Best Grounded Geeks Podcasts (2025)

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The Launch of Facing Credit 1:10:21

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2h ago1:10:21

1:10:21

Welcome back to the Fintech Takes podcast. I’m Alex Johnson, joined by Kevin Moss (Senior Advisor at Baselayer, former CRO) to help launch Facing Credit, a new series where we unpack what’s happening in lending right now. We start with student loans. Repayment data is finally flowing back to credit bureaus after years of paused reporting (which hav…

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How They Road-Tripped for 26 Days Without Going Broke 1:16:26

1d ago1:16:26

1:16:26

What if the trip you've been dreaming about doesn't have to wait until retirement—or cost a fortune? Crystal Hammond and Joe Saul-Sehy sit down with road-trippers Miranda and Jason, who just wrapped a 26-day adventure from Idaho to Oregon. Hot springs. Star-filled skies. A night in a giant flowerpot Airbnb (yes, really). And the best part? They did…

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Fintech Takes x Pipe presents Vertical SaaS: Fintech Disruption by a Thousand Cuts Episode 5: Go To Market 43:10

1d ago43:10

43:10

Welcome back to our new miniseries Vertical SaaS: Fintech Disruption by a Thousand Cuts, sponsored by our friends at Pipe. In episode 5, hosts Alex Johnson and Luke Voiles (CEO of Pipe) sit down with Lacey Ford, CMO at ABC Fitness, to unpack how vertical SaaS companies go to market (through the lens of fitness tech, of course). ABC Fitness is a vSa…

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622: Alex Sulman and Daanish Syed: Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Keeper, Ghost of Yōtei, Quantic Dream's upcoming multiplayer game, and more 1:57:22

1d ago1:57:22

1:57:22

With Jeff out on vacation, Christian welcomes developers and friends, Alex Sulman and Daanish Syed to the show this week to discuss Quantic Dream's upcoming multiplayer game, the Horizon: Zero Dawn movie coming in 2027, the passing of an industry legend, and more! The Playlist: Alex: Keeper, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, Ghost of Tsushima, Lego Voyage…

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Keeper Devs Tim Schafer and Lee Petty Stop By! – Unlocked 711 1:12:14

5d ago1:12:14

1:12:14

Game design legend and Double Fine Productions Studio Head Tim Schafer returns to Unlocked along with Keeper Project Director Lee Petty to talk about their new living-lighthouse game, Keeper! It's out now and it's awesome. In our spoiler-free conversation, Lee and Tim tell us about the project's origins, using Unreal Engine 5, the importance of mak…

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Episode 153: Hypothetically Speaking, Of Course - Halloween-ier Edition! 1:06:46

4d ago1:06:46

1:06:46

Send us a text The time is right. The mood is right. The season is right. So, yeah, we're doing it again - it's time for another round of Hypothetically Speaking, Of Course - Halloween Edition. But we've already done that, so this is an even more...Halloweenier version? Sure, let's go with that. And what do we have to talk about this time? Maraudin…

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Not Fintech Investment Advice: EtherFi, Lunos AI, Circuit & Chisel, & Figure 59:07

8d ago59:07

59:07

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I do what we do best: talk about fintech startups we’re absolutely not giving investment advice on. First up is EtherFi Cash, a DeFi-native credit card (from Ether.fi) that flips banking math. You load stablecoins onto the card as collateral. From there, you can either spend them…

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Money Geeks Share GREAT Travel Tips (LIVE From FinCon!) 56:00

8d ago56:00

56:00

Imagine if you went to a place where people knew how to save money AND also to have fun? How about if those same people LOVED dishing out advice? Crystal and Joe attended FinCon, a financial media creator's conference in Portland, Oregon, and Crystal shoved her microphone in the faces of some of the TOP money people at the event. Luckily, they all …

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Fintech Takes x Pipe presents Vertical SaaS: Fintech Disruption by a Thousand Cuts Episode 4: Build, Buy, or Partner? 50:37

10d ago50:37

50:37

Welcome back to our new miniseries Vertical SaaS: Fintech Disruption by a Thousand Cuts, sponsored by our friends at Pipe. In episode 4, we attempt to tackle the age-old question: build, buy, or partner? Hosts Alex Johnson and Luke Voiles (CEO of Pipe) sit down with A.J. Axelrod, VP Payments & Financial Services at Clio) to explore how Clio’s uniqu…

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621: Brian Shea: Ghost of Yōtei, Battlefield 6, Megabonk, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta, Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Nintendo's "Close to You" tease, Ubisoft chickens out on Assassin's Creed, Xbox done with ... 1:51:10

