This Week in Podcasts

WWDC has come and gone, and in its wake Apple has left us a number of great analytical shows discussing the implications of its announcements. Podcasts on this subject are not the only ones you will find here, though: this week, as always, I have something for everyone.

Crush on Radio Episode 02: The Sad Beautiful Fact. Richard Anderson of Sanspoint had Patrick Rhone on to talk about the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. As was the case when Rich and Merlin dove into a lengthy discussion of The Wrens, I had never heard of this production before; and just as I still ended up enjoying Rich and Merlin’s talk immensely, so too did I find this conversation surprisingly interesting. These shows are so remarkably well done, though, so how could I not?

Cultivate Episode 10: We Wouldn’t Have The Mac If We Didn’t Have The Apple I. From the time when making inflammatory declarations as to what did and did not constitute a good podcast was (quite literally, in some cases) all the rage, Jamie and Ben took an even-handed approach to the subject and then used it as a way in to talking about actually creating the thing you want to see rather than simply complaining about its absence. Very valuable advice regardless of how far along you are towards your creative goals.

Cultivate Episode 12: All I Want to Do is Make You Happy. Fantastic talk between Jamie Ryan, Ben Alexander, and Andrew Clark of The Menu Bar and Numerical on actually buckling down to get real work done, and how carrying definitions of success can determine whether or not the same outcome is perceived as a failure or the success it just might be. Once again, a valuable episode for anyone in the creative professions.

Cultivate Episode 15: Maybe They Can Both be True. Ben and Jamie discuss the then-hot issue of sponsorships and impartiality amongst podcasters and writers, sharing many insights that I wish were more prevalent amongst the people who most often talk about these things. Also, turns out no one in podcasting makes any money.

Welcome to Night Vale Episode 48: Rennovations. I described the last episode of this show as “haunting”, and this time around I would use the word “euphoric”: oddly enough, for some reason that is exactly what I felt as Cecil regained his rightful place at the helm of Nightvale’s one and only independent organization not under the control of Strexcorp, and the city’s citizens finally began to recognize their oppressive overlords for what they really are. I haven’t looked forward to the next episode of a podcast as much as I’m looking forward to episode #49 in quite some time; this is truly one of the best podcasts currently broadcasting, and easily the greatest of the fiction genre. So great.

Pragmatic Episode 23: Maximum Erasability. John Chidgey and Seth Clifford take a deep dive into the world of collaboration through whiteboards and this medium’s extensive history. A nod back to the exhaustive detail and historical perspective that made me so find of Pragmatic in the beginning; it’s great to see John moving back towards those roots.

The a16z Podcast: The Apple WWDC 2014 Deep Dive. Detailed and succinct overview of this week’s WWDC Keynote address as well as its ripple effects, courtesy of Benedict Evans and Dave Jagoda. I actually had not seen the keynote when I listen to this episode, so I can say from first-hand experience that it truly is a great place to start if, for some reason, you can’t devote two hours to watching the keynote.

Debug Episode 38: WWDC 2014 developer roundtable. By my measure the best WWDC coverage to come out last week, with ATP Episode 68, Siracusa Waited Impatiently for This, a close second and The Prompt Episode 51, Developer Christmas, coming in third. Myke, Federico, and Stephen had no intention of covering everything announced during the keynote in this one episode though, so I expect this ranking to change in the coming weeks as they expand their focus. We’re Getting Geeky from Five More THings was also pretty good, but definitely geared towards a less technically-minded crowd. So much so, in fact, that I completely dismissed it the first time around as so out of touch to be completely unlistenable and wholly unworthy of my time. Come for the Apple news, then, but stay for the other topics.