Welcome to Dial-Up Friends, a conversation show about culture and thriving in a post grind-set world with Andy and Ant. We’ll break down trends and share our thoughts and experiences on things like music, movies, business, food, and more. Hopefully we’ll leave every episode with a new perspective or takeaway and so will you
One on one pod again as the guys have a lot to catch up on. Ant talks about visiting Mexico for a wedding, milestone birthday parties for Mom, and what it’s like to wind down a business. Andy recommends three films from the 69th San Francisco Film Festival (nice), including Olivia Wilde’s latest: The Invite. Big market update from Ant with some sage, evergreen personal finance advice. The boys wrap it up with some fun chat on how AI has affected everyday life in the news, from the office environment to using LLMs at a nice restaurant in the presence of a sommelier.
7 Apr 2026
Episode 12 - Andy & El Ant
Two man pod today as we talk about doing our taxes and get some insight about CPAs from Ant, being a cycling sport spectator, watching the latest A24 movie “The Drama” while expecting more from our children’s movies than the Super Mario Bros Galaxy movie seems to be doing. Andy talks about the joy of record shopping at Amoeba records in person and Ant gives a quick markets update before we delve into a chat about tech bros and taste, particular the companies trying to ascribe AI as having “taste”.
28 Mar 2026
Episode 11 - Andy & El Ant
We catch up on Ant’s trip to Austin and reminisce about some of the great bars and restaurants. Ant shares his Willie Nelson’s annual Luck Reunion concert/festival experience while Andy talks about GDC Independent Games showcases and some important indie games he saw, including a story about migrants in Latin America. We also talk Project Hail Mary, Ant’s economy update, the latest on our AI experiences, the notion of funmaxxing and more!
Episode Links
https://www.anthropic.com/learn (https://www.anthropic.com/learn) - Claude 101 Course
4 Mar 2026
Episode 10 - Andy & El Ant
We catch up on Tahoe season and the subscriptionification of every consumer service, including ski lift tickets. Big updates about AI in the financial markets as well as entertainment updates with the Brits Awards 2026 and a long rant on rude crowds for shows in San Francisco. We also have a bonus deep dive on our favorite television show of the current era, Industry, as still reeling from the season four finale.
Episode Links
https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/marc-andreessen-the-real-ai-boom (https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/marc-andreessen-the-real-ai-boom)
https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/ (https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/)
https://shumer.dev/something-big-is-happening (https://shumer.dev/something-big-is-happening)
13 Feb 2026
Episode 9 - Andy & El Ant
We catch up after the Super Bowl and talk about parties, what it was like being in the Super Bowl host city, and the whole marketing manager of it all. Ant gives a detailed breakdown of Bad Bunny’s halftime show and we also talk a little Industry Season 4 and get into an economy update touching upon consumer spending, AI companies and more.
28 Jan 2026
Episode 8 - Andy & El Ant
We chat about going to tactile activities in the real world, including pottery class and Magic: the Gathering at a local community games store. With Open AI announcing that they will put ads in ChatGPT, we reminisce about the Golden Age of the internet as Millennials and also continue our thoughts about living in an ads-dominated world from last time. Finally, we do a deep dive into Vibe Coding, the craze that has taken over SF and techies everywhere.
Episode Links
Claude AI - https://claude.ai/ (https://claude.ai/)
Claude Code - https://claude.ai/code/onboarding (https://claude.ai/code/onboarding)
Vibe Code Tutorial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji_xpQzZDHo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji_xpQzZDHo)
17 Jan 2026
Episode 7 - Eric Drobny
We chat with WaitWhat's Senior Director of Marketing and Audience, Eric Drobny, about the podcasting business, the evolution of media advertising, music substacks, the notion of opening your own culture shop, favorite albums and live shows of 2025 and more.
13 Dec 2025
Episode 6 - Andy & El Ant
We chat post-Thanksgiving activities and shopping hauls from Black Friday and get into it with consumer culture. We also talk the Netflix/Warner Bros acquisition and what it means for consumers, filmmakers, and more.
5 Dec 2025
Episode 5 - Andy & El Ant
We chat about travels to Charlotte and Austin, seeing Tame Impala live in 2025, fine dining, K-shaped economies for concerts and more!
7 Nov 2025
Episode 4 - Andy & El Ant
We talk about going to the Kaytranada / Justice show and one half of Daft Punk DJ'ing again in Paris. We dive deep into the NBA gambling scandal arrests alongside a Counter-Strike skins market collapse and talk about the nature of gambling in today's society and also the economic impact of alternative speculative markets.
29 Oct 2025
Episode 3 - Andy & El Ant
Andy talks about going to a live WWE event in Sacramento and we talk about the new Tame Impala record, what it takes to put on a good stadium / arena live concert, and everyone becoming a music critic. We then dive deeper into changing artist sounds as it relates to modern fandom.
22 Oct 2025
Episode 2 - Andy & El Ant
This week we talked about the changing landscape of music festivals, strategies for enjoying them, as well as go over the Coachella 26 lineup and Andy shares his experience from the Portola Festival. We get into economic indicators that might suggest a recession and also talk about One Battle After Another, the best film of the year.
1 Oct 2025
Episode 1 - Andy & El Ant
Our first published pod, Andy and El Ant talk about seeing Oasis, collectibles markets, digital distribution, independent cinemas, and more
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