10d ago1:51:10

1:51:10

Jeff and Christian welcome Brian Shea from Game Informer magazine back to the show this week to discuss Nintendo's bizarre Pikmin short, Xbox's continued assurances that they are not leaving the hardware business, and Ubisoft's canceled Assassin's Creed game. The Playlist: Brian: Ghost of Yōtei Christian: Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta, Marvel Cosm…

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Episode 152: The Rewind - Episode 116: Boybands + Zombies + Cowboys = ??? 48:44

11d ago48:44

48:44

Send us a text With Your Friend Frosty recovering from a long weekend (and some oncoming sniffles), it's time to relax, put up the feet, and remember that Halloween is a strange month-long time to talk about very crazy things. In this case, we're re-airing last year's episode dedicated to one of the strangest zombie films ever, starring boy band me…

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How We’d Fix Xbox’s Game Pass Pricing Problem – Unlocked 710 1:32:06

14d ago1:32:06

1:32:06

More fallout from last week's Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price hike as DLC discounts on Game Pass get eliminated in favor of Rewards points, as well as a possible cause of the 50% price increase. We discuss how we'd fix this pricing problem Microsoft's created. Plus: Microsoft squashes a rumor about its future hardware intentions, a free version of Xb…

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Fintech Takes: Gambling is the Biggest Threat to Consumers’ Financial Health 34:06

13d ago34:06

34:06

Welcome back to Fintech Takes. Listeners may remember my first audiobook experiment…well, we’re back, by popular demand! In our second ever Fintech Takes audiobook podcast episode, I take on the subject I can’t stop writing, thinking, and podcasting about (if you know, you know): gambling. In March, I published my deep dive essay on The Biggest Thr…

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Jon's Epic Family Adventure: Germany, England, France, Iceland, and Turkey in 26 Days 59:05

14d ago59:05

59:05

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620: Daniel Bloodworth: Hades 2, Cloverpit, Anata, Power Wash Simulator 2, Lego Party, Carimara, Fortnite Demon Hunters, Sonic Racing Crossworlds, Xbox Gamepass price hikes, EA sold for $55 billion 2:02:01

16d ago2:02:01

2:02:01

Jeff and Christian welcome Daniel Bloodworth from Easy Allies to the show this week to discuss the huge price increase to Xbox Gamepass, the huge sale of EA to the Saudis, and huge amounts of ads for a free cloud gaming service. The Playlist: Daniel: Tokyo Game Show, Anata, Power Wash Simulator 2, Lego Party, Carimara Christian: Hades II, Fortnite …

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Fintech Takes x Pipe presents Vertical SaaS: Fintech Disruption by a Thousand Cuts Episode 3: Fintech Strategy 57:54

15d ago57:54

57:54

Welcome back to our new miniseries Vertical SaaS: Fintech Disruption by a Thousand Cuts, sponsored by our friends at Pipe. In episode 3, we dig even deeper into the fintech strategy behind embedded finance within vertical SaaS (platforms that are the IDEAL distribution channel for B2B financial products). But how does the process of embedding fina…

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Episode 151: America, You Have Some Explaining To Do... [Part 2] 1:18:08

18d ago1:18:08

1:18:08

Send us a text We're coming for you, wacky weird wide country known as USA. You and all your cryptids! That's right, Your Friend Frosty, wearing a safari hat and carrying a large butterfly net, with your bartender Mike Whiskey, armed with a bible, holy water, and a very large stake and mallet, are making their way through the other half of the USA,…

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And Now Game Pass Prices Are Going Up Too – Unlocked 709 1:28:48

21d ago1:28:48

1:28:48

It's all about dollars and cents (sense?) on this week's episode of IGN's weekly Xbox show, as we're discussing Microsoft's massive price hike on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, along with the final tough-to-stomach price of the Xbox ROG Ally X, and EA's record-breaking $55 billion go-private deal. 00:00:00 - Intro00:01:53 - Xbox ROG Ally X Price Revealed…

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Fintech Recap: Plaid Pays Chase, FBI Circles BaaS, and FICO Tries AI 1:05:22

22d ago1:05:22

1:05:22

Welcome back to Fintech Takes. I’m Alex Johnson, joined (as always) by my partner-in-recapping, Jason Mikula. First up: the uneasy détente in open banking is over. Jason and I haven’t had a chance to debrief on Plaid’s deal with JPMorgan Chase to pay for API access (so we do). Payments use cases remain the most expensive, Plaid is eating the fees (…

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FT x Nova Credit Fintech Takes x Nova Credit Presents Cash Flow Conversations Episode 4: The Cash Flow Bureau of the Future 45:49

21d ago45:49

45:49

Hello, and thanks for joining us for the fourth and final episode of Cash Flow Conversations, a new miniseries sponsored by Nova Credit. In episode 4, I sit down with Chris Hansen, GM, Cash Atlas Solutions at Nova Credit. Chris has probably thought more than anyone I know about how cash flow data is going to reshape the credit data and analytics ec…

