I’d like that too. I rarely listen to any podcasts. I sometimes go back and pick up ones where the topics are something I am now interested in but if there was always a segment that is how person X is using the tool they want to discuss I’d be more likely to listen in at least a bit. I’ll still probably skip many of them, I have far too much else going on to devote hours to listening to podcasts. I cannot do any work when there is sound bothering me. So no music, no spoken podcasts are on when I’m inside trying to get real computer work done. Not being able to hear what’s going on around you is dangerous on a farm, especially during the busy summer season when you may be using equipment. Even simple things like deciding when to move the sheep require that I hear. They always baa at me when I go up, but there is a difference in the baa of I’m bored and want fresh grass to play in vs the baa of I am hungry now but not starving and all that’s left are icky grasses instead of tasty legumes. There is the baa of a lost lamb but with a full belly because mom is already weaning him or her vs the baa of a lost lamb that is hungry and really needs to find mom. I can hear distressed sheep baas even if I’m down working in the garden or in the barn and can go up and check them out. So a lot of the places and tasks that other people can use as time to listen to a podcast don’t work of rme. I have at most 2 hours a week I can use for podcast or other spoken type of media consumption.
This is the case for the vast majority of podcasts, though. I imagine keeping content new and interesting over time is quite a challenge.
Most podcasts are just going to be more bleating anyway. The sheep are probably preferable.
I was thinking along the same lines. As the platforms mature and converge feature sets; it seems to solve a number of issues.
The best discussions are consolidated to this section. This is evidenced by it housing a meta-topic such as this. The regulars here have developed into an interesting lot of opinionated minds as far as personal knowledge management is concerned. Oddly enough, the best threads here are not about software per se, as much as they are about methods. I think at this point, most users who I notice are content with the software that they use or are at least content enough with the how they work that software doesn’t matter too much and they can switch things up at a whim.
All in all, I think the user base could benefit from a steady flow of curated information to discuss. Any dip in activity over here should not be attributed to a lack of interest. I think that the overall appetite here has increased to a certain level where curiosity needs to be sparked more sophisticatedly…if that makes sense.
I’ve been a listener since the Katie days and what I always enjoyed was the fact that both she and David did the podcast as a side gig. They talked (and argued) solutions to everyday work issues.
These days I listen to Mac Geek Gab for that kind of content.
I agree that it’s a real challenge to produce a show every week and keep it fresh. I think it’s even harder with David now ‘competing’ with the show with the labs (which also means he’s even less on this forum than he was in the past).
I look forward to more Field Guides and hope to see more of that.
To be clear- I feel that both of our hosts pour their hearts into the shows they produce and I hope they continue!
I assure you we’ve (1) banned very, very few people, and only (2) after a lot of complaints from other users and repeated warnings. 
I like this idea a lot. I’ve been thinking for some time that I might want to write my own Obsidian or Drafts plugins. Maybe I should learn AppleScript.
I can barely do anything with Shortcuts–I bought @MacSparky’s field guide, but I’m overwhelmed at the prospect of getting started.
These are things I’d love if MPU could help me out with.
And yes to having a Raycast champion on. I’m a heavy user of that app and still learning more about it. (To be clear, I’m not suggesting myself as the champion!)
I think the show’s special guests are far too often other podcasters, Mac journalists, videographers, and musicians. In this forum alone we have (or had) clergy and an African bush pilot. Let’s get more diversity of guests.
Yes to this!
How about an episode on using MacGPT and other AI for work and life? Not Mac-focused, but useful nonetheless.
I’ve been listening to MPU for at least eleven years. I can’t recall how I found the podcast but I immediately found the conversation between two lawyers interesting. Here were two non-rabid fanboy, non I.T. professional, Apple enthusiasts talking about using their computers.
The podcast has changed, as does everything given enough time, but it is the only program than has remained on my subscribed list all these years. Currently I listen to fifteen podcasts, five of which are tech related. Two deal with computer security and three are Apple related. MPU is the only one that I listen to regularly. But I admin to listening to some episodes at 1X and others at 1.75X 
I’ve never used Facebook and only used Twitter as a news feed and a way to get support. This forum has been my only “social media”. I supported users for years and still enjoy helping people when I can. And I enjoy many of the conversations with fellow forum members.
Yes the conversation tends to ebb and flow throughout the year and yes there is a fair amount of repetition, but that is to be expected. We have new people that come here looking for help, and regulars with a new problem that haven’t read everything that has been posted on the site.
Everything isn’t perfect. Sometimes we have to deal with someone who always has to have the last word. Or someone who always knows more than everyone else. My solution for dealing with peers like this is take Mark Twain’s advice and “walk away”.
