Best Try Hard Studios Podcasts (2025)

1
Is Nic Cage still riding the comeback wave in THE SURFER? 1:12:30

3d ago1:12:30

1:12:30

Vanguardistas have more fun—so if you don’t already subscribe to the podcast, join the Vanguard today via Apple Podcasts or extratakes.com for non-fruit-related devices. In return you’ll get a whole extra Take 2 alongside Take 1 every week, with bonus reviews, more viewing recommendations from the Good Doctors and whole bonus episodes just for you.…

1
You Can Be Ambitious And A Great Dad | Nikunj Kothari (Dad of 2, Khosla, Opendoor, LinkedIn) 59:12

3h ago59:12

59:12

Nikunj Kothari is a former investor with Khosla Ventures and a product and growth leader from companies like Opendoor, Shyp, and LinkedIn. He’s now out on his own advising, investing and spending time as a husband and a father of two, including a brand new son! We discussed: * The false dichotomy between ambition and parenting and the support struc…

1
Is There Really a Plastic Spoon in Our Brains? 30:25

23m ago30:25

30:25

Headlines are screaming that we have tons of microplastics in our brains — the equivalent of an entire plastic spoon. OK, that sounds terrifying, but is it true? We talk to chemist Prof. Oliver Jones. Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/PlasticSpoonBrain In this episode, we cover: (00:00) A plastic spoon’s worth of microplastics?! (05:21) Some…

1
20 years of hacking Postgres with Heikki Linnakangas (cofounder of Neon) 2:00:11

5d ago2:00:11

2:00:11

In this episode of Database School, I talk with Heikki Linnakangas, co-founder of Neon and longtime PostgreSQL hacker, to talk about 20+ years in the Postgres community, the architecture behind Neon, and the future of multi-threaded Postgres. From paternity leave patches to branching production databases, we cover a lot of ground in this deep-dive …

1
Another Paul Feig film? Do me a Favor 1:17:06

10d ago1:17:06

1:17:06

Vanguardistas have more fun—so if you don’t already subscribe to the podcast, join the Vanguard today via Apple Podcasts or extratakes.com for non-fruit-related devices. In return you’ll get a whole extra Take 2 alongside Take 1 every week, with bonus reviews, more viewing recommendations from the Good Doctors and whole bonus episodes just for you.…

1
Parenting Products Are Anxiety-As-A- Service | Brian Holt (Dad of 2, Neon, Snowflake, Stripe, MSFT) 1:03:48

7d ago1:03:48

1:03:48

Brian Holt is Staff Product Manager at Neon and has been a VP of Product and product leader at companies like SQLite Cloud, Snowflake, Stripe and Microsoft. He was also an engineer at both Netflix and Reddit where he was one of the earliest employees. He’s a husband and the father of one son and brand new daughter. We discussed: * Preparing for the…

1
Methamphetamine: The Most Misunderstood Drug? 47:46

10d ago47:46

47:46

Methamphetamine has a scary reputation as one of the most addictive and dangerous drugs out there. But at the same time, it's an FDA-approved drug — and can even be used to treat ADHD in children. So just how dangerous and addictive is meth? And what’s going on in your brain when you use it? We hear from Science Vs listeners who’ve used it — and th…

1
David Oyelowo on Government Cheese + Mark’s verdict on The Studio 1:19:38

17d ago1:19:38

1:19:38

Vanguardistas have more fun—so if you don’t already subscribe to the podcast, join the Vanguard today via Apple Podcasts or extratakes.com for non-fruit-related devices. In return you’ll get a whole extra Take 2 alongside Take 1 every week, with bonus reviews, more viewing recommendations from the Good Doctors and whole bonus episodes just for you.…

1
Building Three Companies Alongside Your Family | Robert Wolfe (Dad of 2, founder - Zeck, Crowdrise, Moosejaw) 43:26

17d ago43:26

43:26

Robert Wolfe is the co-founder of Zeck a company designed to make managing board meetings easier for everyone. He’s also founded and sold both Crowdrise (to GoFundMe) and Moosejaw Mountaineering (to Wal-Mart). He’s a husband and the father of 2 sons. We discussed: * The journey from founding Moosejaw to today * Founding multiple companies with a ce…

1
Building Three Companies Alongside Your Family | Robert Wolfe (Dad of 2, founder - Zeck, Crowdrise, Moosejaw) 43:27

17d ago43:27

43:27

Robert Wolfe is the co-founder of Zeck a company designed to make managing board meetings easier for everyone. He’s also founded and sold both Crowdrise (to GoFundMe) and Moosejaw Mountaineering (to Wal-Mart). He’s a husband and the father of 2 sons. We discussed: * The journey from founding Moosejaw to today * Founding multiple companies with a ce…

