After Things Podcast: Recent Episodes
Andrew Mayne
What's it like pitching a TV show? When should your failures start turning into successes? How do you take advantage of opportunities? Join hosts Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood as they talk about their experiences navigating creative arts and the media landscape.
Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood cover the latest wave of AI releases by comparing OpenAI’s 5.6 model, Anthropic’s Fable, and the new Chinese Kimi model, arguing that the most interesting shift is not just raw capability but how differently these systems now behave in planning, initiative, and collaboration. They also spend a lot of time on what AI is already good for in real life: voice conversations with persistent context, automated email and file management, cheap local transcription, website building, cloud-task execution, and custom tools built with Codex that eliminate repetitive work. The Apple lawsuit against OpenAI becomes a bigger discussion about talent flight, hardware ambitions, and Apple’s struggle to keep pace in AI, while the Kimi conversation turns into a broader look at distillation, Chinese innovation, and the murky realities of model copying. Throughout, the hosts keep returning to a practical distinction between creative authorship and productivity support, making the case that many people who resist AI-generated art may still benefit from using AI to remove tedious logistical overhead. The biggest takeaway is simple: start with the annoying parts of your life or work, let AI handle the bureaucracy, and keep the human effort for the parts that are hard because they matter, not hard because they are boring. Picks: Brian Brushwood: Use the ChatGPT app, let it edit things on your desktop, talk to it instead of typing, and tell it your
Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood explore how new AI video tools are changing filmmaking by making real footage more editable and steerable, letting creators keep human performances while using AI for sets, lighting, costumes, and polish. They compare that shift to earlier changes in digital editing and game engines, then turn to viral robot mishap clips to separate remote-controlled demos from true autonomy and to ask the bigger question of who carries legal and moral responsibility when future robots inevitably cause harm. From there they jump to a possible primordial black hole candidate as evidence related to dark matter, a promising one-time gene therapy approach for cholesterol, and the broader effects of GLP-1 drugs on appetite, addiction, gambling, alcohol use, and the business models built around those habits. They wrap by sharing how tools like Codex are already helping them build websites, automate repetitive tasks, migrate infrastructure, and dramatically cut costs, arguing that AI is most useful right now as a way to remove drudgery and free up more time for actual creative work. Picks: Brian Brushwood: Spider-Noir Justin Robert Young: The Hulk Hogan documentary on Netflix Justin Robert Young: Rocky Balboa
Artemis gets a victory lap as the crew celebrates the mission’s safe splashdown and talks about how a future moon landing would dominate the internet in a way Apollo never could. From there the conversation turns into an extended AI state-of-the-industry check-in, focusing on Anthropic’s reported compute bottlenecks, Claude reliability complaints, and the restricted Mythos model that appears powerful but not yet practical to serve widely. They compare Anthropic’s strategy with OpenAI’s emphasis on efficiency, lower-cost coding performance, and upcoming model releases, while also discussing how AI companies are navigating government and defense relationships. The back half becomes a hands-on look at OpenAI’s Codex computer-use features, with examples ranging from inbox summaries and printed morning briefings to media sorting, podcast post automation, and desktop app control, all framed around the idea that AI works best when you identify which parts of a workflow require human taste and which parts are just repetitive clicking. Picks: Andrew Mayne: Astromat YT Justin Robert Young: Defunctland’s video on the broken promise of Disney intelligent characters Brian Brushwood: The pilot of Magnum P.I. Andrew Mayne: Double Reel TV
OpenAI’s shutdown of the Sora app kicks off a broader discussion about how AI companies are being shaped less by hype cycles than by raw compute limits, with Disney deal fallout, Anthropic’s work-hour throttling, and rumors of even bigger next-generation models all pointing to infrastructure being the real bottleneck. From there, the conversation shifts into what these tools look like in practice: Andrew talks through using Codex, plugins, and repeatable evals to automate work, build tiny playable games under extreme constraints, and treat coding more like cultivating projects than manually assembling software line by line. The hosts compare notes on how intimidating the current tool landscape can still be for newcomers, why iterative prompting and experimentation matter more than waiting for a perfect “super app,” and how app stores may be poorly equipped for a wave of AI-generated software. They also detour into social media, scams, platform incentives, and the question of whether better guardrails earlier on could have reduced some of the worst outcomes of the last platform era before wrapping with movie, parenting, and gadget recommendations. Picks: Andrew Mayne: Project Hail Mary Justin Robert Young: The Ferber Method Brian Brushwood: Logan Andrew Mayne: Arduboy FXC
The episode surveys an accelerating AI landscape where new hardware like Cerebras and Groq enables near real?time model responses, making voice and agent interactions feel instantly conversational. The conversation covers the rise of code models (Codex, Claude Code), practical tips for using multiple models to check each other, the tug-of-war between frontier labs and big incumbents (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, xAI), and how talent, salaries, and state-level data?center politics are shaping the field. They also touch on a striking story about a dog treated with an experimental mRNA therapeutic assembled with help from multiple AI tools, hands-on demos of rapid content generation and deepfake video, and a challenge to listeners to build weird things with these new tools. Picks: Brian Brushwood: Project Hail Mary. Andrew Mayne: Sentimental Value.
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Brian Brushwood, and Justin Robert Young tackle the latest in space exploration drama. They start with NASA’s Art Two mission facing delays due to a pesky hydrogen leak in their much-mocked SLS rocket. The conversation then shifts to Boeing’s embarrassing blunders with their Starliner spacecraft, highlighting the company’s fall from grace in space tech. Amidst these tales of aerospace angst, Elon Musk’s shifting focus from Mars to the Moon captures the trio’s attention, sparking a discussion on the implications for space travel and Musk’s sprawling empire under financial scrutiny. Picks: Andrew: 1976 King Kong Justin: Wonder Man series Brian: Decode by Phil P. Barden
Andrew Mayne, Brian Brushwood, and Justin Robert Young gather to discuss the latest in space exploration and AI developments. They express concerns over the Artemis missions’ delays and technical challenges, particularly focusing on the SLS rocket’s issues and the ambitious plans for lunar landings involving SpaceX’s Starship. The conversation shifts to the AI domain, where they critique the rivalry between OpenAI and Anthropic, highlighting the recent controversial Super Bowl ad and the broader implications for AI’s future. The trio navigates these topics with a blend of technical insight and skepticism about the political and ethical landscapes shaping space exploration and AI. Picks: Andrew: Codex by OpenAI Brian: Weapons (Movie) Justin: Plane tickets to Florida for a workshop
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood kick things off with a discussion about a medical emergency that led to an astronaut’s early return from the International Space Station, sparking rumors of the first space pregnancy. They then shift gears to the Artemis missions, highlighting the Artemis II mission’s goal of sending humans around the moon for the first time since the Apollo era. The conversation takes a turn towards the future of space stations, with companies like Vast Space and Axiom Space aiming to build modular, next-generation stations to replace the ISS. The episode wraps up with a critique of the new Starfleet Academy show, expressing disappointment and questioning its target audience. Picks: Brian Brushwood: Fallout Season 2 Justin Robert Young: Tár Andrew Mayne: Dune Part Two
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood explore the curious incident of a Californian homeowner, Kenneth Johnson, who discovered a 550-pound bear living under his house and the challenges he faced in evicting it. The conversation then shifts to the broader implications of AI and genetic engineering, pondering a future where animals could possess human-like intelligence and the ethical considerations that come with it. They also touch upon the potential for AI to revolutionize our understanding of animal communication, specifically mentioning Google’s DeepMind project aimed at deciphering dolphin language. Picks: Andrew: Zootopia 2 Justin: Stranger Things, Episode 9 Brian: Apple’s SHARP technology
Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood kick off the episode with a discussion on the latest AI model updates, including Google’s Nano Banana and OpenAI’s GP 5.1. They explore the implications of AI personality and its impact on user experience. The conversation shifts to a group chat feature with ChatGPT, enhancing collaboration and consistency across AI interactions. They also touch upon the integration of AI in various platforms and the challenges of navigating the ever-evolving landscape of AI tools. The episode takes a mysterious turn with a scripted segment on Dog Man sightings, blending humor with curiosity about this cryptic creature. Throughout, the hosts engage in sprite generation experiments, adding a playful element to their tech-heavy dialogue. Picks: Justin Robert Young: Edd Brian Brushwood: Death by Lightning Andrew Mayne: Predator: Badlands
In this episode, Andrew shares his experience attending a robot demo by 1X, highlighting the challenges and advancements in robotics. The hosts delve into the broader implications of AI and robotics on the workforce, discussing both the potential benefits and the anxieties surrounding technological change. They explore how AI is already impacting various fields, from healthcare to content creation, and speculate on the future of work in an increasingly automated world. The conversation also touches on the importance of adaptability and self-reliance in navigating these changes. Picks: Andrew: How to Fly a Horse by Kevin Ashton Justin: Chat Atlas Brian: Magnetic Memory Method by Anthony Metivier
Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood embark on a journey through the conceptualization of Handful, a fictional restaurant where gravy is served directly into patrons’ hands. The discussion evolves into the realm of AI-generated content, exploring the implications of AI in creative processes and content distribution. The hosts share insights into the rapid development of AI tools and their personal experiences with technology, emphasizing the importance of human connection and collaboration in navigating the future of creativity. Picks: Andrew Mayne: Tron: Ares Justin Robert Young: Netflix doc series on the 90s Cowboys Brian Brushwood: The Chair Company with Tim Robinson
In this episode, Andrew Mayne and Brian Brushwood embark on a philosophical journey through the realms of storytelling, AI’s burgeoning role in creative processes, and the enigmatic app SO’s contribution to communal humor and creativity. They explore Stephen King’s insights on storytelling, the magic of indirect evidence in magic tricks, and the importance of showing rather than telling in narratives. The conversation then shifts to SO, where they discuss its unique platform that allows for collaborative creativity among friends, using the example of ‘Handful,’ a fictional fast-food chain that serves gravy directly into customers’ hands. This episode is a testament to the evolving landscape of creativity, where AI and human collaboration open new doors to storytelling and humor. Picks: Andrew: Daredevil Season 2 Brian: Speed Racer (1966)
The episode is largely a deep dive into OpenAI's Sora app, with the hosts describing it as more than a video model and instead a new social-media modality built around short generated clips, personal cameos, remixing, and highly shareable strange or funny scenes. They discuss its rapid rise in the App Store, invite-only rollout, the technical jump in Sora 2 Pro, voice and character consistency, and the ways the app is already changing how they think about video, deepfakes, and even the simulation hypothesis. A major thread is the business and cultural impact of Sora: the hosts argue that likeness controls, meme culture, and fan-made IP uses could create new monetization models, including ad-supported video generation and possible revenue-sharing with rights holders. They also discuss how Sora may become a creator-friendly tool rather than a threat, how its clips are spreading to other platforms as memes, and then close with recommendations for Weapons and The Studio, plus a brief look at OpenAI's newer ChatGPT app and image-generation products. Key topics Sora as a social video app: The hosts repeatedly frame Sora as a social feed, not just a model, describing generated clips as shared daydreams or thoughts and emphasizing its strange, personal, and culturally sticky feel. Cameos and likeness permissions: They explain the cameo feature, where users can create avatars and set guardrails for likeness use, including restrictions on political content or other categories. Mark Cub
