Josh and Austin Figure It Out

Josh Larson and Austin Crim
  • 5.0 (4)
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

A couple fellas from Iowa are curious: how do you do things? Join Josh and Austin as they take a look at a different problem each episode and let curiosity drive the conversation. Mostly tech stuff, but also personal and career things, too.

  1. 6D AGO

    Life Updates and Phone Updates

    Holy cow: Austin has some updates! We're talking major life events, people. His first whittling project comes to a finale, a new job as a senior software engineer at Workiva, and a potential new house purchase in Ames. Not to be outdone, Josh talks about his recent upgrade to the iPhone 17 Pro and details the Alexa Plus experience. The episode is rounded out with a discussion on why autumn is the best season.00:00 Welcome to the Podcast00:51 Whittling Adventures04:05 New Job Announcement15:43 House Hunting Excitement18:05 Moving Close to Family19:06 New House Excitement20:10 Challenges of Selling a House22:05 Quick House Sale Success22:41 Tips for Selling a House with Kids25:37 New iPhone Experience27:53 Upgrading to Alexa Plus31:59 Balancing Work and Kids34:52 The Best Season Debate

    39 min

  2. SEP 5

    Whittling and MDX

    It sure feels like fall, folks! Football season and sending kids off to kindergarten. We recap Josh's trip to Okoboji, and Austin dives deep into his new hobby: whittling a spoon out of wood. Then we discuss how best to build a blogging stack with interactive widgets, and weigh the pros and cons of MDX, Markdoc, and more. Also: do you have a second brain?00:00 Welcome00:30 Summer's End and Football Season01:35 Kindergarten Adventures04:54 A Trip to Okoboji09:37 Whittling: A New Hobby15:26 Exploring a New Blog Stack16:32 Interactive Code Blocks and Blog Post Widgets16:52 Exploring MDX for Interactive Blog Content18:04 Challenges with MDX and Alternatives21:49 Introduction to Markdoc and Its Benefits26:19 Web Components as an Alternative32:03 The Concept of a Second Brain39:21 LLMs and the Future of Writing41:50 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

    42 min

  3. AUG 13

    Road Trip Woes and Web Browsers

    We're back, already?! Austin recounts an exhausting road trip to Northern Michigan, involving a harrowing 5.5-hour traffic standstill. They also discuss their plans to meet in person with their families, Josh's upcoming trip to Okoboji, and Barrett starting kindergarten soon. The episode finishes with a technology segment where they chat about Laracon 2025, Josh's project to replace Amazon Alexa, and what the heck is going on with Arc and Dia web browsers.00:00 Welcome to Josh and Austin00:59 Austin's Road Trip Adventure10:59 A Fun Day with the Kids14:04 Planning a Family Meetup15:55 Upcoming Trip to Okoboji18:12 Barrett's Kindergarten Journey22:26 Exciting Laravel Announcements23:15 Laravel Wayfinder and Type Safety27:19 Laravel Forge 2.0 and Cloud28:56 Laravel Vapor34:14 Browser Wars: Arc vs. Dia41:54 Building an Amazon Alexa Replacement47:55 Final Thoughts and Farewell

    48 min

  4. JUL 30

    New Baby and Summer Fun

    Austin and Josh reconnect after a two-month break from their podcast. Austin has a new baby! We talk all about experience with a newborn, and the ups and downs of parenthood. Then we dive into summer road trips and house hunting. Austin shares his new project idea for building a custom grocery list app using Convex, while Josh talks about his aspiration to create a DIY Amazon Alexa with Cloudflare and Raspberry Pi. 00:00 Reconnecting After a Break01:11 The Challenges of Parenting a Newborn05:36 Summer Adventures and Family Events14:28 House Hunting Woes21:33 Navigating Paternity Leave22:27 AI Hype and Reality24:47 AI in the Workplace34:22 Building a Custom Grocery List App with Convex40:32 DIY Amazon Echo with CloudFlare and Raspberry Pi

    47 min

  5. MAY 14

    Baby Prep and Vibe Coding

    We're back! Austin's gonna have a second child soon so we talk about that. Working remotely is neat—or is it? Josh talks ear infections, OneWheel scooters, and his React Miami experience. Then we yammer on about "vibe coding" with tools like Cursor and talk about a couple personal projects created with AI assistance. Zed Editor comes up, too. Jam packed! Tune in!00:00 Welcome Back: Josh and Austin Reunite00:27 Baby Number Two: The Waiting Game02:47 Josh's Family Updates04:45 One-Wheel Adventures and Mishaps09:05 React Miami15:38 Remote Work21:51 Exploring AI and Vibe Coding26:30 Vibe-coding a 3D game26:52 Josh's Pod Catchup app28:46 Building Pod Catchup32:21 Considering the Business Case for Pod Catchup38:00 The Concept of Personal Software44:04 Exploring Agent-Based Coding Tools50:04 Balancing Tech Trends and Personal Life52:01 Cool thing: Blogging and Local Storage in Web Development56:12 Cool thing: TV shows

