I love seeing little free libraries on the side of the road and in communities. Imagine how exciting it would be if the same idea existed but for podcasts.

If I built it, it would look way worse than this, but I might start the initial selection something like this:

I wonder what would find its way into it?

Alright, on to the short list of recommendations today.

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

This is Love: Into the Ice

• The Big Idea: Cave diving is incredibly dangerous but can lead to marvelous stories.

• Imagine being in a profession where you personally know over 100 people who have died? This episode recounts how underwater explorer Jill Heinerth almost died three times on a single trip to dive inside a giant Antarctic iceberg. I’ve never heard someone so calm describing some of the most anxiety inducing things possible to imagine.

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The Journal: Vibe coding could change everything

• The Big Idea: This episode is a great primer on what the deal is with “vibe coding” and why it’s the next “ChatGPT” moment for AI.

• I’ve tried Claude Code as a non-coder and my review: After getting past the slightly technical initial set up phase and playing around, it became very evident that this is not empty hype. Several “what the hell” moments with a smile on my face. I put AI slop ruining every possible feed online into a different category than tools like this that are truly useful and have utility.

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The Rest is History: Revolution in Iran – Fall of the Shah (Part 1)

• The Big Idea: The beginning of a fantastic four part series that dives deep into the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

• The Rest is History is officially in my “always listen” pile. Sorry podcast queue, I know, I know, I’m never going to catch up ever again.

• Another excellent series about the impact of the Iranian Revolution is Pink Card from Shima Oliaee.

• If this is the sign you needed to finally read Persepolis, go for it.

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Dear Hank & John: 438 – The 2014 Episode

• The Big Idea: Author John Green was really into Tumblr in the early days and then famously left it after a bunch of drama. Hank and John Green dedicate this entire episode to tell the full story.

• I am a fan of the Green Brother empire and I find their approach to doing good in the world appealing. This is a fascinating analysis of a very particular point in time on the internet that still has some lessons for today.

OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

The space fact that still blows your mind. This type of thing on Reddit is still “the good internet.”

The World’s Most Important Machine. ASML makes the most complicated commercially available machines ever made, for a cool $400 million or so per unit. This 50 minute video is basically an excellent documentary around how ridiculously high tech these computer chip making machines are.

NEW VISUALS

Name a more iconic Sunday duo

Here lies the subject of a true crime podcast

FOR FUN

Blowing it.

Am I the last to know that Steve “The Hair” Harrington has a MASSIVE pop hit?

Thanks as always. And we’re almost through the winter, hang in there.

P.s. I’m really digging Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and plan on reading the three short “Dunk and Egg” novellas after this season ends. It’s light hearted fare (in relative Game of Thrones terms) and is full of excellent characters.

I’m tired of universally hearing how good Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is so I finally started it last night and my daughter immediately stole the controller. I watched her play the opening sequence. What a premise, damn.

Happy New Year! My podcast resolution this year is to listen to more history pods. If you have any you like, send them my way.

Also, instead of AI being shoved into everything, maybe Clippy could make a comeback with updated prompts?

And yes, the answer is always yes.

Alright, on to the recommendations.

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

The Rest is Science: Are You REALLY Made Of Stars?

• The Big Idea: We are all star stuff….OR ARE WE?? Well, yes, the answer is almost 100% yes, but being very nit picky on the wording of this launches this episode down a fun journey of where our “stuff” comes from.

• This is a new science show that I am very much digging from mathematician Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens of Vsauce fame. Early Vsauce is in the sweet spot of my YouTube nostalgia, and I love to see him part of this.

The Rest is History: The Beatles: The Band that Changed the World, with Conan O’Brien, part 1 and part 2

• The Big Idea: Great history show + The Beatles + Conan O’Brien as guest. Easiest listen for me.

• All you need is to like one of those three ingredients to really enjoy this two parter. Two out of three? Even better! Three out of three?? What are you waiting for!

Search Engine: Colossus 1 and Colossus 2

• The Big Idea: Excellent two parter from Sruthi Pinnamaneni on AI data centers and the monumental impact they are having on communities whether they want them or not.

Heavyweight: Kevin

• The Big Idea: I’m back on the Heavyweight train and this episode did not disappoint. All I’ll say is that it’s not a lighthearted story but very much worth just going in blind (which is what I did).

Science Vs: Chiropractors: Are They Legit?

• The Big Idea: A good primer for anyone who doesn’t realize that chiropractors are not doctors and were born out of a swamp of pseudoscience. My two cents is to go to a good physical therapist instead.

BEST OF 2025 THOUGHTS

Favorite series. Articles of Interest: Gear.

Just finished the whole thing. Yes, maybe some recency bias, but it’s so damn good and interesting. The overlap and history of the outdoor industry and the military is way more interesting than you would think. Truly worth a listen.

Favorite podcast fact: Shark facts from Radiolab’s week of sharks still blow my mind. Sharks are older than dinosaurs and the rings of Saturn, and as individuals, there are Greenland sharks that have lived long enough to be alive when Alexander Hamilton was born AND for when the hit musical was made about him.

My two favorite shows that I never miss are Planet Money and 99% Invisible. I try not to recommend them every newsletter (but I could!), so instead I’ll list here my favorite episodes of the year if you are looking for the best of the best.

My favorite 99% Invisible episodes of 2025:

Emoji Law

The Titanic’s Best Lifeboat

The Quiet Storm

Sister Aimee and the Birth of the Megachurch

Hidden Levels #1: Mr Boomshakalaka

The Moving Walkway is Ending

The Checkerboard

Sax Appeal

My favorite Planet Money episodes of 2025:

The fight for a legendary shipwreck’s treasure

Planet Money buys a mystery diamond

Summer School series

Board Games 1

The year NYC went broke

How Russia’s shadow fleet is sailing around oil sanctions

A new experiment in remote work…from the inside

When Chicago pawned its parking meters

What AI data centers are doing to your electric bill

PODCAST LINKS

Tink Media’s Audio Delicacies of 2025. Podcast treats from the year! I contributed one under Narrative Non-Fiction, and be sure to look through the whole list because it’s a true infinite queue to start the year!

Best Podcasts of 2025 according to The New Yorker

Best podcasts of 2025 according to Reddit

OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

The Penicillin Myth. An interesting read on one of science’s most famous stories of discovery.

What’s the greatest book you’ve ever personally read? A great thread on Reddit.

I shrunk down into an M5 chip and I flew inside my phone and found a city are an awesome pairing of videos that are fantastic and mind boggling.

FOR FUN

Do you think its ashes?

Happy nightmares

I’m so happy to be back in your inbox.

I sure do have some great recommendations for you, but first, a little celebration of the cumulative effects of podcasts, and the magic little bump they provide in our understanding, episode by episode.

On to the rest!

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Endless Threads: Hidden Levels #1 — Mr Boomshakalaka

• The Big Idea: In a collaboration between 99 Percent Invisible and Endless Thread, comes this six part series looking at video game design.

• This first episode involves the iconic voice from NBA Jam, and will send 90’s kids on a serious nostalgia trip.

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Articles of Interest: Gear — Chapter 1

• The Big Idea: A new season from Avery Trufelman exploring how the military has influenced all manner of fashion.

• Fantastic start to a new season. I would love it if Trufelman did a straight up US history podcast, because I found her digressions into US military history super compelling.

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Imaginary Worlds: Bringing Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein to Life

• The Big Idea: An interview with Tamara Deverell, director Guillermo del Toro’s long time collaborator on production design.

• I listened before watching the new Frankenstein, and it added tremendously to the experience. Very worth listening either before or after watching.

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Levar Burton Reads: The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate by Ted Chiang, Part 1 (Part 2)

• The Big Idea: The first story in Ted Chiang’s short story collection, Exhalation. I listened to this five years ago, but I wanted to share again because I’m finally reading the full collection, and it’s super so far.

• This specific story is wonderful, mind-bending, and thoughtful.

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Planet Money: A new experiment in remote work … from the inside

• The Big Idea: There are some states (like Maine in this example) that allow people in prison to make full salaries via remote work in some specific situations.

• Go from having no idea this is a thing to understanding a ton about the how and the why.

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The Daily: Sunday Special — The Year in Gaming

• The Big Idea: A great discussion on the best video games of 2025 from the culture desk at NYT.

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Two other quick recommendations.

First, I so far REALLY like Vince Gilligan’s new show called Pluribus on Apple TV. The official podcast has great behind the scenes stories and gives you an idea of where Gilligan’s head is at.

Second, if you are looking for something silly, and you are an SNL person, check out What’s Our Podcast w/ Beck Bennett & Kyle Mooney. It’s new and it definitely helps if you are a fan of Bennett and Mooney, but it’s not a necessity. The premise is fun: Half the show is chatting with the guest, and then the other half is improv where they all pretend to have a podcast about whatever random topic the guest suggests. Jack Black is a great episode, Meg Stalter episode goes off the rails hard in a good way, Marc Maron is super uncomfortable with it all but is funny, and Bobby Moynihan understood the assignment.

OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

A Guided Rabbit Hold On The Art of Simon Stålenhag. If you follow these steps, you’ll become obsessed.

As someone who believes in big ass notebooks, I really gelled with this Substack post from Grant Snider’s Incidental Comics. I recently discovered him with his comic book “I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf,” and quickly devoured all of his other books. He’s a full time artist, part time orthodontist (really), which is such an unexpected fun thing.

Create vs consume.

FOR FUN

For anyone who spends time on LinkedIn and hates what they see, VERY relatable. (This artist is worth a follow too, lots of great stuff).

