Oxide and Friends
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 42 podcasts by recommenders
Tech podcast from Oxide, valued for candid, technical talk and strong guests, though audio quality and heavy AI-coding talk draw criticism.
Tech podcast from Oxide, valued for candid, technical talk and strong guests, though audio quality and heavy AI-coding talk draw criticism.
29 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 26
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 90%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 26 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 8.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Interesting technical talk and guests
“Oxide and Friends has a good mix of light banter and interesting technical talk across the stack”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “Ask HN: Best Podcasts of 2026 [So Far]” “I think we've had some wonderful guests and great conversations over the span of the podcast”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Oxide raises $200M Series C” “your perspective is valuable, your topics were interesting, and your guests were excellent”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Oxide raises $200M Series C” - Comment from 9 Oct 2026 in “Our $445M Series D”
- Comment from 26 Feb 2026 in “What podcasts are you listening to?”
Passionate, engaging, never uninteresting
“I listen because it's never made to seem uninteresting, there's a passion that comes from the heart”
Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “Getting into public speaking” “easily the best tech podcast out there if you care about your craft; no filler, all killer”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Oxide raises $200M Series C” “the podcast is great to listen to”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Oxide raises $200M Series C” Candid sharing of real problems
“Their podcast is amazing, the problems they encounter, and their willingness to share with the rest of us is not taken for granted!”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Oxide raises $200M Series C” “they have insights I actually value”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Oxide raises $200M Series C” Thoughtful takes on AI and LLMs
“I found this interview [0] on the subject of AI in CS education on the Oxide & Friends podcast very illuminating.”
Comment from 16 May 2026 in “The CTF scene is dead” “They have very reasonable takes on LLM usage.”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “Oxide Joins Anthropic's Project Glasswing”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
AI coding talk comes up too often
“before it became just another podcast extoiling the virtues of AI-assisted coding”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Oxide raises $200M Series C” “it's come up so frequently and at such length on the oxide podcast”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Vacuum Is a Lie: About Your Indexes” Less compelling than On the Metal
“while Oxide and Friends is good, its not quite the same as On the Metal”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Our $445M Series D” “I love the new podcast but miss on the metal so much.”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Oxide raises $200M Series C”
Other podcasts people recommend
The four most recommended other podcasts, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dwarkesh Podcast | 29 | 8 | 78% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Oxide and FriendsThis page | 26 | 3 | 90% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Acquired podcast | 25 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Behind the Bastards podcast | 18 | 1 | 95% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Mindscape podcast by Sean Carroll | 18 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
30 of the 37 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“while Oxide and Friends is good, its not quite the same as On the Metal”
“is an excellent podcast if you're into Rust and/or EE”
“I like the Oxide podcast as well”
“Adam annd Bryan's ability to reference thirty year old simpsons episodes is unmatched.”
“They have very reasonable takes on LLM usage.”
“Oxide and Friends has a good mix of light banter and interesting technical talk across the stack”
“Highly recommend their podcast "Oxide and Friends"”
“I found this interview [0] on the subject of AI in CS education on the Oxide & Friends podcast very illuminating.”
“Oxide and Friends also had a great podcast with Andres about the discovery”
“great tech interviews and various tech topics”
“Brian Cantrill has a pretty good rant about it in one of the recent Oxide videos.”
“the main guy's brain seems to be on overdrive can barely talk”
“even the audio itself is subpar”
“Love the team and the podcast”
“your perspective is valuable, your topics were interesting, and your guests were excellent”
“I think we've had some wonderful guests and great conversations over the span of the podcast”
“the more discussion oriented 'Oxide and Friends' is also nice.”
“I really tried to like the podcast. It's been a few years, so maybe it's improved.”
“Their podcast is amazing, the problems they encounter, and their willingness to share with the rest of us is not taken for granted!”
“before it became just another podcast extoiling the virtues of AI-assisted coding”
“Highly recommend their podcast”
“I love the new podcast but miss on the metal so much.”
“the podcast is great to listen to”
“they have insights I actually value”
“easily the best tech podcast out there if you care about your craft; no filler, all killer”
“See this episode of Oxide and Friends, where they discuss just that”
“I listen because it's never made to seem uninteresting, there's a passion that comes from the heart”
“it's come up so frequently and at such length on the oxide podcast”
“for anyone who's curious about this topic”
“Oxide and Friends spent several episodes discussing what was reasonable for open source maintainers to do.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.