It’s been a while since I’ve posted. The start of the academic quarter has been busier than usual. Rather than a full post, here’s a list of podcasts and newsletters that have been in my rotation lately.
Casey Johnston — She’s a Beast
I subscribed to Johnston’s newsletter after reading her memoir A Physical Education over the summer, and it had a significant effect on me. Much of Johnston’s frustrations and struggles with exercise and diet resonated with me, and the book turned me on to weight lifting. Happy to report that I’m having a blast with it. (I’m eating so much ice cream and I do not care at all.) She has an easy, conversational style that’s a delight to read and a knack for rendering complex subjects accessible. Plus, I’m drawn to anyone who takes an experimental approach to living their life. Who knew lifting and dieting could be a space for play and curiosity?
Brian Merchant — Blood in the Machine
The CSU’s landmark deal with OpenAI has meant that I’ve needed to learn more about AI than I’ve ever really cared to know. Like Johnston, Merchant has a knack for explaining difficult subjects in accessible terms. Also, like Johnston, his writing is a pleasure to read. His series on the impacts of AI on fields like translation, graphic design, and other forms of work has been fascinating and depressing, but there’s enough hope throughout his work to make it all bearable. One of the constant refrains I appreciate about his reporting is that we don’t need to accept AI, or at least this version of it, as inevitable, despite what tech companies, CSU admin, and other tech boosters might want us to think. Anyway, he has a book out on the Luddites, which I haven’t read, but am hoping to get to over the winter break. Smash the machines.
Paris Marx — Tech Won’t Save Us
Surprise, surprise — I learned about Johnston and Merchant’s respective work via their guest appearances on this podcast. It’s critical tech reporting with a leftist bent. In addition to the thoroughness and clarity of Marx’s reporting and interviewing, I appreciate the lack of sensationalism, even though Marx and his guests don’t sugar coat anything. Again, the reporting on AI and the tech industry has been super helpful for gaining necessary perspective on the hype and panic that’s flooding popular media right now. Again, smash the machines.
Adal Rifai, Erin Keif, and John Patrick Coan — Hey, Riddle, Riddle
Enough serious stuff, cause I also need to laugh. This is an improvisational comedy podcast, and its one of the few podcasts for which I’ve retained my paid subscription since I first subscribed somewhere in the depths of the COVID-19 shutdown. The original idea was that they would do riddles and then use those riddles as inspiration for short improv scenes. It still sort of fits that model, although they do fewer riddles than they used to. The main feed is worth it alone, but they are generous with their additional bonus episodes. I tend not to enjoy the long-form improv as much as some of the other episodes, but I’m rarely disappointed with what I get.
Steven A. Ruszczycky, PhD 