Hosted by Andy Ihnatko and Florence Ion.
Material is a weekly discussion about the Google and Android universe. Your intrepid hosts try to answer the question, “What holds up the digital world?” The answer, so far, is that it’s Google all the way down.
Navigation
Links
Subscribe
Latest Episodes
#244: Leap Day Andy
February 28th, 2020 · 108 minutes
Andy sysadmins his brain; parts of the Android 11 developer preview released last week aren’t previews at all, and how on Earth is Sweyn Forkbeard going to influence my life when 11 ships? Reviewers say the “S” in Galaxy S20 Ultra stands for “schadenfreude,” and just as moral watchdogs warned us, a Google Doodle leads to Poetry.
#243: And Baby Makes 11
February 27th, 2020 · 57 minutes
Andy does this one solo for reasons that have nothing to do with the fact that Flo's baby was due this week! The first developer preview of Android 11 drops! Google Play Store starts enforcing tougher limits on ad-blighted apps! The T-Rex game goes 3D and Andy thinks this mean the dino has taken the red pill! And! Andy lied earlier because Flo TOT…
#242: There is no Wrong Way to Cook Pigweed!
February 13th, 2020 · 94 minutes
Flo and Andy fiddle with Android TV boxes while the Essential Phone burns. Then they talk about Samsung Unpacked, and marvel in hopeful disbelief that new Galaxy Z Flip could be the first folding phone that can't be reviewed with an economical “LOL NO.” A Googler is fired for her activism, and speaks freely of the environment for trans people at t…
#241: It's a Rich Man's World
February 6th, 2020 · 77 minutes
Andy's waiting for his Walkman to arrive and Flo's hoping she has at least another week before the baby is here. We talk all the juicy details of Google's Q4 2019 earnings call, along with what happened during the Great Google Photos Data Swap of 2019. We'll also reminisce about the days of one-hour photo processing thanks to Google Photos' new pr…
#240: Backtracking and Forward-thinking
January 30th, 2020 · 79 minutes
Flo and Andy report on why Google backtracked on its search engine redesign before diving into the viability of the company's "Going Green" initiative. We'll then squee for a bit about Google I/O this spring, and encourage you to try out the latest digital wellbeing experiments. Put your phone down! (After you listen to our podcast, of course.)
#239: Trillion-Dollar Company
January 24th, 2020 · 97 minutes
Andy learns about Android's TalkBack Accessibility mode at the worst possible time, while Flo appreciates that her co-host knows how to dress like a Trillion-Dollar Company. The two dive into the controversial design changes of Google's search results, Sundar Pichai's call for regulation of artificial intelligence, and why Google "gets away with…
#238: When TV Becomes Your Only Escape
January 16th, 2020 · 74 minutes
Flo and Andy cash in their yellow card immediately with a conversation on Silk Stalkings and Columbo in Kanji. (We're already Gympie-Gympie Bush influencers—when do we become vintage TV influencers?) Then, we'll tackle why Alphabet's Chief Legal Officer, David Drummond, stepped down from the company, as well as the implications of Google having …
#237: Meat Suit
January 10th, 2020 · 93 minutes
It's another week of the Material podcast, and Flo is incredibly tired. Andy tells the tale of how he lost his Pixel 4 review unit and then found it again—it's a relatable parable. Afterward, we talk about how Chrome OS is strutting its stuff at this year's CES. We'll also run through Google's latest updates for the Assistant, and we offer Sundar …
#236: New Year, New Gripes
January 3rd, 2020 · 95 minutes
Flo rang in the new year by boring her friends with a Google Photos slideshow, while Andy worked on curating the perfect media library. We discuss the year's first major Google news story: a politically-tinged blog post from the company's former Head of International Relations on how Google's policies have morphed over a decade. We'll also take a …
#235: Holiday Hangover
December 26th, 2019 · 91 minutes
What better way to spend the day after a significant holiday than listening to Andy and Flo? Andy starts us off with frustration over Google Play Music's much-too-obvious descent into cessation. Then, an update on what's happening with Google overseas. We'll also reel in some realism regarding the salaries of your favorite executives, and take a l…