Jason Fried is always a fascinating and insightful person to listen to, and this interview is no exception. He has a lot to say about how awful work can be (but doesn't have to). I'm definitely going to read his new book as a result of listening to this podcast.

However, what really got me thinking after hearing this podcast was the way that Jason uses his strong, personal convictions to run his software company, willfully eschewing the conventional wisdom that comes out of Silicon Valley.

I've long held the opinion that raising large amounts of money confuses me. I've always thought it was because I didn't truly understand how investing and finance works, or maybe it was because I bootstrapped all of my businesses and wasn't aware of a different way.

But after listening to the way Jason justifies the decisions he makes with his company (not having a bunch of benefits that keep people at work, paying for people to go on vacation, etc.), it made me smile and think about some of the decisions we've made at the JMG, and how the vision of the company I want to run does not need to fit the mold of the typical software company.

When running a company, it's crucial that you listen to your own gut and to skate to where you think the puck will be.

After all, isn't that what entrepreneurship is all about?

My longest friend recommended Sam Harris' podcast to me about a year ago, and I've been hooked ever since. Some episodes are easier to get into than others, but this one is definitely worth a listen.

We've got a lot of work to do as a nation to address the implications and aftermath of Russia's use of social media during the 2016 election, but as an app developer, it gives me all the more reason to help steer people towards building software that makes society an objectively better place.

(By "objectively better", I mean taking a look at the pros and cons of social media and ubiquitous internet connectivity and see if its use makes us wealthier/healthier/happier, or if it's only making a handful of people those things.)

I really like how Steli and Hiten challenge the inner dialogue that we all have around asking other people for help. If you do your homework in advance and ask for considered advice or feedback, more often than not, people will be glad to offer it.

I heard on a different podcast a few weeks ago that people love to be asked for their advice and assistance, and in doing so, you're honoring them by making them feel valued and needed.

We can all use help from time to time, and if there's ever anything I can do to help you, dear reader, then please don't hesitate to ask.

Quite a fun episode of my favorite Minnesota beer podcast, especially since they're profiling the brewery my wife works at.

I think it's interesting to see how a brewery like Badger Hill can continue to thrive in a market with such intense competition. However, as they allude to in this episode, there is no industry quite like the craft brewing industry as it relates to sharing resources between competitors.

While it's not quite as open, I think folks inside the app development consultancy space are similarly amicable towards their competitors. I've had many lunches over the past year with folks that I am actively competing again, but we are both willing to share advice and give nudges over difficult barriers.

It goes to show that while many situations are framed in black or white, truth or lie, Sith or Jedi, the world almost always operates on a spectrum between the two.

There were a ton of valuable takeaways from this episode of The Tim Ferriss Show featuring an interview with Seth Godin.

• That concept of "be a professional, not authentic" was quite eye opening. I had orthopedic surgery not too long ago, and it truly would've been a bummer if she decided she didn't feel like cutting my knee open that day.

• I've had my own existential qualms about selling apps because, at the end of the day, does anyone really need an app? However, much like scope creep, you can find a way to spin it into a positive for everyone involved. It’s okay to sell people something you think they don’t actually need, because they actually do need it. Be empathetic and sell to what people think they need.

• You get better by serving your smallest viable audience. If you keep trying to make things work for folks who don't fit that niche, you are just doing a disservice to those who do fit your niche.

If you run a company, this is required listening.

Steli Efti: I do think that most people maybe haven’t answered the question truthfully and are suffering the consequences from it. That’s my instant and initial response when you say, how do you figure out who you are? My first thoughts are that you have to ask the question again and really make sure that you have answered it correctly versus just being attached and stuck in an answer that you might have picked out when you were really young a really long time ago.

This was exactly the podcast episode I needed this weekend, and I want to store it somewhere that I can come back to it in a few years.

If you're stuck in an endless loop of unhealthy and unproductive patterns, give this short episode a listen.

I consider myself to be a podcast enthusiast, but I will be the first to admit that I have not listened to many of the most popular podcasts.

I've been a fan of Joe Rogan ever since NewsRadio, and I've seen some clips here and there of The Joe Rogan Experience, but I've never sat down and listened to an entire episode of his podcast. I had a feeling that his political views were more libertarian, but beyond knowing that he's a proponent of weed, I didn't know much about him on a personal level.

With that in mind, I went through the most recent episodes of his podcast to see if there was an episode that would help me learn what he was all about.

I can't be the only one in the world who thinks the political scene in 2018 is incredibly draining and makes me feel ultimately powerless. As soon as I saw that Ted Nugent was on an episode, my initial reaction was, "ugh, why the hell would I listen to this crap and subject myself to more of that same feeling?"

Before listening to this episode, here was the sum total knowledge of facts that I knew about Ted Nugent:

• He was a musician of some sort
• He wasn't popular in my Twitter bubble
• He tends to speak in brash, general, and oversimplified statements

In an effort to remove myself from my bubble, I thought, "you know what? A lot of folks seem to love Ted Nugent, so I'm gonna listen with an open mind and see what it's all about."