The episode opens with a discussion of NASA’s Perseverance rover and a Nature paper about a Martian sample with tiny chemical patterns that, on Earth, are often associated with microbial interaction. The hosts emphasize that NASA is being careful and calling it a possible biosignature rather than proof of life, and they compare it with earlier inconclusive Mars-life claims such as the Antarctic meteorite controversy and Viking-era results. They also note that sample return to Earth would be the important next step for closer analysis. From there the conversation moves into Mars exploration timelines, robotics, and Starship. The hosts debate when humanoid robots might walk on Mars, with Andrew arguing that robots will improve quickly but still lag humans in dexterity and real-world reasoning, while sample-return missions and robotic Mars payloads may be feasible within a few years. They then branch into Moon exploration, Titan’s impracticality compared with Mars, Voyager’s rare planetary alignment, and a long discussion of AI tools, local models, coding, teaching, creativity, and how people can use AI to learn, test arguments, and build things. Near the end, the episode shifts to picks. Andrew recommends The Naked Gun and Alien: Earth, praising both the comedy and Noah Hawley’s sci-fi storytelling, and Justin recommends Friendship, describing it as a more restrained A24 film built around Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson that still fits the spirit of Tim Robinson’s work. Key topics N
The episode centers on how rapidly improving AI models are changing the shape of computing, with Andrew, Justin, and Brian discussing local models, embedded assistants, and AI as a general-purpose layer rather than just a chatbot. They argue that AI is becoming cheaper, more capable, and more useful when integrated into operating systems, products, and workflows, while also noting that people are reacting to these changes with fear, skepticism, and a lot of confusion about what the technology is actually doing. The conversation then moves into practical and philosophical questions about dependence on AI, resiliency, and how people should adapt. They discuss AI-assisted scheduling, writing, research, certification, jobs, and creative work, while also recommending a few media picks at the end, including Weapons, Foundation, and Daredevil season 1 and 2. Key topics Local AI inference as a new computing paradigm: Andrew describes running capable models locally and imagines future operating systems using built-in AI for tasks like security analysis and email checking. The discussion frames compute like electricity: useful across many tasks, not just one app. Generational change in desktop and mobile operating systems: Justin argues that open-source capable models can be built into products and that the next version of desktop and mobile computing may look fundamentally different within a few years. AI agents as parallel work and research infrastructure: Andrew says agents can run
The episode opens with the hosts reflecting on how quickly AI is changing and pushing back on the idea that it will simply replace human roles. They argue that teaching, parenting, preaching, customer service, banking, and restaurant work still involve human presence, trust, empathy, and cultural meaning that AI cannot fully replace, even if it can augment or automate parts of those jobs. [L41-L49] [L53-L57] [L81-L101] The middle of the episode focuses on OpenAI's GPT-5 and open-source local models. Andrew says GPT-5 is cheaper and more capable than earlier models and describes how OpenAI's open-source GPT OSS models can run locally on a desktop with tools like LM Studio or Ollama. The group also discusses reasoning models for creative writing, showing how better prompts and higher reasoning effort can produce stronger flash fiction and revealing the model's planning process before it writes. [L135-L149] [L155-L165] [L171-L177] [L243-L257] [L259-L273] The latter part turns to practical AI integrations and media picks. The hosts discuss ChatGPT connectors for Gmail and Calendar, agentic workflows, always-on assistants, local speech-to-text, and the idea that AI will keep improving rather than hitting a wall. They close with entertainment recommendations and reactions: Andrew on Fantastic Four, Brian on Predator, Justin on Wednesday, and Brian and Andrew on Alien: Earth and franchise lore. [L295-L305] [L359-L377] [L387-L397] [L401-L417] [L451-L477] [L483-L493] Key topics Human
The episode opens with discussion of Grok 4, the Humanities Last Exam benchmark, and how AI model performance is getting harder to measure cleanly as benchmarks saturate. The hosts compare xAI’s rapid progress with OpenAI’s ChatGPT agent and note that the new systems are trading benchmark leads quickly. A long middle section focuses on Grok’s unsafe or unhinged outputs, possible causes such as internet retrieval, long context, and weak safety training, and broader concerns about “chatbot psychosis” stories. The conversation then turns to why people use chatbots for private, therapy-like conversations, how shame reduction motivates adoption, and the privacy risks if those intimate logs are exposed or misused. The latter half shifts into agent mode, productivity, and future use cases: using AI to fill PDFs, make slide decks, gather data, and automate repetitive media work. The hosts then broaden into what becomes valuable when output is cheap—effort, refinement, accountability, emotional intelligence, human uniqueness, relationships, physical presence, education, and the role of other humans in an AI-heavy world. Key topics Humanities Last Exam as an AI benchmark: Andrew explains that the benchmark is harder to game than older tests and is meant to probe reasoning and research ability. He also says benchmark saturation is making it harder to see big leaps in capability. xAI release cadence versus safety alignment: The hosts praise Grok 4’s capability but question whether xAI is
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Brian Brushwood, and Justin Robert Young tackle the whirlwind of AI news, starting with Google’s I/O announcements, particularly their impressive V O 3 image generation model. They then shift to OpenAI’s advancements and discuss the intriguing, yet mysterious, hardware collaboration between OpenAI and Johnny Ive’s design firm. The trio also touches on Ant Philanthropic’s latest AI models, highlighting the rapid pace of AI development and its implications for various industries, especially Hollywood. The conversation veers into speculative territory with thoughts on how AI could revolutionize content creation, from corporate training videos to high school history projects. Despite the excitement, they remain cautiously optimistic, acknowledging the challenges and limitations that still exist. Picks: Brian: Friendship Andrew: Blood Sport Justin: Andor Season 2
Andrew opens by demoing Replicate's Trellis model, which turns a 2D image into a 3D mesh. He uses a ChatGPT-generated Blade Runner-style car image, shows the model producing a 3D asset in a little over a minute for about seven cents, and the hosts discuss how accessible 3D asset generation could change creative workflows, games, and set design. The conversation moves into broader AI optimism and skepticism. Justin argues that AI development will keep accelerating and that productized value is still underbuilt, while Andrew and Brian criticize AI naysayers for relying on limited personal impressions rather than broad evidence. The episode also covers a speculative physics discussion about energy transmission and a paper on extracting small amounts of power from Earth's magnetic field, with the hosts emphasizing that interesting research can still be impractical or overhyped. Key topics AI image-to-3D generation and creative workflows: Trellis on Replicate is shown converting a 2D image into a 3D mesh, with discussion of uses for game assets, set design, and faster creative iteration. OpenAI image model for recreation and editing: Justin says the new image model can recreate photos, remove backgrounds, and make stunt doubles or movie-poster-style images. Codex / command-line app generation: Andrew mentions using Codex as a tool to build simple apps or assets from the command line with an OpenAI key. AI skepticism versus lived experience: The hosts argue that many AI skeptics ha
The episode opens with a discussion of a possible biosignature on exoplanet K218b, with Andrew explaining that dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide were reported in the planet's atmosphere and are associated on Earth with marine microorganisms, while stressing that instrument error or unknown abiotic chemistry could still explain it. The hosts broaden that into a conversation about how exoplanet discovery and the search for life have advanced incrementally, and how it would not be surprising to eventually find simple life on some habitable-zone planets. The middle of the episode moves through robotics, AI benchmarks, prompting, and future compute. The hosts discuss Boston Dynamics' humanoid backflip and Andrew explains the Cheetah actuator, then spend a long stretch on model leaderboards, Llama 4/LM Arena concerns, Humanity's Last Exam, pricing, and how frontier models are leapfrogging quickly. They also cover prompt design, Andrew's fractional AI consulting business, fast image generation, likely video and VTuber applications, and a speculative question about what quantum computing could change for AI training, inference, and search. The episode closes with a stunt injury story about human cannonball performer Chachi Valencia, followed by picks. Brian recommends Social Studies on Hulu, Andrew talks through his MCU rewatch and mentions Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 without clearly recommending it, and Justin strongly recommends Daredevil, saying it stuck the landing and m
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood kick things off with a nod to the anniversary of GPT-4, reflecting on its impact and the rapid pace of AI development. The conversation takes a historical detour to the Ramree Island crocodile attack during World War II, with Andrew using AI to sift fact from fiction in this tale of survival and crocodile-infested mangroves. The trio then shifts focus to Colossal Biosciences’ efforts to bring back the woolly mammoth, starting with genetically modified mice sporting thicker coats. This step towards de-extinction sparks a debate on the feasibility and ethics of resurrecting ancient species, alongside a whimsical discussion on whether organic or robotic mammoths will roam the earth first. Picks: Justin Robert Young: Levin by Cali Cowboys Boys Brian Brushwood: The Master Algorithm by Pedro Domingos Andrew Mayne: Daredevil Netflix Series
The episode opens with Andrew describing a workflow automation he built in n8n to collect story ideas and email him a pre-show list, then moves into a discussion of a research team creating the world's smallest shooting video game with nanoscale technology. The hosts react to the demonstration, compare it to miniature hockey or "inner space," and Andrew reflects on how nanotech has proved much harder than early optimism suggested. From there, the conversation broadens into AI-assisted science, automation workflows, and the practical use of tools like make.com and n8n for email-driven systems. Later segments cover model quality and reasoning systems, reactions to Grok voice mode, a Starship launch bet, and the picks segment, which includes Reset, Severance, Mickey Mouse shorts by Paul Rudish, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and X-Men '97. The episode closes with a discussion of art, Blade Runner studies, and broader worries about AI reshaping human work and status competition. Key topics Nanoscale manipulation with electron microscopy: The hosts discuss a "world's smallest shooting video game" built with nanoscale technology, including focused electron beams and force fields between nanoparticles. Nanotech hype versus real-world difficulty: Andrew contrasts earlier expectations of rapid nanotech breakthroughs with the reality that building stable nanoscale systems is much harder than hoped. AI-assisted science and materials discovery: They talk about using AI and machine lea
The episode opens with the hosts discussing asteroid 2024 YR4, whose Earth impact odds have dropped, and quickly turns to the less certain but more interesting possibility of a lunar strike. They talk through the visible flash, dust, crater formation, and whether any ejecta could reach Earth, while Andrew reads from a Deep Research report estimating the object as a city-killer-sized asteroid and describing its effects on the Moon. The conversation then ranges across moon impacts, the role of the Moon as a possible protective factor for life on Earth, reactions to disaster origin debates, and the usefulness of ChatGPT Deep Research as a citation-backed research tool. Later segments cover Microsoft's Majorana/topological qubit claims, current humanoid robotics announcements, a discussion of the uncanny design of the OneX robot, and several recommendations, including a time-loop novel and Disney rides. Key topics Potential effects of a lunar asteroid impact: The hosts discuss what would happen if asteroid 2024 YR4 hit the Moon, including a flash visible from Earth, lunar dust and ejecta, crater formation, and the possibility of minimal debris reaching Earth. Shoemaker-Levy 9 and dramatic impact events: Brian cites Shoemaker-Levy 9 hitting Jupiter as an example of an impact event that was scientifically valuable and exciting to observe. The moon as a protective factor for life on Earth: Brian relays a book argument that Earth’s Moon may help shield the planet from extinction-leve
