An iconic Sunday duo

A new recommendation site I made, a few great podcasts, and plenty of links.

May 04, 2026

Welcome to Hurt Your Brain #218, the place to get podcasts and links that will make you think, sent every so often.

I promised myself I wouldn’t write another newsletter until I finished a certain project I’ve long wanted to make. Well it’s finally completed enough to share.

I turned the archive of all my newsletters into an interactive bookshelf you can click on. Next time you are looking for something to listen to, read, or watch, bookmark this and give it a few clicks.

Check it out right here —> The Hurt Your Brain Podcast Library.

I still have more of the archive to add and want to make some tweaks, but would love any thoughts.

Before getting to the rest of the newsletter, here’s the iconic duo I have a feeling got some love today. A Sunday always comes together nicely with some podcasts and chores.

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Dissect: E1 - Daft Punk - Robots With A Human Touch

The Big Idea: If you enjoy Daft Punk even a little bit, do yourself a favor and listen to this newest (and currently ongoing) season of Dissect.
The first few episodes are absolutely jam packed with fascinating tid bits about their origins, influences, and methods. Like, did you know the duo that is Daft Punk were in a high school band before hand with a third member, who eventually left and went on to start the band Pheonix?
Did you know that Around the World, one of the most repetitive songs ever, actually doesn’t repeat itself musically? Every two measures the song changes in some way, never to be repeated.
The episode dissecting Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger was extremely well done and satisfying.

Unexplainable: Oliver Sacks’s not quite nonfiction

The Big Idea: Oliver Sacks, the neurologist who became famous for his unique way of humanizing his patients through narrative writing, may have embellished quite a bit.
I JUST read The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat, so this was a disappointing listen, but interesting nonetheless. And don’t worry, if you are a Sacks fan, there is still much to like about his body of work, and this episode helps contextualize this new, more complicated legacy.

PODCAST LINKS

The previous edition of Hurt Your Brain posited the question of how cool it would be for there to be Little Free Podcast Libraries, and guess what, they do exist! Check out this comment left by Films Not Made with some excellent real life examples.

A friend sent me this interactive essay that will make you think about audio and podcasts in a unique way. I really love this type of writing that takes advantage of the web. Give it a read and see if you agree with the argument or not.

The always excellent Strong Sense of Place and their Tuesday Tea topics has one I know you’ll like: readers post their favorite podcast recommendations.

Lauren Passell and Arielle Nissenblatt🎧 are doing the lords work and are keeping track of the active podcast recommendation newsletters out there. Check out the list!

FOR FUN

Here, I’ll ruin Lion King for you (or make it infinitely better).

I come from a long line of people making things shitty.

Guy who came up with Apple TV remote.

Sweet dreams.

Thanks for reading and let me know what you are listening to and reading and watching.

p.s. We just started watching Invincible, which I really like so far, but I’m REALLY glad I looked up what age is appropriate for kids to watch (hint: not 10 and 12 year olds). Also, finished my first Terry Pratchett book, The Color of Magic, which I read at same time as my son and we both quite liked. I bought the Planet Money book and can’t wait to read it. The series about its creation has been fantastic.