8 tech episodes from Dumbo’s Longform Podcast

A little while back we picked some Brooklyn based podcasts out for our community, in part because we were launching our own.

Nearly as soon as we posted our list, we discovered another Brooklyn podcast that, as a news organization, we’ve become fixated on, The Longform Podcast. From Longform and The Atavist, each episode features one of its three founders talking at length with a journalist known for producing extended non-fiction. More often than not, the episode is taped and edited in Dumbo.

The team does strong prep before each episode, which is evidenced in the quality of the conversation. Each episode’s blog post is also annotated with links to the pieces discussed.

For someone looking to get into journalism or for a newer journalist looking for deeper insights, you really can’t beat this podcast. We’d like to say it’s j-school without tuition, but this reporter didn’t go, so he is no authority. It feels that way, though.

Here are some solid episodes that cover technology:

Paul Ford. This Brooklyn journalist is also a developer, even building his own CMS. Ironically, he worked early on for perhaps the most venerable U.S. publications with the most reticence about the web, Harpers.

Jason Fagone. This Philadelphia freelancer wrote a recent book about the Automotive X Prize. Technically Philly covered the book release here.

Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery. The co-editors of Mother Jones offer loads to unpack in this ep, but most relevant for our audience: an old-media mainstay that doubled down on the web and how it’s preparing to do so again.

Choire Sicha. The cofounder of The Awl talks seriously about the business of creating a media brand. He has a tough message in here for anyone that hopes to make money from blogging. It’s worth hearing for that alone [Disclosure: this reporter is working on a freelance assignment from The Awl now].

Jonah Weiner. This one addresses, among other topics, the mystery that is the perplexing indie video game, Dwarf Fortress. If you don’t know what that is, we’re not entirely sure we can recommend that you find out. You’ve been warned.

Mina Kimes. This Fortune writer doesn’t discuss any stories she’s done that deal with the digital economy, but she does go into venture capitalism and industries where the quest for innovation has led to dark places.

Gideon Lewis-Kraus. The writer has looked deeply into one of the greatest forces on the Internet: cats.

Ta-Nehisi Coates. Coates talks a lot about his process, which is uniquely open. The Atlantic writer says that he tells his readers what he’s working on and what he’s finding via his blog as he works on it, often getting helpful insights and tips from his comments feed. That’s right: a popular writer online who sees value in his comments feed.

While working on this story, we found several other eps that we haven’t listened to yet, but have strong tech ties, including Cord Jefferson (of Gawker), Joshua Topolsky (of The Verge), Steve Kandell (of Buzzfeed) and Mat Honan (of Wired).