Blog · 23 essays
Marginalia.
Essays on active listening, podcast note-taking, and the marginalia tradition. Plus the occasional founder note from building Margin.
[Featured]
Founder
Why I built a podcast notes app
The moment I realized podcast insights were disappearing. The first prototype. The week I finally used my own app to take notes on an episode — and felt the difference.
ListThe best Acquired podcast episodes
Ranked by a long-time listener. The 10 episodes worth your 4 hours, plus how to take notes on them without losing the insights.
EssayWhy podcast clubs should exist
5 million book clubs. ~A few hundred podcast clubs. People listen to 10x more audio than they read, and there's no shared format for talking about it. Here's what one would look like.
[All posts · 23 posts]
[01]
The best note-taking apps for podcasts in 2026
Honest review · 8 tools
List
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[02]
The best podcasts for product managers in 2026
Curated by career stage
List
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[03]
How to take better notes while listening to podcasts
The marginalia method
How-to
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[04]
How to remember everything you hear
A system for active listening
How-to
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[05]
Spotify vs Apple Podcasts: which is better for note-taking?
A comparison nobody else made
Essay
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[06]
The marginalia tradition
Medieval monks to Susan Sontag
Essay
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[07]
What "second brain" apps get wrong about audio
The text-first blind spot
Essay
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[08]
Active vs passive listening: the research-backed difference
Dual coding, generation effect
Essay
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[09]
Press-and-hold: the forgotten interaction pattern
From walkie-talkies to Margin
Essay
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[10]
The psychology of why we take notes on some things and not others
4 triggers of note-worthiness
Essay
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[11]
12 podcasts every founder should listen to
Including the one quote to remember
List
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[12]
10 podcasts that will make you a better designer
Plus the curveball picks
List
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[13]
The 8 podcasts I actually listen to every week
Selin's real subscription list
Founder
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[14]
7 podcasts to help you think like an investor
From Acquired to Capital Allocators
List
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[15]
6 underrated tech podcasts you're probably missing
Skip All-In; try these instead
List
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[16]
How to use Spotify's API to build a podcast tool
PKCE OAuth, playback control, episode metadata
How-to
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[17]
How to share podcast clips on Twitter
Without screenshots
How-to
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[18]
How to build a personal podcast library
A system walkthrough
How-to
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[19]
Why I built a podcast notes app: a founder's story
Selin's origin story
Founder
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[20]
What I learned shipping an iOS app in 5 days with AI tools
Cursor + Claude + Xcode
Founder
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[21]
Why podcast clubs don't exist yet (and why they should)
A missing social format
Essay
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[22]
The social aspect of podcast listening: why audio is becoming the new shared medium
A long argument for the next platform
Essay
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[23]
The best Acquired podcast episodes: a listener's guide (2026)
Ranked by a long-time listener
List
Read →
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