One of the few bright spots of 2020 is that it has allowed some people to discover amazing new talents. Like this guy who plays the Harry Potter theme…on his washing machine!

💜 “Weird Al” Yankovic Turns “One More Minute” into a Social Distancing Anthem - YouTube

🔖 I haven’t laughed so hard in weeks. – “Hello (From the Inside)” Adele Parody Video by Chris Mann

My wife and her choir’s Christmas concert! ❤️ – PCO & SC Choral Society: A Christmas Celebration - YouTube

What if Bach wrote Last Christmas? – Baroque cover version 🎵

Bringing some holiday cheer into your lives. 🎄Drunk Lady Sings 12 Days of Christmas - YouTube

This might be the greatest YouTube video of all time. — Package Thief vs Glitter Bomb

Every year or two, I used to publish a list of podcasts that I was currently enjoying. I axed those posts when I moved my blog earlier this year, since they were pretty out of date. However, it is time to resurrect them with a new version. For some of the shows below, I’ve simply copied out what I wrote about them previously, but there are some new entries in the list as well. My tastes tend to be cyclical, so some shows come and go. Those below comprise a mix of ones which have stood the test of time for me, or are currently at the top of my must-listen priority list. I hope you can find something you’ll enjoy as well among these gems.

• The Accidental Tech Podcast Is a Technology Discussion Show Hosted by the Incomparable Marco Arment, John Siracusa, and Another Guy. (Just Kidding, We All Know Who You Are Now, Casey Liss).
• Upgrade is another Apple-centric podcast hosted by Jason Snell and Mike Hurley. It’s also a great listen.
• Automators digs deep into automation on various platforms, including macOS and iOS. It’s just too good! Even experienced users will learn a thing or two from this show, but its also a great place to start if you’re just becoming interested in automation.
• The History Chicks is simply the best history podcast out there—at least as far as I’m concerned, and I listen to quite a few of them. Each episode focuses on a different woman from any part of history, giving tons of context, background, and tidbits that will keep you coming back for more. I find history podcasts to be kind of addictive in the first place, and this is the best of that genre.
• Everything Is Alive is an interview-style show with one tremendous difference: all of the guests are inanimate objects. Seriously, it’s great. Go listen to it. Right now.
• 99 Percent Invisible explores the world of design, whether that’s architecture, clothing, musical instruments, coins, or anything else under the sun. It is fascinating.
• GrammarGirl provides tips and tricks for writing, not always restricted to just grammar. Mignon Fogarty has been doing this successfully since the early days of podcasting, and is there any wonder why? This show is a fantastic resource that she manages to keep both informative and entertaining.
• NPR Ask Me Another is a trivia game show for geeks by geeks, featuring the music of the talented Jonathan Coulton.
• Welcome to Night Vale is very, very hard to describe. Essentially, it is an ongoing story and audio drama set in the fictional desert community of Night Vale. The show’s hero is a host on the local radio station, and each episode largely takes place during his broadcasts. The show is both hilarious and creepy. Many have described it in a variety of ways, but I like to say that it seems like what might’ve been the brain child of Stephen King and the Onion. In fact, there’ve been a few Stephen King reference throughout the series thus far. It’s brilliant!

I’m three episodes into the new She-Ra series on Netflix. There are definitely elements I would have done differently, but on the whole I’m thoroughly enjoying it. ⚔️

My 7-year-old self makes a brief appearance in this great video about She-Ra. ⚔️

New She-Ra teaser trailer is here. ⚔️🙌🏻

🔖 Fascinating. 🤨🖖🏽 — BREAKING: Ethan Peck Cast As Spock On ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 2

Parallel #1 is just too good! Hosted by Shelly Brisbin and guest starring Larry Skutchan and Stephen Hackett, tech royalty in their respective fields. I loved every single second of it. And dammit! Stephen continues to make me want to collect old Apple computers. 😱

I am so excited to see Parallel join Relay.FM! It’s a fabulous podcast that brings the mainstream and accessibility segments of the tech industry together, hosted by my friend Shelly Brisbin. Check it out! You won’t be disappointed. 🎧🎤

You just could not pay me enough to go skydiving. ✈️😱

And here’s an alternate version of the Haven Divided trailer, narrated for the visually impaired. 📚

Check out and share the official book trailer for Haven Divided! 📚

Between season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery 🖖🏽 and the new She-Ra ⚔️ series, this is the first year with multiple TV shows I am very much anticipating in a vary long time.

🔖 She-Ra and Girl Culture - Kimberly Hirsh

I’m a huge Masters of the Universe fan. I really hope this is good. A new She-Ra series is coming to Netflix!

Episode 305 of 99% Invisible tells the story of the Laff Box, the contraption which was used to generate laugh tracks for TV for decades. It’s a preview of a new podcast called Decoder Ring.

I’m in the modern minority, in that I actually like sitcoms with laugh tracks, but I don’t understand why it has to be an either/or stance. Some people hate laugh tracks; some staunchly support them. I think there is room for both formats on television. Part of what makes I Love Lucy, Three’s Company or Friends so great is that they were all performed before studio audiences, some of the laughs being “sweetened” not withstanding. Those three shows are among my all-time favorite sitcoms, in no small part because the actors are playing to the audience. But I also love The Wonder Years, an early example of a show without a laugh track.

The history of the Laff Box is interesting and entertaining as presented by Decoder Ring. I only wish that it hadn’t been so biased against its use. I don’t think we need to start overlaying a laugh track on The Office or Modern Family, but I don’t think shows should be shying away from it either just because it isn’t in vogue.

🔖 As an avid audiobook fan and someone who enjoys the nostalgia of vinyl, this is so cool. Plus, the book in question is one of my all-time favorites. So fun! 📚 – Audiobook 42 years overdue returned to Johnson County Library

🔖 All I ask is for it to be a good film. – Nee Brothers to direct Masters of the Universe

This is amazing, and I desperately want to see it succeed. For years, I’ve been frustrated by the lack of access to comics for those, such as myself, with visual impairments. New Worlds is seeking to change that. They already have a few comics available in audio. I’ve read both issues of Winter, and both the formula and the story itself are fantastic. Even better, they’re charging the typical comic book pricing of $3 per issue, which is, frankly, a steal. Let’s give these guys all the support we can and make it possible to have access to more titles in the future.

From ComicsEmpower.com:

Thousands of people around the world would like to read comic books and can’t! People think comics are a visual medium, so the visually impaired can’t ever enjoy the experience. We’re here to fix that!

The above is true, and it reminds me very much of the feeling toward touch screens when the iPhone first came out. Eight years later and now iOS is among the most useful and accessible computing operating systems in history for the blind and visually impaired.

Let’s make this happen!