Tech headlines, three hosts, and plenty of detours.
Rod Simmons, Chris Ashley and Robb Dunewood trade takes on stories like X blocking Signal links and programming changes at MSNBC. Then the talk drifts, happily, to women's college basketball, track meets and the solar panels on one host's food truck.
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SMRPodcast is a hangout with a tech beat, and the hangout carries as much weight as the tech. The three voices are Rod Simmons, Chris Ashley and Robb Dunewood, though the lineup shifts from one episode to the next. When Chris can't join, Rod and Robb carry on as a pair, and when Rod is away, Chris takes the host's chair alongside Robb. Episode numbers here run past 600, and the hosts speak candidly about restarting after roughly six months without recording. The tech coverage arrives as conversation, not bulletins. One exchange follows X flagging links to the secure messaging app Signal as possible malware and blocking them in messages and bios, with the host admitting he has not figured out why. Another takes up programming changes at MSNBC, with one host arguing that diverse voices still belong on cable news and that audiences can follow those voices to YouTube. The other host checks GPT on the spot, asking whether the changes reflect a rightward shift, and reads out the answer: corporate restructuring and ratings. A host also weighs a portable data device that someone he knows relies on for most of her internet, remains unconvinced, and asks listeners what they use. Then the conversation wanders, which is much of the point. Women's college basketball comes up, with plenty of admiration for a freshman center who keeps changing opponents' shots. Track and field surfaces more than once: a young runner fast enough, in one host's words, to 'write his ticket anywhere', and indoor meets filmed on a phone that holds up under dim lighting. One host runs a food truck and walks through powering it with a battery and then 800 watts of solar panels installed just before winter. The banter holds all of it together. Chris's lateness is a running bit, from an episode that starts without him because he is late to a longer exchange about running behind and why a heads-up matters. There is ribbing, too, over who forgot to post a show. Episodes open with the same collage of sound bites, which begins by promising the eighth wonder of the world, and they close with a quick round of 'peace'. Titles range from the practical, 'Third-Party Infotainment Systems My Go The Way Of The Dodo: SMRpodcast 618', to ones that give little away, like 'Chicken Wings and Beer Part 89'. For a first listen, 'Just The Two Of Us: SMRpodcast 619' puts the MSNBC discussion and the phone-filmed track meet in the same episode.
Made for: Suits a listener who likes tech stories talked through casually rather than read as a briefing, and who enjoys it when the conversation drifts into sports, small-business logistics and good-natured teasing.
What sets it apart: Tech news here is one thread in a wider conversation, with Signal links and MSNBC programming sharing airtime with women's college basketball, track meets and a food truck's solar setup. The pull is the hosts' easy ribbing, from Chris's lateness to who forgot to post the show.
Chris Ashley, Robb Dunewood, and Rod Simmons get together to talk about the latest news in technology
A delayed Rivian cover becomes the group chat you wish you'd had before paying.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A loose, personable episode where market nerves, women's basketball, and a practical compact tripod recommendation sit comfortably together.
SMR Podcast 621 moves like a relaxed technology-adjacent catch-up, opening on market anxiety before drifting into women's basketball and, later, a compact carbon-fiber tripod recommendation.
A loose SMRPodcast catch-up turns missed recordings and mobile internet tradeoffs into practical travel tech talk.
SMRPodcast episode 620 turns a casual catch-up into a grounded look at how people work around connectivity. Chris Ashley, the host, and Rob Dunwood move from a missed recording button and scheduling snags into the practical math of mobile internet: monthly cost, SIM cards for…
A candid tech-and-media episode that turns a lost recording into talk about MSNBC, podcast momentum, Tesla, and a strong phone camera.
SRR Podcast 619 makes a failed recording part of the show rather than a footnote. Rod Simmons and Rob Dunwood explain how 45 minutes disappeared after StreamYard changed its recording flow, then settle into a rangy conversation about tech, media, and audience behavior.
SMRPodcast 618 turns wipers, Signal links, X habits, and a small microphone accessory into grounded tech talk.
SMRPodcast 618 works best as a relaxed tech roundtable built from everyday irritation. Rod Simmons brings up auto windshield wipers and the Rivian features that keep annoying him, while Chris Ashley and Rob Dunwood help turn that complaint into a broader conversation about how…
A lateness dispute opens into a hands-on discussion of a detachable video switcher controller.
SMRPodcast 617 uses a familiar production snag, a co-host running late, to show how a long friendship handles time, work, and small frictions.
A relaxed SMRPodcast return finds its best material in a solar food-trailer setup and the battery trouble that follows.
SMRPodcast returns from a six-month gap with the loose, lived-in feel of a show finding its rhythm again. Rod Simmons, Rob Dunwood, and Mr. Ashley make the restart part of the episode rather than pretending nothing changed, and that gives the conversation an easy frame.
Big game excitement, pointed questions, familiar banter.
Global tech with real-world consequences.
SMR Podcast episode 621 centers on tariffs, markets, and how policy shocks spill into Nintendo, college basketball, and track.
SMRPodcast episode 620 opens with Chris Ashley and Rob Dunwood joking about a missed week because Chris forgot to hit record twice.
["SMRPodcast episode 619 centers on Rod Simmons and Rob Dunwood debating Apple's UK encryption change, Signal's response to a Swedish message-history bill, and the risk of any government-mandated backdoor.", "Rod says Apple will no longer offer end-to-end encryption for iCloud backups in the UK, while iMessage remains unaffected, and he treats that as a warning sign for private communications.", "The conversation widens into MSNBC's Joy Reed departure, Lester Holt stepping down at NBC, and Rod's claim that 10,000-plus people, including Kamala Harris, joined an emergency Zoom call about the lineup changes.", "The episode closes on Tesla's reported 45% January sales drop in Europe and Chrome's Manifest V3 breaking uBlock Origin, which Rod says blocks 31% of the content on his browser."]
Rod Simmons opens SMRpodcast 618 by saying Rivian's 'auto low, auto medium, auto high' windshield-wiper settings defeat the point of an automatic mode.
SMR Podcast 617 on Monday, February 10, 2025, opens with Rod Simmons, Chris Ashley, and Rob Dunn talking about double mac and cheese, baked beans, and a 24-0 Super Bowl halftime score.
SMR Podcast returns on February 3, 2025 as show 616 after a six-month hiatus, with Rod Simmons, Rob Dunwood, and Mr.
SMRPodcast hosts Chris Ashley and Rob Dyer move from Ashley's barbecue truck, where 12 racks of ribs sold by Saturday, into technology news.
SMRPodcast 614 follows Rod Simmons and Rob Dunwood debating Tesla’s delayed Full Self-Driving delivery, which reached Rod’s 2017 Model X in 2024 after he paid for it in 2018.
SMRPodcast 611 reunites Rod Simmons, Chris Ashley, and Rob Dunwood after an unplanned two-and-a-half-month break, beginning with Rob's Miami airport journey from Friday night to Sunday morning.
SMR Podcast episode 612 features Big Chris Ashley and Rob Dunwood discussing Android, iPhone, AirDrop, Quick Share, and Google’s Circle to Search.
The hosts of SMRPodcast gather to discuss the latest technology news, with casual banter and personal anecdotes.
The hosts of SMRPodcast gather to discuss the latest technology news, with humorous banter and personal anecdotes.
The hosts gather to discuss the latest technology news and catch up after a busy schedule.
The hosts gather to discuss the latest technology news and updates, with casual banter and personal anecdotes.