Podcast Rewind: Experiment Season, A Plain Text Challenge, Tech Nostalgia, and Audiobooks

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

AppStories

This week, Federico and John kick off their holiday app and automation experimentation season a little earlier than usual with a mix of apps, automations, and services.

On AppStories+, they look ahead, considering the future of Shortcuts and automation.

Comfort Zone

Niléane is getting bold with laptop appendages, Chris is nostalgic about the iPad Pro, and everyone gets weird with text files.

This week’s Cozy Zone is a deep dive into 2012’s Les Misérables film.

MacStories Unwind

This week, Federico and John explore tech nostalgia and the importance of tech history before picking a new TV series and music artist.

Magic Rays of Light

Sigmund and Devon discuss Devon’s new audiobook listening habit and what it’s taught him about adaptations. Then, they share gift ideas for the Apple TV fan in your life.

AppStories, Episode 461, ‘Our Latest App and Automation Experiments’ Show Notes

App and Automation Experiments

Follow-Up

Claude Skills

Federico’s Ongoing AI Testing

Typing Mind

OpenWeb UI

Kimi K2 on Groq

Kimi K2 Thinking

MiniMax M2

On MiniMax M2 and LLMs with Interleaved Thinking Steps

Cerebras integration of GLM 4.6 by Z.ai

John’s App Experiments

Bloom

Superhuman

Federico’s Service Experiments

Firecrawl

Parallel

Exa

Pushover

Zapier

John’s Claude Code - Python - Notion Experiments

Notion

Federico’s Drafts and Readwise Reader workflow

Drafts

Readwise Reader

AppStories+ Post-Show

John and Federico consider the future of Shortcuts in light of the rapidly evolving automation landscape.

Subscribe to AppStories+

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Comfort Zone, Episode 76, ‘Sorry, Danielle’ Show Notes

Main Topics

Niléane’s laptop setup

The iPad Pro at 10

Other Stuff We Talked About

The Gulf livery mouse

Bandcamp

Baseline Obsidian theme

Retroma Obsidian theme

Primary Obsidian theme

Todoist Sync for Obsidian

Todoist Text for Obsidian

AeroSpace

Cozy Zone

For even more from the Comfort Zone crew, you can subscribe to Cozy Zone. Cozy Zone is a weekly bonus episode of Comfort Zone where Matt, Niléane, and Chris invite listeners to join them in the Cozy Zone where they’ll cover extra topics, invent wilder challenges and games, and share all their great (and not so great) takes on tech. You can subscribe to Cozy Zone for $5 per month here or $50 per year here.

MacStories Unwind, ‘Tech Nostalgia’ Show Notes

Tech Nostalgia Versus Tech History

NPC: Next Portable Console, GameCube To Go

Picks

John’s Pick:

Down Cemetery Road on Apple TV

Federico’s Pick:

American Motor Sports (420 CC Edition) by Bilmuri

Unwind Deal

John’s Favorite Christmas Movies (It’s early, I know, but there are some great deals right now.)

Classics

White Christmas

It’s A Wonderful Life

Comedy

Christmas Vacation

A Christmas Story

Wait, That’s a Christmas Movie

Die Hard

Trading Places

So Bad It’s Good

Hot Frosty on Netflix

8-Bit Christmas

MacStories Unwind+

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To learn more about the benefits of a Club MacStories subscription, visit our Plans page.

Magic Rays of Light, Episode 190, ‘Audiobooks, Adaptations, and a Gift Guide’ Show Notes

Gift Guide

‎Slow Horses

‎The Silo Series Collection

‎The Big Door Prize

‎The Last Thing He Told Me

‎The First Time I Saw Him

‎Foundation

‎Dark Matter

Audible Gift Cards, Credits, & Titles

‎Argylle

‘lil cinephile

Severance: Season Two (Apple TV Original Series Soundtrack)

CODA on Blu-Ray

F1: The Movie on 4K Blu-Ray

Reflections: On Cinematography by Roger Deakins

Muse En Scént Candles Inspired by Your Favorite Films

Spike Lee Candle

Franco Pepe: Pizza Chef

Crossroads: Extraordinary Recipes from the Restaurant That Is Reinventing Vegan Cuisine

Nomad Tracking Card Pro

imluckies Magnetic Laptop Phone Holder

8BitDo Pro 3 Bluetooth Controller

Trailer Talk

WondLa

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters — Season 2 Date Announcement

Releases

The Family Plan 2

Extras

‎Bloodsong of Wycaro

F1 The Movie — Behind the Scenes

Sneaky Sasquatch Sticker Pack

Up Next

A Very Jonas Christmas Movie

After the Hunt

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Train Dreams

Good Boy

MacStories launched its first podcast in 2017 with AppStories. Since then, the lineup has expanded to include a family of weekly shows that also includes MacStories Unwind, Magic Rays of Light, Comfort Zone, NPC: Next Portable Console, and First, Last, Everything that collectively, cover a broad range of the modern media world from Apple’s streaming service and videogame hardware to apps for a growing audience that appreciates our thoughtful, in-depth approach to media.

If you’re interested in advertising on our shows, you can learn more here or by contacting our Managing Editor, John Voorhees.