Ep. 27 - Why podcast apps suck

The "why" behind our company

Listen to Metacast on Apple, Spotify or watch us on YouTube

We are starting to share bits of what we’re working on — a podcast app! The main topic of today’s episode is podcast listening apps and the things they suck at. Also in the episode: some backstory of how we decided to work together, golden handcuffs of a big tech, the working backwards approach, and importance of checklists.

A couple of things we referenced in the episode.

The email from Google stating that they’re simplifying the Google Photos and Google Drive experience by deprecating the feature I depended on.

The chat between Arnab and myself a few years ago, which ended up being prophetic (except the 8 years part, we started a lot sooner).

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Segments

• [01:13] RSS feeds, the backbone of podcasting

• [04:35] Why are we doing a podcast about podcasting?

• [06:53] Why are we building yet another podcast app?

• [12:22] Podcasts vs. YouTube videos

• [17:35] Podcasts as a library of content

• [20:10] Sharing content from podcasts with friends

• [22:58] Taking notes while listening to podcasts

• [29:01] Why podcast apps suck

• [30:04] Working backwards and prioritization

• [36:11] A prophetic screenshot from 4 years ago

• [44:36] Golden handcuffs

• [48:32] Going back to Amazon (hypothetically)

• [50:19] Next episode spoiler

• [52:57] The importance of checklists

• [54:15] Call for inputs for our product

Show notes

Podcasts

• Huberman Lab

• Josh Waitzkin Interview on The Tim Ferriss Show

• Arnold Schwarzenegger on Psychological Warfare (And Much More) on The Tim Ferriss Show

• Paul Rosolie: Amazon Jungle, Uncontacted Tribes, Anacondas, and Ayahuasca | Lex Fridman Podcast #369

• Internet History Podcast and our interview with its creator

Books

• Mother of God: An Extraordinary Journey into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon

• How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone

Videos

• Story of being attacked by a tribe in the Amazon | Paul Rosolie and Lex Fridman

• Lex Clips YouTube channel

• Elon Musk smoking weed (full JRE episode)

Get in touch

We’d love to hear from you!

• Email: hello@metacastpodcast.com (both of us get it)

• Arnab’s Twitter: @or9ob

• Ilya’s LinkedIn

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Bye for now.