Do yourself a favor, watch this tremendously confident fail from Gordon Ramsay as he tries to make a grilled cheese, and then spend some time reading the comments. Truly glorious. As many mention, to his credit, Ramsay has kept this video up and it still haunts him to this day as people constantly bring it up.

P.s. Out of all the movies I watched during spooky season, Weapons was my favorite. A movie I would watch again right now.

Also, I’ve been obsessed with Hades 2 since it launched, and equally obsessed with its music. Even if you’re not a gamer, or at least don’t see yourself ever playing Hades 2, you can definitely still enjoy the music. This YouTube playlist has the entire original soundtrack, and it’s phenomenal. You can just put it on and vibe.

For recommendations though, start with:

Song of the Sirens: A very chill song of the sirens, nothing nefarious here.

Coral Crown: You get to fight the sirens, and it turns out they have a band, and they sing this as you fight them. A true banger as boss music.

The Necropolis: A catchy, moody slow build that shifts into a higher gear half way through, and ends in an unexpected insane flute solo.

Sightless Shephard: Similar to above in that it’s a catchy slow build that shifts into a higher gear half way through, but instead ends in an unexpected insane sax solo.

In the epic battle for my ears between audiobooks and podcasts, audiobooks recently won out. Listening to three lengthy books in a trilogy (more on that at the bottom) will certainly lead to an impatient and cranky podcast queue.

Well, I’ve finally kind of caught up and I once again have a head full of podcasts.

Below are the best of the lot that will make you think.

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Radiolab: Galaxy Quenching

• The Big Idea: Phenomenal and one of the best Radiolab episodes in recent memory. This story from astrophysicist Charity Woodrum lives at the intersection of vast, awe-inspiring science, and intense emotional impact. If you have trust in me, simply listen.

• Fans of Beautiful/Anonymous will recognize the voice here from The Whirlpool Galaxy.

• Radiolab website with transcript (and great episode art).

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Art of the Score: Interstellar

• The Big Idea: My two rules of watching Interstellar: 1) Biggest screen possible 2) Best sound system possible with the sound turned up. If you particularly agree with me on that second part, this episode is for you. This is an excellent dissection of the phenomenal film score by Hans Zimmer. The technical bits of the music as well as the creative process.

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Philosophize This!: Episode #219…Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment

• The Big Idea: Take this as your sign to look through the feed of Philosophize This! Stephen West does an amazing job breaking down different people and concepts in philosophy. I was intrigued to see recent discussions on several books. I read Crime and Punishment a few years ago and this was an excellent and non-pretentious breakdown. You can still very much enjoy this even if you haven’t read the book (if you don’t mind spoilers of course).

• I was looking through their merch store, and damn what a freaking awesome design on this one.

• Full transcript from website.

The Daily: Trapped in a ChatGPT Spiral

• The Big Idea: I’ve seen many articles about people getting trapped in delusional thinking while having extended chats with ChatGPT, but this serves as a single encapsulation on how this actually works and how it happens.

• Link with transcript.

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Imaginary Worlds: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Douglas Adams

• The Big Idea: Just a perfect little episode for fans of Douglas Adams or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I somehow had no idea the radio play Adams wrote for the Hitchhiker’s Guide came out and was wildly successful before the book.

• Website with transcript.

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A Question of Science: Can We Live Forever?

• The Big Idea: A new show about big science topics from Brian Cox (the scientist, not Succession patriarch). Yes, please.

• Shout out to Podcast Delivery where I discovered this show.

Search Engine: Is my favorite new tv show this year a ripoff?

• The Big Idea: I haven’t seen The Pitt (but I plan to) and I had no idea the main guy in it was also one of the main guys from ER. I also had no idea the estate of Michael Crichton is suing the folks behind The Pitt. I found the details of all this to be fascinating and this is a great discussion on all the drama.

Short Wave: Tylenol and Autism — What’s True and What Isn’t

• The Big Idea: Listen if you want a reminder of what competent and measured discussions on scientific topics sound like. This is a very good and succinct explanation of the Tylenol and Autism announcement.

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OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

A 1959 Essay by Isaac Isamov on Creativity. “The presence of others can only inhibit this process, since creation is embarrassing.”

Moon flowers. I had NO IDEA that certain flowers bloom only at night and there is a whole world of night time pollinators (moths, bats, and such) for these flowers.

Why Melted Bugs Coat Your Favorite Candy. Another thing I HAD NO IDEA. Shellac is used for all sorts of things, including making candy like jelly beans have a shiny appearance. Wait until you see what shellac is. An honestly great video from Business Insider.

How smooth is a neutron star? Very, very smooth. Like very.

FOR FUN

Podcast joke from The Onion.

When two ragebaiters meet online.

p.s. The books a reread as audiobooks were The Three Body Problem trilogy. I really liked them a few years ago (see what I said at the bottom of this newsletter all the way back in 2020). Knowing the full story, the first book felt more slow and a bit of a drag (but still very much recommend for first time readers), and same for parts of second book. But on reread, the third book still stands as top tier science fiction in my mind, and I cannot wait to see how the hell any of it is put to screen for the third season of the Netflix show.

Also, quickly obsessed with Hades 2 on the Switch.

This week I have a few great recommendations and two mini playlists that are a little different. I hope you enjoy!

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Planet Money Summer School is back. I’ve received my fake diploma for all previous years. Not to brag, but I’m pretty much a Planet Money post doc at this point.

There was a recent Ologies episode all about hobbies and the idea of social prescribing (a fascinating idea I had never encountered) that made me think a ton in the best way possible. Part two of the episode is right here.

Before the playlists below, here’s three other quick recommendations that will make you think, all examining something from 100 years ago (or a little more). The Daily did an episode celebrating 100 Years of The Great Gatsby that is worth checking out (even if I hated it in high school, I’m confident I would enjoy the book now). Short Wave examines the legacy of The Scopes Trial about teaching evolution in the classroom. The details on that are completely different than I realized. 99 Percent Invisible takes an angle about Titanic that I had never heard that will change your opinion on their lack of lifeboats.

Playlist 1: Shoutout to Song Exploder

I’m no musician, but I absolutely love Song Exploder. I’ve always been fascinated by creativity, and in my opinion, there is no better podcast to learn about creativity than Song Exploder. Musicians think about and push creative boundaries for years and years, and we get to hear their hard earned wisdom distilled down.

What amazes me is how wildly different every single artist is on how they arrive at their ideas. Creativity is as varied as there are people. There aren’t any recipes for successful creation that need to be strictly followed, musician or not.

If you are feeling a little blah in your own realm of creativity, try listening to a few Song Exploder episodes. You never know what hidden thing will become unlocked.

Here are a few recent ones I enjoyed and recommend:

Song Exploder: of Montreal - Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games

Song Exploder: Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Song Exploder: MJ Lenderman - You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In

Song Exploder: Waxahatchee - Fire

We saw those last two in concert together last month. Highly recommend.

Playlist 2: Good times with SNL buds

Needing good vibes is exactly where I’m at lately, so please enjoy this curated rabbit hole of easy listening. Go ahead and follow the trail below if you could use some smiles in your life.

Follow in the footsteps of my rabbit hole:

Step 1) Hear lots of chatter everywhere about how enjoyable Good Hang with Amy Poehler is, but also think, don’t we have enough celebrity chat shows? Check it out anyway, and start with the Paul Rudd episode because people seem to love that one. Take a peak at the YouTube version and then shock yourself when you watch the whole damn thing at 1x speed. Have a great time soaking in the good vibes.

Step 2) Go back and watch the first episode with Tina Fey, and then also watch a smattering of episodes that look interesting. Namely Seth Myers, Rashida Jones, Will Forte, and Andy Sandberg. Enjoy the format of each episode. Think to yourself, how the hell did they get me to watch this instead of listening?

Step 3) Because it comes up several times in the above mentioned episodes, finally check out The Lonely Island and Seth Myers Podcast. Bad name, great show. Start with The Jon Hamm episode (which actually doesn’t follow typical format), because somewhere you heard that is a great one.

Step 4) That episode was indeed a great time that successfully sells you on the show. Go back and start off at the beginning where they discuss the origin of The Lonely Island and then slowly work your way through the episodes in order, maybe a few a week (there’s a lot to catch up on).

There you go, a peek into my meandering but satisfying SNL adjacent rabbit hole that I think is worth you also falling down.

p.s. A highlight for me: at the beginning of the Will Forte episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler, Tina Fey mentions that Forte “is so responsive to any words of praise,” which is funny to her because she knows his family and friends love him, but he still seems to react like a plant who hasn’t been watered in a week in these situations. Poehler about half way through the episode starts sprinkling in compliments here and there, and he absolutely reacts that way (an episode very worth watching instead of listening).

PODCAST LINKS

Apple put together a list of 20 podcasts that exemplify the last 20 years of podcasting on their platform. Check it out, it’s a great list.

OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

A visual essay from Christoph Niemann, an artist I love to follow on Instagram. It’s about creativity and AI and is very timely.

A Michelin Star Chef Rates Every Fine Dining Scene From The Bear.

What #1 New York Times Bestseller Actually Means. John Green dropping knowledge in just a few short minutes. Very informative and interesting.

FOR FUN

Sometimes you lose faith in humanity, and then sometimes you find a subreddit with 49k people dedicated to cats who look like Adam Driver, and humans completely redeem themselves [filter by top, all time].

p.s. for my reading list, finished Children of Time, a sci-fi book I have heard a lot about over the years, and very, very interesting. Don’t recommend if not a fan of spiders. Now I’m onto The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks. Great so far.

Don’t be that person who listens to all manner of great podcasts and never tells anyone about them. Don’t be an RSSHOLE.

That sticker will make it in my podcast merch shop one day. In the meantime, please enjoy these delicious snacks for your ears.

