Special guest Merlin Mann returns to the show. Topics include the renewal of U.S. law enforcement officials' disingenuous campaign against iPhone encryption, the Houston Astros cheating scandal, how that cheating scandal relates to the Trump impeachment saga, and Catalyst and the art of Mac software design. But mostly we talk about finding a good pair of slippers.

Special guest Glenn Fleishman returns to the show. Topics include iPhone encryption, the privacy implications of widely-available reverse image search for faces, deep-learning-powered algorithmically-generated faces, and Jeopardy’s “Greatest of All Time” tournament.

Special guest Ben Thompson returns to the show to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the iPad.

Special guest John Moltz returns to the show. Topics include Larry Tesler and his “no modes” mantra for UI design, the state of malware on the Mac, third-party default apps on iOS, Apple and the coronavirus outbreak, and a record number of tips and tricks.

First-time guest Federico Viticci joins the show. Topics include how the coronavirus outbreak might affect WWDC, speculation on a possible March Apple event, the state of iPad keyboard (and trackpad) support, and iPadOS multitasking.

Jason Snell returns to the show. Life during the COVID-19 pandemic, WWDC going online-only, Apple's in-person on-campus workplace culture, speculation on upcoming Apple product releases, and more.

Matthew Panzarino returns to the show. Topics include the brand new MacBook Air and iPad Pros, and, you know, global pandemics in the internet age.

Rene Ritchie returns to the show to talk about going independent after 11 years at iMore. Topics include the new MacBook Air and iPad Pros, and we answer questions sent by listeners.

Joanna Stern returns to the show to talk about working from home, the utter suckitude of laptop webcams, the new MacBook Air, and Face ID in our new world of face-mask-wearing.

Dieter Bohn joins the show to talk about the iPad Magic Keyboard, the new iPhone SE, and the state of Android flagship phones.

Special guest Adam Engst joins the show to celebrate 30 years of TidBITS — the only publication going strong today that started as a weekly HyperCard stack.

Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about jazz and the art of mental health.

Art Neville was an American singer, songwriter, and keyboardist whose music and presence over five decades defined the New Orleans music scene. In this edition of Liner Notes Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about the life and legacy of Art Neville.

Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about the life and work of jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny.

Where do we consider being at home? When do we feel that we belong in a place and how quickly can we become dispossessed? In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about how jazz traces various migrations – some arbitrary, some forced, and some chosen – and beyond appropriation...

Les McCann is an American jazz pianist and vocalist. In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about McCann’s influential life and work, and how it can inform us today.

Azar Lawrence is an American jazz saxophonist who was hired by McCoy Tyner following the death of John Coltrane. In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about what Lawrence can teach us about continuing a legacy, finding our voice, and knowing our value while holding on to our mortality.

Terry Gibbs is an American vibraphonist and bandleader who remains the oldest bebopper at the age of 95. In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about what Gibbs’s long career can teach us about inclusion and unity in the face of isolation and fear.

In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about what the life and music of Palmieri can teach us about identity, the power of movement, and the necessity of community. Eddie Palmieri is an American pianist, bandleader, musician, and composer of Puerto Rican ancestry. He is the founder of the...

What does it mean to create a legacy? How do we hold at once the future and the present as we move through the world? In this installment of Liner Notes with Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe, we learn about the life and career of jazz great Joe Lovano, who continues to collaborate and...

How does the sudden loss of a central figure change the local music community? How does the community deal with that loss? In this installment of Liner Notes with Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe, we learn about the life and career of Austin jazz pianist Rich Harney who passed away on Jan. 5, 2020....

Rabbi Neil Blumofe talks about the life of Jack Sheldon following his passing on Dec 27, 2019.

Rabbi Neil Blumofe explores the life and work of pianist, improviser and composer Myra Melford.

Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon.

Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe teaches us about multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, composer and arranger Ralph Towner. Born in Washington, Towner incorporated improvisation into much of his work. 

On this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe remembers the legendary patriarch of New Orleans Jazz, Ellis Marsalis.

