The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

Steven Sirski
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The daily musings of an expat in Beijing.

  1. 1h ago

    SSAB - October 22, 2026

    Stevie, you sound distracted! You said you wanted to focus and then you never explained how you got stuck in the gym! Closing the windows and trying to stay warm! Trees are thinning and leaves slowly changing colour. Creating creative projects for the class, will they work? Alberta had a referendum?! How did that go? And a new piece of technology in my apartment, am I okay with this? Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA *** Show notes n tracks available on stevensirski.com Episode summaries in Chinese: https://stevensirski.github.io/ssab-zh/ Newsletter over at stevensirski.substack.com Language vlog on http://www.youtube.com/@stevenslanguagevlog Google Stock Tracker Sheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kbpCC2cieuq23zYyr0-WznPRogVX0aS86BF4_vPvgMY/edit?usp=sharing Hope you have a great one!! 00:00 Episode Preview 00:37 China Telecom Visit 02:25 Xiao Yi Guan Jia Device 07:57 Always Listening Concerns 10:21 Wi-Fi Trouble and Mining 14:20 Hard Drives and ESL Folder 16:33 Lack of Chinese Practice 17:45 Stuck in the Gym 21:38 Skipping Today's Workout 23:11 Cold Weather and Mornings 25:39 Writing Chinese Characters 28:56 Creative Class Projects 32:28 Personal Presentation Project 35:02 Video Game Distractions 37:36 Alberta Referendum 38:30 Quebec Separatism 44:24 Sign-Off and Links

    SSAB - October 22, 2026

  2. 1d ago

    SSAB - October 21, 2026

    How were the steaks? One was over done, the other was alright… that’s what I get for leaving them in the oven while I recorded the podcast. Sorry about the botched intro to yesterday’s episode, it felt a bit weak. To say nothing about the technical issues! Workout in! Got stuck in the gym! Am I not supposed to be taking a week off? Hit the major lifts today: squats, rows and shoulder press. And student questions: -How do you use Claude? -How much do you pay? -Do you think AI will take your job? -And why doesn’t Canada extradite the Chinese national? Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA *** Show notes n tracks available on stevensirski.com Episode summaries in Chinese: https://stevensirski.github.io/ssab-zh/ Newsletter over at stevensirski.substack.com Language vlog on http://www.youtube.com/@stevenslanguagevlog Google Stock Tracker Sheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kbpCC2cieuq23zYyr0-WznPRogVX0aS86BF4_vPvgMY/edit?usp=sharing Hope you have a great one!! 00:00 Steak Check 01:01 Yesterday's Recording Failure 03:15 Focusing the Podcast 05:48 Halloween Reading Tradition 06:53 Chinese Studies and Student Envy 08:19 Halloween Audiobook Ideas 11:48 Gym Stuck Workout 14:03 Gym Pass Cycles 16:47 Strong Lifts Numbers 17:52 Creatine and Bench Press 20:14 IOT Class Dynamics 24:17 Office Hours Interview 26:26 Claude Terminal and Pricing 28:24 AI Prompting and Verbosity 30:38 Claude Workflow Replacing Descript 31:14 Will AI Take My Job 35:32 Extradition Question 40:32 Links and Support

    SSAB - October 21, 2026

  3. 2d ago

    SSAB - October 20, 2026

    Academic English? What’s the difference?! Had a very good IELTS talk with one of the students today. Positive vs negative responses. And should we record these to playback and analyze? Thinking… what would an online degree in Chinese be like? And why would I want to do one? -More recognition than HSK -A variety of topics -In depth knowledge (but why do I need this?) And there seems to be more Jesus and God talk as of late. Why? Well, I think it’s become clear that the USA has some issues as of late and the Church has especially been sidelined. New Pope is USAmerica, is that the only reason? Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA *** Show notes n tracks available on stevensirski.com Episode summaries in Chinese: https://stevensirski.github.io/ssab-zh/ Newsletter over at stevensirski.substack.com Language vlog on http://www.youtube.com/@stevenslanguagevlog Google Stock Tracker Sheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kbpCC2cieuq23zYyr0-WznPRogVX0aS86BF4_vPvgMY/edit?usp=sharing Hope you have a great one!! 00:00 Cold Open Setup and Teasers 00:46 Show Intro and Monolingual Classrooms 02:28 Academic English and Contractions 06:14 Third Person Review Assignment 08:47 Semester Classes and Exam Rubric 11:28 Speaking vs Writing Exams 13:06 Casual English and Attendance 14:48 Office Hours and IELTS Buddies 18:07 IELTS Practice Session 24:21 Recording and Transcribing Speech 29:16 Online Chinese Degree Idea 31:20 HSK vs IELTS 33:05 Motivations for Chinese Degree 37:14 Adam Curry Leaving No Agenda 39:53 Catholicism and Religion Sensitivities 42:02 Good vs Evil and the Bible 43:24 American Pope and DEI 45:27 Skepticism About the Bible 47:04 Concise History of the Church 48:38 Wrap Up Links and Support

