# Oxide and Friends

26 Hacker News commenters recommended Oxide and Friends and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Tech podcast from Oxide, valued for candid, technical talk and strong guests, though audio quality and heavy AI-coding talk draw criticism.

## Why people recommend it

- Interesting technical talk and guests (5 comments): "Oxide and Friends has a good mix of light banter and interesting technical talk across the stack" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48833768)) "I think we've had some wonderful guests and great conversations over the span of the podcast" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46962835)) "your perspective is valuable, your topics were interesting, and your guests were excellent" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46963137))
- Passionate, engaging, never uninteresting (3 comments): "I listen because it's never made to seem uninteresting, there's a passion that comes from the heart" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46298300)) "easily the best tech podcast out there if you care about your craft; no filler, all killer" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46960449)) "the podcast is great to listen to" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46960565))
- Candid sharing of real problems (2 comments): "Their podcast is amazing, the problems they encounter, and their willingness to share with the rest of us is not taken for granted!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46961652)) "they have insights I actually value" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46960516))
- Thoughtful takes on AI and LLMs (2 comments): "I found this interview [0] on the subject of AI in CS education on the Oxide & Friends podcast very illuminating." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48158471)) "They have very reasonable takes on LLM usage." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49096815))

## What people warn about

- AI coding talk comes up too often (2 comments): "before it became just another podcast extoiling the virtues of AI-assisted coding" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46961310)) "it's come up so frequently and at such length on the oxide podcast" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46276660))
- Less compelling than On the Metal (2 comments): "while Oxide and Friends is good, its not quite the same as On the Metal" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50031740)) "I love the new podcast but miss on the metal so much." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46960932))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Dwarkesh Podcast](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dwarkesh-podcast.md): 29 recommend
- [Acquired podcast](https://hackerapproved.com/p/acquired-podcast.md): 25 recommend
- [Behind the Bastards podcast](https://hackerapproved.com/p/behind-the-bastards-podcast.md): 18 recommend
- [Mindscape podcast by Sean Carroll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mindscape-podcast.md): 18 recommend
- [Latent Space podcast](https://hackerapproved.com/p/latent-space-podcast.md): 15 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Oxide and Friends", https://hackerapproved.com/p/oxide-and-friends-podcast/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).