1
Measles: How Worried Should We Be? 39:26

17d ago39:26

39:26

Measles is spreading in the U.S., with hundreds of cases across more than 20 states. And tons of people online are arguing over how we should feel about it. Some say this is bad because measles is SO contagious — and not enough people get the vaccine. But others say that measles isn't such a big deal, so why are we freaking out?? Didn't basically e…

1
Building a serverless database replica with Carl Sverre 1:28:59

23d ago1:28:59

1:28:59

Want to learn more SQLite? Check out my SQLite course: https://highperformancesqlite.com In this episode, Carl Sverre and I discuss why syncing everything is a bad idea and how his new project, Graft, makes edge-native, partially replicated databases possible. We dig into SQLite, object storage, transactional guarantees, and why Graft might be the …

1
Warfare with Alex Garland & Ray Mendoza 1:13:06

24d ago1:13:06

1:13:06

Vanguardistas have more fun—so if you don’t already subscribe to the podcast, join the Vanguard today via Apple Podcasts or extratakes.com for non-fruit-related devices. In return you’ll get a whole extra Take 2 alongside Take 1 every week, with bonus reviews, more viewing recommendations from the Good Doctors and whole bonus episodes just for you.…

1
Fixing The Mess Of Summer Camp Planning | Greg Laughlin (Dad of 2, founder of Campwing) 1:21:27

24d ago1:21:27

1:21:27

Greg Laughlin is the founder of Campwing, a product designed to take the headache out of summer camp planning. Parents use detailed filters to search through every summer camp in their area in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Prior to Campwing, Greg was the co-founder of Statwing, a statistical analysis product he sold to Qualtri…

1
Telepathy: Is It For Real? 54:11

24d ago54:11

54:11

A popular podcast called The Telepathy Tapes claims that telepathy is real — and tons of people are convinced. So we open our minds to the possibility of mind-reading and ask: Could this be real?? And if not — what might be going on here? We dive into the science (yes — there is science!) with Dr. Katharine Beals, Prof. Jim Todd, and Prof. Chris Fr…

1
Now and Ben: Charlie Brooker & Emma Corrin on Black Mirror 16:58

25d ago16:58

16:58

If you’ve managed to watch any of the excellent seventh series of Black Mirror yet, you might have spotted our super sub Ben Bailey Smith popping up there... and just for you he’s collared his fellow dystopians Charlie Brooker and Emma Corrin for a chat about the mind-bending anthology’s latest iteration. Brooker is the writer and creator of the sh…

1
Fluoride: Is Your Water Safe? 43:23

1M ago43:23

43:23

The battle over whether we should be putting fluoride in our water has reached fever pitch. We’ve got U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and anti-fluoride activists saying it’s a neurotoxin that’s lowering our IQs. But supporters say that fluoride is a safe and effective way to protect our teeth from cavities, and that stopping water fluor…

1
Laurence Fishburne & James Hawes on The Amateur 1:08:33

1M ago1:08:33

1:08:33

Vanguardistas have more fun—so if you don’t already subscribe to the podcast, join the Vanguard today via Apple Podcasts or extratakes.com for non-fruit-related devices. In return you’ll get a whole extra Take 2 alongside Take 1 every week, with bonus reviews, more viewing recommendations from the Good Doctors and whole bonus episodes just for you.…

1
Death of a Unicorn + Toby Jones 1:23:02

1M ago1:23:02

1:23:02

Vanguardistas have more fun—so if you don’t already subscribe to the podcast, join the Vanguard today via Apple Podcasts or extratakes.com for non-fruit-related devices. In return you’ll get a whole extra Take 2 alongside Take 1 every week, with bonus reviews, more viewing recommendations from the Good Doctors and whole bonus episodes just for you.…

1
Sending Your Kids Off To College | Jeff Fritz (Dad of 2, Microsoft) 1:02:26

1M ago1:02:26

1:02:26

Jeff Fritz is principal program manager at Microsoft where he leads production for one oftheir largest developer events. He’s also active in the developer community as a live-coding Twitch streamer, Youtuber, and podcast host. He’s a lifelong developer who got his start working on the family’s Commodore 64. In addition to his work as program manage…