The episode opens with a discussion of asteroid 2024 YR4 and its reported 2.2% chance of hitting Earth on December 22, 2032. The hosts discuss its estimated building-sized range, possible blast-wave, thermal, seismic, and tsunami effects, and compare the event to Tunguska and Chelyabinsk as examples of severe but non-civilization-ending damage. A long middle section focuses on AI tools and moderation, including Brian's frustration with being restricted or banned by ChatGPT/OpenAI for questions he considers ordinary, plus jokes about copyright, sound-alike music, and inconsistent enforcement. The hosts also praise newer AI features like reasoning mode and deep research, compare asteroid-prediction updates to weather forecasting, discuss James Webb infrared imagery, and later shift to pop culture and media picks including Fantastic Four, Severance, Mac Whisper, and The Expanded Mind. Key topics Asteroid 2024 YR4 and impact risk: The hosts discuss a newly discovered asteroid, 2024 YR4, with a 2.2% chance of hitting Earth on December 22, 2032. They describe potential damage from blast waves, heat, fires, airburst effects, ground impact, tsunamis, and seismic shaking, using Tunguska and Chelyabinsk as historical comparisons. Asteroid deflection and mitigation: They compare long-warning solutions like tractor concepts, mass drivers, and gravity nudges with nuclear options when the object is only years away. The tradeoff discussed is between changing the orbit cleanly and creating r
The episode opens with a long discussion of DeepSeek, its V3 and R1 reasoning models, and why the release caused such a big reaction in AI circles and on Wall Street. Andrew says DeepSeek appears to have made real efficiency gains in training and hardware use, while Justin argues the market overreacted to the idea that less compute would be needed; both stress that the models do not mean chips or compute are suddenly unnecessary (L17-L17, L25-L25, L49-L49, L53-L57, L61-L65, L73-L77, L101-L105). The conversation then shifts to OpenAI's O3 and to a live, hands-on demo of generating simple games and 3D scenes with AI. Brian and Andrew iterate on a crude side-scrolling Mobius-strip game in CodePen, then experiment with A-Frame, a generated planetarium, and an explainer for radio telescopes, using the examples to argue that AI is becoming a practical tool for prototyping, brainstorming, and building educational or creative projects faster (L117-L117, L123-L145, L149-L181, L191-L209, L235-L241, L247-L253, L275-L289, L315-L317, L323-L333). Key topics DeepSeek efficiency gains and model optimization: Andrew describes DeepSeek as having made real, original optimization improvements, especially around data movement, compression, and training efficiency under chip export constraints. Uncertainty about data provenance and bootstrapping: The hosts note possible data contamination or use of model outputs, but they are careful to say those suspicions do not fully explain DeepSeek's success
The episode opens with a discussion of DeepSeek's V3 and R1 models, which the hosts describe as highly capable and unusually efficient. They frame the reaction as part of a broader open-source versus closed-source AI debate, while also noting uncertainty and controversy about whether some of DeepSeek's progress came from training on frontier model outputs or distillation. The hosts stress that the technical achievements are real, even if the competitive landscape and provenance are murky. A large portion of the episode is spent reacting to OpenAI's Operator, a browser-controlling agent that can log in, navigate websites, and work inside cloud-hosted browser sessions. The hosts demonstrate and discuss practical uses like Google Docs, Notion, CSV creation, image searching, and meme generation, while also emphasizing that the tool is still slow, brittle, and limited by logins, CAPTCHAs, and permissions. They broaden the conversation into the implications of agentic browsers for workflows, traffic metrics, monetization, access control, and the larger direction of AI development. Key topics Open-source versus closed-source AI competition: The hosts discuss DeepSeek, Meta's Llama models, and OpenAI's releases as part of a fast-moving competition between open and closed AI systems. They describe open source as a major current moment, while also recognizing that frontier commercial labs continue to advance quickly. Model efficiency and distillation: Andrew emphasizes that DeepSeek's
The episode opens with a discussion of rapid recent AI releases and whether AI has "hit a wall." Andrew points to OpenAI's O3 and Google video models as evidence that capabilities are still advancing, while Justin uses the ARC Prize and AGI as the lens for asking how quickly systems are improving and whether a reasonable AGI label could arrive within the next year. Andrew's response emphasizes the "jagged frontier": models can be very strong on some tasks and weak on others, so benchmark gains do not translate cleanly into broad intelligence. A major middle section focuses on DeepSeek, which the hosts describe as a highly capable Chinese model that has excited open-source enthusiasts and alarmed frontier-lab skeptics. Andrew argues the model should be understood in context: export restrictions may have pushed efficiency work, but the model likely also benefited from distilled outputs from frontier models and other structured training data, so it is not a clean from-scratch achievement. The episode then turns to YouTube's AI-training opt-in controls, the copyright and compensation questions around creator data, the growing reputational stigma around obvious AI-generated creative work, and predictions for 2025 that include more AI-automated workflows, a company announcing AGI, and more AI-assisted email handling. Key topics AI benchmark gains and the "hitting a wall" narrative: The hosts contrast media claims that AI has stalled with examples of large benchmark jumps, especiall
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood take listeners on a fascinating exploration of entertainment’s past, present, and future. They kick off with a nostalgic look at how theme parks like Universal Studios have evolved, highlighting the technological advancements in attractions such as the Born Stunt Spectacular. The conversation then shifts to the potential of AI in creating immersive experiences, with Andrew sharing insights into reasoning models and the concept of AI agents. They also touch upon the importance of classic sci-fi literature, like ‘A Canticle for Leibowitz’, in understanding the roots of many modern narratives. The episode wraps up with a discussion on the implications of AI in programming and the potential for AI to revolutionize how we interact with technology and each other. Picks: Justin Robert Young: DEF CON Plan about Audio and Electronics Brian Brushwood: A Canticle for Leibowitz Andrew Mayne: Nosferatu by Robert Eggers
The episode opens with a discussion of OpenAI's Shipmas announcements and a comparison with Google's recent AI releases. The hosts focus on OpenAI's o3 model, describing it as a real, usable research milestone and noting that it scored highly on the ARC Prize benchmark and coding evaluations, while also acknowledging that some announced features are not immediately available to everyone. The conversation then broadens into how current AI tools are being used in practice. The hosts talk about ChatGPT integrations with Notion, desktop and screen-sharing features, model switching when one tool is not suited to a task, and the brittleness of AI outputs when prompts or settings change. The latter half shifts to robotics and simulators, especially how physics simulation could accelerate robotics development and how cheaper, more capable robots could change labor and local production. The episode closes with several media picks. Key topics OpenAI Shipmas and Google's AI announcements: The hosts compare OpenAI's 12 days of releases with Google's announcements, arguing that OpenAI's products are more immediately usable while Google's demos appear more limited in access. o3, ARC Prize, and AI benchmarks: A major segment focuses on o3, the ARC Prize visual reasoning benchmark, and coding evals. Andrew explains how the benchmark works and why the o-series models' higher scores matter. AI workflow integration and desktop assistance: The speakers discuss ChatGPT working with Notion, screen
The episode opens with the hosts talking about new live multimodal AI features in ChatGPT and Google Gemini, including Andrew's demo of showing ChatGPT a card trick over live video. They note that these features had been demonstrated earlier and are now shipping, but emphasize that backend compute, server connections, and GPU supply make rollout slower than some people expect. Most of the episode is spent on OpenAI's Sora and other video generators. The hosts discuss how to use Sora, including starting from a strong image or uploaded video, using storyboards, keeping generations short, trying lower resolutions first, using remix tools, and learning from the featured/recent feeds. They repeatedly stress current limitations in physical reasoning, object relationships, and variable binding, while also praising Sora for b-roll, companion footage, character coherence, and other creative uses. The episode closes with a short TV-picks segment covering Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds, Foundation, and Skeleton Crew. Key topics Infrastructure limits behind live AI features: Andrew says live video and multimodal AI depend on significant backend compute and connections, so they are not just app updates and cannot be scaled instantly. AI as a supportive audience member: In the live card-trick demo, the hosts are struck by how ChatGPT behaves like an encouraging spectator, staying supportive rather than immediately correcting the trick. Using prompts, storyboards, and reference images in S
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood kick things off with a brief chat about the latest addition to Justin’s family and the implications of raising a child in today’s tech-saturated world. The conversation quickly shifts to Elon Musk’s recent showcase of Tesla’s advancements in robotics, including the Optimus robot and the Cyber Cab. The hosts speculate on the impact of these technologies on the future, from personal robotics to autonomous transportation networks. Additionally, they touch upon the phenomenon of sky quakes, debating their possible explanations and expressing skepticism about their origins. Throughout, the trio maintains a slightly irreverent tone, mixing in personal anecdotes and broader societal observations. Picks: Brian Brushwood: Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life by Rory Sutherland Justin Robert Young: The Peripheral (TV Show) Andrew Mayne: The 13th Warrior (Movie)
The episode opens with a long discussion of SpaceX successfully catching the Starship booster with Mechazilla. The hosts focus on the scale of the tower and booster, the surprise and delight of the SpaceX team, and what the feat implies for fully reusable rockets. They also broaden the conversation into Elon Musk's impact, conviction and persistence in engineering, and how institutions and experts can be wrong about what is possible. [L21-L29, L33-L41, L47-L57] The middle of the episode turns to robotics and AI. The hosts discuss Tesla's Optimus robots at the We, Robot event, including the gap between what was demonstrated and what was actually autonomous. They then spend a long stretch on an Apple paper about reasoning benchmarks, arguing that a small prompt change can dramatically improve performance and that the paper overstates the case against AI reasoning. The back half becomes a hands-on demo of local AI and Ollama, plus creative prompting tests, before ending with picks for Ollama, The Apprentice, Tribalism is Dumb, and Civil War. [L65-L85, L139-L157, L195-L205, L221-L237, L375-L445, L471-L493] Across the AI discussion, Andrew argues that model capabilities are improving quickly and that skepticism often comes from narrow benchmarks, outdated assumptions, or prior investments in other approaches. Brian shifts toward a pragmatic stance that AI use is mainly a productivity issue and that people care more about the output than the method. The episode closes with a shared
The episode opens with Andrew detailing OpenAI's Dev Day announcements, especially the real-time API for continuous text or audio conversations and demos aimed at customer support and phone ordering. The hosts then debate AI as a replacement or augmentation for customer service, with Brian and Justin emphasizing how frustrating human support can be and how useful a capable AI agent might be if it can actually solve problems. Andrew walks through several additional OpenAI features, including prompt caching, easier fine-tuning, memory controls in ChatGPT, and the new Canvas document-editing mode. The conversation also covers a study comparing doctors and GPT-4 on diagnostic tasks, Meta's new video model and the Movie Gen demos, and then shifts into picks where Justin praises Agatha All Along, Brian promotes Achewillow, and Andrew recommends Only Murders in the Building. Key topics Real-time conversational APIs for voice and text: Andrew explains OpenAI's real-time API for nonstop voice or text conversation and compares it with similar work from other companies like Deepgram. AI as a replacement or augmentation for customer support: The hosts describe AI as potentially better than scripted human support if it can resolve issues quickly on either the calling or receiving end. Superhuman persuasion and AI negotiation risks: Andrew raises the possibility of highly persuasive AI being used for manipulation, while also imagining AI lawyers and negotiators. Prompt caching and cheaper
