Turn Your Reading Backlog Into Your Next Favorite Podcast with Listen Later (Sponsor)

Listen Later is back as a MacSparky sponsor, and I’ve got to share how this service has genuinely changed my relationship with long-form content.

You know that feeling—you’ve got a dozen thoughtful articles bookmarked, a stack of PDFs waiting to be read, and newsletters piling up in your inbox. The content is valuable, but finding uninterrupted reading time? That’s the real challenge. Listen Later turns this frustration into opportunity by converting your saved reading into personalized podcast episodes with remarkably natural AI narration.

What impresses me most is how seamlessly the service fits into existing workflows. Email an article URL directly to Listen Later, and within minutes you’ve got a custom podcast episode waiting for you. Those research PDFs gathering digital dust? Now they’re perfect companions for your morning hike.

For productivity nerds like us, Listen Later solves a fundamental time management problem: it lets you consume quality content during otherwise “dead” time—commuting, exercising, or doing household tasks. Your saved articles finally get the attention they deserve, and your downtime becomes more productive.

The service handles everything from Google Docs to email newsletters, even extracting text from images to create audio. It’s thorough without being complicated.

Ready to tackle that reading backlog? New users get $2 in free credit to explore what Listen Later can do. Head over to their site and start turning your to-read pile into your next favorite podcast.

Check out Listen Later and discover how much more you can actually “read.”

Mac Power Users 802: The Ubiquiti Universe

Stephen leads me through the maze of Ubiquiti’s Unifi networking offerings on this episode of Mac Power Users. The company offers a wide range of equipment for home and business users, including routers, switches, access points, cameras, and more, but it can be confusing to navigate.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • 1Password: Never forget a password again.
  • Ecamm: Powerful live streaming platform for Mac. Get one month free.

The Irrelevance of Hari Seldon

I tore through Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series when I was about twelve. At first, I assumed the story would follow Hari Seldon, the brilliant mathematician who kicks off the series by predicting the collapse and rebirth of galactic civilization. Twelve-year-old me loved Hari, and I couldn’t wait to see his story unfold.

Then the books leapt forward … by centuries. Seldon slipped from living legend to myth, from myth to footnote, and finally into near‑obscurity. Part of my twelve-year-old self was offended by that. I’d been invested in Hari, and how could he become so obscure? Underneath it all, I was grappling with something: If even Hari Seldon—a towering hero—could vanish into the background noise of history, what chance did I have of leaving a mark?

After my twelve-year-old brain processed this, I surprisingly didn’t find the thought depressing. I found it freeing. The futility of chasing an eternal legacy felt like permission to let go. The real point, my twelve‑year‑old self decided (and my adult self still believes), is to live fully in the sliver of time we’re given—to savor our brief window of human experience rather than worry about being remembered forever. That little epiphany has stayed with me.

That insight became an internal compass. When I start taking myself too seriously, it nudges me back into alignment. By now, it’s so ingrained that I seldom notice it, yet it quietly shapes my decisions and my ability to live in the moment.

It colors my work as well. I don’t expect any Field Guide I write to alter the course of humanity, but I can help real people, right now, who face the same messy challenges I do. There’s a quiet nobility in that: sharing what I’ve learned, offering what might help, and trusting readers to judge its value.

Recognition is nice, but I try not to clutch it. Anything I build stands on the shoulders of others, and I’m happy to spread credit around. If someone finds my work useful, that’s enough. After all, in just a few generations I’ll be much less remembered than Hari Seldon, and that’s okay.

Looking back, that early revelation about impermanence was probably my first real philosophical insight. Not a bad takeaway for a twelve‑year‑old.

Why Keyboard Maestro Is the Mac Power User’s Secret Weapon

I recently came across Stephen Millard’s write-up on routing Mac Studio audio through a HomePod mini. He ran into some disconnect hiccups, but, unsurprisingly, solved it with a handy Keyboard Maestro macro.

Lately I’ve noticed a wave of seasoned iPad power users making the jump to macOS, and almost invariably the first app they rave about is Keyboard Maestro. It’s the one tool on the Mac that can truly automate almost anything you can imagine. No other utility comes close to its depth and flexibility.

I like the app so much that I made a Keyboard Maestro Field Guide to help you get up to speed quickly and start building your own custom macros.

One idea I noted from Stephen’s article was audio routing. I record with a mic connected to my audio interface with an XLR cable, so those built-in USB-connected mic mute software buttons don’t work. But I bet I could mirror Stephen’s output-switch macro on the input side, muting my mic’s audio channel with a single keystroke. That’s now officially on my “research projects” list.

More on the New iPadOS

I don’t think there’s been any more effective advocate for the iPad over the years than Federico Viticci. Federico got an interview with Craig Federighi about the iPadOS changes. It’s an excellent interview. I think this new balance of adding power user features while still keeping the single window mode will (finally) turn out ot be the right fit for the iPad.

Fantastical’s New Email Event Capture (Sponsor)

One productivity struggle I constantly hear from readers (and have faced myself) is keeping events and meetings organized when the details live in email. Fantastical, which Apple made “App of the Day” earlier this week, has brilliantly solved this problem with their Forward Emails to Fantastical feature, and I can’t imagine going back.

Here’s how it works: When you get an email confirming an appointment, a webinar registration, or even something informal like coffee with a friend, just forward that email directly into Fantastical. The app intelligently parses the content, extracting dates, times, locations, and participants, and automatically creates a perfectly formatted calendar entry. It’s magical—and a huge time-saver.

I’ve always appreciated how Fantastical seamlessly integrates into the Apple ecosystem, syncing effortlessly across my Mac, iPad, and iPhone. This latest feature just adds another layer of smart automation, eliminating manual entry and reducing the risk of typos or overlooked details. If you’re as obsessed with automation and efficiency as I am, you’ll quickly see how this small change makes a big impact.

Congratulations to the Fantastical team on being featured as App of the Day—it’s well-deserved recognition for continually improving an already indispensable app.

Give Fantastical a try or explore this clever new email-forwarding feature yourself at flexibits.com/fantastical. Your calendar will thank you.

Focused 232: Useful Not True, with Derek Sivers

Derek Sivers joins Mike and me on this episode of Focused to talk about personal agency, idea ownership, saying no, and (of course) journaling.

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

  • Incogni: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code FOCUSED with this link and get 60% off an annual plan.
  • Indeed: Join more than 3.5 million businesses worldwide using Indeed to hire great talent fast.
  • Zocdoc: Find the right doctor, right now with Zocdoc. Sign up for free.