    SSAB - October 20, 2026

  4. 3d ago

    SSAB - October 19, 2026

    AI continues to astound me! Editable titles in FCP? No problem! Website for the podcast? Sure! Show analysis? Done! Now if I could only get this to work offline. Thinking about focusing the podcast a little more, or at least a little more often. Chinese history, language, finance, etc. Workouts in and how is the creatine going, Steve? Getting big? Yea, kinda. -125 kg deadlift on Saturday x 1 rep -Quick leg workout yesterday morning -Squats and bench this morning, run done in the afternoon (7 km in 45.05, why do I run faster after gym workouts?) -And gaining weight, up ~1 kg in the last week. And I met the parents! What’s next?! We’ll see! Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA *** Show notes n tracks available on stevensirski.com Episode summaries in Chinese: https://stevensirski.github.io/ssab-zh/ Newsletter over at stevensirski.substack.com Language vlog on http://www.youtube.com/@stevenslanguagevlog Google Stock Tracker Sheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kbpCC2cieuq23zYyr0-WznPRogVX0aS86BF4_vPvgMY/edit?usp=sharing Hope you have a great one!! 00:00 Intro 00:50 AI Replacing Video Editors 02:57 Editable Final Cut Pro Titles 03:54 Explainer Videos for Toronto Footage 05:23 Automated Clip Workflow 06:59 Computering Fun Again 08:47 Ebooks and Humanizing AI Text 11:31 Explainers Replacing Plugins 13:42 Claude Usage and Security Risks 17:57 Blackmagic Cam and Offline AI 21:27 Focusing the Podcast 24:11 ESL Brand and Podcast Focus 29:01 Creatine and Body Changes 32:39 Canada Weight Gain and Protein 35:05 Bench and Deadlift Progress 40:06 Run and Muscle Priming 41:20 Meeting Her Parents 44:20 Wrap Up Links and Support

    SSAB - October 19, 2026

  5. 5d ago

    SSAB - October 16, 2026

    Steve! Enough with the AI! Or is this podcast simply going to be all about your little workflow?! (Well, next job is to create a Super Folder of ESL Content) New gym cycle begins (or at least a new pass). Still recovering from Wednesday’s session. They’re changing the elevator! Finally! Blueberries a falling?! Why are they getting CHEAPER?! WOW did I get the price movement of COAL wrong! I was thinking Guanghui Energy was a coal company when really they’re an LNG company… or they are now? And Adam Curry is leaving the No Agenda Show, but not leaving podcasting. Will have to talk a little more about this next week. Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA *** Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com Transcript and more available on Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1om1Geup1o6Adi-A8kTAnCf12Zo7nDkAt?usp=sharing Newsletter over at stevensirski.substack.com Language vlog on http://www.youtube.com/@stevenslanguagevlog Google Stock Tracker Sheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kbpCC2cieuq23zYyr0-WznPRogVX0aS86BF4_vPvgMY/edit?usp=sharing Hope you have a great weekend! God Bless! 00:00 Cold Open Headlines 00:33 Intro and Week of AI 02:43 ESL Content Backlog 04:57 Six Months of Content 06:55 ESL Repository Idea 09:19 AI Game Changer 10:26 Classroom AI Essay Exercise 13:57 Super ESL Folder Plan 15:41 New Gym Cycle 19:02 Blackmagic Controller Glitch 20:29 Cluttered Recording Setup 21:25 Creatine and Supplements 25:07 Elevator Replacement 27:31 Blueberry Price Drop 31:51 Milk and Egg Prices 35:25 Coal Price Mistake 39:12 Adam Curry Leaving No Agenda 45:23 Thanks to Adam Curry 47:06 Wrap Up Links and Support

    SSAB - October 16, 2026

  6. Oct 15

    SSAB - October 15, 2026

    Quick! Before the good lighting disappears! AI tooling and training continues! How about some code-driven animations? Do I still have to flag them as “AI generated”? Gives me an idea for May You Make Your Movie. Chinese markets a moving! It’s that time of year for the Chinese markets to move to the groove played by the big man! What’s moving and where? And listener question: Steve, do you have any microphone recommendations? A few. :) -DJI microphones, -Shure MV7+ (SM7B is the one that Joe Rogan uses), -Blue Yeti, -iPhone microphone is pretty good on its own, -Rode which makes both lapel mics and standalone mics. -Other than that, a gaming headset or the later editions of the Airpods would be good enough for most situations. Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA *** Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com Chinese summaries: https://stevensirski.github.io/ssab-zh Transcript and more available on Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1om1Geup1o6Adi-A8kTAnCf12Zo7nDkAt?usp=sharing Newsletter over at stevensirski.substack.com Language vlog on http://www.youtube.com/@stevenslanguagevlog Google Stock Tracker Sheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kbpCC2cieuq23zYyr0-WznPRogVX0aS86BF4_vPvgMY/edit?usp=sharing Hope you have a great one!! 00:00 Cold Open Teasers 00:32 Good Lighting and Going Video 02:17 TikTok Snapchat and Substack 04:42 Claude Motion Discovery 05:29 Talking Heads Need B-Roll 07:54 Claude Code Post-Production Workflow 10:42 Remotion vs Code Animations 15:26 What the Automation Produces 17:42 Chinese Translation and ElevenLabs 18:49 Letting AI Edit Substack 20:44 Clips and Publishing 22:28 Podcast as Therapy 23:56 Labeling AI Animations 26:08 Chinese Markets Are Moving 28:57 Banks Oil and Coal Dust 32:53 Micron and NVIDIA Slide 34:02 Bitcoin Golden Cross 35:38 Jingdong NIO and Alibaba 36:25 SSAB Stock Tracker Updates 38:00 Microphone Recommendations 44:11 Wrap Up Links and Support

