Back in 2013 edgy high school me had bad taste and would listen to Chapo Trap House, Cumtown (before Stavros and Nick left) and, yes, Joe Rogan, who exposed me to objectively cool people like Hamilton Morris. As I got older I rediscovered Hamilton, and to this day he is the only Patreon I subscribe to (besides Gifted Hater) and ONLY podcast I listen to. Crazy to think that there was a time when Joe had people with actual scientific and medical qualifications on his show instead of washed up grifters.
Eric Weinstein might be the smartest person with a podcast. I’m really not a podcast person (too many people think their voices need to be heard) but the sheer range of topics he can cover with authority is out of control. He’s a polymath in the truest sense. Guests include Werner Herzog, Bret Easton Ellis, Andrew Yang, Ashley Matthews (aka pornstar Riley Reid), Kai Lenny, Sir Roger Penrose… the list goes on. My favorites are #17 with Anna Khachiyan of Red Scare and #27 with Daniel Schmachtenberger, a “neurohacker” you’ve certainly never heard of but trust me here.
First-Ballot Hall of Fame podcast. Stories about the indie music scene of the early 2000s, the tech-blog glory days, and walking across Europe. My favorite “genre” of podcasts is whatever you call long form conversations between people with great chemistry and good understanding of the medium. Merlin and John, to my brain, are the best at that.
From episode 01 ("Keep Moving and Get Out of the Way") they were already making what would be gems of P.I. Recs. At the same time, I struggle to recommend it. John and Merlin have been recording their weekly conversations since September 2011, 12.5 years ago. 1/8 of a century ago.
Is this how Star Trek / Doctor Who fans feel when they see the emptiness in my eyes as they begin explaining how the show peaked on its 17th season but the ride is worth it? Still, one of my absolute favorite things in life.
#supertrain
Everything in your life does not have to be subscription based, and subscription does not equate a service being good. If I’m paying $24.99 a month to watch Netflix in 4K UHD, I should expect to see what I pay for, not subpar playback latency, low bitrate streams, many app crashes, and overall looking terrible on anything that isn’t a 4K display. Remember when you could buy things and own them, like, forever? There is a better world out there past Netflix, Hulu, Spotify and Amazon Prime.