The episode was pretty long (over three hours), but if you've got the time, I highly encourage you to give it a listen. A few things I took away:

• I didn't realize Ted was all about hunting, and I noticed myself nodding my head in agreement during the discussions around being responsible with nature and treating the circle of life with respect.
• The discussion around the vegan lifestyle was also illuminating. I know a few folks who try to do the vegan thing, and it's interesting to look at it from the perspective of "look at the number of animals and plants you need to kill with pesticides in order to keep them off your land so your tofu can grow."
• The first hour or so is mostly Ted and Joe talking about how misunderstood hunters are. Of primary note is a part where Ted says that people think hunters are all fat, sloppy rednecks who go out and hunt down hundreds of animals at a time. He says that if non-hunters would actually talk to a hunter and see the world from their perspective, it would really make things better. I thought this was a profound point, which was made completely ironic by the next observation:
• No fewer than 50 times in this episode does Ted identify a group of people (liberals, politicians, the DNR, bureaucrats, anti-gun folks, illegal immigrants), caricaturize them, and berate them for their "ignorance."

Joe spent a lot of the episode silent, because Ted just would get on a rant and keep going. However, I think Joe did do a great job of holding Ted's feet to the fire a bit over some of his statements.

My favorite part of the episode was when Ted went to the bathroom, Joe monologued about how messed up the gun situation is in our country and that he doesn't have any answers for it. It was refreshing to hear that, since everyone seems to have an answer that wouldn't work in practice.

Like I said above, the episode was long, but I found it to be absolutely illuminating, and I will be seeking out more podcasts like this in order to make sure my perspective on life isn't being persuaded by only one type of voice.

If anything, the biggest takeaway from this episode for me was that what we need right now as a country is to find a way to come back to the table together. Social networks seem to thrive off of exploiting the worst in us as humans, and even though the first word in that phrase is "social", it has made us anything but.

About a year and a half ago, on a trip to California with the boys of Koo Koo Kanga Roo, the duo and their manager were discussing podcasts.

Of course, I knew what a podcast was[1. And not just because I make one.]. I just really didn't understand the appeal of audio podcasts. I figured it was like talk radio: only old fogeys who don't like music listen to them.

But reluctantly, I downloaded a few episodes of The Nerdist and from there, the Music app on my iPhone was being used less and less compared to Instacast.

If you don't like talk radio but you enjoy getting into hour-long discussions on very nerdy topics like the intricacies of various calendar apps, the real cost of traveling to Mars and why the LIBOR scandal could get ugly quickly, then you are only fooling yourself: you actually like podcasts, but just don't know it yet.

In an attempt to make it easier for others to get into podcasts, here are a few of my favorite podcasts and why you would like them.

Build and Analyze Software Development, Self-Employment, Coffee, Babies A show for iOS developers hosted by Marco Arment, the creator of Instapaper and Tumblr, and Dan Benjamin, the creator of 5by5. Dan and Marco frame most of their discussions through the lens of Instapaper and 5by5, which is incredibly helpful for other developers or entrepreneurs in general. Show Website

StarTalk Radio Astrophysics Neil DeGrasse-Tyson, an astrophysicist and incredibly well-spoken man, teams up with guests to talk about everything related to the universe. Typically, the show features a co-host comedian, like Chuck Nice or Eugene Mirman, and a slew of experts in whatever field is being discussed, like astronaut Mike Massimino. Show Website

The Talk Show Apple, Technology The Talk Show, in its current iteration, features John Gruber of Daring Fireball with a different guest each episode. After a rough transition from its previous iteration (hosted by John and Dan Benjamin), the show is really starting to hit its stride. If you're a fan of Daring Fireball, there's no reason not to be listening to this show every week. Show Website

Planet Money Finance I've never really been interested in finance and how money works, but this show does a great job of presenting drab topics in a highly-engaging format. The episodes are quite easy to digest as well, most being around 15 minutes. Show Website

Running From the Law Endurance Sports, Small Business Law Combining two things that seemingly don't go together, Running From the Law splits their shows in half, giving equal footing to both of their main topics. The show is hosted by Erika Hall, co-founder of Mule Design Studio, and Gabe Levine, business lawyer. Show Website

Home Work Working from Home, Entrepreneur A relatively new show, Aaron Mahnke and Dave Caolo talk about the joys and agonies of being self-employed. The show goes beyond simply suggesting how to be more productive from home; they also discuss topics such as staying fit at home, staying educated in your field and communicating with the "real" world. Show Website

Freakonomics Radio Economics, Finance Hosted by the authors of the book, Freakonomics Radio picks up from where the book left off, where the authors use economics to show that what we consider "common sense" is sometimes anything but. Show Website

You Look Nice Today General Tomfoolery YLNT is the epitome of the general perception of the early days of podcasting: three guys sitting around microphones late at night, drinking and making stuff up. The difference? They actually do it well. Very well. Show Website

If you have any suggestions for me of shows to check out (especially any shows about video production), please drop me a line.