Fresh Fusion

Today, Fresh Fusion turns 8 years old, and I figured this would be a good opportunity to reflect on the history of the show, step through some of the highlights and a low point or two, and consider how I feel about podcasting now that I've got 130 episodes of the show in the can. And friends, you'll be treated to the sounds of my CRAZY CAT as he goes trilling & scampering through the studio! BTW, be sure to stick around until the very end, and I mean the very end of the episode for a special easter egg from a past era! 🥰

Links & Show Notes

• 📢 Hosted by Jared White
  • Listen to my other podcast: Vibe Coded
• 💬 Chat with me! Discord / Signal / Mastodon
• 🤌 Produced by Intuitive Future // Join Intuitive+ Today and support the show for only $5 a month
• 🎶 Theme music by YARRED
• ----
• Episode 1: The Moment I Fell Into the Fissure
• Episode 5: Nostalgia Café
• Episode 6: The Year Was 1994
  • Alexa Chipman Reactions on YouTube
• Episode 15: It’s Essential That You Listen to This
  • My Essential Life with Jared channel on YouTube
• Episode 45: Twitter is Like a Decentralized Twitter
• Episode 52: A Conversation with Nathan Kontny on Becoming a YouTuber, Privacy in Tech, Startup Culture, and Being a Dad
• Episode 55: Fresh Fusion Synergy (a short-lived video reboot!)
• Episode 77: Catch-2022
• 🎉 Episode 100: Rebuilding the Internet, with Mariya Delano
• Episode 111: The Ethical AI Layer Cake
  • The Hazards of Generative AI & Our Ethical Stance
• Episode 127: Hey, So For How Long Has Open Source Been a Nazi Bar?

I'm often asked how I get so much done, and it always surprises me because I usually feel like I'm chronically behind in everything. But after a month of significant progress on a bunch of projects and getting a whole lot accomplished, I'm in the mood to discuss productivity. 😎 Oh yeah, let's get into the weeds with…timeboxing, and work logging, and outlining! It's gonna be totally great.

Links & Show Notes

• 📢 Hosted by Jared White
• 💬 Chat with me! Discord / Signal / Mastodon
• 🤌 Produced by Intuitive Future // Join Intuitive+ Today and support the show for only $5 a month
• 📥 Subscribe to the Cycles Hyped No More newsletter
• 🎶 Theme music by YARRED
• ----
• Bear App
• Workflowy
• Ellipsus
• Day One
• Feedbin
• Current

New year, new grumpy cat (!!), new recording setup (hint: not using an Apple OS!), and so much more. Welcome to the soft-reboot of Fresh Fusion, and a state of the [fill in the blank] rundown: from social networking to desktops to music streamers along with some praise for a software ecosystem I never expected to be this jazzed about in 2026…Ruby. All that and a bag o' chips (different chips than the ones I'm using to bet with, obviously).

Links & Show Notes

• 📢 Hosted by Jared White
• 💬 Chat with me! Discord / Signal / Mastodon
• 🤌 Produced by Intuitive Future // Join Intuitive+ Today and support the show for only $5 a month
• 📥 Subscribe to the Cycles Hyped No More newsletter
• 🎶 Theme music by YARRED
• ----
• Gem.coop Gem Fellowship Grant
• Ardour
• Qobuz

As folks may know, I try to avoid deep-dives into "programming" topics here on Fresh Fusion. But as many recent events have proven, the slow creep of edgelord dank meme cosplay-fascist culture online has affected all kinds of communities, and unfortunately the world of open source technology is not immune. This episode is in part about Ruby, Ruby Central, Rails and the various players thereof, but it's really about a larger question: is this kind of behavior OK? Will we just continue to tolerate bullies running online communities? When is it time to speak up? How can we demonstrate to people of marginalized backgrounds that they are safe around us? Simply remaining silent is no longer an option. As the saying goes, if you walk into a bar and you see nazis hanging out freely without push back, then congratulations! You're in a Nazi Bar. 😬