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

First up, another set of rapid fire recommendations.

Criminal’s The Roofman Part 1 and Part 2 are a fantastic and crazy duo of episodes. If you enjoyed The Studio on Apple TV+, you must listen to the two part episode of The Town with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Part 1 and Part 2). Death, Sex & Money also has a great round table discussion called Money Advice For This Weird Moment.

Fall of Civilizations: 6. Easter Island - Where Giants Walked

• The Big Idea: This may sound dramatic, but everything you know about Easter Island is probably not true, or is at least incomplete. History as a podcast genre is chock full of incredible pieces of storytelling, and this is one of them.

• Easter Island got that name simply because European explorers found the island on Easter Day, which I guess is both obvious and a little disappointing.

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Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend: Ron Chernow

• The Big Idea: Ron Chernow has a new biography on Mark Twain, and Conan is a perfect interviewer here, being a huge Twain nerd and history buff (and recent recipient of the Mark Twain prize - which is on Netflix and very entertaining).

• Twain REALLY loved a good business scheme, which is one of the unexpected things you’ll learn about his personal life in this conversation.

• Chernow wrote the excellent Alexander Hamilton biography that Lin Manuel Miranda read and urgently felt needed to be turned into a hip hop musical.

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The World As You’ll Know It: Why Haven’t We Solved Alzheimer’s?

• The Big Idea: An excellent overview of what Alzheimer’s is, the current status of medical research, and recent dramatic examples of fraud that have set progress back.

• I recommended this podcast last time, but Carl Zimmer does such a great job with this series and I hope he continues with his own podcasts in the future.

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The future is shark

Radiolab’s has a new series of episodes called “Week of Shark” (ahem, VERY different than and not to be confused with “Shark Week” wink wink). There are five short episodes for each day last week, and they were all great and worth listening to. Start with Making a Monster.

How about these crazy shark facts from the episodes:

🦈 Sharks are much, much older than dinosaurs, and in fact are older than the freaking rings of Saturn?! They are also older than flowers or even trees. C’mon!

🦈 Also, the Greenland shark is the longest lived vertebrate, capable of living hundreds of years. There are Greenland sharks that were alive when Alexander Hamilton was born, and were still alive when the musical about him was made (second mention of Hamilton in one newsletter!).

🦈 Sharks have a very old immune system that doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles we have, but new evidence is showing the way theirs works could help us defeat cancer. You’ll also learn exactly why the future is shark.

PODCAST LINKS

26 Must-Read Podcast Newsletters. A fantastic list of newsletters from Podglomerate that will ensure you never run out of things to listen to. Honored to be mentioned in it among these other fine folks.

FOR FUN

You don’t need to be a golfer to enjoy this schadenfreude.

It’s called foreshadowing.

That’s it for this week. Thank you as always for reading and responding!

Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.

p.s. We saw MJ Lenderman and Waxahatchee in concert last night and it was a fantastic time. I continue to think about my custom earplugs being one of the best investments (and are totally worth the money). Also, Song Exploder has an episode on each of these artists and I hope to expand more on that next newsletter. My basic thought is this: Song Exploder is hands down the best podcast about the creative process in my opinion.

It’s nice being back in your inbox. I have some great podcast recommendations for you.

But first, I’ve solved my ‘not having enough time to listen to podcasts’ problem.

The answer for me has been long walks at the park. Some might say long walks are best for connecting with nature or inviting along family and friends. Nonsense! Long walks are best as a solitary adventure designed to help you catch up on your ever growing podcast queue. At 1.8x speed of course, as all podcast producers intended.

Also, a new shirt design hot off the imaginary presses:

In that spirit, I hope you make some new friends below.

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

First up is a little rapid fire set of recommendations:

Unexplainable has had some really great episodes: The four part Good Robot series, and Sorry, we left an implant in your brain are both excellent. Radiolab’s The Echo in the Machine tells a story about the history of closed captioning that is a little mind blowing and fun. The Dave and Buster’s Anomaly from Search Engine is super interesting, and as of this writing, the anomaly still hasn’t been fixed. If you are feeling romantic, Modern Love’s How to Fall (and Stay) in Love episode will hit the right spot. Case 63 is an often recommended to me fiction podcast starring Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac that has a very breezy and intriguing first episode.

Now some classic recommendations:

Ologies: Araneology (SPIDERS) with Marshal Hedin

• The Big Idea: Spiders are cool, and if you don’t believe me, maybe you just need to listen to this episode.

• I don’t listen to every episode, but I am seriously never disappointed when I dip into the Ologies feed to see what catches my eye.

• There are 50k described species of spiders (and probably 100k in reality), but only about 50 are potentially harmful to humans. That’s only one in a thousand species! I made a chart to prove it.

• Website with transcript

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The Journal: Can Pepsi Make a Comeback?

• The Big Idea: The big soda war is always Coke vs Pepsi right? WRONG! Did you know Dr Pepper has surpassed Pepsi as the number two soda? I mean, I love Diet Dr Pepper, but this was truly surprising to me.

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The World As You’ll Know It: The Billion Dollar Bet — Will Humans Live to 150?

• The Big Idea: A new season of The World As You’ll Know It is being hosted by science journalist Carl Zimmer. Sold. Downloaded. The man has been bringing S tier science content to podcasts like Radiolab and The Daily for years and years, and I’m very happy to see him here lead the narrative and the conversation.

• And this first episode is indeed very well done. It fleshes out a topic I’ve heard about many times before (aging) and approaches it with depth and context that only someone like Zimmer could bring to the table.

• Website with transcript

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16 Sunsets: The Dreamers

• The Big Idea: From the folks who brought you 13 Minutes to the Moon (about the Apollo space program), comes this natural follow up about the Space Shuttle program.

• This first episode is extremely well done and I can’t wait to check out the rest.

• Shoutout to Podcast Review for their article The 11 Best Science Podcasts, where I discovered this show.

• There is a great episode 0 that sets up how this show came about that is worth listening to as well.

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Terrestrials: The Snow Beast—A Mystery Animal with Latif Nasser

• The Big Idea: I won’t spoil the mystery animal at the heart of the episode, but even though this is a kids science show (from the Radiolab team), I am quite confident all of you will enjoy this episode as much as I did. The reveal was honestly surprising to me.

• Website with transcript

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PODCAST LINKS

What podcast do you listen to religiously? A Reddit thread with lots of recommendations.

FOR FUN

This one took me a second.

Will Forte has to improvise.

Because I focus on the important things in life, my next goal is to memorize Andrew Dismukes Jumanji rant.

Michael Jordan took it personally. And then a longer version just as good.

Glad Conan won the Mark Twain Prize, but just to be clear, it’s a prize, not an award.

That’s it for this week. Thank you as always for reading and responding!

Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.

p.s. Getting pumped for season finale of The Last of Us. It’s certainly not the feel good show of the year, but they are doing a great job adapting one of the greatest video game series of all time. Not pumped for the two years for season 3, particularly because I’m pretty sure I know how tonight will end.

As Mr Milchick said, it’s been a minute.

For a quick reminder, if you like podcasts and links that make you think, you are in the right place.

This mostly explains where I’ve been. I like to wait until I have some good things to send, and I’m past that threshold.

Also, I made a visual to show what podcasts have meant to me this year (and for the past 10+ years). No matter what is happening, podcasts provide a bit of consistency and comfort that is rather unique.

Ok, so about those good things I mentioned. Please enjoy these below recommendations and don’t be shy about sending some my way.

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

StarTalk Radio: Into The Matrix with Laurence Fishburne

• The Big Idea: Just a really fun conversation that is perfect for anyone who enjoys Neil DeGrasse Tyson and who loves the original Matrix movie.

• YouTube version of the conversation is great too.

• If you want a episode even more focused on the cutting edge of science and physics, there is also a recent phenomenal StarTalk with Brian Cox.

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Decoder Ring: I Am Tupperware, I Contain Multitudes

• The Big Idea: The more interesting-than-you-would-think story of how Tupperware went from a weird invention involving an industrial byproduct, to a massive hit thanks to the marketing genius of Brownie Wise (what a name), to a company fighting off bankruptcy and irrelevance.

• Website with transcript

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Science Friday: Author John Green On The Many Ways Tuberculosis Shaped Human Life

• The Big Idea: Tuberculosis is the number one most deadly infectious disease, killing over 1.25 million people in 2023 alone. If this surprises you, you are not alone, and are in good company with how author John Green felt not too long ago. His story of how it became personal is a good one and he is a very effective messenger around the story of tuberculosis.

• John Green’s new nonfiction book Everything is Tuberculosis sounds fantastic, and I have hinted very strongly to my wife about it as a top idea for my upcoming birthday.

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Embedded: Alternate Realities – A Strange Bet

• The Big Idea: What if your father lived in a completely different ideological reality from you and the rest of your family, and it involved extreme conspiratorial thinking? What if you were able to make a bet with an end date to see whose version of reality was true? That is the idea of this three episode series from Embedded, and it’s a wild, fascinating listen.

• Website with transcript [above link is also the website, I couldn’t find this on episodes.fm, my typical source for main links]

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Planet Money: The Parable of Peanut the Memecoin

• The Big Idea: Memecoins, OnlyFans, a viral pet squirrel. This episode has it all, and I hate how much you can learn about the modern world with this insane story.

• It’s all very interesting, but for an added layer of fun, pretend you are someone from 50 years ago (or even 10) trying to decipher a single thing that is going on.

