Sorry to get back on topic

Alex and Rob are very disappointed in Gaal.

Rob and Mike talk about how Foundation is super duper okay. We're a bit off-schedule lately, so we can't promise a specific recording date if you're looking to join the discussion. Shoot us a message at @SorryTopic on Twitter and we can add you to the Discord to make sure you don't miss out.

Rob, Alex, Mike, and Leul are digging some of the unique parts of the TV version, like Imperial Cloning™ but it's still not clear how things will play out for The Foundation on Terminus, and what seems to be an impending crisis. If you'd like to listen live, or even join the conversation, we're on […]

In this discussion, Rob is joined by Alex Monroe who has just recently read the book and brings a fresher memory to some of the comparisons. We also try to step back and discuss the show on its own and some of the story developing in between Trantor and Terminus, which was not in the […]

It's finally here! Actually, a there are a few episodes out already. Apple surprised us with two episodes on the first day, but we'll be spacing everything out one week at a time on this podcast. We'll also try to stick to just a short half hour chat on these, unless there's an appetite for […]

Another mini-episode before we start our discussion series about the Apple TV+ series, Foundation. Rob has been reading Prelude to Foundation and talks about the origins of Psychohistory. Hopefully it gets you in the mood for the show, which has premiered as of publishing this episode! Tune in next week for our discussion about the […]

Apple has created a TV series based on the science fiction series, Foundation, by Issac Asimov. This is like the sci-fi genre equivalent of Lord of the Rings within the Fantasy genre and Rob is VERY excited! Sorry to get back on topic will be running a weekly mini-series to discuss the TV show and […]

Rob didn't check his microphone and it was a bit hot – sorry about that! In this casual hangout episode, Alex and Rob talk about work, and about their vacation to Chicago that included go kart racing. This leads to a nice tangent about Formula 1 racing and of course a bit about Tesla too.

Hey, we're trying out a new thing. You can ignore these if you want, it's purely supplemental. If you're looking to get more Sorry to get back on topic, or hopefully you're interested in sending audio messages to the show, this is FOR YOU! This is us on Racket: http://racket.com/sorrytopic

This is the first time that hosts Alex and Josh meet! Rob managed to “double-book” both of them, and record an episode with everyone. Josh recently went to the hospital and shares his experience, which gets us talking about health care in general. There's a lot more to this very complex issue than just our […]

Hi there, we've noticed a bunch of new people tuning in after our episode with Jeff about iPads. If you missed that one, it's great and you should check that it out (it's right before this one). So if you're new here, this is a special new introduction and a re-run of one of the […]

Alex and Rob catch up on a lazy Sunday. We talk about some lesser-known smart home tools, and Alex wants to plan a post-marriage bachelor party! Thinking about future topics, we explore some ideas together but would love to hear what you think! More music, philosophy, science? Rob wants to talk more about Nils Frahm, […]

Alex and Rob are joined by special guest, Patrick, a full-time astronomy nerd who actually works at a planetarium! Alex wanted to try something different and record this episode during our most recent Elite:Dangerous play session, since we're hanging out on Discord as it is. Inevitably, we end up talking a lot about the game, […]

Wow, it has been nearly a year since our co-host Josh actually joined the podcast! Josh realizes how much he doesn't even know what he looks like when trying to create an avatar with the Stereo app. Then he talks way too much about the AirPods Max he just got, and explains why a cockatiel […]

Alex and Rob get together after a six month hiatus! We touch on suburban life, changing careers, job interviews, and viewing skills in another way. Maybe being a leader is actually similar to being a teacher. This episode was live-streamed on Stereo! We'll let people know on our Twitter and Telegram shortly before we start, […]

Just a short hello, thank you, and update from Rob.

It's been quite a while since we've had a new episode here. A lot has been going on! In this episode, we're easing back into it with just a casual catch-up chat with Chris Castaneda. Sorry his microphone isn't so great. He promises higher quality next time around

We tried and failed to do a live stream of this episode! Hopefully next time around Rob will have it figured out. When he does, the first broadcast will be here: twitch.tv/robrogan In this episode, Rob and Alex take a while to hit their podcasting stride again but we hear about Alex’s honeymoon around Lake Michigan, a visit to the chiropractor, some different types of massage that we manage to tie in with mindfulness of course, and lastly, Rob bought a NEW PIANO (it’s very exciting). As always, say hello or ask a question on Twitter: @sorrytopic If you want the full song from the end of the episode, here it is:

We’re off this week, so here’s some B-roll of my recent conversation with Mike Rapin. Before we got into our chat about Video Games + Roll Playing we blew off some steam about work. Mostly complaining, but kind of interesting to hear about common problems in tech work. Hopefully it can be interesting to a broader audience too. By the way, for other episodes featuring Mike, you can browse the Mike tag here. Find Mike on the internet most likely under “mikerapin” and I’m easily found with “robrogan.” As usual, follow/tweet at us via @SorryTopic!