    1 hr

  6. MAR 11

    Aaron Francis: Building and Teaching Cool Things

    Aaron Francis is here! We chat about open source projects, Fusion and Solo, his company Try Hard Studios, and his educational courses. Is Aaron an LLM? Maybe! He also tweets viral things sometimes. Enjoy! 00:00 Introduction and Welcoming Aaron Francis 03:23 Introducing Aaron Francis: Developer and Educator 04:53 Deep Dive into Fusion 19:43 Exploring Solo: Simplifying Local Development 29:05 Business Side: Try Hard Studios and Screen Casting 29:50 The Challenges of Creating Technical Courses 30:48 The Exhausting Process of Learning Databases 32:59 The Art of Screencasting 35:27 Balancing Technical Rigor and Personal Opinion 39:38 Starting a Business After a Layoff 42:00 Navigating the First Year of Business 45:49 Cool things Links: - Aaron on X https://x.com/aarondfrancis and Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/aaronfrancis.com - Fusion https://github.com/fusion-php/fusion - Solo https://github.com/soloterm/solo - Try Hard Studios https://tryhardstudios.com/ - Mastering Postgres https://masteringpostgres.com/ - High Performance SQLite https://highperformancesqlite.com/ - Screencasting Course https://screencasting.com/Cool things: - superwhisper https://superwhisper.com/ - lex.page https://lex.page/ - Sesame AI https://www.sesame.com/research/crossing_the_uncanny_valley_of_voice - Rocket League https://www.rocketleague.com/en

    58 min

  7. FEB 20

    Eric Bailey: React Native and Working at Bluesky

    Our very first guest! Eric Bailey, a talented developer at Bluesky. Eric shares his journey from Iowa to New York to Chicago, detailing his transition from design to development while highlighting his experiences with various tech companies. We talk a bunch about React Native and what it's been like working at Bluesky during its explosive growth in the past few months.00:00 Welcome and Introductions01:37 Eric Bailey's Background and Iowa Connections04:22 Career Journey: From Design to Development11:29 Joining Bluesky, working with React Native16:44 Getting Started with React Native19:16 Open Source Dynamics20:05 Public Launch and Growth21:00 Challenges of Rapid Change22:16 Collaborative Development24:00 Community Contributions27:42 Scaling Infrastructure31:28 Presta: Framework Development Journey35:24 Cool Things Links: - Eric on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/esb.lol - Night Agent on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/81450827 - Severance S2 on Apple TV+ https://tv.apple.com/us/show/severance/umc.cmc.1srk2goyh2q2zdxcx605w8vtx - Toe (band) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toe_(band) - Character Limit (book) https://www.amazon.com/Character-Limit-Elon-Destroyed-Twitter/dp/059365613X

    40 min

  8. JAN 6

    Having Babies and Selling Businesses

    Austin shares details about his recent ankle injury over Thanksgiving, and Josh announces the birth of his third son, Levi. Then they dive into the sale of Josh's side business, Barkpass. Topics include due diligence, legal processes, accounting, technical security audits, and more. You won't want to miss this one! Links: - Open Auth - React 19 00:00 Welcome and Thanksgiving Recap 01:57 Ankle Injury Woes 03:44 Josh's Family Update 07:27 Selling Barkpass: The Journey Begins 12:15 The Acquisition Process 17:48 Technical Due Diligence 24:49 Finalizing the Sale 25:27 Legal and Logistical Challenges 29:02 Buyer's Intentions and Future Plans 30:40 Reflecting on the Journey 36:26 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs 42:13 New Beginnings and Future Projects 43:06 Cool Things of the Week

    49 min
See All (14)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

A couple fellas from Iowa are curious: how do you do things? Join Josh and Austin as they take a look at a different problem each episode and let curiosity drive the conversation. Mostly tech stuff, but also personal and career things, too.

Information

  • Creator
    Josh Larson and Austin Crim
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Josh Larson and Austin Crim
  • Show Website
    Josh and Austin Figure It Out

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