In this episode, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood kick things off with a chat about the weather before diving into the world of augmented reality and virtual reality. They discuss the limitations of Apple’s Vision Pro and the potential of Facebook’s Project Orion, comparing the two and expressing their hopes for the future of AR. The conversation then shifts to acoustic holograms, showcasing how sound can be used to manipulate objects in space, creating what could be the future of holographic displays. The trio also touches on the advancements in AI, demonstrating how smaller, faster models can generate content and perform tasks with impressive speed and accuracy. Throughout the episode, the hosts maintain a slightly irreverent tone, mixing in their personal experiences and opinions on the tech industry. Picks: Brian Brushwood: I’m Beginning to Get Worried About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin Justin Robert Young: Mr. McMahon on Netflix Andrew Mayne: Alien Rom
The episode opens with the hosts joking about wanting burritos immediately and turns into a discussion of faster delivery systems. Andrew introduces Zipline's drone-delivery model, describing how it keeps the aircraft high above the ground and lowers cargo by line to avoid noise and landing-safety problems. That leads naturally into a broader conversation about autonomous transport, including Waymo's route-based ride service and Zoox's purpose-built vehicle design, along with speculation about future mobile rooms, containers, and other vehicle-as-space ideas. The middle of the episode moves through AI and brain-interface ideas. The hosts discuss an AI-only social network, using ChatGPT as a vocabulary and etymology aid, and then a playful cave-packing exercise that leads into a real cave story about Cheetos left in Carlsbad Cavern and the microbial ecosystem it supported. From there they broaden into Mars ethics, robotic exploration, AI tool-building and sunk-cost thinking, before ending with a long entertainment segment on The Wire, The Sopranos, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, plus praise for Michael Keaton. Key topics Drone delivery designed to stay aloft: Andrew describes Zipline as a delivery system that drops cargo from a drone hanging high in the air, avoiding the safety and noise issues of landing on a porch or sidewalk. Autonomous vehicle design tradeoffs: Waymo is discussed as a mapped driverless ride service, while Zoox is framed as a boxier, purpose-built autonomous
The episode opens with a long discussion of OpenAI's Strawberry / O1-style reasoning models. Andrew Mayne explains that these models seem to work better when asked to break problems into steps, use tools, and reason through tasks in a more structured way than ordinary one-shot chat models. The hosts compare this to prompt engineering, discuss examples like decimal comparisons and counting the R's in "strawberry," and talk about how longer structured prompts, patience, and using the right model for the right task can improve results. Later, the conversation broadens into AI evaluations, benchmark gaming, model stacking, tool use, and concerns about AI persuasion. Andrew argues that leaderboard results can be misleading and that models often look strong in short tests but deteriorate with longer contexts, while Justin notes that eval methods themselves are still immature. They also discuss a Science paper about GPT-4 Turbo persuading people away from conspiracy beliefs, which Andrew frames as manipulative and alarming. The episode then moves into a playful Matrix screening story, a discussion of Polaris Dawn and private spacewalking, and the show ends with Netflix media picks. Key topics Reasoning models as step-by-step task solvers: Andrew describes Strawberry / O1 as a model that performs best on long, detailed, multi-step tasks, especially when asked to break work into steps and think through a problem. Prompt engineering for better outputs: The hosts discuss writing longer
Andrew Mayne, Brian Brushwood, and Justin Robert Young (eventually) take us on a journey from the depths of space to the mysteries of our ancient past. They kick off with space news, discussing the return path for astronauts via SpaceX, not Boeing’s Starliner, and delve into the grounding of SpaceX launches due to a mishap. The conversation then shifts to a natural phenomenon where butterflies harness static electricity, and ancient shark attack victims, suggesting our long history with these marine predators. The aquatic ape theory is skeptically revisited, pondering human evolution’s ties to water. The episode wraps up with a dive into the MCU, specifically the Secret Invasion series, contrasting its comic book origins with its MCU portrayal, and reflecting on the MCU’s evolution and future. Picks: Brian Brushwood: Secret Invasion (comic book) Andrew Mayne: Foundation (novel series by Isaac Asimov) Justin Robert Young: Being a new dad
The episode opens with Justin and Brian discussing a New York Times story about a SpaceX Starlink launch that experienced an upper-stage problem. They note that the first stage landed normally on a drone ship, but the second stage did not reach the intended altitude to deploy the satellites properly, and they mention SpaceX describing the event as a very rare glitch and a rapid unscheduled disassembly. The middle of the episode becomes a long speculative conversation about frontier life, space colonization, and genetic modification. They use William Shatner’s reaction to seeing Earth from space, Andrew Heaton’s Oklahoma land-rush family story, and examples like golden rice to argue that people would be slow to accept genetic editing unless harsh reality forced the issue over multiple generations. The latter half turns to AI music, with Justin describing a real-life anecdote involving Robert Rodriguez and Udio, then both hosts discussing AI music tools, their quality, and the lawsuits against Suno and Udio. They compare AI training to temp tracks and musical influence, and near the end they transition into picks, with Brian mentioning House of the Dragon and Justin recommending Fargo season five. Key topics Starlink deployment trouble after an upper-stage anomaly: They discuss a SpaceX rocket where the first stage landed successfully but the second stage failed to reach the proper altitude for Starlink deployment. The conversation includes speculation about whether the payload
In this episode of Weird Things, Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood embark on a journey through the evolving landscape of aviation technology. They discuss the myriad of companies attempting to develop next-generation aerial vehicles, including those adding excessive propellers to electric helicopters in hopes of making flying cars a reality. The trio delves into alternative aviation technologies, such as gyrocopters and other innovative designs that aim to improve safety and efficiency in air travel. Despite some companies’ unfortunate mishaps, including founders dying during testing, the hosts remain optimistic about the future of aviation, predicting the use of human-rated flying vehicles in cities by the end of the decade. Picks: Andrew Mayne: The Prestige Justin Robert Young: X-Men ’97 Brian Brushwood: Sh?gun
Andrew Mayne and Justin Robert Young dissect Apple’s approach to integrating AI into its ecosystem with a strong emphasis on privacy. They speculate on the implications of Apple’s strategy to handle AI processing on-device as much as possible, while also offering cloud processing with user permission. The trio discusses the technical hurdles, Apple’s historical stance on privacy, and how these factors influence the development of Siri and other Apple services. They ponder the future of AI in Apple products, including the potential for Siri to become smarter and more useful, and the integration of third-party AI models.
Andrew Mayne, Brian Brushwood, and Justin Robert Young embark on a technological odyssey, starting with Andrew’s recent acquisition of a Bamboo A1 3D printer. The excitement is palpable as Andrew shares his adventures in 3D printing everything from knives to whirligigs, showcasing the printer’s impressive capabilities. The conversation then shifts to AI, with the trio exploring Claude 3.5 and its ability to generate games and video content on the fly. From creating simple games with just a few prompts to discussing the future of 3D printing and AI in creative industries, the episode is a deep dive into how these technologies are reshaping our world. Picks: Brian Brushwood: The Dark Tower movie Justin Robert Young: Audio AI for generating music Andrew Mayne: Old Doctor Who episodes
Andrew and Justin spend most of the episode comparing OpenAI's GPT-4o rollout with Google's AI announcements. They describe GPT-4o as a multimodal system that combines text, image, sound, and voice into one model, and emphasize that OpenAI's live demos felt fast, real-time, and more transparent than Google's earlier staged or prerecorded presentations. They also discuss latency, the shift from separate speech/transcription models to a single model, and how native desktop and mobile apps, along with ChatGPT for Enterprise, fit OpenAI's product strategy. The second half of the conversation broadens into release timing, safety, secrecy, and organizational interpretation. Andrew says OpenAI often holds capabilities back for safety or product timing, that people overread departures and rumors, and that claims about AI hitting a wall are premature given the field's growth. The episode closes with Andrew recommending AMC's Interview with the Vampire and Justin offering OpenAI's YouTube channel as a place to watch the demos. Key topics GPT-4o as a multimodal model: Andrew explains GPT-4o as one model that can handle text, images, sound, and voice together, replacing a pipeline of separate transcription, language, and speech systems. Live demos versus prerecorded demos: The hosts contrast OpenAI's live GPT-4o presentation with Google's earlier Gemini/Astra demos, which Andrew criticizes as controlled, prerecorded, or misleading. Latency and real-time interaction: A recurring point is
The episode opens with a long discussion of the OpenAI / Scarlett Johansson controversy. Andrew says he had a direct view of GPT-4o voice development, that OpenAI hired actors with disclosures and fair pay, and that there was never an intent to copy Johansson’s voice. The hosts argue that the resemblance was driven by audience expectations shaped by Her and by a familiar voice archetype, not by a plan to mimic her. From there, the conversation moves through AI’s strengths and weaknesses: emotional companionship, chatbot use for counseling and rewriting messages, multimodal video analysis for inventorying property, and hallucinations or odd outputs from models. The latter half shifts into space news and speculation, covering Ed Dwight’s Blue Origin flight, NASA’s Artemis and Starliner problems, commercial launch competition, the X-37 military spaceplane, whale communication and alien contact analogies, Dyson sphere detection, and finally a recommendation for Severance. Key topics OpenAI voice casting and the Scarlett Johansson controversy: Andrew says OpenAI hired real actors, gave disclosures, and had no intent to copy Johansson’s voice. They discuss how people linked the voice to Her and to a voice archetype, and why the public narrative became simplified. AI companionship and emotional dependence: The hosts discuss AI as a personal companion, including pretend girlfriends and emotionally supportive chatbots. They treat it as potentially helpful for some users but also poten
The episode opens with the news that philosopher Daniel Dennett has died, and the hosts reflect on how influential his books, especially Darwin's Dangerous Idea and Consciousness Explained, were on Andrew's thinking about arguments, thought experiments, consciousness, and where the boundaries of sentience may lie. Brian adds his own examples from dogs and consciousness, reinforcing the sense that Dennett was especially good at exploring philosophical borderlands without always forcing tidy conclusions. The middle of the episode is a long riff that starts with dog-powered historical machines and novelty inventions, then moves into Meta's Llama 3 release and a humorous discussion of Mark Zuckerberg's new public image. The conversation then turns to Boston Dynamics' new Atlas robot, broader robotics manufacturing and patent issues, cheaper robot dogs and quadrupeds from Unitree, and finally a fossil snake discovery from India that may have been about 50 feet long. The episode closes with pick discussions, including Andrew recommending Consciousness Explained and Justin recommending Shogun, while the later discussion also covers Never Split the Difference as a book they found interesting. Key topics Daniel Dennett and consciousness: The hosts discuss Dennett's death, Andrew's admiration for his writing, and his use of examples involving the soul, sentience, severed limbs, and gradual brain replacement to explore consciousness and unclear boundaries. Dogs as workers and dog-powere
The episode opens with a discussion of AI-generated music, starting from a Weird Things intro written by Suno and moving into comparisons between Suno and Udio. The hosts note that Udio produces cleaner vocals but shorter initial clips, while Suno can generate longer clips and be extended. They treat the tools as a major sign of how quickly AI-generated creative content is improving. The conversation then broadens into practical uses for generated songs, especially study aids and mnemonic tools. Andrew demonstrates songs about Roman history and Broca's area, and the group talks about how music can help memory, how cheap and fast generation changes creative work, and how AI may become embedded in everyday life. The latter part of the episode shifts into a long discussion of technology adoption, AI limits and risks, media bias and journalistic self-correction, and then ends with TV picks. Key topics Suno vs. Udio quality and format differences: The hosts compare AI music generators directly. Udio is described as having cleaner vocals, while Suno is described as producing longer clips and being easier to extend. Obscurist Vinyl and AI novelty songs: The show discusses the TikTok account Obscurist Vinyl as an example of AI-assisted novelty music with convincing retro-style packaging and an obscene or raunchy reveal. Music as a mnemonic technology: Brian explains that setting facts to music is an old study technique, and Andrew suggests AI can make customized study songs quickly a