• Website with transcript

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Radiolab: The Darkest Dark

• The Big Idea: Nature is capable of some incredibly dark things, and I’m not referring to the fact that many animals eat each other. What I mean is that there are some evolutionary pressures to make very, very dark surfaces in biology in order to absorb as much light as possible. Take the famous anglerfish for example, that gruesome (beautiful?) deep sea creature with the dangling bioluminescent light to attract prey. It wants its next meal to see the light, but NOT for the meal to see IT, so even the littlest reflection on its skin would be bad. This means they are very dark and are even super hard to photograph.

• This ultra-black that can be naturally created by certain deep sea fish and a select few land animals can absorb well over 99% of light, and is even on par with the famous vantablack material made in a lab. For this trick in biology, it’s not just about the pigment, but also the physical structure of the skin.

• Simple, interesting conversation from Radiolab.

• Website with transcript

PODCAST LINKS

What I Got Wrong About The Telepathy Tapes. An excellent post from Samantha Hodder, who you should subscribe to at Binge Worthy if you enjoy smart writing about podcasts. I respect so much what Hodder does in this post, which is to allow herself to be vulnerable about why she initially believed the story in The Telepathy Tapes and how she came to change her mind. I haven’t listened to The Telepathy Tapes, but I was planning to listen in order to write up a take down on it. This post does that beautifully and I would much rather spread the word on this.

What’s the best podcast you’ve ever listened to? A great thread on Reddit.

OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

How to make a CPU. This is only a minute and a half and I found it to be a fun mixture of tongue in cheek but technically accurate.

Books that could alter my brain chemistry and potentially change my life. Great Reddit thread that asks for book suggestions. People deliver. How could you not click with a title like that?

Everyone's a Geek About Something. Wonderful visual with short essay.

FOR FUN

Watching this 9 minute compilation of the entire Cones of Dunshire storyline from Parks and Rec is a very good way to spend your time.

Every 90s Commercial Ever (Uncensored). This parody takes a TURN, but will start nostalgic for any 90’s kid and is hilarious if you are into messed up comedy and don’t mind over the top gore. Feels very Adult Swim.

An old bit from Conan’s show around a spelling bee. I won’t spoil who the current A-lister is playing the kid, but I actually didn’t realize she started in entertainment that young.

Map of Countries Often Omitted from Maps. So, so stupid. But great.

The doctor’s appointment that feels like a podcast. I linked to the wrong thing last newsletter, so here is that great SNL skit if you missed it.

That’s it for this week. Thank you as always for reading and responding!

Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.

p.s. I like the idea of doing other media thoughts here: Currently reading Rendezvous with Rama, which is an Arthur C Clarke book that is being developed into a movie by Denis Villenueve after his third Dune movie. I’m not halfway done yet, but I can easily guarantee that this will be an absolutely stunning movie visually and will demand a viewing in IMAX. The storyline unfolds in mysterious and fascinating ways and I’m glad to have no idea where it is going to end up.

It’s almost that time of year, and I think I’m ready for some new podcast Valentine’s hearts. Some ideas: U REC ME | I CHART U | BE MY COHOST | 1.5X 4 LIFE | DOWNLOAD ME | POD BUDDIES | BE MY POD MATE | I MADE U SOME CONTENT | PARASOCIAL PODCAST LISTENER | POD PLAYA | I MIC U.

Any other ideas or votes? Alright let’s vibe with some great shows down below

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PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

The Journal: The Epic Mess at TGI Fridays

• The Big Idea: Casual sit down chain restaurants are having a very bad, no good time over the last decade, and this peek into the mess at TGI Fridays gives a great idea of what’s going on. Hint: they have sushi on the menu.

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History Extra Podcast: Ancient Egypt | 1. civilisation

• The Big Idea: Ancient Egypt spans a long period of time. We are closer to the time of Cleopatra than Cleopatra was to the building of the pyramids. This episode gives a great sense of what we know and don’t know about this incredible early civilization.

• This show has a pretty amazing list of topics and it’s very worth looking through their feed even if this episode title doesn’t speak to you.

• Thanks to Mel from A Strong Sense of Place (for book lovers) for sending this my way. Check out their excellent newsletter as well.

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Stuff You Should Know: Short Stuff – The Guinness Widget

• The Big Idea: You know that little ball that bounces around a can of Guinness? It’s literally called a “widget.” Learning the history and purpose of it is worth this quick listen.

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The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott: S2 EP 1 – Hello, Ms Cobel (with Tramell Tillman)

• The Big Idea: Essential listening for Severance fans and this first episode has an excellent interview with the actor who plays Mr Milchick.

• Not sure how I missed this for season 1. I do love me a good official podcast with the creators when it comes to prestige TV.

• Remember to enjoy all podcasts equally.

PODCAST LINKS

We're halfway through the 2020s. What are some of the best podcasts of the decade so far?. Great Reddit thread full of recommendations.

Looking for podcasts that are academically rigorous but still entertaining. Another one.

Top Podcast Fun Facts of 2024. Lots of great tidbits, like the fact that the city of LA has only 14 public restrooms!

Looking forward to checking out the brand new February Espionage podcast playlist from Podcast Brunch Club.

OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

A Super Simple Way To Take Notes on Physical Books. You could even say that for readers who take notes, I have this “one weird trick.”

8 Thought Provoking Questions To Power Your New Year. “Resolutions” are so Jan 1, but it’s always a good time to sit down and reflect. Get your pen and paper ready.

Everyone Should Own a Big Ass Notebook. No matter your perfect digital world, nothing beats pen to paper (at least every once in a while).

FOR FUN

When a bunch of nerds watch LOTR together.

Speaking of Adam Scott, please enjoy one of the greatest introductions of a character of all time.

Obligatory link to latest SNL podcast skit (so good).

That’s it for this week. Thank you as always for reading and responding!

Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.

P.S. Books this year: Finished Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and I liked it mainly for its story of creative collaboration and friendship (although I didn’t find the main characters particularly likeable on their own).

Started on Project Hail Mary and it’s extremely readable and looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Today we’ve got for you:

• A few excellent podcast recommendations and some great links worth checking out.

• An additional section about the podcasts and books I’ve thought about the most in 2024. I have a hard time saying something is “the best,” so as a substitute these are the things that lingered in my mind and made me think the most.

I like to joke around, but seriously happy new year to everyone. Cheers to a happy and healthy 2025 full of good audio and things that will make you think.

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

99 Percent Invisible: New Year, New Neighborhood

• The Big Idea: A perfect episode to listen to before New Year’s Eve, because it’s all about the history of Times Square in NYC, including the history of how it became ground zero for celebrating the new year. Very interesting.

• As a bonus recommendation for 99 Percent Invisible, also check out their mini-stories volume 19, which has four great stories, including the rise of “funny” highway signs.

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The Journal: James Bond Is Missing — He’s Trapped in a Fight With Amazon

• The Big Idea: Come for the scoop on the drama with the James Bond IP, stay for Barbara Broccoli (who has complete creative control over Bond movies) calling Amazon executives a bunch of idiots.

• Thanks for Podcast Review for putting this on my radar.

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PODCAST LINKS

Tink Media’s Audio Delicacies of 2024. A wonderful collection of podcast treats and an astonishingly useful guide to padding out your listening queue for 2025. You can find my recommendation in the narrative non-fiction section.

Eurowaves. A new podcast newsletter from Andreea Coscai that’s all about audio from Europe. A big missing piece in the newsletter landscape! Get podcast recommendations and news. It’s great so far. Subscribe here.

Single best episode you listened to this year? Great thread on Reddit.

OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

What just happened? A very useful post (and great newsletter to subscribe to overall) to understand the latest developments in AI for the regular person trying to keep up. The leaps in generative AI video creation is a little bit brain breaking and worrying.

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2024 AND LOOKING AHEAD TO 2025

Podcasts I’ve thought about the most in 2024

Tested. Rose Eveleth expertly examines the current state of who and who is not allowed to compete in women’s sports in world competitions. It’s more complicated than it sounds and I love any story that shows that the real world and its actual workings resists simple categorization.

Terrestrials: The Trio. Two bald eagle dads and one bald eagle mom lived in one happy family in front of a webcam for a decade for all the world to see. Again, nature can’t be easily categorized and doesn’t care how we think it should work.

Don’t Drink the Milk: Homeopathy. See my full thoughts in Tink’s Audio Delicacies under narrative non-fiction.

The Universe. John Green. Dr Katie Mack. A full history of the universe and its immense future and possible endings. Existential thoughts and feelings. A limited series. What more could I ask for?

99 Percent Invisible Breakdown: The Power Broker [episodes also in 99pi main feed]. A hell of a book reading experience (took me over three months) and a hell of a companion podcast. Listening to over 30 hours of summary and interviews while reading a 1100+ page dense book is not something I would have predicted enjoying so much. I guess this is my Joe Rogan.

Favorite new podcast discovery

Comic Sans. Two friends from Singapore, one loves and creates comics, the other knows nothing but is interested in learning. Great chemistry between hosts and very beginner friendly. I know a little about comics and graphic novels but I want to know what else is out there, and this show is perfect for it.

Books I’ve thought about the most in 2024

The Power Broker by Robert Caro. Maybe in 2025 my friends and family will get to hear me mention this less.

Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier by Kevin Kelly. Very quick read full of tweet-length aphorisms. Lots are forgettable, but there some great gems throughout that I think about all the time. One of my favorites: “You can be whatever you want to be, so be the person who ends meetings early.”

The Demon Haunted World. An absolute classic from Carl Sagan that I am almost done re-reading, but I always think about. A book all about skepticism and critical thinking and is a love letter to science.

Books I’m excited for in 2025:

After a year of mostly non-fiction reading I plan on starting next year heavy on the fiction side. Here are the books I’m excited to kick things off with.

• I received Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow as a gift and plan to read that shortly.

• Two sci-fi books I keep hearing over and over again on how good they are: Project Hail Mary (currently being filmed and starring Ryan Gosling), and Children of Time.