Playlist has been deleted. ID: ”hi”[/sonarr_audioplayer] This is a pretty specific episode, so feel free to skip it if RPGs and video games aren’t your thing. Alex and Rob have been thinking about playing Elite Dangerous (that space game we’ve mentioned several times) but with a role-playing twist where we stay in character and make decisions in the game based on our character’s motivation. We’re a little stuck on how to turn this very “blank canvas” type of online game into a role playing game however. So, we’ve called in the expert, none other than… Mike Rapin! Mike will also be joining our group in the game. Maybe we’ll document some more about how figure this out together… maybe a totally new podcast just for the game. By the way, for other episodes featuring Mike, you can browse the Mike tag here. Find Mike on the internet most likely under “mikerapin” and I’m easily found with “robrogan.” As usual, follow/tweet at us via @SorryTopic!

Ahhh – back to the old hangout. This episode is full of big life updates from both Rob and Alex. I’ll let you listen to find out what’s new. We do touch on being a teacher and going back to school right now, as Alex has to prepare for the school year. Rob has a rant about the increasingly fractured “media landscape.” In other words, all the different streaming services for TV were almost the first wave and now we have so many exclusive platforms for podcasts. It’s great that podcasts are getting more popular, but what this means for the medium as a whole is that your reach gets smaller. You can’t just publish once and be discovered by everyone. It’s going to depend what app you’re part of in the coming future. Lastly, we also talk a bit about music and quarantine. Even with social distancing, things like a concert will be very hard to pull off. What does it mean to stream a performance instead of being there?

The final installment of our mini-series about Hans Zimmer! Don’t forget to start out with parts 1 & 2! Find it in your feed, or our website here. As a side-note, this was pretty fun to do and if you can think of something else you want to get some background info about, let us know. A lot of the music here is chopped into pieces and cut short, so please look up the full soundtrack on your favorite music app. I’ll include YouTube links below: Interstellar – Where We’re Going [YouTube] Apollo 11 Mission Audio [YouTube] Interstellar – Coward [YouTube] Our Twitter is @sorrytopic and you can also find us on Telegram. Check out JoshandRob.com for more info

Don’t forget to start out with Part 1! Find it in your feed, or our website here. We have cut the samples down and encourage you to hit PAUSE when we call out the track, look it up on YouTube or Spotify and then come back to the discussion. From Sherlock: Discombobulate [YouTube] Marital Sabotage [YouTube] From Dark Knight: Why So Serious? [YouTube] A Dark Knight [YouTube]

Alex and Rob got a hot tip from Mike Rapin that we should discuss Hans Zimmer’s music. In this episode we talk about Zimmer’s style in general, and break down a few samples from Inception. For reasons, we have cut the samples down and encourage you to hit PAUSE when we call out the track, look it up on YouTube or Spotify and then come back to the discussion. For your convenience, here are the ones we bring up: Wonder Woman theme Inception: Dream Is Collapsing [YouTube] Edith Piaf – Non, Je ne regrette rien [YouTube] Inception: Dream Within a Dream [YouTube] Inception: Paradox [YouTube] Some cool bonus material!

A quick update from Rob. We only have one listener on Spotify so we won’t be maintaining our feed on Spotify. Please send us a tweet @sorrytopic Or hop into our super relaxed, free chat platform on Telegram. Look up the app to download on your device. Then you can follow this link to join: https://t.me/Sorrytogetbackontopic If none of those suit your fancy you can email Rob at: robrogan @ gmail

Mike calls in to offer a theory about what Josh brought up in the Quarantine Crossing episode.