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Fintech Takes x Nova Credit Presents Cash Flow Conversations Episode 3: Saying “Yes” to More Underserved Consumers 41:22

23d ago41:22

41:22

Hello, and welcome back to Cash Flow Conversations, a new miniseries sponsored by Nova Credit. Episode 3 is my conversation with Matt Zalubowski, Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at Atlanticus, a subprime lender focused on offering credit cards and personal loans. The challenge in this market is finding more ways to fairly and r…

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Fintech Takes x Pipe presents Vertical SaaS: Fintech Disruption by a Thousand Cuts Episode 2: Customer Centricity 45:52

23d ago45:52

45:52

Welcome back to our new miniseries, Vertical SaaS: Fintech Disruption by a Thousand Cuts, sponsored by our friends at Pipe. Vertical SaaS platforms are experiencing major growth; they’ve become the operating system for every industry (with financial products and services baked right into workflows that SMBs already live in every day). Vertical SaaS…

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619: Kahlief Adams: Ghost of Yotei, Baby Steps, Silent Hill f, Skate, Borderlands 4, Sony State of Play, Saros, Wolverine, ROG Xbox Ally, Tokyo Game Show, Forza Horizon 6, Rhythm Doctor 2:00:06

24d ago2:00:06

2:00:06

Jeff and Christian welcome Kahlief Adams from Spawn on Me back to the show this week to discuss the announced pricing of the new Xbox handhelds, all of Sony's announcements from their patest State of Play, including Insomniac's Wolverine, and Xbox at Tokyo Game Show! The Playlist: Kahlief: Baby Steps, Yotei, Skate, Borderlands 4 Christian: Silent H…

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Fintech Takes x Nova Credit Presents Cash Flow Conversations Episode 2: Experimenting With (and Scaling Up the Use of) Cash Flow Data 44:14

26d ago44:14

44:14

Hello, and welcome back to Cash Flow Conversations, a new podcast miniseries sponsored by Nova Credit. We’re exploring how cash flow data moves from theory (“this is intriguing”) to practice (“wow, that worked!”) across the consumer lending lifecycle. It’s risky to try something new; especially when said new thing has the potential to increase cred…

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Fintech Takes x Nova Credit Presents Cash Flow Conversations Episode 1: How Do Credit Risk Executives Think About Cash Flow Data? 35:55

27d ago35:55

35:55

Hello, and welcome to Cash Flow Conversations, a new podcast miniseries sponsored by Nova Credit. If you’ve followed my work, you’ll know that I’m obsessed with cash flow data (and underwriting more specifically). That’s because it has enormous potential to positively reshape consumer lending in the U.S. As banks, credit unions, and fintechs move f…

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Episode 150: America, You Have Some Explaining To Do... [Part 1] 1:02:48

26d ago1:02:48

1:02:48

Send us a text What's happening here? Or rather, what's happening in all 50 states of the good ol' US of A? And no, we're not talking the politics, we're talking the paranormal. Did you happen to know that there's a strange, weird, wild, and plain ol' wacky creature in each state? Thanks to Your Friend Frosty dredging up a list from social media ma…

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Xbox Raises Console Prices…Again – Unlocked 708 1:17:16

28d ago1:17:16

1:17:16

Our main topic is one we'd rather not have to discuss, but unfortunately, here we go again with Xbox console price hikes. We talk about our thoughts on the bigger picture of these higher-than-ever prices five years into this console generation. Plus: we've got fun stuff to talk about too, such as Forza Horizon 6's reveal and Japan setting, plus Hid…

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Startup Truths and Reality Checks 53:38

27d ago53:38

53:38

Welcome back to the Fintech Takes podcast. I’m Alex Johnson, joined by David Roos, Partner at Core Innovation Capital — an early-stage fintech investor (founded in 2010) that backs scalable businesses built to drive financial inclusion for low- and middle-income consumers. We dig into how Core really sizes up founders and business models, what’s sh…

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We Tour Oregon (wine country, the coast, and Crater Lake National Park) 49:33

29d ago49:33

49:33

What happens when you mix rolling vineyards, crashing waves, and a lake so blue it looks Photoshopped? You get Joe Saul-Sehy and Crystal Hammond’s four-day adventure across Oregon. From sipping Pinot in the Willamette Valley to standing awestruck on the rim of Crater Lake, this whirlwind journey proves you don’t need months off to pack in once-in-a…

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Episode 74: ‘Palestine 36’ Review and the Echoes of the Past 41:33