• Also, I plan on reading Rendezvous with Rama, a classic Arthur C Clarke novel that is being adapted by Denis Villeneuve after his third Dune movie comes out, which is all I need to know to be interested.

Podcasts I’m excited for in 2025:

All of them? Honestly nothing specific because I never know what kind of audio treasure awaits me. With books I tend to only read things I’m 90% sure I’ll enjoy and finish (I don’t take a lot of blind gambles). But with podcasts, I very much love taking blind gambles.

Favorite stories I published in 2024

8 Reasons Why Public Libraries Are Amazing. An ode to one of our greatest institutions.

The Surprisingly Wholesome Marriage of Reddit and Prestige TV. When it comes to TV community, there is one social media to rule them all

15 More Very Scientific Charts and Graphs About the Podcast Industry. With very scientific drawings of course.

Favorite visual I made in 2024

I thought there would be more time.

FOR FUN

Schrödinger’s Douchebag

Sony’s new stupid box thing

We’ve just been two men hanging out getting to know each other

That’s it for this week. Thank you as always for reading and responding!

Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.

P.S. I’m not all about resolutions, but I’m a big fan of “themes” for a year. A theme I want to pursue next year: for 2025 to be the year of “challenges.” I’m talking 7-day and 30-day challenges, that sort of thing. Not challenges as in life difficulties. The last thing I need is to invite those in. Draw everyday for 7 days. Write everyday for 30 days. They can be fun if you let them be. Things to help grow momentum without being overwhelming or constrain me to a whole year. Maybe even try only new podcasts for 7 days?

Now speaking of podcasts, I do actually have one resolution. It’s to listen to more audio and be as chill as no-face from Spirited Away. Well at least as chill as he was after his whole chasing people and eating them thing.

My dream is to go to a website and input my favorite podcasts that automatically displays them beautifully on a bookshelf or as a curated group of framed pictures decorating a wall.

I would love to be digitally nosy on what you all would have on your podcast bookshelf. Not even what your favorite stuff is, but what you would choose to display knowing that others would be looking at it and judging it.

In other news, I made the questionable decision to join another social media platform because why the hell not. What am I going to do, have healthy phone habits? If you are on Bluesky, follow me right here.

Alright, on to the good stuff.

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Unexplainable: Pinky and the (lab-grown) Brain

• The Big Idea: We are reaching the limit on how helpful lab mice (or any animal) can be for research meant to help humans.

• Lab grown brain clumps and various other lab grown entities could be the future of medical research. These combined with modern computer modeling can eventually once and for all allow lab rats to live out their lives chasing and keeping that cheese.

• Overall a seriously interesting episode on how early stage medical research works.

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Fall of Civilizations: 1. Roman Britain - The Work of Giants Crumbled

• The Big Idea: Did you know Great Britain was part of the Roman Empire and that there is an interesting history involving hundreds of years of occupation and rebellion? I didn’t!

• I discovered this show in the Reddit thread linked to below and it didn’t disappoint. This appears to be a very well loved history show and this first episode is fantastic.

• Maybe I chose this episode because subconsciously I felt ashamed I wasn’t thinking of the Roman Empire enough when that meme was going around.

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Search Engine: Who buys luggage at the airport luggage store?

• The Big Idea: Finally, a Search Engine question I legitimately ask all the time.

• Too bad the episode gives a fairly unsatisfying answer to the actual question. Just read this 11 year old article instead to get a full answer.

• BUT, the real reason I’m recommending this is you get some history and discussion of modern airports which is very much worth checking out.

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Today Explained: A live-forever diet

• The Big Idea: That “Blue Zone” diet all the rage a while back that mimics parts of the world where people tended to live longer? Mostly bunk it turns out.

PODCAST LINKS

What podcasts are considered 'prestige' examples of the format? A great Reddit thread with some recommendations I had never heard of. Like Fall of Civilizations that I ended up writing about above.

A Brief Gallery of (Podcast) Art. Something I wrote four years ago that I revisited after thinking about the podcast bookshelf and podcast art in general.

OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

Ronny Chieng interviews Neil DeGrasse Tyson on The Daily Show. A great showcase for both of these favorites of mine. Funny and interesting.

You’re Probably Wrong About Rainbows. What a gift that this kind of stuff is free on the internet. Worth the twenty something minutes.

FOR FUN

Music makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE

The perfect movie screen

That’s it for this week. Thank you as always for reading and responding!

Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.

P.S. As a parent, yes grades are good and all that, but nothing makes me prouder than when the kids show glimpses of good taste. My nine year old daughter has been blasting through episodes of The Simpsons (with or without me) and it makes me so proud. I am a little shocked at how well it holds up in the first 11 seasons so far. Amazing writing.

I wrote something about how podcasts can “infect” you with enthusiasm. And now that I think of it, the first recommendation below is also about an infection, but a very different kind. It’s podcast contagion all around.

Please enjoy these podcasts by very talented people.

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PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Incubation: Shingles – The Mystery of Pain

• The Big Idea: Shingles can be a really not great time and can cause long term complications, and you are at risk to develop it as you get older if you had chicken pox (they are the same virus, shingles is when it rears its ugly head in an unpleasant way decades later).

• If you are Gen Z or a young millennial, you probably had the chicken pox vaccine, something us old millennials missed out on!

• Chicken Pox is actually not a “pox,” like smallpox or cowpox, it’s a type of herpes virus. 

• The whole second season of Incubation is great, and I tore through the current episodes in two days. If you like science and the history of medicine done in an easy to digest format, you’ll love this show.

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Ologies with Alie Ward: Odonatology (DRAGONFLIES) with Jessica Ware

• The Big Idea: Dragonflies are awesome and the best, but don’t say that too loud in front of a damselfly. 

• I realized I hadn’t listened to Ologies (my apologies, won’t do it again) in a while, and after checking their feed this new episode immediately caught my eye (and then my ear). It’s great.

• I realized how badass dragonflies are years ago when a horsefly landed on my Mom’s knee while sitting, and before she could swat it away a frickin dragonfly swooped down and grabbed it right off her.

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Big Brains: Why Can’t Scientists Agree On The Age Of The Universe?

• The Big Idea: Well scientists mostly agree on the age of the universe, but one group has evidence that it’s 13.7 billion years old, and another has a different type of evidence showing it’s closer to 13.8 billion. 

• When scientists disagree and work towards a consensus, we all win. The science behind both types of evidence is pretty fascinating.

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Search Engine: How did the first democracy die?

• The Big Idea: For no particular reason at all, this felt like a timely episode. Roman history sometimes gets all the glory, but Greek history is interesting for many more reasons than just Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. 

• The way Athens rose to power and eventually lost it is not a story I had heard in full, and makes me want to learn more ancient history (beyond the philosophers).

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PODCAST LINKS

Two Podcasts with Contagious Enthusiasm. Podcasts have a special ability to transfer enthusiasm. I share the story of how an episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz got me hooked on Hamilton, and how Comic Sans and Filling the Void are two shows very worth your time.

OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

14 Classic Works of Literature Hated By Famous Authors. Some truly entertaining takedowns/rants by famous others, like Virginia Woolf’s assessment of Ulysses by James Joyce. Or how Mark Twain starts about Pride and Prejudice: “I haven’t any right to criticize books, and I don’t do it except when I hate them.”

I poured all the galaxies in the Universe into a pool. This photographer taught himself how to use Blender (a free rendering and visual effects software) and makes some really fantastic space themed videos. I love visual metaphors to understand the vastness of the universe and this video is full of them.

FOR FUN

Me anytime I watch something fantasy with my family

If only stress could power our nation.

Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.

P.S. I have two movie recommendations for you if you are in the mood for some under the radar mind bendy sci-fi. I’ve had “watch Coherence” as a reminder in my phone for about two years and we finally watched it. It’s a phenomenal very low budget indie movie and it’s honestly more interesting than 90% of studio produced sci-fi. Still thinking about it a few days later. Read the basic description if you want but I recommend going in cold (and it’s currently on Peacock). Then be amazed when you read up on how they made it. While reading about Coherence I kept seeing recommendations for Predestination, which we also just watched and is also very good (currently on Netflix). Ethan Hawke is great and Sara Snook is phenomenal. Again, don’t read anything about it.

It’s been a while! Got some timeless podcasts for you below that will make you think and fill your ears with joy.

I wrote an article with some thoughts on Google’s new NotebookLM audio feature that can create a podcast from your documents at the push of a button. It’s worth playing around with it (it’s free) to see what’s coming for the audio world, even if you roll your eyes at AI hype. Have you tried it? Let me know.

On to the recommendations!

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PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Don’t Drink the Milk: Homeopathy – Can sugar pills fill the holes in modern medicine?

• The Big Idea: I get heated about what a big pile of bunk homeopathy is, but this episode is a much more well rounded, well researched, and well presented explanation of the history and reality of what homeopathy is than I could ever do. It really tells you everything you need to know.

• The reason I get heated is that like so many parents out there, I first bought homeopathy medicine when one of my kids was teething as a baby, and I wanted something that was gentle that could help. Once I looked up what homeopathy actually is a few days later, I was pretty livid that it’s even sold in pharmacies (hint: it’s not a “natural” or “herbal” remedy like you might assume). 

• The episode from their new season about Witch Hunts is also really good.

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The Universe: How It All Ends

• The Big Idea: John Green and Dr Katie Mack are such a genius pairing for a podcast about the universe, and this last episode is a great ending to the series, and it just so happens to be about the ending to end all endings. The potential ends of the universe are all fairly wild and for the most part, very, very far in the future (probably farther than you can imagine).