Episode 30 of STGBOT is yet another with special guest Alex Monroe. Alex’s percussion group isn’t doing anything during quarantine. There’s a lot of work that goes into the trending zoom-music performances people might be familiar with. We talked about the fatigue of video chats/conferences/calls all the time and wanting to get away from the computer. On the other hand… we really love this game called Elite Dangerous, and then Rob offers a bit of comparison to No Man’s Sky, and the real life scientific tool called Gaia Sky. Links to the games in their respective order: https://www.elitedangerous.com/buy/steam/elite-dangerous-cmdr-deluxe-edition https://www.nomanssky.com/ http://gaia-sky.readthedocs.io the lore tour Alex was talking about Finally, if you’re bored of all those topics, skip to the 50 minute mark where we have questions for YOU, listener. Email Rob your responses.

This time we switch gears and get into other topics. To be honest, I edited this a week ago and have no idea what we talk about. Enjoy!

Yeah being honest here. Alex and Rob just talk about computer specifications for about an hour as Rob just purchased a fully-upgraded iMac and Alex debates getting a new laptop or desktop. Feel free to skip this one. In the mean time!! Send us a tweet already

The Revenant: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a soundtrack album for the 2015 film, The Revenant, composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto with additional music by Bryce Dessner. Source: The Revenant (Soundtrack) wikipedia In this episode, Alex and Rob discuss the music from The Revenant. It’s minimal, but intense. Spartan, necessary, and profound. See also: Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (imdb link) Let us know what you think of this new venture! We might spawn off a new podcast along these lines. We’d also like to hear any requests of something to watch/listen to next time. robrogan [at] gmail.com or @sorrytopic on Twitter, and of course our Telegram group!

Josh and Rob catch up (finally!) and talk about tech, of course, but also why Josh doesn’t play video games, and other fascinating subjects. Grab a nice cup of something, put on your headphones, and enjoy the show while staring at a wall. Almost missing our commute at this point.

Alex and Rob talk about some games they’ve loved in the past because Rob started playing Diablo III again. Have you played Age of Empires? It’s one of our favorites. Later we get on the topic of Star Wars and some of the story lines we might be missing (or could see in the future). Finally, we hit on an idea for a new podcast that we’ll experiment with here. Alex and Rob will watch a movie and then have a discussion about the soundtrack and its composer! Next Sunday Hangout will be about The Revenant.

Dear Listener, In this episode, I received four letters in response to a letter of mine that was part statement and part question. Picking up where Habiba concluded the previous episode, I thought about the connection or disconnection of work and life. I asked Habiba to respond and invited three others to contribute their thoughts as well. Note:This is episode will be released in two parts. In this first part, you’ll hear from Habiba and Mike. In Episode 03, you’ll hear Nick and Crystal. All the best,Rob

Hi everyone, no notes today because… I’m lazy. If you’d like notes, or they are helpful to you, let us know and I’ll do better next time! -Rob

Alex and Rob got together again on Sunday afternoon to catch up and just talk about whatever is on their minds. Unavoidably, the first bit is about Coronavirus news impacting all of our lives. If you’ve had enough of that, feel free to skip up to 6 minutes, because there’s an update about Josh and COVID-19. After that bit, you can also skip ahead to about 19 minutes where we get into the meat of the discussion. Alex is the co-founder of Beyond This Point, a non-profit experimental percussion group. Rob asks about how you actually start something like that, and more broadly how a non-profit works. A Buddhist monk that left his friend hangin… leads to a longer discussion about movie endings that leave you hanging (often for a good reason). Can you think of examples where the future of music is represented in film? Usually science fiction speculates on the future of technology, social norms, and even fashion, but is it impossible to create speculative/futuristic music?

A few minutes in the beginning Rob shares how this pandemic is taking a toll on him, but this doesn’t need to be a downer episode! Alex and Rob talk about remote work, the pros and cons of it, and how he is adapting to teaching music online and being creative with a virtual group of people. Rob talks about his affinity for all kinds of technology that creates a sense of shared space, like Zoom, Echo Show with a faraway friend, and other tools. We ponder about how else these drastic times might create a positive culture shift. Links to specific apps and sites mentioned: Zoom Houseparty Berlin Philharmonic – Digital Concert Hall (giving free membership if signing up before March 31) IDAGIO (has free plan) *Note if you are using Spotify, they don’t support links. Either try a “real” podcast app, or visit our site: https://joshandrob.comAlso feel free to say hello to @sorrytopic on Twitter, or maybe we can all Zoom together!