    SSAB - October 15, 2026

  7. Oct 14

    SSAB - October 14, 2026

    More tests! But having fun! Just like English class! Today’s test: using Quicktime as a monitor, pros and cons. The Garrison of Content seems within reach as we speak! Should I charge for Chinese site access?? IELTS cancellation debacle continues! Who’s fault? Have they been hacked? What happens now? And I think YouTube Shorts are paying more? Better keep publishing! Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA *** Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com Chinese summaries: https://stevensirski.github.io/ssab-zh/ Transcript and more available on Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1om1Geup1o6Adi-A8kTAnCf12Zo7nDkAt?usp=sharing Newsletter over at stevensirski.substack.com Language vlog on http://www.youtube.com/@stevenslanguagevlog Google Stock Tracker Sheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kbpCC2cieuq23zYyr0-WznPRogVX0aS86BF4_vPvgMY/edit?usp=sharing Hope you have a great one!! 00:00:00 Intro Takes and Rehearsals 00:01:33 Show Open and Today's Headlines 00:02:17 Lasagna at Home 00:03:35 Claude in the Terminal and the Automated Workflow 00:06:49 Bluehost Bill and the Chinese Summary Website 00:08:50 Camera Tests and Video Resolution 00:11:33 Hard Drives and Leaving a Video Record 00:13:52 Gary Vaynerchuk and Being Everywhere 00:14:48 Account Risks and the Muse App 00:15:40 Branding and Musicians Who Podcast 00:17:52 Childhood Dreams of Music and Movies 00:19:05 The Garrison of Content: This Podcast 00:20:53 Platforms: TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube 00:23:47 Building My Own Publishing System 00:25:13 Why I Keep Doing This Podcast 00:26:02 Ideas for Targeted Topics 00:27:06 Microphones and Audio Sources 00:28:44 English Class or AI Class? 00:30:59 Recording Voices and Analyzing Them with DeepSeek 00:35:22 AI Tutors and Keeping a Project 00:36:27 The Upcoming Writing Unit 00:36:58 Should I Charge for the Chinese Website? 00:37:20 IELTS Cancellation Debacle 00:43:02 YouTube Shorts Paying More 00:44:23 Wrap-Up and Show Notes

    SSAB - October 14, 2026

  8. Oct 13

    SSAB - October 13, 2026

    More camera tests! Trying out the BlackMagic Cam APP with remote control, might replace the need for any external monitor. Github repo up live! What could go wrong? https://stevensirski.github.io/ssab-zh/ And what about those vibe cloned Adobe APPs? Any good? A few things to keep in mind: -Open source has been around a while (Audacity, Kdenlive, Blender, Inkscape) -Just because you download these APPs don’t mean they don’t have other charges (hello AI subscriptions) -Thinking of programming your own? Good luck maintaining it! Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA *** Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com Transcript and more available on Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1om1Geup1o6Adi-A8kTAnCf12Zo7nDkAt?usp=sharing Newsletter over at stevensirski.substack.com Language vlog on http://www.youtube.com/@stevenslanguagevlog Google Stock Tracker Sheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kbpCC2cieuq23zYyr0-WznPRogVX0aS86BF4_vPvgMY/edit?usp=sharing Hope you have a great one!! 00:00 Cold Open Setup Tests 00:45 iPhone Framing Problem 02:14 Blackmagic Camera Solution 04:19 Audio Backup Workflow 07:37 Current Portable Rig 08:51 Lighting and Bitrate Findings 11:18 Storage and Resolution Tradeoffs 14:03 GitHub Chinese Repo Launch 15:44 Why Translate for Characters 20:17 Automation and Security Risks 24:40 GitHub Pages Features Limits 28:46 Grammar Learning Ideas 32:22 Vibe Cloned Adobe Apps 35:22 Maintainability and Hidden Costs 39:48 Wrap Up Links and Support

    SSAB - October 13, 2026
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The daily musings of an expat in Beijing.

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