• You should check out all eleven episodes in the series, but you can certainly listen to this without prior listening.

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The Daily: The Profitable Business of Holding Patients Against Their Will

• The Big Idea: One of those great standalone pieces of reporting that The Daily sometimes does, and a welcome escape from politics.

• I can only link to the website because of the new paywall The New York Times is doing with their audio. Transcript is included on site at least.

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Endless Thread: Ignore All Previous Instructions

• The Big Idea: A fun and informative history of how “ignore all previous instructions” caused all sorts of havoc on AI bots across social media (that sadly doesn’t work anymore for the most part).

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Search Engine: Why is it so hard to tax billionaires? (Part 1) and (Part 2)

• The Big Idea: A more interesting than you would think exploration of the history of income tax in the US and why it’s so damn hard to tax billionaires.

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PODCAST LINKS

Did Google Just Kill Podcasts? No, but the new audio overview feature of NotebookLM is pretty wild and will have ramifications for the podcast industry.

VISUALS

FOR FUN

The Wizard And The Unfillable Hole. This is the type of light hearted and creative content that still makes me enjoy social media.

Cinema VIP

Witches, they’re just like us

Baby birds don’t know how to eat. Get in my mouth worm!

Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.

P.s. My son wanted a mushroom grow kit from a craft fair, and it was great fun (and here they are cheaper but without the fun art). They grow wildly fast and were incredibly delicious cooked in butter.

About ten seconds into listening to a podcast about Taylor Swift conspiracy theories (see first recommendation below), an unpleasant story from earlier this year came flooding back into my memory.

It was Super Bowl Sunday, and I ended up taking an ambulance to the ER with chest pain around midnight. Everything turned out fine, but it was a very expensive way to spend several hours. I was discharged some time before 6am, and I didn’t want to make my whole family come get me.

So I called an Uber for the lift home. 

This Uber driver was super friendly, had a nice smelling car, and had tons of different free snacks hanging in an organizer over the passenger seat. You can tell he’d watched all the “how to be an Uber driver” influencers, which I’m only assuming is definitely a thing. 

I was exhausted and stayed mostly quiet, but after a few minutes he dropped this lovely bombshell. 

“Did you watch the Super Bowl last night?”

“Yes”

“Don’t you think it’s kind of convenient that the Chiefs won? Now Taylor Swift can endorse Biden with Travis Kelce and of course the government made it happen.” (Context if you missed all this).

If my faith in humanity was Antartica, a Texas sized chunk broke off and floated away.

I couldn’t believe people really believed this shit, and that they would bring it up at 5:45 in the morning. I would have preferred invasive questions about why I was in the hospital.

“Yea I don’t know about that.” That was the limit I was willing to engage. He kept talking but I didn’t have it in me to be the happy-to-argue-against-conspiracy-theories guy, which I typically am.

All this to say, you should check out the episode below about Taylor Swift conspiracy theories, because you never know what memories it might unlock. And its good.

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Conspiracy, She Wrote: Taylor Swift Psyops

• The Big Idea: Conspiracy, She Wrote is hosted by Cristen Conger and this episode does an excellent job breaking down exactly what is going on with these conspiracies swirling around Taylor Swift. Good journalism and good critical analysis. My kind of show.

• I now understand what can lead a hapless Uber driver into the dark underbelly of Taylor Swift conspiracies (see story at the top). 

• Gaylor Swifies, Hetler Swifties, and “mesearch.” All terms I had never heard before and now I feel old. Definitely stealing “mesearch” though.

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99 Percent Invisible: Not Built For This #1 – The Bottom of the Bowl

• The Big Idea: A six-part series from Emmett Fitzgerald and 99 Percent Invisible that examines how our world is not built for climate change, and how it’s already changing and moving our lives. 

• I’ve listened to the first three episodes so far, and they are all excellent. This first episode tells the story of Fitzgerald’s hometown in Vermont that is wiped out by flooding, even when everyone felt their state was relatively climate change “safe.”

• Seriously, if you are looking for a good thoughtful series that will give you new perspective, this is it. 

• Transcript

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The Daily: What Phil Donahue Meant To Me

• The Big Idea: With the recent death of Phil Donahue, host Michael Barbaro pays a personal tribute to his life and influence. 

• I’ll be honest, I was going to skip this because I only had a vague idea of who Phil Donahue was, but the comments in The Daily subreddit convinced me to check it out.

• I’m glad I did. A great episode. I had no idea Phil Donahue was a solid, moral dude who also invented the whole genre of daytime talk television. I thought he was in the mix with Gerry Springer and all those types. 

• Transcript

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PODCAST LINKS

Apple Loses Its Podcasting Lead to YouTube and Spotify. From Ashley Carman for Bloomberg.

OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

Visual IDEAS Newsletter. A fantastic newsletter, but I really wanted to point out the section under the “Design” heading. I keep thinking about it. “Stop presenting data. Instead, present the point of the data.” 

Deconstructing Money. A new personal finance Substack from podcast producer Bethel Habte. It’s really good!

Art But Make It Sports. This entire account is someone finding a piece of art that matches a sports photo in an uncanny way. It’s not AI either, Reminds me of the old internet, and I am here for it.

VISUALS

We’ll all have our own regrets.

Follow me on Instagram for more.

FOR FUN

For therapy to work, you need to open up to me

Alaska’s Passive Aggressive Map of the USA

Alright, that’s it, thanks for being here. I’m going to add below some stuff I’m recently into as a p.s. Please share what you’ve been into.

Reading: Just finished Until The End of Time, and it’s very existential crisis inducing. Did you ever wonder how long it would take for the universe to randomly create your exact brain via quantum fluctuations? Wait what? Yes, it’s technically possible, but it would indeed take a long, long, very long time (A 10 to the power of 10 to the power of 68 years). Also, found this browsing the library, and it’s funny but very strange.

Watching: LOTR trilogy with my daughter. My goal is to convince one of my kids to read The Hobbit, and I’m almost there.

Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.

I love interesting combinations within creative fields (like writers who draw). For podcasting, I’m lately taking notice of podcast hosts who also make the music. Here’s a few I’ve made note of lately.

Amory Sivertson: Co-host of Endless Thread and host of the new Beyond All Repair podcast. I perked up when in the credits she mentioned she made the theme and credits music. 

Noam Hassenfeld: Host of Unexplainable makes original compositions for the episodes and many episodes have included creative original songs.

Ramtin Arablouei: Co-host and producer of NPR’s Throughline. Credits at the end of each episode include this line: “Music for this episode was composed by Ramtin and his band, Drop Electric.” 

Martin Zaltz Austwick: Has created music for loads of shows and episodes, and has created an intriguing procedurally created podcast called Neutrinowatch (where each episode changes slightly every day if you re-download it). 

Who else am I missing?

Alright, on to some podcast recommendations and other links.

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Violence Week: Chapter One 

• The Big Idea: “In East Lansing, Michigan, an outburst of violence at the local high school, and the discovery of a gun, leads to a community reckoning over school safety, racial equity, and the role of police in schools.”

• The first episode in this new four part series will definitely make you think. Producer and host Emily Reeves does an excellent job introducing the tensions within the school district in a thoughtful way.

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Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever. Almost: What is Science Fiction?

• The Big Idea: A show and episode title speaking directly to my little sci-fi shaped heart. This is one of the first episodes of this newish show and it’s a fantastic discussion/friendly argument on what makes something science fiction and what doesn’t. 

• They touch on how various science fiction have defined their own genre, and I quite liked Ray Bradbury’s simple rule of thumb: "I define science fiction as the art of the possible. Fantasy is the art of the impossible.”

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Shell Game: Episode 1: Quality Assurance

• The Big Idea: We all know AI voices and voice clones are getting scary good, but to hear exactly how good is a little disorienting. The host is on a mission to push the limits of what is possible as he tries to clone his voice and send it on real world missions, largely with customer service agents suffering the consequences.

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Terrestrials: The Trio

• The Big Idea: While rare, it is not entirely uncommon for bald eagles to form a trio of two dads and a mom as a tight knit family. And sometimes, it all happens in front of a live nest webcam.

• This is Radiolab’s kid friendly spin off but is still a great listen for adults.

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RECENT VISUALS I MADE

Another addition to my non-existent podcast merch store:

More visuals:

• The podcast equivalent of “It’s been X amount of days since the last workplace accidents.”

• Who said habits are hard? You can keep any streak going with a little revisionist history.

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OTHERS LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

Bad Movie Fights vs Good Movie Fights, Vol. 2. I like to go through all my YouTube history before writing this newsletter, and no surprise it was pretty much a hundred different Olympic related videos and highlights. This video was one of the few exceptions and is very worth checking out.

Strong Sense of Place newsletter. I recommended an episode of the podcast in my previous edition, and now I’m recommending the excellent newsletter that goes with the show. If you love reading and love the idea of connecting with a community of readers, this newsletter is for you.

FOR FUN

English is so easy

We’re two years late, but just blasted through Station 11 on Max. It’s damn good and I want that in-universe graphic novel.

Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.

After a relaxing writing hiatus full of traveling and covid (well, that part was decidedly not relaxing), I’m back in your inbox with some stellar podcasts and links to make you think.

So AFTER you’ve had a chance to catch up on all the emergency podcast recordings tomorrow about Biden dropping out, give yourself a breather and check out some of the timeless content below.

Also, a friend tipped me off that I was mentioned in this book so I’ll go ahead and blindly shamelessly recommend it!

To kick off this super-sized because it’s been a while edition, here’s a round robin of some truly excellent episodes from shows I frequently recommend that are all worth your time: 99% Invisible: The Lost Subways of North America | The Daily: Whales Have an Alphabet | The Daily: How Bad is Drinking for You, Really? | Radiolab: How To Save A Life | and Planet Money’s Summer School is back.