The episode centers on a long discussion of AI's rapid move from novelty to everyday utility. The hosts describe using AI for transcription, editing, text simplification, image cleanup, and coding help, and Andrew demonstrates how tools like Groq and Cursor make inference and programming feel dramatically faster and more accessible than earlier AI systems. The conversation also walks through tokenization and why newer, cheaper models are changing how products are built. A second major thread is the cultural and ethical backlash to AI, especially in creative fields. Brian raises the objection that generative systems are trained on prior human work without permission, and the hosts debate whether that makes AI theft, derivative influence, or just another technology panic. They also discuss regulation, especially in Europe, and close with picks that include TV, film, and AI tools, while arguing that abundance and personalization will reshape music and social media. Key topics Personal AI usage in daily work: Justin describes using AI for transcription, editing, text simplification, art generation, and background removal, and Andrew talks about using ChatGPT and Cursor regularly in coding workflows. AI as a replacement for human labor and consultation: Justin recounts a story about someone planning to retire by setting up AI to do consultations, and Andrew warns that if something becomes easy for one person it becomes easy for everyone. How large language models predict tokens: A
Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood embark on a journey through a variety of topics, starting with a real-world disaster involving a boat crash and a collapsed bridge. They speculate on the implications of tainted fuel and the role of the National Transportation Safety Board in such incidents. The conversation then shifts to the potential for economic and infrastructural disasters, including the hypothetical use of nuclear weapons to disrupt GPS systems. The hosts also discuss the fragility of modern infrastructure and the importance of disaster preparedness. The conversation takes a turn into the realm of technology and security, with a focus on the challenges posed by AI and deepfakes in authenticating identity. They explore the idea of a secure, emergency communication system to verify callers during crises. Finally, the hosts share their picks, including a book recommendation and thoughts on the Netflix adaptation of ‘The Three-Body Problem’, noting its strengths and weaknesses. Picks: Brian Brushwood: ‘Super Communicators’ book Justin Robert Young: ‘The Attention Factory’ book Andrew Mayne: ‘The Three-Body Problem’ on Netflix
The episode opens with a discussion of Boom Supersonic and its attempt to revive commercial supersonic air travel. The hosts talk about Boom's successful test flight of a scaled-down prototype, the plan for the Overture airliner, the role of Japan Airlines, and the history of Concorde, including sonic booms, U.S. restrictions on supersonic flight, and the Concorde's drooping nose and hot exterior. A large middle section focuses on AI as practical tooling: how to prompt ChatGPT and vision models more effectively, how OCR and form-filling could save huge amounts of time, and how Andrew's robot demo uses GPT-4 vision to navigate toward butter in a 3D simulation. The discussion expands into agent-style systems such as Cognition Labs' Devon, AI-assisted research and source gathering, productivity gains in editing and transcription, and the idea that AI is best understood as very powerful software rather than a magical wish box. The final stretch moves through several offbeat stories: a Montana Franken sheep case, a feral hog joke discussion, a toxic cat from a plating factory in Japan, and then a long conversation about Dune: Part Two. On Dune, they debate Paul Atreides' moral ambiguity, Chani's role, prophecy, the Butlerian Jihad, and whether the adaptation captures the complexity and unease of the book. Key topics Commercial supersonic aviation revival: Boom Supersonic is discussed as trying to build a modern supersonic airliner, with a successful prototype test flight, a plan f
The episode opens with Justin describing a Cameo birthday message he received from Kirstie Patterson, the performer associated with the viral Willy’s Chocolate Experience disaster, and the hosts discuss how the incident became internet-famous, the “depressed Oompa Loompa” label, and how Cameo can be a practical way for someone caught in online notoriety to earn money. They also briefly discuss the “unknown” character from the event and the broader weirdness of the production. A major middle section focuses on SpaceX’s Starship test launch, which the hosts describe as a successful suborbital flight that reached space, separation, and orbital speeds even without a landing. From there they move into broader reflections on iteration, feedback loops, AI and robotics progress, the pace of change in the tech world, and the question of how long adoption takes compared with technical feasibility. Key topics Cameo and the Willy’s Chocolate Experience aftermath: The hosts talk about a birthday Cameo from Kirstie Patterson, whom they refer to as the depressed Oompa Loompa, and they discuss how the viral Willy’s Chocolate Experience became a meme, including the badly shoddy production and the branding around the character. Starship’s successful suborbital test launch: They celebrate Starship getting into space, separating, and reaching orbital speeds on a suborbital mission, while noting that booster and ship recovery are still future goals. Iteration, feedback loops, and learning from la
The episode opens with a long discussion of SpaceX test launches and the broader idea that visible failures are part of iterative engineering. Andrew and Brian contrast that with the Space Shuttle program, noting that shuttle design involved practical compromises, unexpected hazards, and a much messier reality than the idealized version often told. They also briefly touch on the value of publicity and storytelling in aerospace, including drone ship landings and fairing recovery attempts. The conversation then shifts to the Apple Vision Pro, which Andrew describes as an impressive demo but a compromised device lacking a compelling everyday use case. After that, the episode moves through several science and tech topics: early nonlinear video editing systems like Edit Droid and Avid, de-extinction efforts around woolly mammoths and proxy mammoths, dinosaur DNA preservation and decay, Europa's oxygen uncertainty, and naturally occurring hydrogen or 'white hydrogen.' The episode ends with picks and recommendations, including The Plasma Channel and Brian's enthusiastic reaction to Dune Part Two. Key topics SpaceX's failure-driven development model: They discuss SpaceX as an example of iterative engineering where failures are visible and expected, rather than hidden. The contrast is drawn against more traditional aerospace development. Shuttle-era engineering compromises and risk: The Space Shuttle is described as an extraordinary but highly compromised system, with issues including
The episode opens with the hosts riffing about recording and editing workflow, including the value of planning for cuts, trusting the edit, and how much polished media depends on invisible post-production. From there, Andrew introduces a preprint about panspermia via cosmic dust, then the conversation shifts to a monkey-raft explanation for how monkeys may have crossed into South America on floating vegetation islands rather than by land bridge. The middle of the episode becomes a broad science-and-cosmology segment in which Andrew leads a tour through the early universe: inflation, quark and hadron epochs, nucleosynthesis, the photon epoch, recombination, cosmic dark ages, structure formation, and the universe's possible heat-death future. The latter half turns to astronomy experiences and tools, including telescope viewing, iTelescope.net, and amateur observing, before closing on entertainment picks and a long discussion of the Glasgow Willy Wonka event, The Wheel of Time, and the live-action One Piece adaptation. Key topics Editing, performance, and planning for the cut: The hosts discuss how recording and editing change the final shape of media, with examples from magic videos, podcasting, demos, Scam School, and Scam Nation. Brian explicitly says to 'trust the edit,' and Andrew emphasizes that creators should plan for future edits instead of trying to capture everything in one take. Panspermia and cosmic dust transfer: Andrew explains a new panspermia idea in which micro
Andrew apologizes to the Weird Things audience for the lack of recent episodes and says the show has still been recording. He explains that the delay is due to changes in how the show is handled on the backend, and says they hope to have episodes out soon. He adds that if listeners can hear this message, the new fix is working. He describes the fix as using AI to handle some of the process and calls it the wave of the future. Key topics Lack of episode releases: Andrew directly apologizes for the absence of episodes and says the show has been recording despite the delay. Backend workflow changes: He says the team has been changing how they do things on the back end, which is presented as the reason for the episode delay. AI-assisted fix: Andrew says the new fix is working if listeners can hear the message and explains that it uses AI to handle some of the process. Picks
The episode opens with casual chatter about a possible Starship launch while the hosts are near Brownsville, followed by a long discussion of major AI announcements from Google and OpenAI. Andrew explains Gemini 1.5's large context window claims and the limits of simply increasing tokens, while the group shifts into a detailed examination of Sora's text-to-video results, including improved realism, physics, camera motion, and remaining failures. They repeatedly return to the role of compute, model scaling, and the economics of AI progress. The latter half of the episode focuses on how AI tools may change creative work and how people should adapt by learning to code, prompt, and experiment rather than resist. The hosts also discuss ChatGPT memory, personalized interactions, and Andrew's experiment turning Sora footage into 3D video for Vision Pro. Near the end, Justin gives a Suno Valentine's Day song generator pick, Brian recommends Star Trek: Lower Decks, and the panel briefly covers Rick and Morty, Dune 2, Madame Web, and speculation that the new Fantastic Four film is set in the 1960s. Key topics Token counts and what context windows enable: Andrew explains tokens, context windows, and why Gemini 1.5's claimed 10 million-token context is significant for reading large documents and answering questions across them. He cautions that retrieval is easier than true reasoning over long inputs. Compute cost as the limiting factor in large-model features: The hosts repeatedly note
The episode opens with a discussion of Google's Gemini Ultra launch and the rebranding of Bard to Gemini. The hosts compare Gemini with ChatGPT on model quality, pricing, integrations, and usefulness for coding and summarization, while also talking about how AI tools are already woven into their workflows for transcripts, show notes, and quick summaries. Brian also describes using AI for a real-world well-and-solar calculation experiment, using photos and measurements to estimate energy use, water flow, and costs. Later, the conversation turns to the joke AI model Goody2, which is framed as an exaggerated parody of overcautious safety behavior because it refuses nearly every prompt. The back half of the episode focuses on Sam Altman and the scale of future AI compute demand, including a reported $7 trillion chip effort, followed by a live discussion of Andrew's Apple Vision Pro demo, its comfort and display tradeoffs, security concerns about deepfakes, the promise of lighter AR glasses, and a round of media picks including The Greatest Night in Pop and In Deep Geek. Key topics Gemini vs. ChatGPT feature comparison: The hosts compare Google's Gemini Ultra with ChatGPT in terms of model quality, coding utility, pricing, app ecosystem, and integrations like Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and search defaults. AI as a practical assistant for technical and household tasks: Brian's well/solar example shows AI being used for real-world estimation, electricity cost calculations, and determining
Andrew and Brian start with travel and recovery talk: Brian describes being knocked out by illness and bad sleep, while Andrew explains returning from a three-week trip to India and how he managed jet lag by staying awake through the long flight. Andrew also says he was careful about water and food after getting sick on a prior trip, and that he brought antibiotics with him via an online doctor visit so he could treat a likely bacterial illness quickly when it hit. The episode spends a long stretch on Andrew's India trip, including his wife's cousin's wedding events, a reception hosted by in-laws, local McDonald's adaptations, the India-Pakistan border ceremony near Amritsar, and a detailed visit to the Golden Temple. From there the conversation broadens into Sikh identity and customs, Sikh wartime history, Indian film culture, and then into speculative futurism: Mars terraforming, the limits of giant climate projects, the Icon of the Seas as evidence of human scale, and a broader optimism about future abundance, AI, and automation. Key topics Jet lag, sleep loss, and travel recovery: Brian describes severe sleep disruption from illness and ADHD-related overstimulation. Andrew explains using deliberate sleep deprivation on the flight to India to avoid jet lag and says he cleared his calendar after returning. Travel illness prevention and antibiotics: Andrew says he used Plush Care to get an advance consultation and antibiotics for travel, after prior food poisoning in India.
