Introducing Liftoff and Top Four

This week at Relay FM, we are celebrating our one-year anniversary, and have a bunch of really exciting things happening all week long.

We are starting off by introducing two great new shows to our roster!

First we have Liftoff, a fortnightly podcast about space, the universe, and everything. This show is hosted by Relay FM co-founder, Stephen Hackett, and Jason Snell, the host of Upgrade and Clockwise. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to enjoy the topics discussed on Liftoff, as they break things down so anybody that is interested in space can enjoy it.

Check out the great work our designer @forgottentowel has done for us. We absolutely love this art.

We are also really excited to be premiering Top Four, hosted by Marco and Tiffany Arment. Top Four is a really fun show, in which your hosts pick their favourite things in certain categories, like movies, books, and video games. You'll get to hear two very opinionated people discuss and rank their favourites, whilst also getting to hear the awesome chemistry of the Arments. It's a really fun show that I think you'll love.

We are really thrilled to be adding the new shows and great hosts to Relay FM. I hope that you'll check them out and follow along with us this week, as we continue to celebrate our #RelayBirthday.

A year of Relay FM

On August 18, we will be celebrating the first anniversary of Relay FM. In a year, we've grown from six shows to a total of 14.

It's been an incredible 12 months. We've published over 435 episodes across the network and have added many fantastic hosts. Myke and I have both left our 9-5 jobs to focus on continuing to grow and guide the network to new heights.

On August 18 at 1:15 PM (Eastern), Myke and I will be streaming a special Q&A session in which we'll talk about what our first year has meant to us, and some things we have on the horizon.

To ask a question in advance, you can tweet at @_RelayFM with the hashtag #RelayQA and we'll be sure to see it!

Please welcome 'Material', our new show about Android and Google

I have always had an interest in Google and Android. A couple of years ago I switched to Android for a few months to try and get a feel for what was happening there. Overall, I enjoyed the experience, but was eventually pulled back to the iPhone.

During this period and afterwards, I searched to find thoughtful and interesting voices in the Android community, and overall I came up short. I wanted a podcast with a selection of really entertaining people, that cared about production values, and having a fun and insightful conversation. I struggled to find something I was happy with.

So when we started Relay FM, I knew that this is something I really wanted us to try.

Some time ago, I started talking to Russell Ivanovic (of Pocket Casts fame) about what a Google-focused show on Relay FM could look like, and over the course of many months, and many iterations, we decided on a panel show format.

Naturally, I love the format and style of Connected, and we both really wanted something like that, but for the Google and Android ecosystem.

So the hunt was on for some people to work with on this project, and we are so thrilled to welcome Andy Ihnatko and Yasmine Evjen to Relay FM, with Material.

Russell, Andy, and Yasmine all bring a totally unique perspective to Material, which I think you're really going to like. This show is being created to give you the lowdown on the how and why people use Google's products, and I think you're going to enjoy it, no matter what platform you're on.

Episode 1 is out today (along with a bonus episode 0), go and check it out and let us know what you think!

Introducing Relay FM's 2015 Summer Pilots

We are thrilled to debut two new shows on Relay FM. Both of these shows are currently committed to an initial run of ten episodes, and are premiering on Relay FM today.

First up we have Reconcilable Differences, featuring Merlin Mann and John Siracusa. We are thrilled to welcome these two podcasting powerhouses to Relay FM, and we are so happy with how this show is shaping up. On each episode of Reconcilable Differences, you'll get to hear John and Merlin prod at each other’s backgrounds as fans of technology and pop culture, filling in holes, arguing minor differences, and generally teaching each other about the things they both love.

This is the first time that John and Merlin have hosted a podcast together, and episode one of this show features heartwarming and enthralling stories of growing up.

The first three episodes of Reconcilable Differences will be released over the next three weeks. After this point, each episode will be released fortnightly.

Now we come on to Cortex, featuring CGP Grey, in conversation with Myke Hurley. Over time, Myke has become increasingly fascinated by the methods Grey uses to get his work done, and this show will be exploring how he remains productive, while producing Youtube videos that are seen by millions of people.

Cortex is going to feature Myke quizzing Grey about many facets of the way he works, how he manages his time, what his workflow looks like for creating Youtube videos, and why he puts 'sleep' on his calendar.

Episode one of Cortex is all about how Grey chooses his computing devices and how he manages and arranges them. Over the course of the first episode you'll also hear Grey's growing disappointment in Myke's systems, and many suggestions on how he needs to rethink them.

Both episodes of these shows are available for you today. Subscribe to them, rate them in iTunes and share them with your friends.

We are incredibly thrilled to welcome Merlin, John and Grey to the Relay FM family. This is a great day for us.

Links:

Reconcilable Differences:

Cortex

Don't miss the Rocket/ATP crossover extravaganza event

This week, Rocket co-host Christina Warren and ATP co-host John Siracusa swapped shows.

Episode 119 of ATP covered the Pebble Time, Apple Watch SDK and Jony Ive's recent promotion.

On Rocket, the gang discussed the potential future of virtual reality in gaming, iMessage woes and Tomorrowland.

I've listened to both episodes, and they're both excellent, as always. Be sure to check them both out this weekend.

With podcasts covering technology and creativity, Relay brings together some of the most influential and unique voices on the internet to create powerful content each and every week.