Dear Listener, My hope for this series is that each episode builds as an iteration on those previous. Depending on your impression (and my patience for editing) this episode may or may not become the standard for the podcast. In this episode, you have a compilation of three letters received in response to my questions: What do you do, and why?What does Work mean to you? I have listened to each letter dozens of times while editing, and found a lot of joy in their unique perspectives (honestly, not trying to sound pedantic). I was afraid however, that no one wants to listen to three, long (~10 minute) monologues in a row, which led me to an interesting task of finding similarities and stringing these three responses together. For anyone who prefers to hear each letter in full, please look for “Episode 01B” which includes Chris, Habiba, and Josh, without interruption. All the best,Rob

Josh and Rob talk about their microphone preferences and a growing love for Røde products. We mention Rob’s Rode Podmic, Josh’s Heil PR40, the Røde Procaster, and the Sure SM7B that is a studio standard. Lots of Amazon links for ya… dang I should get a commission! Josh quits therapy, Rob wishes he had a therapist again, and we trade pros/cons of talk therapy. Josh gets a FREE HAWAIIAN VACATION by going to a timeshare presentation. (face palm) Rob spends hours editing this podcast and crafting entertainment for the 3-4 friends he has listening to him. You know what would be the best tip, and not cost ANY money? A nice review. → Apple Podcasts → Stitcher …or whatever, maybe just tell a friend, or hop on Twitter and shoot us a question @sorrytopic.

Rob chats with a friend and old co-worker, Chris Castaneda. You can hear his whole backstory in an episode of Letters, which will be featured on Sorry to get back on topic very soon. Until then, here’s the site for the Letters episode.* In this episode we talk about design jobs for a bit, but don’t worry, we also get into our changing music preferences, making music as a hobby, and reminiscing about the old Spotify app. Chris uses Alexa to help him record covers of Swedish rock, which got us talking about smart home devices, and some pro-user features of iOS like Apple Shortcuts. Rob might have been a little too honest in automating his marriage *After talking to Spotify last week, we learned that they don’t support html links in show descriptions. You have to type out the actual URL, like this http://letters.robrogan.com for it to be clickable on Spotify. In general, I think Spotify is trash for podcasts, but I try to make our show available on any platform. On the bright side, I think we get zero listens from that platform, so you should be good to go with Apple or Overcast or whatever you like.

Alex Monroe is back! We mostly catch up about his recent vacation in China, which of course brings up talk about the Coronavirus hype. Wanna get in touch? Tweet the show @sorrytopic, or at Rob and Josh. Feel free to jump into our open Telegram chat for updates and chit-chat about the show. Don’t use Twitter, don’t want to download Telegram? Tell us what you use. Should we get an email?

Here’s a reprisal of Rob’s old podcast project, Letters. It’s a different format than most, as this introduction explains. We’ll include more episodes in this feed, but if you’re eager to continue listening, you can find it in your podcast app searching for “Letters” or going to this site.

Alternate title: Popcorn, Disney, and a Tesla ride Josh and Rob catch up after the holidays! Rob got an Artiphon Instrument 1 for Christmas and looooves it. We talked about those refillable popcorn buckets from AMC Classic, Josh and his wife’s Disney ANNUAL passes, (sometimes) boring museum visits, his Lyft ride in a Tesla that sparked a newfound obsession. Rob brings up his financial anxiety and obsessive budgeting. (Check out Simple, the bank we both use, and/or YNAB a handy budgeting app). Per the provocative title (how do you like it?), Rob asks if at this point in life Josh feels like he’s an “expert” in what he does. Something about the age we’re at now, it feels like we should have expertise in something. Lastly, you can get the latest reaction ever to Star Wars episode 9. No real spoilers, if you haven’t seen it, just generalized thoughts.

Well, this “Christmas” episode is already way outdated so we’ll get right to it. Enjoy! Miss the show notes? Let us know you’re reading Tweet or follow the show @sorrytopic, or at Rob, Josh, and Mike. Feel free to jump into our free and open Telegram chat for updates and chit-chat about the show.