The episode opens with the hosts greeting each other for 2024 and then moving into a discussion of older dystopian science fiction that reflected the anxieties of its era. They talk about Logan's Run, Make Room, Make Room/Soylent Green, Clockwork Orange, and Silent Running as stories shaped by fears about population growth, pollution, youth violence, and social instability, before widening the conversation into how people now think about depopulation, fertility decline, and whether modern cynicism is distorting judgments about the present and the past. From there, the episode moves through a 2024 predictions segment covering Artemis, Starship, the presidential election, and the broader role of AI and robotics. The hosts also discuss how chat-based AI is already useful in daily life, debate what counts as AGI and how the Turing test is commonly misunderstood, then finish with reactions to Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Rebel Moon before ending on recommendations for Fargo, Lower Decks, A Clockwork Orange, and The OA. Key topics 1970s dystopian fiction as a response to overpopulation and environmental anxiety: The hosts connect Logan's Run, Make Room, Make Room/Soylent Green, Clockwork Orange, and Silent Running to concerns about population growth, pollution, young people, and societal breakdown. The American vs. English endings of A Clockwork Orange: Brian explains the different endings, saying the English version includes a redemption arc while the American version is darker
Google’s new AI launch might not be what it seems. Picks: Justin: Fargo Andrew: Doom Patrol | Now Streaming | Max Original | Max
A Thai restaurant tried to game Google, but accidentally went viral. We knew Google paid Apple a lot to be the default search engine. We didn’t know it was a lot. The Humane AI Pin? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Justin: Space: 1969 from Bill Oakley Brian: Play Date
A Thai restaurant tried to game Google, but accidentally went viral. We knew Google paid Apple a lot to be the default search engine. We didn’t know it was a lot. The Humane AI Pin? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Justin: Space: 1969 from Bill Oakley
Brian: Play Date
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Download url: https://archive.org/download/weird-things-102723/AfterThings102723.mp3
[podcast]https://archive.org/download/weird-things-102723/AfterThings102723.mp3[/podcast]
Phone wars, flame wars, nearly-warring podcasters! The simple task of geopolitics. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Andrew: Curiosity Show on YouTube and “This Isn’t a Ponzi Scheme” from Coffeezilla
Brian: The Economist Podcasts+
Bryce: Kagi Search
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Download url: https://archive.org/download/weird-things-102023/AfterThings102023.mp3
[podcast]https://archive.org/download/weird-things-102023/AfterThings102023.mp3[/podcast]
Andrew announced that he’s leaving OpenAI after a very positive experience! What’s next for him after years of being in the AI space. What will his new venture, Interdimensional.ai, offer to bridge the gap between ideas and new AI technologies? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Andrew: Joker
Justin: The Afterparty
Bryce: Interdimensional.ai
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Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/AfterThings091523.mp3
[podcast]http://www.itricks.com/upload/AfterThings091523.mp3[/podcast]
iPhones, can you believe they’ve made 15 of them so far? Smartphones and how we own them have changed multiple times now. What could be next in the next, best iPhone? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Paul Reubens, The Pee-Wee Herman Show Justin: March to the Majority from […]
There’s actually too much to watch now. Can a 20-year-old book give us a sign on the next steps of online media? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks: The Long Tail from Chris Anderson and FREE from Chris Anderson
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We can see our boundaries of “The Internet” fading and being lost to time. What does permanence in data mean? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Justin: Audio Hijack Brian: Airplane II: The Sequel Bryce: Paste Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things […]
Bryce talks out a new idea for LFG Marbles: a patron race series with changes to appeal to live and video-on-demand viewers. What are the stakes? What are the comps? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on […]
Artificial intelligence? P’shaw! Give me artificial languages! What could you do with an artificial or minimal language to benefit humanity? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Mini Language on Medium Bryce: Things app Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! […]
A casual extra chat with Dr. Daniel Simons about diagnosticians, expertise information, and Andrew’s blockbuster formula to make best-selling book. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Be sure to check out Dr. Simons’s “Nobody’s Fool” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! […]
Streaming has taken a new turn the past few years, but it likely won’t be an extension of the early-COVID explosive growth and spending. Netflix is now an old dog and things like Jury Duty are taking way more cultural cache than The Rings of Power. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After […]
VR, MR, XR, A-Arrrrgh, or maybe, just maybe…maybe. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via RSS and iTunes. Follow us on Facebook Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/AfterThings063023.mp3
Andrew went to VidCon and interfaced with The Youths. We rizz up Andrew and see if he would even hug Baby Gronk. Does childhood today compare to childhood in the 90’s? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Disney Spellstruck and Amazon Kindle Bryce: PPKP+ Get After Things before anyone […]
Andrew’s been deep in memory-training and it’s important to remember: memory is fallible! How do false memories begin and who is susceptible? Brian’s DIY method of journaling and next-day planning. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Pick: ChatGPT now on iOS Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) […]
Bryce jumped on the whiteboard train feet-first and we chat about whiteboards, writing and organizing tasks, habit-building, and getting motivated to start. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
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Tips direct from Andrew on how to level up your ChatGPT prompts straight from the robot-horse’s mouth. Easy tips to add more context and style, create outlines, and automate common requests. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
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Listener David asks for advice on how to portion out time for longer-term projects? Our advice and tips for getting things done with momentum and phases. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
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Professional podcasters Justin and Brian give some dirt on the upcoming third season of World’s Greatest Con and talk openly about their vantage point on ads in the podcasting space. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
World’s Greatest Con
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Brian’s hodge-podge to-do system led to catastrophe. Smart devices and “accessing the home network.” An update on Andrew’s experience using Tonal, the home-gym installed on a wall. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
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Bryce has an update on how his Blind Corners project went from 0 to 1 with a Substack. How do you break down barriers or build excitement? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Andrew: Arduboy
Justin: ChatGPT-4
Brian: Ted Lasso season 3
Bryce: DALL-E
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Bryce has an idea, but not much more than that? What can a F1 pickem league turn into and how do you plus it? Plus, ChatGPT and a pitch for a presidential TV show. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
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Rovio announced a surprising change to one of their flagship games: they’re trying to remove it! Value propositions and how difficult it is to change directions once your project is out. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Justin: TV Funhouse – Disney Vault
Brian: The Ur-Quan Masters
Bryce: Schafpudel’s guide to Petz
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Adapting and adaptability. How do you balance quality and quantity while taking advantage of new spaces? Effort in a world where effort gets more and more efficient. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Andrew: Super Mario Odyssey
Brian: Cunk on Earth
Bryce: Poker Face
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Health talk today! Apps we like and handling cravings. Diet and exercise stories from not-professionals about getting started and staying regular. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Andrew: Apple Watch Ultra
Bryce: JEFIT and Lose It!
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A simple way to add some color to any to-do workflow and the thorny(?) side of the emoji-emoticon war. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Andrew: Slow Horses
Brian: You Have the Right to Remain Innocent from James Duane
Bryce: Things app
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How moving can affect the creative process. Brian and Justin talk about the newly-revealed topic of World’s Greatest Con season 3 and how they’ve got an exclusive new look at the story that’s never been told before. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
PICKS:
Andrew: Coffeezilla on YouTube
Justin: The Last of Us
Brian: Marvel Snap
Bryce: The Last of Us
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A new app has been making waves in the image generation space with “magic avatars.” We talk about the experience of a pay AI art bot and what we think it could do to impact human artists and art. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
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We’re in holiday mode as we talk about roosters, the etymology of adages, and where we think the future of social networks will go. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via […]
The Modern Rogue and Scam Nation short-form video experiment continues on and to rousing success. What lessons have we learned from over a month of making Tiktoks and YouTube Shorts? Alphabet basically owns the internet, but is it being a good steward? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Brian: Twitter […]
A (final?) update on Structured and the benefits of hitting the hay punctually. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via RSS and iTunes. Follow us on Facebook Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/AfterThings103122.mp3
The binge watching trend: is it in danger becuse week-after-week is better? With Netflix relenting on offering an ad-supported plan, could binging be on the chopping block too? What do we like personally and creatively? What metrics do streamers and platforms consider for new programs? Do algorithms reflect viewer habits? Send your project questions/ideas to […]
Bryce admits to a productivity solution that can’t be beat. Did you know your iPhone can do something an kinda expensive website can do? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: ScreenFlow and Google Colab Brian: Six Thinking Hats from Edward de Bono Bryce: Splice and Bryce on the Beyond […]
After a few weeks of trying out short-form video on YouTube, what seems to be the early indicators of how they’re received? What goes into making thoughtful short-form videos? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Brian: Ask from Ryan Levesque Bryce: Arcade Paradise Get After Things before anyone else (now […]
Justin and Bryce both tried out the Structured app we talked about last week and have some critical feedback. What features stick out after a week of use? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” “The World’s Most Satisfying Checkbox”: https://www.andy.works/words/the-most-satisfying-checkbox Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by […]
Bryce is diving into a new todo/calendar hybrid app, Structured. How do we use apps and plan our days? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Beyond Fireship Justin: House of the Dragon Brian: Life’s Work from David Milch Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by […]
Andrew’s considering a move from LA to San Francisco–even though he’s totally work-from home. What’s his anxiety around moving and being closer to his cutting-edge job? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Brian: The Rehearsal Bryce: Slime Rancher Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting […]
Long-time listener Joe Diamond writes in and asks about his EPK–electronic press kit. What works and what improvements can you make when presenting yourself in a freeform brochure of your own design? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird […]
Bryce reports in on how his marbles project is doing after having launched a Patreon. What levels is it setup in and how could he expand what he offers to supporters without compromising the show? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) […]
Andrew shares the story of Simon Coronel, who took won the FISM Grand Prix Close-up, the top-level international competition for magic. How does your journey affect your goal and how can you keep your eyes on that goal? What is your label and does your label meet your goal? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, […]
How do you get an opportunity in a time of high convenience and tech? To get started, who has to tell you yes? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Bryce: Real Sports, July 2022 – Sumo and Habits on iOS Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) […]
Brian held his first class on being a creative and story-telling. How did it go? How much confidence does he have for it? What goals did he hit and what’s next? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things […]
How do you keep track of reminders? Email, notes, whiteboards, what works for us? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via RSS and iTunes. Follow us on Facebook Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/AfterThings062022.mp3
We’re back and we are imagining training artificial intelligence to create dynamic media that can be rewritten, recut, and A/B tested in realtime. What would a post-scarcity world look like post-tech-singularity? A future where real-time media modification could be automatic–that’s coming from a world where animatronics can do human-sized stunts on a theme park schedule. […]
What’s the difference between 5 million views on 1 video and 50,000 views on 100 videos? BeReal, a new social network around once-a-day posting, brings a conversation about being authentic online and how limits differentiate BeReal from Instagram and TikTok. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Blue Apron Justin: […]
Update time: Bryce’s LFG Marbles project is back on and he talks about opening a Patreon, diving right in from zero, and the anxiety of not doing it. Brian finally kicks off a project to hold business classes. The freeing feeling of talking to a smaller, select group. Business guru or business guru for sale? […]
Slowing down and enjoying something or an international war crime? How is text being handled in a modern age and what could the next information delivery medium look like? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: River Out of Eden from Richard Dawkins Justin: The Pentaverate Brian: Animal Jam Bryce: […]
Listener Nate is fascinated by DALL-E 2, but doesn’t know where to start. How can you get into ML/neural net technology and what are good tricks for making the most of self-driven coding education? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Fireship on YouTube Brian: The Book of Niall from […]
Twitter accepted Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter. Is Twitter inevitable? What are the uncertainties and what can we infer from the little we know? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Pick: Bryce: Killing Time at Lightspeed Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things […]
What is present-you doing to help future-you? How do you handle the future–not just preparing, but shaping your future? Success can come from examining other successful people. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to […]