Manuel Gonzales, author of “The Miniature Wife: and Other Stories,” is interviewed by Owen Egerton in the inaugural episode of “The Write Up.” Plus we’ll hear book reviews with Owen’s lovely parents!

On this installment of The Write Up host Owen Egerton interviews and the co-creator, writer and director of the Intergalactic Nemesis, Jason Neulander. Neulander’s story is one to inspire adventurers everywhere to take just one more climb up the mountain or trip out to sea. He bravely fought the forces of rationality to go on...

On this edition of The Write Up, host Owen Egerton sits down with novelist Louisa Hall, author of The Carriage House. Plus we’ll hear book reviews of Cats Cradle and Stiff!

Always Remain a Beginner Interviews on the Write Up come out more as conversations than a scripted line of questioning. The authors who are featured bring their own spirit and personality into the discussion and the conversation spins to wonderfully surprising places. Our episode with award-winning poet Carrie Fountain is a perfect example. Talking with...

Doug Dorst is a wonder at words and worlds. He’s a master of bringing the known and unknown, the mundane and the strange, into immediate proximity to one another is such a way that the line begins to fade. Whether it’s insecure police officers encountering restless ghosts romping through northern California in his debut novel...

Amanda Eyre Ward on compassion, gratitude and “The Same Sky.” In this episode of The Write Up, Amanda talks with host Owen Egerton about the calling of telling stories of the voiceless and powerless, the importance of looking past politics and statistics to the faces of real people, and the ways in which exploring the...

Author Scott Blackwood talks about his new novel “See How Small,” with host Owen Egerton.

K.A. Holt loves middle grade novels and poetry and has a gift for both. Her novel Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel won praise from middle grade readers all over the nation. Her poetry shines in her collection Haiku Mama: Because 17 Syllables is All You Have Time to Read, written under the name Kari Anne...

Sarah Hepola’s new memoir, Blackout: Remembering Things I Drank to Forget, chronicles her addiction to alcohol with brutal honesty and brilliant humor. The book is gaining critical acclaim from reviewers in The New York Times, The Washington Post, LA Times, and Kirkus Reviews. Entertainment Weekly observed, “It’s hard to think of another memoir that burrows...

Debra Monroe Debra Monroe is an award winning author of six books and acclaimed university professor. But she was, in her own words, “ raised to be a farmer’s wife, a shopkeeper’s wife, a telephone man’s wife.” In her most recent memoir, My Unsentimental Education, Monroe chronicles her journey from the backstreet bars and the...

Writer Ada Calhoun discusses her new book, “St. Marks Is Dead: The Many Lives of America’s Hippest Street,” with host Owen Egerton.

On this edition of The Write Up we chat with novelist, playwright, and professor Kirk Lynn about the craft of writing, the adventure of theater, and the deep desire to abandon society and escape into the wild. We also discuss his debut novel Rules for Werewolves. Lynn began writing prose in college, but found the...

Novelist, screenwriter, critic and slam poet C. Robert Cargill sits down with host Owen Egerton at SXSW 2016 to talk about coming up in Austin, the history of scary movies, and advising on the set of Dr. Strange.

I’ve long been a fan of the beautifully dark and bitingly funny fiction of Amelia Gray. Her short story collections AM/PM, Museum of the Weird, and most recently Gutshot rank among my favorite books to pick up for a quick, smiling nightmare. Her novel Threats digs deeply into grief and melancholy, so deeply that the...

In this episode of The Write Up, we talk with prizewinning journalist and nonfiction writer Juliana Barbassa about her book Dancing with the Devil in the City of God: Rio de Janeiro on the Brink depicting the beauty, crime, pressures, and violent paradoxes shaping Brazil’s most vibrant city. Juliana Barbassa has lived and written all...

In this episode of The Write Up, Owen talks to George Saunders about craft, ecstatic empathy, and the afterlife in his new novel Lincoln in the Bardo.   George Saunders is an award winning and New York Times bestselling author of essays, short stories, novellas, and children’s books. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker,...

