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It’s hard to think of anything more rational, more logical and impersonal than a number. But what if we’re all, universally, also deeply attuned to how numbers … feel? Why 2 is warm, 7 is strong and 11 is downright mystical.

 

 

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ATP T-Shirts: $19 each, available for only 1 week! Follow-up: Average age of gamers (more here and here from the Entertainment Software Association) Your favorite game genres going out of fashion Apps and games Mentioned: Metal Gear Solid Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time...

Ryan Olson is a member of the band Polica. Though he doesn't perform with them live, he put the band together, produces the songs, and co-writes them. I interviewed Ryan in his bedroom studio in Minneapolis. In this episode, he breaks down the song Smug, from their 2013 album Shulamith. He also talks about two pieces of equipment that have helped shape the sound of Poliça, and how he was introduced to one of them by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, and the other by DJ Shadow.

Follow-up on pCell and database scaling, including horizontal sharding schemes, tiered data layers, and taking a stand against the "premature optimization" tautology. When and why do developers learn something new, and why does Marco keep using PHP for everything? Second C...

Follow-up on Photo Stream Web Sites Follow-up on vinyl, including how Marc Edwards thinks it's evil, and the difference between pleasing and accurate sound. (Marco's open and closed headphones, amp, and DAC) The Apple insight attained by way of documents released in the Sa...

Loren Bouchard is the creator of the animated television comedy Bob's Burgers, a series about a family and the restaurant they own and live above, currently in its fourth season on Fox. In addition to being the co-executive producer and showrunner, Loren also composed the show's opening theme. I interviewed Loren in his office, where his desk is surrounded by musical instruments. In this episode, he talks about which ones went into the theme, and the emotions he wanted to evoke with each of them. Plus a few thoughts from cast members Jon Benjamin and Eugene Mirman.

Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em while you sunset Dance Jam WWDC How to make a lottery work, like Shmoocon does How to write a live blogging system for keynotes Our winnings and losses in the WWDC Don't-Call-it-a-Lottery Levels of randomness and Apple's discretionary pool...

• Follow-up on vocabulary and Michael Abrash joining Oculus.
• Amazon Fire TV — no fan!
• USB-IF's renderings of their proposed new connector
• The giant anti-poaching collusion between Google, Apple, and dozens of other companies (Facebook apparently refused)
• Google checking with Steve Jobs first before making a hiring decision
• After-show: We tried to predict WWDC dates, not knowing that Apple would announce them 12 hours later, then discussed ticket lotteries and how Apple probably wouldn't build one. (Yeah.)

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From boom bap to EDM, we look at the line between hip-hop and not, and meet a defender of the genre that makes you question... who's in and who's out.

Hi Radiolab listeners, we want to hear from you! Take this podcast survey and let us know how you feel about the show. It only takes about 20 minutes and your feedback will help us make our podcast better! There are no wrong answers, we want your honest takes. You can help out by taking the survey here (www.radiolab.org/survey).

Composer Jeff Beal deconstructs the main title theme music to the Netflix original series House of Cards. The show has been nominated for multiple Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Original Main Title Theme and Outstanding Music Composition. The show was adapted from a British series of the same name by writer Beau Willimon, and director and executive producer David Fincher. Jeff talks about his collaborative process with Fincher, and how they found the mood and musical palette for the show and its theme, and how it changed from season one to season two. A word of warning: if you haven’t watched the first season, there are spoilers about how that season ends.

Follow-up on discussing sexism in technology, Anil's experiment, empathy, ad hominem tu quoque, and cultural rigidity. Facebook buying Oculus: Outrage from Oculus' Kickstarter backers, including from Minecraft creator Notch, and the expectations that Kickstarter creates ...

They buzz. They bite. And they have killed more people than cancer, war, or heart disease. Here’s the question: If you could wipe mosquitoes off the face of the planet, would you?

Hi Radiolab listeners, we want to hear from you! Take this podcast survey and let us know how you feel about the show. It only takes about 20 minutes and your feedback will help us make our podcast better! There are no wrong answers, we want your honest takes. You can help out by taking the survey here (www.radiolab.org/survey).

Follow-up on the complexity of computer science versus other fields: quotes and videos from MIT's SICP class (9:00–10:45). The death of the iPad 2, the use of sapphire in Apple devices, sapphire versus Gorilla Glass, and the flexible LG phone. Haunted Empire, the Jony Ive ...

Alfred Darlington, better known as Daedelus, takes apart his song Experience. This early track of his is made with only acoustic sounds, but Alfred still considers it a piece of electronic music, and explains why. He also talks about the unexpected life the song has had since he recorded it, after being sampled by Madlib for his collaboration with MF Doom, Madvillain. Experience became the beat for Madvillain’s Accordion, the first song on their highly acclaimed album, and later referenced and resampled by artists like Drake and Kitty (aka Kitty Pryde). Daedelus deconstructs the song and discusses what its legacy means to him.

• Follow-up on software complexity: The Mythical Man-Month, No Silver Bullet, the original Agile manifesto, and what Agile has become.
• What we found most useful from our computer-science educations.
• Marco's impressions of his new Mac Pro.
• External disks, PCI-Express SSDs, and cable management.
• John buys a home-theater AV receiver. (The newer version he didn't need)
• Stereo vs. surround speakers, and integrated vs. external subwoofers. (Marco's tiny, buggy amp and great speakers).
• After-show: Pono, ABX tests, mp3ornot.

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• Follow-up on Final Draft and treating warnings as exceptions in production.
• Software methodologies. For real this time.
• Why don’t software development methodologies work?
• Evidence-based scheduling.
• Marco plugs FCModel, Casey plugs his Debug appearance, and John plugs bleeps and boops.
• After-show: CarPlay, and £1,600 audiophile Ethernet cables (via Dalton).

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Alex Brown Church of Sea Wolf breaks down Kasper, a song from the album Old World Romance. He talks about his songwriting process, collaborating with his bandmates, and the evolution that comes with learning the difference between making something that's good, and making something that's perfect. 

Wolfram Language. The "goto fail" SSL bug and the chances that it was nefariously introduced by an NSA effort, possibly as part of their $250 million annual budget for such operations. Apple's warrant canary. Casey's and Marco's hard-to-find bugs and language misfeatures...

Follow-up on why Flappy Bird was successful. Kieran Healy's excellent article with science. John Gruber and Merlin Mann at SXSW '09. Goofball Jones' anonymous criticism of John's "shtick", and John's defense including many links: An explanation of John's "schtick" Some p...

Facebook Paper's gesture usability, in-app tutorial videos, and the design challenge of gestural interface. RootMetrics testing real-world wireless speeds. Despite constant effort to improve usability, what if computers just aren't for everyone? (There's a similar long-sta...