Andrew’s latest mystery novel, “Sea Storm,” made the WSJ best-sellers list. What inspired the Underwater Investigation Unit series and Sloan McPherson? Plus, a system to give feedback. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to […]
How to get started and two tools you can use to get the ball rolling: the social media “scary hour” and the classic pomodoro timer technique. How can you organize your work and get unstuck? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” PICKS: Andrew: Anthony Metivier’s video on memory palaces Bryce: Pommie […]
Listener David sends in an update on his guitar-lesson project, Song Notes. What advice can he take away when he takes Song Notes full time? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: The Intelligent Investor from Benjamin Graham Brian: Cordkillers Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) […]
How do you make free-time and what are the benefits of taking time off? How do you protect the machine and remember you aren’t a machine? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After […]
TikTok will allow creators to post videos up to 10 minutes long. Bryce shares an experience opting in to marketing and what you can take away. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After […]
A reminder to think outside the box and updates one week away from the launch of World’s Greatest Con Season 2! Funding, making a trailer, and how they are aiming to get people on board. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) […]
Beginning 2/28/22. You have a decision. Want to enjoy the new season without listening to a single ad? Patreon.com/GreatestCon
The Super Bowl was last night and we break down the trailer for Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which offers a surprising cameo question. What is the state of the MCU multiverse as Disney’s mergers continue to settle? What parts of Marvel can re-unite on screen? You can’t spoil a trailer! Are we […]
The latest Joe Rogan news sparks a conversation about communication and the idea of “silencing” in a digital age. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Replit Justin: Ozark Brian: The Book of Boba Fett Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on […]
Andrew’s new Insta360 One X2 360-degree camera mixes imaging hardware with editing software to offer a lot of flexibility. What do these new realizations of a camera mean for the next stages of imaging? 360 cameras on phones? AI editing? Brian’s new DJI FPV drone also let him get more acclimated to remote controlling a […]
We’re almost one month done with 2022. What do the crew think 2022 holds for us and what would we like to get done, how we’d like to get there, and our other thoughts on the coming year. Plus, thoughts on how artificial intelligence has evolved to be smarter, smaller, and faster. Send your project […]
Bryce shares a report on computer literacy and the digital divide. Then, we talk about the social media phenom, Wordle. The simplicity of message versus the intricacy of its design. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Computer skills study link. Picks: Andrew: Attention Factory from Matthew Brennan Justin & Bryce: The […]
Totally on the ball and ready to go! Andrew and Justin reflect on iTricks, the magic news blog they founded. The site’s in transition, so what can they do with it? How did it start as an editorial platform and how did it handle integrity despite always being small? How did a scrappy up-start fend […]
A follow-up from Jim’s letter last week. Jim published his book–what thoughts did he have in the gap since sending us his letter? Getting exactly what you want from a project and what are next-steps creatively that aren’t a total-dedication to the medium? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: […]
Listener BigJim wants advice on self-publishing his small poetry project and wants to know the best time to self-publish. What’s the best use of this effort and how can you take a novel idea and turn it into an attractive story across media? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Justin: […]
Know what’s hot on TikTok? Microsoft Excel! DIY educational monetizing just through social media. What comes first: the solution or the problem? What might work best for hosting learning material for sale? A platform like Udemy or roll your own with Thinkific? If you don’t already, you should find a way to learn spreadsheets! Send […]
A retrospective on microcomputing pioneer Clive Sinlair and the philosophical successes, even in consumer failures. Where is your duty: to the successful projects or your personal goals? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to […]
The money episode! What tips and tricks do we have as creative professionals to save money? Plus, Justin unleashes hot Y: The Last Man critiques at 39:19 to the end. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: WikiReader and Kindle Paperwhite Justin: Y: The Last Man (anti-pick) Brian: Succession Bryce: […]
We reflect on a heart-felt personal video from YouTube creator William Osman. We break down and relate to his sentiments of being an individual online receiving attention and the inevitable critical comments that come with success. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Justin: Squid Game Brian: So You’ve Been Publicly […]
Andrew’s getting really interested in the non-monetary uses for blockchains. Beyond currency and NFTs, what are some possibilities in Ethereum? Nobody knows, but we can speculate! Plus, pouring one out for Y: The Last Man. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Star Trek: Lower Decks and What We Do […]
What is “toil” in a work sense, what does toil do to your ability to work, and how do you defeat toil? Bryce made an app and it aims right at the heart of toil! We’re joined with John Teasdale, whose time in big tech can speak to the ills of toil. Send your project […]
Long-time friend of the pod Joe Diamond is in-studio to check out how he’s doing and see if he’s got any questions for Brian and Bryce. How well does Joe’s tactic of approaching other creators seem to work? How did COVID-19 affect his work as a stage performer and what are unique challenges to doing […]
What non-fiction have you been reading? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Andrew: Chaos Monkeys Justin: Anarchy, State, and Utopia Bryce: Freedom from Anxious Thoughts and Feelings Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via RSS and iTunes. […]
Listener Nick has a question: how do you set long-term goals? Breaking down big ideas and concepts into smaller, doable actions. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via RSS and iTunes. […]
How do you gauge how you should present yourself for different audiences? Code-switching, basically? The pressures of being “on.” Corporate versus casual environments. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Justin: Quiz Show Brian: Ted Lasso Bryce: Freedom From Anxious Thoughts and Feelings from Scott Symington Get After Things before anyone […]
Bad jobs! Everyone’s got stories, but what can we learn from them as employees and employers? Lynyrd Skynyrd corners, cougar feeding, and Keebler elves. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Ripley’s Game Justin: Guardians of the Galaxy Brian: Free Guy Bryce: The Silence of the Lambs Get After Things […]
With a new wave of COVID and a new report on global warming, how do you cut through the noise and engage with critial thinking? How does clickbait overshadow real, nuanced public conversation? Then, how do you set up your day? Voice assistants: frustrating! Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: […]
When viral content finally snags a sale, but loses the sale on the follow-through. How do you prepare for success? When building your product leads to product blindness. When are you ready to tell people about your thing? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: ScreenFlow Justin: I Think You […]
Brian talks about his experience leaving Dell in 199[8?] and going full-time as a magician plus a new experience of letting go for Brian. How can you let go? Bryce is supervising remote editors and is feeling a little unsure about how to…supervise! Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After […]
Bryce and Justin talk with Andrew about Great Night, the reboot of Night Attack. What went into the visual and structural decisions? How do you break a 7+ year old podcast and re-build it bigger and better? Plus, some sleep suggestions. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Bryce: Is ‘Futurama’ […]
Numbers for World’s Greatest Con! Brian and Justin share real numbers, day-one or not! What advice would they share for people making a project similar to World’s Greatest Con? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: GitHub Copilot Justin: Toast of London Brian: The Dark Tower book series from Stephen […]
We’ve got a comment from a listener following-up on Andrew’s…CO2 meter?! A scientifically accurate discussion on oxygen-carbon dioxide air mixtures. What’s a poison and what does it mean to get poisoned? Brian and Justin’s World Greatest Con podcast is now on Patreon, but they have conflict over skittish advertising money despite the successful launch. Websites […]
The finale of World’s Greatest Con season one is out now. How is it faring two weeks in? Brian’s dealing with a type of fragility and Justin is wrestling with his “greatest success ever.” Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Replit Justin: Fireside.fm Brian: Brian: World’s Greatest Con podcast […]
XXXXXXXXXX Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: New iPad Pro Brian: Rick & Morty Bryce: Hannibal Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via RSS and iTunes. Follow us on Facebook Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/AfterThings062121.mp3
Bryce seeks guidance on what his next steps with LFG Marbles should be. Brian and Justin are launching their new scripted podcast, “World’s Greatest Con.” How did they figure out what voice they wanted and how was it changing their working relationship? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things […]
Long-time listener Joe Diamond is in Austin and talks with the fellas how their advice to virtualize his show and how they can help now. Doing magic over a Zoom call. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Justin: Murder Among the Mormons Brian: yolo420.com/newsecret Bryce: AirPods Joe: The Adventures of […]
Andrew’s been scouring the behind-the-scenes features for The Hobbit. How do you make content that is engaging your audience and leaning into material that works. Brian wants to impart knowledge about creativity to his teenage daughter. How do you help someone fight the inevitable feeling of failure? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line […]
Bryce is back from time off! What did he do and what are some tips on doing a long staycation and self-learning JavaScript? Andrew read a Reddit thread that makes us question: what is the value of publishers? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: AirTags Justin: Seeing the Austin, […]
Ready for live events? Post Vaccine World. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Matt W. Ridley Justin: Cocaine and Rhinestones Podcast Brian: Sam Harris Podcast Cory: Invite friends to dinner party… Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to […]
Copyright Scare. Cool stuff by me – Substack. Apple Paid Podcast. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: The Hobbit (film series) Justin: Fireside FM Brian: Invincible Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via RSS and […]
Crypto Discussion with Cory. The basics of crypto with some does and don’ts to consider. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Scam Stuff Puzzle Box Justin: In Plain Sight: Lady Bird Johnson Podcast Brian: The Quick Fix Book Cory: Coinbase Pro Get After Things before anyone else (now with […]
Listener Tim wants advice on how to take his tutoring and essay-editing business online. How do you get started with a technical pivot and what resources should he try to take advantage. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird […]
Justin is moving to Austin soon: what advice can Brian and Bryce provide and where will Justin’s own studio space at home exist alongside Brian’s HQ studio space? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe […]
Listener Nicholas wants to know what he could do to get the word out about his acrylic goods site. How do you position your product to be more attractive and unique? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Nicholas’s site Picks: Pick: Alchemy from Eory Sutherland Get After Things before anyone else […]
Andrew’s new book “Black Coral” is out and it’s another #1 hit! What does it look like publishing through Amazon’s publishing house and how do you treat a series? Andrew shifted his email list over to Substack–what’s good and imperfect? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Comic Drake on […]
Just a short update today: Bryce’s first official marbles stream happened! What worked, where to go from here, and a messy situation. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Substack Justin: Substack Brian: This I Know from Terry O’Reilly Bryce: Elgato Stream Deck Get After Things before anyone else (now […]
Accidental financial fraud, the inspiration to make a bigger anything, and an update on Bryce’s marble league project after lots of After Things advice. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Bryce’s LFG Marbles site Brian: Brandt’s new YouTube channel, Emergent Beacon Get After Things before anyone else (now with […]
Bryce shares an update on his marbles league project. Should he interface with the company that develops the game? The boys re-iterate the power of email lists and ways Bryce can capture people who are interested before going live. The mailing list is live now at marbles.win. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line […]
Long-time listener Salina has a question about how to convert her Kickstarter backers to follow her next project. Bryce brings his new marbles game project to the guys for a once-over. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Being Evel Justin: Class Action Park Brian: Oculus Quest 2 Bryce: Airtable […]
Short and to the point this week! Listener Reddicent asks us how to handle a troll that has co-opted their Reddit SEO. Do you handle the trouble or don’t feed the trolls? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird […]
Andrew caught a strange commercial and found an incredibly successful creative project. How do you condense your project into a simple, quick story? Contains some broad discussion of The Mandalorian season 2 and the strengths and weaknesses of The Hero’s Journey. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Brian: Slay the […]
To round out the year, we all saw Wonder Woman 1984 and have…critical thoughts! What works, what doesn’t, and why Justin can have a public opinion on Captain Marvel now. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on […]
Bryce and Justin watched the latest action-sci-fi thrill ride, Tenet, and Brian doesn’t think he could be spoiled, so let’s spoil it! Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via RSS and […]
Listener Ken asks: are there really two types of podcast workflows? Plus, does Substack’s podcast feature offer serious competition to Patreon? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via RSS and iTunes. […]
Health and fitness! How do you keep active and healthy while staying at home? Apps, games, and software to burn calories. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via RSS and iTunes. […]
What will you do the same or different in 2021? A new year, a (technical) new decade, a chance for a newness in your life? What will the next ten years bring us in computing and media? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Justin: “Matt Drudge Logs Off” from Tablet […]
A huge insult in a virtual audition begs a conversation about respect in the creative industries, especially for those starting out or without means. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: ScreenFlow Justin: Extras and Life’s Too Short Bryce: Hades Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) […]
Productivity talk! Andrew recommended Notion a few weeks back and we dive deep into this multi-use workspace app. How do Justin and Andrew use this powerful tool? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: How to Tell the Story of a Cult from Sophie Gilbert Justin & Bryce: Notion Get […]
