.0	I want Robert to be a dick name too, just because if you can get the triple threat
1:15.0	Dickwood Johnson.
1:16.9	His lesser known brother Richard. They didn't want to name the foundation after him.
1:21.4	They just they found the grants were just disappearing.
1:24.0	As you know, I'm not a physicist.
1:28.0	But, uh...
1:30.0	Well...
	...

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