1
Sending Your Kids Off To College | Jeff Fritz (Dad of 2, Microsoft) 1:02:25

1M ago1:02:25

1:02:25

Jeff Fritz is principal program manager at Microsoft where he leads production for one oftheir largest developer events. He’s also active in the developer community as a live-coding Twitch streamer, Youtuber, and podcast host. He’s a lifelong developer who got his start working on the family’s Commodore 64. In addition to his work as program manage…

1
ADHD: Do We All Have It? 45:04

1M ago45:04

45:04

ADHD is all over the internet, with people saying that it’s way different than we thought it was — and that tons of us might have it without even knowing it. Influencers are telling us that ADHD can cause all sorts of things, like hyperfocused states, serious emotional dysregulation, even something called rejection sensitivity dysphoria. So — is al…

1
Gorgeous George MacKay + Mark vs. The Stath 1:12:11

2M ago1:12:11

1:12:11

Vanguardistas have more fun—so if you don’t already subscribe to the podcast, join the Vanguard today via Apple Podcasts or extratakes.com for non-fruit-related devices. In return you’ll get a whole extra Take 2 alongside Take 1 every week, with bonus reviews, more viewing recommendations from the Good Doctors and whole bonus episodes just for you.…

1
Getting Laid Off On Paternity Leave With Two Sets Of Twins | Aaron Francis (Dad of 4, Try Hard Studios) 1:10:25

2M ago1:10:25

1:10:25

Aaron Francis is the co-founder of Try Hard Studios, a company he started with Steve Tenuto that makes amazing videos for developers and teaches companies how to do it too. He started Try Hard Studios after being laid off from PlanetScale… while on paternity leave with his second set of twins (!). Prior to that he was a data analyst and a developer…

1
Squirting: What's Really Happening?! 54:41

2M ago54:41

54:41

[Video available on Spotify] To start off the new season we’re getting into the science of one of the most controversial and taboo sex topics around. Squirting! For some people, it’s a major sex goal — but for others, it’s a source of major embarrassment. And it turns out that people have been writing or talking about squirting and female ejaculati…

1
Snow White: Mark’s Verdict 1:21:02

2M ago1:21:02

1:21:02

Vanguardistas have more fun—so if you don’t already subscribe to the podcast, join the Vanguard today via Apple Podcasts or extratakes.com for non-fruit-related devices. In return you’ll get a whole extra Take 2 alongside Take 1 every week, with bonus reviews, more viewing recommendations from the Good Doctors and whole bonus episodes just for you.…

1
Educating Your Kids In A Technology-First World | Jeremy Howard (Dad of 1, Fast.ai, Fastmail, Kaggle) 1:07:07

2M ago1:07:07

1:07:07

Jeremy Howard is a leader in the data science and AI communities. Along with his partner, Dr. Rachel Thomas, he is the co-founder of Fast.ai - a research lab studying how to make deep learning more accessible and widely applicable and the founder of AI R&D lab Answer.ai. He is a professor at the University of Queensland in Australia, a digital fell…

1
Educating Your Kids In A Technology-First World | Jeremy Howard (Dad of 1, Fast.ai, Fastmail, Kaggle) 1:07:06

2M ago1:07:06

1:07:06

Jeremy Howard is a leader in the data science and AI communities. Along with his partner, Dr. Rachel Thomas, he is the co-founder of Fast.ai - a research lab studying how to make deep learning more accessible and widely applicable and the founder of AI R&D lab Answer.ai. He is a professor at the University of Queensland in Australia, a digital fell…

1
We're Back to Science Harder Than Ever 3:22

2M ago3:22

3:22

Have you been missing your weekly dose of science?? Well, we've got good news: Science Vs is BACK next week, and we’ll be tackling ADHD, squirting, creatine, the carnivore diet, bird flu, fluoride, meth, memory and much more. New episodes start March 27. Fact ya soon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

1
Unsettling Mannequins & Blah Monsters: Oddity and Desert Monster 43:46

2M ago43:46

43:46

Some people keep promises. Some people watch good movies. I did neither this week and let my intrusive thoughts convince me to watch Desert Monster (China, 2022) on Hi-Yah, a self-important monster flick that tries to deny it's B-movie bonnafides. Thankfully, Grady watched a good movie, Oddity (Ireland, 2024) on Shudder, a chilling blend of creepy …

1
Ashley Walters & Erin Doherty on Adolescence 1:18:59

2M ago1:18:59

1:18:59

Vanguardistas have more fun—so if you don’t already subscribe to the podcast, join the Vanguard today via Apple Podcasts or extratakes.com for non-fruit-related devices. In return you’ll get a whole extra Take 2 alongside Take 1 every week, with bonus reviews, more viewing recommendations from the Good Doctors and whole bonus episodes just for you.…

