Remembering Robin Williams

As I read the news about Robin Williams this morning I decided to re-listen to the 2010 interview with him on WTF with Marc Maron on the way to work. In the interview, which Maron reposted today with an extra intro and outro, Williams talks openly about his addictions. Especially the last 10 minutes or so of the interview, where Williams shares his thoughts about suicide (it's almost a comedy bit), are very moving in light of what happened today.

As a tribute I will be re-watching One Hour Photo and Insomnia soon. Both films show his more serious/tragic side. I recommend them a lot.

Robin Williams, rest in peace man!

Hello (Podcast) World

I've been toying with the idea of having my own blog for some time now. Until now I had a few ideas for a first post, but nothing jumped out. That changed yesterday when I had a conversation with a few colleagues.

We started talking about Marco's most recent app, Overcast, and sharing our favorite podcasts. I learned about some new podcasts I hadn't heard about and certainly will try out. It gave me the idea of sharing my favorite podcasts as a first post on this blog. Of course i'm not the first with that idea, but I always enjoy these kinds of posts.

The Regulars

These are podcasts I listen to every week/episode (almost) as soon as they come out.

• The Talk Show: John Gruber and a guest (half of the time it's John Moltz) talk about the latest Apple and tech news. I've been listening to The Talk Show since the early beginning with Dan Benjamin, and its interesting to hear how much John has evolved as a host since he left 5by5.
• Accidental Tech Podcast: Marco Arment, John Siracusa and some other guy (sorry Casey!) discuss the latest tech news while being totally unprepared (because it's accidental).
•  Your Daily Lex: a (mostly) daily podcast where Lex Friedman talks about his day for 5 minutes. Usually pretty funny.
• Radiolab: a science/storytelling podcast with Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich. Even when I think upfront the episode subject won't interest me, 9 out of 10 times I'm hooked 5 minutes in due to the marvelous storytelling.
• Roderick on the Line: John Roderick and Merlin Mann have their weekly phone call where John helps people. Watch out for Supertrain!

Occcasional Listens

I don't listen to every episode of these shows, only when they have interesting (to me) guests or subjects.

• Debug: Guy English and Rene Ritchie interview guests mostly from the Apple dev community. Some recent favorite episodes:

  • Marco Arment going into details about the Overcast development.

  • The Nitin Ganatra Trilogy: a former Apple employee talking about the development of the first iPhone software and his other roles at Apple.

• Release Notes: a weekly conversation about the business of Mac and iOS indie software development. The recent episode with Jared Sinclair of Unread fame where he talks about his past year as an indie iOS developer gives a good idea about the financials in the App Store.

• Other Apple/tech shows like CMD+Space, Iterate, The New Disruptors, Pragmatic, Storming Mortal, Systematic, Unprofessional, ...

• Some TV and movies podcasts: Review, The TV Show, Not Playing, The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith, ...

Retired or On Hiatus

• You Look Nice Today: a journal of emotional hygiene with Scott Simpson, Adam Lisagor and Merlin Mann. Unofficially retired since there is one recorded episode which may or may not be released sometime in the future. If you want to give it a try, there is a good starter pack.
• Hypercritical: John Siracusa ruminating on exactly what is wrong in the world of Apple and related technologies and businesses. Nothing is so perfect that it can't be complained about. Retired after 100 episodes.
• Just the Tip: "Internet jagoffs Amy Jane Gruber and Paul Kafasis try to make you laugh, in thirty minutes or less." Currently on hiatus.
• The Record: Chris Parrish and Brent Simmons and bring you the stories you should know about the Mac and Cocoa development community. Currently on hiatus after Season One: Seattle before the iPhone.
• Bitsplitting: Daniel Jalkut interviews people from the greater tech industry, exploring each guest's personal history and the philosophical arc of their life and career. Currently on hiatus after Season 1.

If you enjoy these shows or have other recommendations, please let me know on twitter!