28d ago41:33

41:33

The more things change, the more they stay the same. This is a reverberating ethos through Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir's latest film, Palestine 36, which chronicles the last days of the British Mandate of Palestine and its lasting ramifications. Produced by Philistine Films, BBC Film, BFI, Doha Film Institute, Watermelon Pictures and more,…

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Fintech Takes x Pipe presents Vertical SaaS: Fintech Disruption by a Thousand Cuts Episode 1: A Crash Course in vSaaS 55:55

29d ago55:55

55:55

Welcome to our new miniseries, Vertical SaaS: Fintech Disruption by a Thousand Cuts, sponsored by our friends at Pipe. This six-part miniseries explores how Vertical SaaS (vSaaS) platforms are becoming the operating systems for every industry. They’re experiencing tremendous growth because they solve the challenges unique to SMB owners. Increasingl…

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618: Chris Plante: Six One Indie Showcase, Lucid, Sheepherds, GodsTV, Lego Voyagers, Eclipsium, Splinter Cell Deathwatch , inverting your controls 1:39:59

30d ago1:39:59

1:39:59

Jeff and Christian welcome Chris Plante from Post Games to the show this week to discuss the massive Six One Indie Showcase, featuring 40 unique games, a new study about inverting the Y-axis on your controls, and Netflix's animated Splinter Cell show. The Playlist: Chris: Eclipsium Christian: Dead as Disco demo, Lucid demo, Sheepherds! demo, GodsTV…

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Interview – Writer Scott Wojcik at Hamilton Comic Con

30d ago

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At Hamilton Comic Con, JStew spoke with Scott about his comics including the just released Probed and loaded. We also discus who has inspired him. Check out his work at https://www.instagram.com/scott.wojcik.14

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GTA 6: How Big Will its Pop Culture Impact Be? – Unlocked 707 1:07:44

1M ago1:07:44

1:07:44

We begin IGN's Xbox show this week by discussing the alleged (but still unconfirmed as of recording) pricing of the Xbox ROG Ally X handheld gaming PC, including what the huge apparent gap in price between the base model and the top-end model means for each one. And then our main topic is around GTA 6: a new Rockstar job listing makes a big but fai…

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Not Fintech Investment Advice: Welcome Tech, Bumper, Scalar Field, & Structify 57:38

1M ago57:38

57:38

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I riff about fintech companies we’re absolutely not giving investment advice on. (Speaking of Simon, he’s got a new day job: he’s joining Tempo, a payments-first blockchain incubated by Stripe and Paradigm. Will this lead to spicier payment takes? We shall see!) We kick things of…

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YOUR Adventure Tales from Greece, Paris, Disney, Chicago, and more! 55:53

1M ago55:53

55:53

Why settle for one vacation story when you can get a whole passport’s worth in a single episode? Crystal Hammond and Joe Saul-Sehy are joined by fellow wanderlusters from the Stacking Adventures community to swap tales that stretch from Main Street U.S.A. to the shores of Zakynthos. Think budget-friendly Disney hacks, Parisian magic, Chicago deep-d…

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617: Lucy James: Borderlands 4, Hell is Us, Nintendo Direct, Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave, Mario Galaxy, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Virtual Boy, Metroid Prime 4, Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, Acclaim Showcase ... 1:52:15

1M ago1:52:15

1:52:15

Jeff and Christian welcome Lucy James from Gamespot back to the show this week to discuss the lengthy Nintendo Direct, including Mario 40th Anniversary reveals, Metroid rpime 4's release date, a new Fire Emblem, and more! Plus, Acclaim is back with nine new games. The Playlist: Lucy: Hell Is Us Christian: GeForce NOW RTX 5080 Jeff: Borderlands 4 Pa…

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Fintech Takes x SOLO Presents Source of Truth Episode 4: Wave a Magic Wand 45:22

1M ago45:22

45:22

We’re at the finish line of Source of Truth, the new podcast miniseries from Fintech Takes, sponsored by our friends at SOLO. And much like in a relay race, Eric Woodward (CEO at FinatIQ, who shaped one of the most successful digital payment platforms in the U.S. as the former Group President at Early Warning, the parent of Zelle) is the anchor tha…

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Episode 149: All Hail The Magic Coin! 1:04:49

1M ago1:04:49

1:04:49

Send us a text In a triumphant return to both our scheduled programming and also to form, Your Friend Frosty and your bartender Mike Whiskey have gone completely insane and off the rails. A decision making coin. Twenty terrifying questions. Too many outcomes to count! Revelations! Betrayals! Surprises! It's all too much to take! Thank goodness we c…

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Superman review and how we spent the end of the summer

1M ago

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We are back! Once again, adulting and having a day job has delayed our podcast but we have returned to talk about some of the great activities we got to do in the second half of the summer. We finally … Continue reading →