1
The Unhappy Achiever Paradox | Mike Yan (Dad of 1, Co-founder/CEO, Manychat) 54:49

2M ago54:49

54:49

Mike Yan is the co-founder and CEO of Manychat, a chat automation tool for social platforms with over 250 employees, 1 million customers and growing 2x year over year. With his team, Mike has built the fastest growing platform on Whatsapp and the largest on Instagram. He’s also a husband and a new dad. We discussed: * How he thought he was going to…

1
The Unhappy Achiever Paradox | Mike Yan (Dad of 1, Co-founder/CEO, Manychat) 54:50

2M ago54:50

54:50

Mike Yan is the co-founder and CEO of Manychat, a chat automation tool for social platforms with over 250 employees, 1 million customers and growing 2x year over year. With his team, Mike has built the fastest growing platform on Whatsapp and the largest on Instagram. He’s also a husband and a new dad. We discussed: * How he thought he was going to…

1
Now and Ben: Bong Joon Ho on Mickey 17, British winters & his iPad obsession 16:48

2M ago16:48

16:48

It’s ‘Mickey 17’ release day, and Ben is chatting to Director Bong Joon Ho in today’s episode to celebrate. Starring Robert Pattinson as an expendable worker on a colonized ice planet, the new film from Korean cinema’s modern master sees protagonist Mickey ‘re-printed’ over and over again. Frequently killed in his dangerous daily tasks, ‘human prin…

1
Icky Ninjas & Otherworldly Kids: Ninja vs Shark, Starve Acre & Bloat 18:45

2M ago18:45

18:45

There are shark movies and there are shark movies. Ninja vs Shark (Japan, 2023) is definitely the former - a bonkers Power Rangers-y shark flick that gets derailed by tone deaf plotlines and an irredeemable protagonist. Also, two folk horror flicks drop this week: the somber Starve Acre (United Kingdom, 2024) on Shudder and the part-Japanese, part-…

1
Daisy Ridley’s surprise BAFTA + Mark on Mickey 17 1:07:31

2M ago1:07:31

1:07:31

Vanguardistas have more fun—so if you don’t already subscribe to the podcast, join the Vanguard today via Apple Podcasts or extratakes.com for non-fruit-related devices. In return you’ll get a whole extra Take 2 alongside Take 1 every week, with bonus reviews, more viewing recommendations from the Good Doctors and whole bonus episodes just for you.…

1
Raising Teenagers, Making Movies & Founding Companies | (Eric Colbert, Jay Chandrasekhar, Eli Szasz; Dads of 9 kids, VouchVault, SuperTroopers) 1:11:38

2M ago1:11:38

1:11:38

Eric Colbert, Jay Chandrasekhar and Eli Szasz are the co-founders of VouchVault, a new platform that helps you get trusted recommendations for products and services you need. Eric and Eli have worked together for years at creative agency, Spark6. Jay is a comedian, writer and actor best known for his movies Super Troopers and Beerfest. Collectively…

1
Raising Teenagers, Making Movies & Founding Companies | (Eric Colbert, Jay Chandrasekhar, Eli Szasz; Dads of 9 kids, VouchVault, SuperTroopers) 1:11:37

2M ago1:11:37

1:11:37

Eric Colbert, Jay Chandrasekhar and Eli Szasz are the co-founders of VouchVault, a new platform that helps you get trusted recommendations for products and services you need. Eric and Eli have worked together for years at creative agency, Spark6. Jay is a comedian, writer and actor best known for his movies Super Troopers and Beerfest. Collectively…

1
Cave Monsters, Cringey Birthdays and a Puppet: The Cave, The Birthday, Meat Puppet & Stuffed 48:43

2M ago48:43

48:43

Do you prefer your cave monsters heavy and scary, or wildly ridiculous? Do you like happy birthdays, or celebrations with weird dialogue and flat jokes? Do you like playing with puppets? We ask the real questions this week as we go spelunking with The Cave (Germany, Australia & USA, 2005) on VOD, wonder if some "cult" films should stay forgotten wi…

1
Best birdsong ever from Robert Carlyle 1:08:11

2M ago1:08:11

1:08:11

Begbie himself, and surely a frontrunner for British cinema’s scariest man (on screen only, we might add), is our guest this week—it’s Robert Carlyle. This time he’s playing staunchly moral councilor Sam Hagen in new Netflix drama ‘Toxic Town’. Penned by Jack Thorne (of course), and with a cracking cast of Jodie Whittaker, Aimee Lou Wood, Rory Kinn…

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