Observable Podcast

Observable, Inc.

On building a computational notebook and the things people do with it. We believe in looking at code.

Episodes

  1. 5d ago

    What do you learn from vibecoding an explanation?

    We explore two notebooks by Ricky Reusser: (1) Toiletpaperfullerenes and Charmin Nanotubes (2020) https://observablehq.com/@rreusser/toiletpaperfullerenes-and-charmin-nanotubes and (2) Geodesics in Kerr Spacetime (2026) https://rreusser.github.io/notebooks/kerr-geodesics/ (self-hosted using Notebook Kit). The first was hand-coded; the second was vibecoded. What did he learn from making each of them?

  2. Oct 9

    Julio’s bookshelf

    If you point to a random book in Julio’s picture-perfect background, has he read it? How many biographies does he read per American president? And is reading dying?

  3. Sep 10

    Never don’t rewrite

    Last week, Observable launched a total rewrite of notebooks. Contra Joel Spolsky’s advice, Mike Bostock has done many rewrites, from TiVo to Protovis to D3, and itches to do many more. Why?

  4. Jul 19

    Seven classic moments in visualization research

    Toph recounts seven moments in visualization history, in no particular order: 1923’s gestalt theory, 2025’s graph embeddings, 1933’s map–territory relation, 1975’s splines, 2016’s acquired code of meaning, 2020’s bridging code and interaction, and 1973’s conversation analysis. For sources, see https://observablehq.com/@tophtucker/classic-research-in-data-visualization.

  5. Jul 14

    Browsing the new notebook community

    Visnu and Toph give a preview of the new notebook listings and editor by surveying some trending community notebooks and highlighting the tiny touches that make the new experience simpler, faster, and more robust.

  6. May 12

    Three eras of Observable AI

    Visnu and Toph reflect on three eras of building Observable features atop LLMs, from a notebook sidebar (2023) to Canvases (2025) to a new experimental prototype, Observable Chat.

  7. Apr 30

    What even is Observable?

    Julio joins Mike to explain Observable’s mission to make computation universally accessible and understandable. They talk about the value of open source and community, the challenge of designing social collaboration platforms, and the promise and risks of AI.

  8. Apr 25

    Reactivity in vanilla JavaScript

    Mike and Toph return for the second episode to talk reactivity and making code easier for humans to understand. They show the quirky syntax of Notebooks 1.0, and how Notebooks 2.0 brings reactivity to standard (vanilla) syntax.

  9. Apr 18

    Does Next.js have too much magic?

    In this inaugural (practice?) episode of the Observable Podcast, Mike and Toph share reflections on building with Next.js and how React has evolved over the years. They are excited by, and a little scared of, the magic of React Server Functions.

  • 9 Episodes

About

On building a computational notebook and the things people do with it. We believe in looking at code.

Information

  • Creator
    Observable, Inc.
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Observable, Inc.
  • Show Website
    Observable Podcast