Dan Chaon is the author of three short story collections. His short fiction has received multiple awards including publication in the Pushcart Prize Anthology, Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Prize stories. Chaon’s first novel Await Your Reply was a national bestseller, and his second novel Among the Missing was a finalist for the...

Scott Westerfeld is a bestselling author of books for both children and adults best known for his young adult series Uglies and Leviathan. While on tour with his new graphic novel Spill Zone, Westerfeld spoke with The Write Up host Owen Egerton about monsters, collaboration, teenagers and storytelling. Westerfeld’s recent projects have embraced visual storytelling. From the stunning illustrations...

I'm trying to place a video that I believe someone put in a comment in the blue a while back. It's an animated YouTube video (with stick figures IIRC) by a fairly well known channel that's about why, especially online, taking an aggressive stance, always attacking, and never admitting error works so well (it makes you look like you're winning even if you aren't and that's all that matters). Just can't seem to track it down in search or in my head. Thanks!

How can we prepare for and mitigate the effects of economic depression as residents of a major US city (NYC)?

It's clear the world is headed for an extended economic depression. History teaches us that cities are badly affected by depressions. Crime goes up, local services get worse, "-isms" get worse, the world gets.....meaner and smaller and less stable.

We're fortunate enough that my partner and I are unlikely both to be made unemployed at the same time in the medium term and will thus keep our home and be able to pay bills. (And yes, we realize this is a position of immense privilege)

What should people such as ourselves - middle-class, middle-aged apartment owners who are not on the edge of precarity - do mentally and physically to prepare for and mitigate the consequences of economic depression?

I'm seeking advice on BOTH the mechanics of the obvious:, like improved situational awareness and security for themselves and their belongings, but ALSO other advice on activities, mentalities etc.

Open to links to discussions on this from other places as well..

We live in Queens, NY, near some neighborhoods that are already economically badly affected and will get worse. So, obviously, I'm particularly interested in NYC, USA, but more general relevant advice is welcome.

Years ago, when Fullmetal Alchemist (the first one) aired, someone released an mp3 of the seiyuu/voice actor for Roy Mustang either counting sheep or just plain counting in Japanese, probably from 1 to 100 or similar. It was extremely soothing. I have since lost my copy, and haven't had any luck finding it on the internet--does anyone know where to find this audio file?

These sweatpants are my everyday wear while we shelter in place. I'm looking for something similar but in a much lighter, summer weight. Key features: - elastic waist - roomy in the belly (that's where I carry my excess weight) - pockets (!) - full length pants (31" inseam so not "Tall" but a little longer than some) - made in USA

I was suppose to "visit" the Middle East, but due to the virus my trip was canceled. Now I'm just daydreaming while I doddle away at home in the midst of quarantine. So I just wanted to know, where are some super underrated/unknown/unvisited areas of the Middle East/N. Africa that people don't commonly go to?

For example, I was suppose to be in Sulaymaniyah, in N. Iraq, which is suppose to be an amazing place. I've never heard of anybody ever visiting there. What are some under-disclosed spots? Thanks! Just trying to perform some mental escapism here and read and learn about some neat places I've never heard of.

Working from home on an entry-level 16-inch 2019 MBP running Catalina.

I currently use an ancient 27-inch Apple monitor (so ancient that I have to daisy-chain a Thunderbolt 1-2 adapter and Thunderbolt 2-USB-C adapter to use it). It works fine, but I really miss having my two-monitor work setup (for various reasons, the laptop screen doesn't work for me in this role). Just using Word and Excel and similar here, no crazy graphic demands. Ability to pass through power to the laptop, or to dock other peripherals, would be nice, but is not required. What should I be looking at?

Wrinkle: my desk is against the window the view from which is the one aesthetically appealing aspect of this apartment. There's no way a second monitor won't tragically increase the amount of the view that's blocked, but I would prefer a compact footprint. Maybe one that can rotate to portrait mode?