I also wrote something unhinged below in the podcast links section I think you’ll enjoy. Let’s jump in.

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PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Distillations: The Word For Blue

• The Big Idea: Distillations is an excellent science podcast and they have a little mini-series about color that kicks off with this episode. If you are a big fan of the wildly popular classic “Colors” episode of Radiolab, this episode is for you. It touches on some similar topics but then goes deeper on others, and I loved it. By the way, does Radiolab’s Colors hold up?

• Indigo is the unassuming plant that finally allowed for the dyeing of clothing with a blue color, and here is an idea I had never heard before that the episode does a great job unpacking: “Back in the 18th century, indigo played almost as big a role in colonization as cotton did in slavery.”

• Transcript

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The New York Times: Animal

• The Big Idea: Sam Anderson, a writer for The New York Times Magazine makes six audio essays about six different animals, in a very relaxed and not at all “nature doc” type of format. His goal is simply to just be around the animals, and it all leads to a very listenable collection of enjoyable stories.

• Start with the first episode, Walnut (about his dog), a very short and excellent introduction to the series. Here is transcript.

• Would be a real shame if more seasons don’t get produced.

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Strong Sense of Place: Outer Space 

• The Big Idea: As a wannabe book nerd (if only I had a time turner), I love this show. Just as you might guess, each episode is full of book recommendations that provide a strong sense of place for various settings or locations. It’s perfect for the intersection of book worms and travelers (even if just aspirational). Of course the setting of Outer Space was an immediate download for me and there were some great recs I had never heard of before.  

• Transcript

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Revisionist History: Hitler’s Olympics Part 1 – The Blue-Eyed Tornado

• The Big Idea: The most consequential modern Olympics was the one Hitler hosted in 1936, or so argues Malcolm Gladwell in this new season.  

• If you’ve been off the Gladwell bandwagon (or were never on), give this one a chance. I find it riveting and you’ll discover some new characters (some to cheer, some to jeer) and beats of history that you were probably not familiar with.

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Tested: Episode 1 — The Choice

• The Big Idea: A new six episode series from Rose Eveleth (for NPR and CBC) about the more complicated than you would think world of who qualifies to compete as a woman in the Olympics. Really enjoyed this first episode and it serves as great context for the upcoming games.

• “Since the beginning of women's sports, there has been a struggle over who qualifies for the women's category. Tested follows the unfolding story of elite female runners who have been told they can no longer race in the women's category, unless they change their biology. As the Olympics approach, they face hard choices: take drugs to lower their natural testosterone levels, give up their sport entirely, or fight.”

• Transcript

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Conversations: David Wengrow: Everything we know about the human story is wrong

• The Big Idea: This conversation will challenge your preconceived notions of early civilization and certainly make you think. This episode is dense with ideas in the best way.

• Thank you to whoever recommended this and I can’t for the life of me remember where I saw it.

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Hidden Brain: What Twins Tell Us

• The Big Idea: The fact that identical twins are numerous (at least when there are billions of people) is such a boon for helping us untangle nature vs nurture. This is a fantastic exploration of this topic as well as a truly remarkable story of the accidental switching at birth of one sibling each from two sets of identical twins.

• This episode is part of this month’s Podcast Brunch Club listening list.

• Transcript

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PODCAST LINKS

The Podcast as a Unit of Measurement to Understand the Universe. One of the more unhinged things I’ve written. Like, who hasn’t ever wondered at what timestamp humans would show up if Earth was an hour long podcast? And other perfectly reasonable questions.

The 11 Best Science Podcasts. A list I approve of from Podcast Review. 

Podcasts About Our Solar System, Curated by Latif Nasser. Great list and a great get for Earbuds. 

Whats the most mind blowing fact you’ve ever learned from listening to a podcast? And Guys, I’ve listened to all the greats, what are some really really good podcasts? are two posts on the podcasts subreddit that are worth perusing for recommendations. 

OTHERS LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

A manhole cover launched into space with a nuclear test is the fastest human-made object.

Sci-fi looking Shelf Clouds. Top comment: “always knew the end of the world would start outside a Walmart.”

The Best Political Sci-Fi Books. Interesting five choices. I’ll add The Dispossessed as an additional one to absolutely check out.

VISUALS I SHARED

More:

• Minutes in life vs minutes of ALL podcasts

• Share of total podcast downloads by app

• Less doomscrolling, more podcasts

FOR FUN

How to Irritate People While Searching for Your AirPods.

Sad little marsh. 

I just worry we’re both too busy to make this work.

Man Runs Into Garage Door While Attempting Sparkling Water Challenge. I’m three years late to this video but I’m not ashamed to admit me and my family watched this video maybe twenty times in a row. It has everything in such a short span.

Well, that was a LOT of stuff. Thanks for reading as always. Time to get kids to bed, sneak in a little Stardew Valley (I’m eight years late to this), and of course prepare my mind and body for House of the Dragon.

Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.

What if you spent every waking minute of your life listening to podcasts? What is the maximum slice of the podcast pie you could possibly get through? I did the math to find out. 

I’m continuing to really enjoy the monthly breakdown of The Power Broker from 99% Invisible (here is link to intro episode). I can sense a future sadness when I’m done with both the book and the podcast series. Are there any other podcast companions to well known books that folks would recommend?

Alright, I have some great recommendations for you, and I don’t think you could go wrong by checking any of these out. 

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PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

History’s Secret Heroes: The Unbreakable Navajo Code

• The Big Idea: Helena Bonham Carter narrates this very well done BBC history show about “incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.” I knew the very basics of the use of the Navajo language in WW2, but like most things, the details of the real story is even more fascinating.

The Competition: 49 Girls is a Lot

• The Big Idea: Shima Oliaee (Dolly Parton’s America, Pink Card) has a fantastic new show about one of the most intense college scholarship competitions you’re likely to ever come across. 50 teenage girls (one from each state) compete to win $40,000 as the Distinguished Young Woman of America. Oliaee is able to provide unique access and context to the competition as both a current judge and as a previous competitor (for Nevada in 2001).

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Unexplainable: Who’s the daddy? There isn’t one.

• The Big Idea: Charlotte the stingray steals all the attention about her mysterious pregnancy, but apparently parthenogenesis (giving birth with no sex involved) is not entirely uncommon in the animal kingdom. It could happen more frequently than expected in animals such as snakes. Life, uh, finds a way. 

• Transcript

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Song Exploder: The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize??

• The Big Idea: One of my all time favorite songs appearing in Song Exploder is an instant listen. Song Exploder continues to provoke continuous amazement in me around how vastly different musical artists are from each other in their creative process. I loved hearing how playful and nonchalant The Flaming Lips were with this song, and their initial resistance and eventual embracing of its massive success.

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Short Wave: How AI Is Cracking The Biology Code

• The Big Idea: A short and sweet breakdown on how AI is making massive advancements in understanding protein science (and why that matters).

• I loved this quote: “There are theoretically more ways for one single protein to fold than there are stars in our night sky.” (billions of trillions).

PODCAST LINKS

How Many Podcasts Could You Possibly Listen To? What if you spent every second of every waking hour with earbuds in? These are the questions that keep me up at night. Let’s get to the bottom of it.

OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

I Saved 8,904.82 Using My Library Card. And other reasons why the library is amazing. 

Merlin Bird ID is free and incredibly simple and well designed, and most important, it works phenomenally. I thought I was hearing an owl, but it was a Mourning Dove. Yes, I’m stupid, but now I know!

How To Make Retirement Less Scary. I’m not over here trying to share retirement tips, but I just love the way this article is illustrated. This is a version of the internet I could get behind.

FOR FUN

I Watched a Guy Eat a Barrel of Cheeseballs. Accurate title and enjoyable ride. 

An incredible orchestra edit. 

Most boring video of all time? Surely a contender, but this bit at 59:10 is maybe a peek into a true unhinged maniac.

Alright that’s all for today. Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.

In case you missed that above, this is edition #200! So much joy and so many great people have entered my life because of this newsletter (and of course countless amazing podcasts), and I’ll forever be grateful for that. If you want to meet cool people, start a newsletter.

I’ll celebrate properly one day, but today let’s get right to some great podcasts and parts of the internet that provide some interesting things to chew on.

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PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

The Universe: Ep 1 — The First Fraction of a Second

• The Big Idea: If you tell me author/podcaster/YouTuber John Green and Astrophysicist/author/science communicator Dr Katie Mack are collaborating on a podcast, I’ll listen sight unseen (or listen hearing unheard?). And that’s exactly what I did.

• Green serves as the curious co host who frames and leads the discussions, and Dr Mack serves as the expert co host who is practiced in explaining incredibly complex topics to a lay audience. 

• I’ve long loved Carl Sagan’s quote that we are stardust, and more recently the idea that we are space, but thanks to this episode I now have the fun idea that we are big bang stuff. 

• Here’s nice two minute trailer on YouTube with some great visuals. 

• I can’t wait to see what they serve up the rest of the season in this limited series Crash Course Pod. 

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Stuff You Should Know: The Dubious Science of Arson Investigation

• The Big Idea: Now that real science is finally tip-toeing into the picture very recently, it’s now apparent that the long held assertions of arson investigations are complete hogwash and pseudoscience. 

• The history of why is interesting and the cases of wrongful convictions are heartbreaking.  

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99 Percent Invisible: Towers of Silence

• The Big Idea: Parsis in India follow Zoroastrianism, and have practiced something called Sky Burials for hundreds of years, in which vultures depose of the dead within structures called Towers of Silence. When the vultures disappeared in the early 2000s, things got complicated.

