This week kicks off with John reminding Merlin he needs to study up to make better jokes. Merlin thinks John just needs to buy a better long sword at the pop-up.

Things move quickly into a mini-topic on the Black Mirror episode, "Bandersnatch." Does this unusual experiment potentially represent a new way of telling stories, and can we expect to see more uses of interactive tech on TV? John has strong opinions on the platforms that are best suited for video-game-like interaction. Meanwhile, Merlin is still anxious that he picked the wrong cereal. Controversial British comedians are hotly debated.

John removes Merlin's changes to the Google Doc. Again.

This week's sprawling main topic is "Emotional Labor." Why is it that women usually get saddled with being the Office Mom (as well as the "House Mom"), and why the heck doesn't Ralphie's dad help Randy put on his snowsuit? Who ends up ordering the birthday cake as well as justifying the ways of boss to employee? Further, how do we account for the tonnage of invisible work that, by custom more than policy, some people end up having to both identify and do?

John thinks people don't realize how exploited they are, and Merlin cops to having bizarre personal hangups that make common power differentials infuriating.

Finally, how do we get better at identifying the unfair distribution of emotional labor, and what even can we do about it? Putting up with this stuff may come down to a coastal disposition about people who flake. The lessons of Survivor are invoked.

(Recorded on Tuesday, January 29th, 2019.)