This is where I share what I’m using, listening to, and reading. These lists evolve often, so keep an eye on the blog for a quick breakdown of any new additions or changes.
Apps/Services/Etc
- Phone: I use an iPhone Mini 13, it is still the perfect sized phone and I will use it until the day it stops getting updates! (well probably not that long, but it really is the perfect sized phone) Anytime I pick up a normal sized Pro I am taken back by the weight. I do miss a bigger battery and better camera, but the tradeoffs are worth it.
- Web Publishing: This site is published using WordPress and it’s hosted on Spaceship.
- Email: My personal email using my own domain is hosted on iCloud+, and I access it using the default E-mail app on iOS and Thunderbird on Linux Mint. If you buy any iCloud plan, you get plus and the e-mail works very well and uses standards that makes it accessible wherever you are. Something Gmail does not do which is why I went down this road.
- Podcasts: I use Overcasts to listen to podcasts, and have done so since the app came out years ago outside of a few moments where I look at where other apps stand. As someone who subscribes to a lot more than I listen to Overcast works the way I need. I set all episodes to stream and swipe away episodes easily as I decide what to keep or ignore.
- Music: Right now I am using Spotify, but that is because I find their playlist curation really good. Everything else about the app and service I hate, so good chance I end up back on Apple Music. Spotify pushing podcasts and books has bloated the app to almost the point of no return.
- Bookmark Manager: Since I use a mix of browsers and operating systems I rely on a bookmark manager for sync and I use Raindrop. It does exactly what I need it to do.
- Cloud Storage: I use a combination of iCloud Drive and Dropbox. I rely on Dropbox for most of my important documents as it works on every operating system really well. The Files app integration on iOS is what makes it better than Google Drive for me. iCloud is home to my photos and other random stuff since a few apps on iOS rely on it.
Podcasts
- 99% Invisible
- Accidental Teach Podcast
- Baseball Bar-B-Cast
- Bill Simmons Podcast
- Bowery Boys
- Brian Windhorst Hoop Collective
- Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
- Dan Lebatard Show
- Decoder
- Effectively Wild
- Good Hang with Amy Poheler
- If Books Could Kill
- Intelligent Machines
- Pablo Torre Finds Out
- Puck Soup
- Search Engine
- Shutdown Fullcast
- Split Zone Duo
- The Poscast
- The Talk Show
- The War on Cars
- This American Life
- This Week in Tech
- Three Man Weave
- Vergecast
- Zach Lowe Show
- Zero to Well Read
Newsletters
- New York Times – The Morning
- New York Times – The World
- New York Times – The Weekender
- The City – The City Scoop
- The Verge – Installer
- Molly White – Citation Needed
- Kottke Newsletter
Books
Currently Reading
- Empire Falls by Richard Russo – Notes: A book I have had on a want to read list for a while, so finally picked it up.
- The Doorman by Chris Pavone – Notes: A friend reccomend this book based on another one of Pavone’s novels and I have to say it’s a slog and I am only a quarter through. So far just a bunch of lazy tropes, will finish and report back!
Recently Finished
- Before Elvis by Author – Preston Lauterbach I really enjoyed the story this book told even though the actual writing was medicore at best. It’s a quick read that it is worth it.
- The Power Broker by Robert Caro – I first read this book over 20 years ago, but with all the recent buzz around its 50th anniversary, I decided to listen to it again on Audible. Still great, and still very long! One thing that stood out this time is how much of today’s nostalgia for the press we “used to have” is really a longing for something that never existed. The book makes clear that Moses was able to accomplish so much precisely because the press helped keep the public in the dark. There was no shortage of news coverage back then, and yet reporters largely stood down in the face of power. With one notable exception: the New York Post (yes, pre-Murdoch, it was actually a pretty decent rag).
- Life After Cars by Doug Gordon and Sarah Goodyear – As an avid listener of The War on Cars podcsat, this was a must read as soon as it was released. It’s a very good fast read on the history of the automible, and it’s impacts on society. Then it does the important thing, discusses where we go from here and how we get there as a society.
- Razor Girl – by Carl Hiaasen – I read a few of his books and they were always a fun and entertaining novels. They are mostly based in Florida and revolve around the craziness of that world in a funny and witty way, Then Apple turned one of the books, Bad Monkey, into a series which I loved. This book is the second of the series with Bad Moneky and it did not disappoint.