• I first heard of this from a Radiolab episode, but this 99 Percent Invisible version is excellent. It goes into more detail and explores things from a more personal place. Worth listening to even if you had heard the one from Radiolab, and very worth listening if you haven’t. 

• The written story on the 99PI website (with photos).

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From the archive (taken from edition #107), and to pair well with The Universe recommended above:

NASA’s Curious Universe: Our Window to the Stars [new NASA short narrative storytelling pod].

• A short account on the dramatic launch and subsequent “rescue-mission” to fix the Hubble telescope.

• The fix for the *very* minor but devastating mirror imperfection was analogous to putting glasses on Hubble.

• I knew Hubble can see across the electromagnetic spectrum using different filters and instruments, but I loved this analogy for just how little our little eyes can see of the universe:

• “Imagine going to a piano concert and the musician sits down and can only play 3 notes around middle C."

• The whole concert is just those three notes in different combinations.

• Now imagine the difference in sound if you walk into a different concert hall and it's a full symphony.

• The amount of light we can see with our eyes on Earth, even through a regular telescope is like those three concert notes. And the light Hubble sees is not only the whole piano, but an entire symphony orchestra. This is because visible light is just a tiny fraction of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the atmosphere clouds even the light we do see.

• A great video from Vox explaining how Hubble pictures are colored using the different filters.

PODCAST LINKS

The Current State of Podcast Apps in 2024 [written by me]. Two big players and a long, long tail.

Unlocking the Potential of Fiction Podcasts: A Call to Podcast App Developers. A great breakdown from Evo Terra on why so many podcast apps fail miserably in serving listeners of fiction podcasts. The app capability chart warmed my little podcast app nerd heart. Also, be sure to subscribe to The End, Terra’s weekly newsletter recommending fiction podcasts.

OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

The Surprisingly Wholesome Marriage of Reddit and Prestige TV [written by me]. When it comes to TV, there is one social media app to rule them all. I share my secret with Reddit discussions after finishing an episode. You should try it.

FOR FUN

My man Denethor would absolutely destroy 

Yabushige - The Ultimate Scene Stealer (For you Shogun fans)

Sloths give zero shits 

Mind body problem 

And for something wholesome for a change

Speaking of Shogun, damn how good was that finale? Amazing.

Alright that’s all for today. Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.

I have a lot of new podcasts on my list to check out, but I’ve gotten sidetracked by a few great companion podcasts, which I then wrote an article about. 

On top of that, there are some struggles with finding time to listen to new podcasts.

But even so, there are some real bangers below, and an old eclipse playlist I dug up from 2017. Plus lots of other links that have been building up that I’m excited to share.

If you are eclipsing it up tomorrow, may the clouds be ever in your favor.

Let’s jump in.

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PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Unexplainable: The Bleeding Edge part 1 and part 2

• The Big Idea: “Menstrual fluid’s underexplored medical treasures.” The title of the companion article to these podcast episodes says it all. Medicine has long looked at men as the default in terms of how biology works and how medical studies should be conducted, but here is a great story where very obvious measures to study painful conditions like endometriosis are finally being taken.

• I love a good science + medicine story, and this is an excellent two parter. 

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Imaginary Worlds: Class of ‘84: Turtles, Transformers and Toys Takeover TV

• The Big Idea: Like most people, I knew the idea that the late 80’s and 90’s were full of kids cartoons that mainly existed to sell toys. What I didn’t know is that this marriage of merchandise and media is called “toyetic”, and that the stories behind some of these mega franchises of my childhood are actually quite fascinating (and not solely full cynical capitalism mode). 

• Transcript.

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The Recipe with Kenji and Deb: Pancakes

• The Big Idea: I’m going to recommend this podcast again because I made Deb’s pancake recipe she discusses on this episode, and damn were they good. I am fully behind podcast formats that encourage real world action as part of the participation. 

• Website with recipes and transcript.

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Weight For It

• The Big Idea: I keep hearing how good this show is, and I finally checked out the first few episodes. Here is the official description which says it best: “Weight For It unpacks the nuanced thoughts of fat folks, and of all folks who think about their weight all the time. Through narrative storytelling, and some memoir host Ronald Young Jr. hopes to have the conversations that we tend to avoid when it comes to our bodies.”

• I’m two episodes in and loving it. Ronald Young Jr brings a level of introspection and vulnerability about himself and those in his life that is quite rare. 

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PODCAST LINKS

Three Companion Podcasts To Keep You Hyped. Behind every great piece of media is a great podcast.

The Total Eclipse Playlist. A playlist from all the way back in 2017 that I wrote. My favorite part is the ending: “I am completely jealous of anyone who will be there, but I just recently found out there will be another total solar eclipse passing through the U.S. in just seven years, on April 8, 2024. And it actually cuts through upstate NY where I live, which is incredible luck.” GUESS WHAT PAST SELF? THAT’S TOMORROW! I live in one of the cloudiest places in the US, so I’m going to expect the worst (and of course today is an absolutely blue sky beautiful day and tomorrow does indeed look cloudy).

• The playlist still holds up, but I would add these recent episodes to get you in the eclipse mood:

  • Unexplainable: The eclipse chasers

  • Radiolab: The moon itself

  • Short Wave: How to make the most of next week’s eclipse

Podcast visual: Exhibit A for my current status of podcast discovery. The longer and more honest title of this is: “The struggle of a podcast recommender who loves podcast discovery but doesn’t want to fall behind on the shows he loves when he finds himself with less time to listen just to, all in an effort to not end up resenting the whole process and burning out.” 2x speed is looking quite nice. Just kidding, that’s crazy. Or is it?

OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

The effects of hypoxia (oxygen deprivation) - 4 of spades. This is why you put your own oxygen mask on first.

There is no away. 

The Deadliest Infectious Disease of All Time | Crash Course Lecture: “In 2022, this disease killed more people than malaria, typhoid, cholera, homicide, and war, combined.” Must watch for fans of John Green and The Anthropocene Reviewed (or anyone really). It’s long, but worth it.

Why is this number everywhere? Think of a number between 1 and 10. And then watch this video.

4.5 Billion Years in 1 Hour. Some nice background vibes. Evolution and chill.

FOR FUN

From an earlier thing 

The watch people die inside subreddit never disappoints

Contagious unusual laughter

What an awful party 

If our cover letters were honest 

Alright that’s all for today. Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.

Right on time and only two months late, down below I published my podcast highlights from 2023. It wasn’t procrastination, it was strategically waiting for the flurry of year end retrospectives to fade away….yes that’s it.

But either way, I have some absolutely wonderful recommendations for you below.

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Imaginary Worlds: Prologue to Ursula K. le Guin

• The Big Idea: The fictional worlds of Ursula K le Guin were heavily influenced by her father’s career in anthropology and his encounter with the lone member of a Native American community who survived genocide. 

• This is an episode from season 4 of The Last Archive (but I liked Imaginary Worlds episode title better and that is where I discovered it).

• One of my favorite sci-fi books I’ve read from the last five years is Ursula K le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness. I also really enjoyed The Dispossessed. One thing I’ve noticed reading most “classic” sci-fi is you have to keep massive generous caveats in your mind about the time and place the author wrote them (like the first book of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation having essentially no women in the story). But with le Guin, her stories even freshly read now feel much more modern in their tone and sensibilities. She was ahead of her time and this episode fleshed out some interesting reasons as to why. 

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Significant Others: Peggy Shippen

• The Big Idea: We all know the name Benedict Arnold as associated with being a traitor, but his wife Peggy Shippen and her high society connections and lifestyle were an integral part of Arnold’s infamous actions. 

• A great start to a new season of Significant Others.

• This bonus episode between season one and two on the history of women in the CIA is also very much worth a listen.

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Genealogies of Modernity Episode 2: What is Modernity?

• The Big Idea: A thoughtful examination of what it means to be modern from a new fascinating and academic series called Genealogies of Modernity. 

• “Humans have always asked, how are we different? How are we modern? But just because we live further along the historical timeline doesn’t mean we’re separate from the things that happened further back. In this series, we invite you to set aside that chronological notion of ‘modernity’ as a point on the timeline.”

• Episode link with transcript.

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An Arm and a Leg: The Medicare Episode

• The Big Idea: If you or anyone you know is close to getting Medicare, this is a great episode to get you oriented on what to expect and what decisions you need to make.

• We’ve had family members go through Medicare sign-up and I agree with the point of this episode, it is NOT as straightforward as you would assume and absolutely takes a little bit of research to get your head wrapped around.

• Episode link with transcript.

The Recipe with Kenji and Deb: Mac and Cheese

• The Big Idea: Hear two beloved professional (and famous) home cooks discuss what makes a great Mac and Cheese in this inaugural episode. They have great chemistry and are natural podcast hosts. 

• It was not a good idea to listen to this at the gym. I got so hungry and left early. 

• You’ll get a very good sense of how to make a simple version of the dish simply by listening, but I would love it if they did an audio real time recipe walk through in the style of how DrawTogether with Wendy Mac teaches drawing.

PODCAST LINKS

Podcast Moments That Made My 2023. Learnings, milestones, and proud moments. And like I said, right on time…

OTHER LINKS TO MAKE YOU THINK

How large amounts of data is stored in smartphones.  

Creating SNL Cue Cards.

FOR FUN

Receiving a call when you’re already on a call.

This will be our last song.

If you somehow haven’t seen this absolute gem of a clip with Meryl Streep talking about podcasts….you must.  

Two more issues until #200. What?! What should I do? And will it be a month from now as scheduled with my every other week cadence, or will something come up as always and I push it off? Nobody knows!

Alright that’s all for today. Please like or comment (or reply) if you want to share any comments. See you next time.