Quirks mode

Announcement: from this week onwards, Podcasts for Nerds is switching to a fortnightly format. I want to stress that this is because I'm lazy, and not because I think you're lazy. A lot of the feedback I'm getting is that you folks don't have enough time to listen to the recommendations - and that's fine! The whole premise of this newsletter is that you can cherrypick the shows that appeal to you. Don't feel bad about saying to me "I don't really listen to many of them, but that one that I did listen to was awesome!": that's literally the whole point of this newsletter.

Three great episodes to listen to this week:

Tailwind, Where to Find Inspiration, SVG Corrections, and Web Workers, ShopTalk Show (55mins, 2020-08-10)

This is probably the podcast I've listened to for the longest. At first it was a great way to learn more about frontend development, but over time (as is often the way with podcasts) I've come to feel that I know the hosts. Now it feels like I'm just hanging out with friends. This feeling intensified this week when STS co-host Chris Coyier joined me and the li'l bro on a recording of the A Question of Code podcast. Now I know for sure that Chris is as fun to hang out with as he sounds. We've included a "special" episode of STS on this list before, but this week's episode (number 425!) is a better example of what STS is really all about: frontend web chat. Find it here.

1.01: PILOT, The West Wing Weekly (46mins, 2016-03-22)

I considered not including TWWW in this newsletter because even though I'm a generic nerd, I'm aware this show is very much a particular quirk of mine. But it ended up being one of my all time favourite podcasts, and it was really successful so there must be plenty of other weirdos like me out there. The premise? Can you even say you've binge-watched an old series if you didn't consume the watchalong podcast too? The West Wing Weekly is just that: a discussion about an episode of the West Wing TV show, one a week from start to finish. I suspect you probably do have to be a fan of the West Wing to properly "get" the show, but I think this podcast is great and just gets better as it goes along. I binged all ~200 episodes in a couple of months (along with the obligatory WW re-watch, too). Find it here.

Gregor, Heavyweight (47mins, 2016-09-24)

Heavyweight is a very highly reviewed and exquisitely produced show, and I've only ever listened to one episode. I thought it was brilliant, and great example of non-fiction storytelling in audio - but I'm pretty sure I mostly liked it because of the premise. "20 years ago, Gregor lent some CDs to a musician friend. The CDs helped make him a famous rockstar. Now, Gregor would like some recognition. But mostly, he wants his CDs back." See? And it's better than it sounds, too. I doubt the other episodes are a strong as this, so I've avoided them. Reply to this email if you've heard the other episodes and think I'm wrong; I'd hate to be missing out on an awesome show. (Hang on, doesn't that completely reverse the point of this newsletter?! Oops.) Find it here.

Not a podcast, but...

Uh oh - CGP Grey was wrong on the internet. He released a video with (in his opinion) a massive error. His video explaining and deconstructing how the mistake happened is actually more entertaining than the original video (which was quite interesting to start with). It's very "inside baseball", but you know by now that "inside baseball" is my favourite genre of content by far.* Watch it here.

As always, feel free to forward this email to someone you think might like it. And if you've been forwarded this email (by someone awesome, no doubt), you can sign up for yourself at podcastsfornerds.com to be sent all future issues.

Thanks again, Tom.

* There is no actual baseball content in any of these recommendations.