Josh and Rob catch up, originally to talk about his NEW Air Pods Pro… but we immediately got off topic. You can hear about Air Pods in the next episode coming soon. In this episode we talk about Banana milk, other milks, and bananas going extinct! Then Rob talks about different tastes in podcasts, a call for submissions, and interesting stuff he learns from shows like Pivot, and Escaping NXIVM. We touch on news, and being overwhelmed. Rob recommends an different type of news site, The Correspondent. Quick! What app are you using right now? We don’t care too much about stats, but when check them it says a few use Apple Podcasts, a few use Overcast, and then the vast majority use “other.” Curiosity is killing us, so let us know what podcast app do you use? Bonus points: what do you like about the app? Wanna get in touch? Tweet the show @sorrytopic, or at Rob and Josh. Feel free to jump into our open Telegram chat for updates and chit-chat about the show. Don’t use Twitter, don’t want to download Telegram? Tell us what you use. Should we get an email?

In this episode we pick up right where we left off. Probably best to start with the other Nick Nelson episode (before this) and go back to back Music for this episode was recorded in the New York City subway. SPOTIFY LISTENERS: we just realized Spotify doesn’t support links in podcast notes. They usually aren’t important, but if you ever want to go into more detail, try the podcast with a different app or visit our site (joshandrob.com). One more thing… if you hear any advertising while listening to this podcast (on Spotify, or elsewhere) please let us know. Advertising is terrible and should not exist. You shouldn’t have to listen to any injected ads just to be able to hang out with us. Thanks for listening! It would be cool if you give us a friendly rating on Apple Podcasts, or rate/favorite the episode in the app you’re using right now. Wanna get in touch? Tweet the show @sorrytopic, or at Rob @robrogan. Nick is @NickNelson or @BeerCityBG Feel free to jump into our open Telegram chat for updates and chit-chat about the show.

Rob drove to Michigan for Mike Rapin‘s wedding and stayed the night with the ORIGINAL podcast host, Nick Nelson. Fun fact: not only is he Rob’s oldest friend, but he started podcasting with Rob back in 2007! This conversation is loose and casual as most episodes are, but once we warm up we hit on some interesting topics such as ancient cities, big cities, and summer vacation. If you hear any funky echoes, that’s because this was recorded in person. I fixed most of it, but hey don’t expect too much from me. Music for this episode was recorded in the New York City subway. Referenced talk about the origin of cities comes from the highly recommended Long Now Seminars: Cities: The first 6,000 years by Monica L. Smith. Go listen/watch! Thanks for listening! It would be cool if you give us a friendly rating on Apple Podcasts, or rate/favorite the episode in the app you’re using right now. Wanna get in touch? Tweet the show @sorrytopic, or at Rob @robrogan. Nick is @NickNelson or @BeerCityBG Feel free to jump in our open Telegram chat.

Josh takes a minute to give his take on the Apple Card and some first impressions.

No robots were harmed in the making of this podcast. All music sourced for this episode was computer generated, except for a couple samples later on in the jury duty story (you can tell). I got to catch up with Todd again while he was finishing up summer break from teaching and he told me about some cool and bizarre examples of computer generated music. He has been on jury duty for weeks, prohibited to discuss the criminal case, and now he’s finally finished! Most music was captured from Generative FM The first pop song ever written by artificial intelligence is pretty good, actually [Quartz] An A.I. Wrote a Christmas Song and It’s Really, Really Creepy Thanks for listening! It would be cool if you give us a friendly rating on Apple Podcasts, or rate/favorite the episode in the app you’re using right now. Wanna get in touch? Tweet the show @sorrytopic, or at Rob @robrogan and Josh @themacinjosh. Feel free to jump in our open Telegram chat.

Rob and Mike talk about games from DnD to Mario, wedding planning, learning Japanese, and other random crap. I grabbed the intro and outro music from this great playlist! (Visit the website if any of these YouTube links don’t appear in your app.) I love Takashi’s advice and comments about making a good platformer level on Nintendo Minute: Japanese: The Game on Kickstarter (I don’t think you can buy the game anymore). A couple videos that Mike mentioned were: SMM2 Competitive Gameplay SMM2 levels from Twitter Mike’s SSMM2 level: L91-WSC-J6G And you can watch Rob die trying it in this clip. Rob’s SSMM2 level: 04W-3LD-DNF Have fun typing those in >.< Thanks for listening! It would be cool if you give us a friendly rating on Apple Podcasts, or rate/favorite the episode in the app you’re using right now. Wanna get in touch? Tweet the show @sorrytopic, or at Rob @robrogan and Mike @mikerapin. Feel free to jump in our open Telegram chat.

Josh and Rob unite again to host a beautifully meandering episode about work, life, optometry, and shitty art restoration.