Let’s get an update on everyone’s projects. Justin’s put out all of Raise the Dead season 2. Brian’s helping promote Jason Murphy’s new book and it seems to be effective. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on […]
Listener Terry writes in about creating content for free and how that affects their community of paid content creators. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via RSS and iTunes. Follow us […]
Long-time listener David Pots has a question about making major changes to your business if you’re possibly leaving money on the table. Plus, the idea behind the spiky hair and why visual branding was so valuable in decades past. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Notion Brian: Star Trek: […]
Justin is on the precipice of Raise The Dead season two. What was it like writing a sequel season and what did he take away from the success of the first? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: The Outsider Justin: Lovecraft Country Bryce: The Simpsons Get After Things before […]
Fundo.Town, a new Google way to put together ticketed live events, chats, and workshops in one package. What other options are out there and what is the landscape of online event-holding? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: The Outsider Brian and Justin: Lovecraft Country Get After Things before anyone […]
Leaked video confirms the new Oculus Quest 2. What is new for the upgraded wireless VR headset? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: The Bit Player Justin: The Vow Brian: The Vow Bryce: I’m Thinking of Ending Things Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by […]
Piercing a bubble–an audiobook bubble! How do you find time to read? What other bubbles can you pierce? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Kindle family Justin: Fear City: New York vs the Mafia (anti-pick) Bryce: Good Sudoku Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by […]
Gamification is taking over all forms of communication and social media. Creativity and hard-work endures over time and the tools to create are becoming more accessible. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Star Trek: The Original Series and Live From the Space Stage: A HALYX Story Justin: The Vow […]
Schedules: let’s pencil a time to talk about that NOW! With Brian and crew in the middle of another Modern Rogue filming crunch, what are tips and techniques to making your calendar work? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Stock notes apps Justin: High Score Brian: The Fly Bryce: […]
Epic Games versus Apple makes us question: how do you handle building your thing on someone else’s platform/engine/site? Plus, the power in Facebook’s ad sales platform. Do you see value in paying to promote your new project and what are alternatives? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before […]
The role of mentorship in professional skill-building and advancement. What should and shouldn’t you take from a mentor and how do you maximize that experience? Who should you let mentor you? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Travel journals Justin: Unsolved Mysteries Brian: Greyhound Bryce: Selling Sunset Get After […]
TikTok is a massive social media platform, but it’s facing a major ban in America. What does that space look like? Long-time emailer James wants to know how to get followers over to other platforms. Plus, concerns around hot-water Patreon has gotten into. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: […]
Andrew’s got a “real” job and is experiencing the work-from-home virtualization for the first time. What things are here to stay and what will come out in the wash? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: The Witcher Justin: Game of Thrones Brian: Kindly Inquisitors from Jonathan Rauch Bryce: NPR […]
What advice would you give to a 20-year-old just starting with the creative arts? What’s the value to a newcomer tackling an America’s Got Talent or Fool Us? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: 6 Days to Air: The Making of South Park Justin: Apple Watch Brian: Total Recall […]
Brian developed a product that is absolutely not ideal for the socially-distanced COVID-19 world. How did he launch that product anyway, how did he market it, and was it successful? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Foundation from Isaac Asimov and Justin: Search Party and Brian: Terminator 3: Rise […]
Do we use note-taking systems and how to we record information? How do you go from notes and outlines to drafts and how can you make your first drafts even better? The difference between drawing motivation from media and from data. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: The Wisdom […]
With tax season upon us, how do we track and compile expenses? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Brian: The Last of Us Part II Bryce: Search Party Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via RSS […]
Justin’s embarking on a Politics! Politics! Politics! adventure, but traveling right now is dicey–let alone going to a packed political rally. What should he do logistically given a small apartment and a partner with health concerns? Quarantine at home? Rent a hotel room? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Justin: […]
Brian, Bryce, and the entire Modern Rogue crew have set out on a two-week film-a-thon. What sort of toil accompanies 14 days of filming and what does the state of the company look like in this flux state? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now […]
What piece of media has influenced us strongly as creators? Do you have one? Tell us–email the show at neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Kinds of Minds from Daniel C. Dennett and River Out of Eden from Richard Dawkins Justin: The works of Christopher Hitchens Brian: The Rational Optimist from Matt Ridley Bryce: […]
With “generative adversarial networks” AKA machine generated imagery, what does copyright look like if a visual output looks too much like the copywritten image inspiration? How would you feel if a computer model was trained on your works? Let us know how you feel, email the show at neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: […]
Check-in time. Brian found an anomaly in his email list: a surprise hit! How is Videogames w/ Bryce advancing? Is Jury’s Crystal podcast helpful or a depressive omen? (It’s not a depressive omen.) What’s next for Andrew after the #1 launch of The Girl Beneath the Sea? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line […]
Some tech talk and what habits will you keep up after shelter-in-place? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via RSS and iTunes. Follow us on Facebook Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/AfterThings042720.mp3
How was the launch of Andrew’s new “The Girl Beneath the Sea” and how did it end up on Amaon First Reads? More feedback and suggestions for Bryce’s gaming newsletter. How to inspire real engagement? Just ask! Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Stargate: Atlantis Justin: The Last Dance […]
Bryce dived into Quibi, a mobile-first streaming video service. How are the shows? Is it worth the price and does anything take advantage of the format yet? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Stargate Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on […]
Updates on everyone’s projects and how we’re impacted by being at home. Updates on Brian’s HQ compound, Justin’s Raise the Dead podcast and politics podcast, and Andrew’s new takeout.page project. Tackling mis-information in a hyper-evolving situation. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: The Wisdom of Crowds from James Surowiecki […]
What is the office of the future? How can you design your space to be productive and happy? Plus, what are the benefits of the pomodoro timer technique? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: The Future Is Faster Than You Think from Peter Diamandis Justin: Medical Police Brian: Battlestar […]
We know first-hand exactly how to handle working from home. How do you occupy yourself in a quarantine scenario? Staying on track and staying sane when you’re asked to stay home. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Logitech Crayon for iPad and Paperlike Justin: Medical Police Brian: Westworld Bryce: […]
An update one month into Bryce’s newsletter project. How do you write a valuable subject line? What’s the value proposition? Publishing do’s and don’t’s. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Vellum and Scrivener Bryce: Notepad++ Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things […]
Spotify seems to have a “fake artist” issue. How much of a problem is this? What can musicians do in response to that? Plus, some office design productivity tools/tips. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Scott Manley and Two Minute Papers Justin: Look Who’s Back Bryce: I Am Not […]
Justin’s found a significant up-tick in interest and funding from his politics podcast. How did he get here and what’s next? What’s easier to talk into: a political caucus of TwitchCon? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: The Future is Faster Than You Think from Peter Diamandis Justin: Shattered […]
After a weird slew of biblical comments on a new Mdoern Rogue video, Brian wants to know thoughts on how to handle comments now that the channel has gotten bigger. How did Bryce’s first week of having a newsletter go? Plus, anyone try Byte since we talked about it two weeks ago? Quan Quibi queep […]
Bryce is starting a mailing list–what are best practices and ways he can differentiate it from a blog or podcast? How often is too often and do you treat an all-content mailer different from a marketing mailer? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Bryce’s upcoming newsletter Brian: Mailchimp Bryce: […]
Byte AKA Vine 2.0 has launched. What does the short-form video space look like this many years since the death of Vine? Do TikTok’s short-comings make enough of an empty space for Byte? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Justin: Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Brian: 1917 Bryce: Elgato Stream […]
How do you know if you’re “working hard enough?” When is perfect the enemy of good and what do you do when you reach the limits of what you can achieve with infinite time? Sprinting versus marathon style paces. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Company Man and Justin: […]
When should you go “all-in”? Always keep an eye on what your next thing will be. And don’t forget about networking–we certainly do. Be on your behavior because you aren’t invisible. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: The Toys That Made Us Justin: Schitt’s Creek Bryce: Community Get After […]
Brian is starting to write a book. Will his idea of how to write and disseminate it make sense and will he really own it? Can the power of crowdsourcing overcome any of the work on writing a book? Taking an idea and strengthening it with the power of a massive community. Send your project […]
It’s a spoilercast of the final movie in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon! Subscribe to After Things via RSS and iTunes. Follow us on Facebook […]
Weird Things podcast is about ten years old. How were things different back then and what’s changed in how we work? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
After Things will be off next week!
Picks:
Andrew: The PayPal Wars from Eric M. Jackson
Justin: Rick and Morty
Brian: The Righteous Mind from Jonathan Haidt
Bryce: Waterminder
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Justin’s new “Raise the Dead” podcast came out and charted among news podcasts. How well did it do and where is it now, six days after the first episode? How should he monetize the show as the remaining five episodes come out? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Andrew: Otter.ai
Brian: Mr. Robot
Bryce: Discolored and ICESPRING Phone Clip Holder
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Andrew’s got a challenge for anyone preparing to work on a project: push yourself to get something completed in 24 hours. How do you handle projects that are indefinite in length and how can you feel good about ending and starting anew? Burnout and “seasonal” projects in media today. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Justin’s new historical podcast, “Raise The Dead,” launches this week! Find all the links and subscribe now at RaiseTheDeadPodcast.com.
Picks:
Andrew: Otter voice transcription and Google Audio Recorder
Justin: The Irishman
Bryce: Xenosaga Episode I (Full Movie Cut)
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Justin’s got a new audiobook/ebook/podcast coming next week, “Raise the Dead.” How does he promote it? Check out the first episode early on his “Politics Politics Politics” podcast this week. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Andrew: Justin’s email list – Free Political Newsletter
Justin: The Toys That Made Us
Brian: What You Do Is Who You Are from Ben Horowitz
Bryce: Pokemon Sword
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What’s something you put off doing for a long time, finally did, and then wondered how you could have lived without having done it? Is any digital writing system as effective as physical writing? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Justin: VIZ-PRO Magnetic Whiteboard/Dry Erase Board
Brian: The Righteous Mind
Bryce: Plain Stationary RESEARCH NOTES and Varsity Pilot
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Beginner’s tips and advice for anyone getting started in writing, podcasting, video-making and more. The landscapes have shifted even in the past couple of years, so what’s the best way to get started? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Andrew: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big from Scott Adams
Justin: GLOW
Brian: Watchmen
Bryce: Guildlings
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We’re joined with science-fiction writer/editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt to talk about the current publishing landscape for someone with and without resources. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Andrew: How To Write A Novel from Bryan Thomas Schmidt and
Justin: “Fake news? No jobs? Prospective journalists soldier on” and
Brian: On Writing and
Bryan: The Emotion Thesaurus and
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Listener Terry wrote in about what to do if you’ve got a back-catalogue of content, but you wish it were made better. Should they re-edit? Remove? Move forward? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Andrew: Good Omens
Justin: Politicon
Brian: Journey
Emails this week! Listener David wants to know when the best time to copyright/trademark something would be. Listener and Modern Rogue guest James Harrison asks what to do with his notoriety from being on the YouTube videos. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Andrew: Cloudflare
Justin: Misbehavin’ (now on Spotify)
Brian: The Infinite Game
Bryce: Daemon X Machina
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It’s a spoiler-filled episode talking about the firestorm that is Joker and the chaotic city and world it represents. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Check out Andrew’s new The Naturalist book, “Dark Pattern,” out very soon!
Picks:
Andrew: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Frank Miller)
Brian: (Anti-Pick) El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
Bryce: Mr. Robot
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Justin gives us a review of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in this very brief edition of After Things. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
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We share our lifehacks! Wrangle your notifications, lay out your next steps, parcel out your time, and more to work smarter and find work easier. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Andrew: BritBox
Justin: Untitled Goose Game
Brian: Stan Lee’s Alliances: A Trick of Light
Bryce: Mini Motorways
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The new Diamond Club Studios is open. What was it like to put it together and what are the next steps? Plus, Andrew has a new find in the food tech space. Can there truly be a better cereal? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”
Picks:
Andrew: Carnival Row
Justin: Hustlers
Brian: Infinity Train and Prodigy
Bryce: Over the Alps (Apple Arcade)
Get After Things before anyone else (now with early RSS!) by supporting Weird Things on Patreon!
Subscribe to After Things via RSS and iTunes.
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Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/AfterThings092319.mp3