I don’t have the skillset to produce a podcast and I can’t offer any suggestions. But as long as there is a Mac Power Users I’ll just keep listening. And as long as I’m tolerated here I’ll probably keep tossing my $0.02 into the conversations.
“Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience”.
- Mark Twain
I find that message boards ebb and flow with the time of year. When children are out of school, people take vacations and get consumed with the outdoors and holidays. Posts go down.
I personally don’t like discord. It reminds me of a group instant message that won’t stop. Maybe that is showing my age (GET OFF MY LAWN).
Yeah, I’ve noticed this with a lot of Apple/tech podcasts - they do tend to have one another on as guests fairly often so it’s just the same voices, same stuff.
I’d love a series of more oddball, off-the-wall or field-work type shows. Like, how does a professional or amateur astronomer use Apple tech? An archaeologist? A field biologist that records data with an iPhone brings it back to their Mac to continue with data analysis, research, writing. A small business owner (that is not a podcaster)? Thinking about all the applications that exist covert a vast subject area. Perhaps episodes that highlight the strength of the Apple ecosystem, which is to say, how people use the different devices together in complex workflows.
An interesting example, my niece, a few years back, was a part of a research project that used pattern recognition in the study of a population of frogs. The software they used had been designed for something else entirely but they found that it worked very well for frogs. I forget the specifics of the hardware or applications used. But apps on iPhones/Macs for citizen science being used a various fields could be a fascinating area to explore.
This is an interesting and useful take. For example, I learn from other users of other software when people describe how they use it against real life examples not just why they think it’s better than anything else. Or, when they change tools I’d like to know the thought process of why the change, how did they selectct the new ap, what were the conversion bottlenecks and issues, does it serve the new needs that prompted the change or not and why. Even if I know I will never use the package in question (Notion for example or DEVONThink now) I still learn from how others are using those packages.
I’d make time to listen to a podcast that featured real life people with real life problems doing innovative things with computers, both Apple machines and others. How do they combine the systems? What are the challenges, why did they choose that set of hardware/software?
I have to confess part of is is me wanting tovirtually pick the brains of someone else who’s struggling to integrate Python on mac/win/linux, with flask for a web app with Android tablets for data entry and lots of oddball, and unusual peripherals. I’m hoping I’ll hear or learn of some tool that will help me with my own struggles within my varied ecosystem of hardware and software.
Or an indepth discussion/debate about database design philosophy and schema validation between experts in one or more DB platforms.
The is exactly why I don’t find most of the guest focused podcast of interest or help. I’d much rather hear from managers and executives working in corporations, small business owners, hospital administrators, nurses, doctors, writers who do not write primarily for the web, farmers, clergy, sales people, marketing professionals, school administrators, counselors, scientists, researchers, etc.
I’m watching one of @MacSparky ’s lab videos right now. It’s about stage manger. It’s very helpful. A lot better than anything on YouTube. A lot better than me having to go do the research mysel.
But I don’t use the labs community discussion thing on discord.
I find discord discombobulating and I don’t have the energy to “combobulate” it.
That doesn’t bother me because I already get enormous value and pleasure from the podcast, and this forum.
The podcast drops on mondays here in New Zealand and I feel very lucky that I can structure my work so that I listen to it during my Monday workday.
I always listen to podcasts during my daily run. That is the only time I have available but it is perfect for listening to podcasts. It makes my run go “faster”, metaphorically speaking. 
I think this would be fantastic as well.
Incidentally, a decade ago I did a podcast about minimalism, simplicity, decluttering, etc. and “real life people” was exactly my primary approach. Some of the episodes had people talking on their cell phone (or landline!) because their Internet wasn’t good enough to do Skype.
I talked to the “big name” people too - but a lot of my favorite episodes were with the everyday people.
I have purchased several of his guides and they are always superb.
I listen to podcasts when I’m walking the dog. 3.2 mi/day. Takes me about 1h40m (more if the dog is feeling particularly sniffy and stubborn). MPU is–still–a favorite of mine, for all my complaining, though I have to confess I do skip about 20% of episodes.
For a while, I slowed down my listening, but have reconsidered that and started listening again. I like listening to it, but have changed WHERE I listen to it. Rather than listening to it passively as I’m working in my office, where I can pause and take a note or jot something down, I’m much more likely to listen to it when driving or running. If something really hits me while I’m driving or running, I’ll pause and make a verbal note or a brief note in Drafts that I can go review/process later.
I agree the signal to noise ratio has increased, but I still get a lot of value from the podcast, so I’ve gone back and caught up.
Hopefully the community will pick up again. I’ve always found tremendous value here.