Does talking like this make me a woke scold? Then so be it. I'm woke.
😎❤️💛💚💙💜☮️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️✌️

Links & Show Notes

• Hosted by Jared White
• Produced by Intuitive Future // Join Intuitive+ Today and support the show for only $5 a month
• Subscribe to the Cycles Hyped No More newsletter & the Vibe Coded podcast
• Theme music by YARRED
• Main topic: Ruby Central is Not Behaving in Good Faith, and I’ve Got Receipts
• How Ruby Went Off the Rails (404 Media)
• Trigger warning for DHH's appalling rhetoric:
  • The beauty of ideals
  • You expect principles but should wish for none
  • Building competency is better than therapy
  • As I remember London
  • We've all had enough of this nonsense
  • Calling someone a "nazi" is a permission slip for violence
• Framework flame war erupts over support of politically polarizing Linux projects

In what has apparently become an ongoing series, this installment of Living in Portland has our intrepid hero (me, that's me!) sharing all about the journey of personal discovery he went on as part of his real-world journey through the Pacific Northwest as a digital nomad. In addition, time to spill the beans and talk about what it's like to move into a new place as a Portlander once more; only this time, with newfound intentionality and a design sense better than "raised by wolves". Also lots about the joys of white linens. What is even happening here?? 😂

Hosted by Jared White
Produced by Intuitive Future // Join Intuitive+ Today and support the show for only $5 a month
Subscribe to the Cycles Hyped No More newsletter & the Vibe Coded podcast
Theme music by YARRED

Props if you know that very Millennial reference! We’re here to talk about Gen-Z and what it’s like to be a teenager in this screwy world. And by “we”, I mean me and my very special guest: Mike. Like all pundits worth their salt, when I want people to know more about the plight of today’s youth, I ask the only youth I know well. Yes that’s right: today I’ve put on my Mr. Dad hat. Enjoy the interview!

(Note: if you think you hear knuckles cracking at one point, you are not imagining things! Sorry I wasn’t able to clean up in post… 😄)

We need better stories. The “Hero’s Journey” isn’t going to help us. No plucky band of rebels is going to land a blow and take the fascists out in one punch. The cycle of Republic vs Evil Empire will continue forever—unless we break that cycle. Our imaginations and our ideas must expand.

Deep thoughts as I watch through the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale and ruminate on the ever provocative words of Jessie Gender on the nature of modern storytelling.

As Fern, the protagonist of Nomadland (an incredible award-winning film), says: I’m not homeless, I’m houseless. There is a difference!

So, I said in the last episode of Fresh Fusion that I was getting ready to move, and also travel a lot. When I didn’t say was that my traveling a lot would be happening after moving out…and before moving in! 😅

Listen as I explain my four reasons why I’ve made this major lifestyle change to downsize, cram a bunch o’ things into storage, and hit the road.

I’m a ramblin’ guy, I’m ramblin’ ramblin’ ram…BLIN’!

Just like Steve Martin apparently, I’ll be ramblin’ around a lot this year, so it’s time to take my mobile workspace seriously and bid adeiu to being tethered to a desktop Mac (and, well, macOS in general). How will I get things done while I’m on the road? Who knows—I mean, yes, this episode will explain everything!

Update: the original published MP3 was missing chapter markers. Had to wrangle with Ferrite a bit more, but this version should be working now! 😅

(Note: I want to provide a Trigger Warning as this episode contains examples of hate speech targeted at LGBTQ+ people and women. Take care of yourselves, and proceed with understanding.)

It’s 2025 y’all, and everything’s going great so far! 😜 But seriously, I have some good news to report (really, I do!) even while expressing my supreme frustration that yet another commercial social media platform has proven itself to be absolutely terrible, the broligarchy is in full swing, and there are no good billionaires. Thankfully, we can exercise our freedom of association by refusing to entertain these clowns or have anything to do with their gross and unsafe platforms.