It's just a smartphone on your arm.

The story of a precious young Apple collector.

Where did Siri's voice come from — and where is it going?

The drama, the inspirations, and the hijinks that went into the creation of sounds you hear nearly every day.

If you have a music library on your computer, you probably use iTunes. It might not be by choice – there’s not much out there. But before iTunes, there was another app. An app that was beloved by many. An app that was quirky and strange and delightful. An app called Audion.

Today: a story about one of the Mac’s first big music players, and what it means to break with the mold of Silicon Valley and forge your own distinct, creative identity.

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• The Decision: The podcast where people try to convince host Alex Kapelman to finally abandon The Knicks, and become a fan of their favorite team.
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Get an awesome sticker of the Audion Orb face! 

Emoji put a once obscure group of nerds, known as the Unicode Consortium, into the spotlight. How have these cute little pictures challenged and changed this stodgy organization?

You can learn more about making your own emoji with Jenny's project, Emojination. And you can adopt an emoji of your very own through Unicode's Adopt-a-Character program.

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• Outlier: makers of clothing for the 21st Century. Try some of their comfortable, stylish, innovative clothing (my favorites are their Slim Dungarees). 
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Credits:

Music in this episode is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder and Mark Bramhill. Theme music is by Terique Greenfield. Editing by Rob McGinley Myers and Suzanne Smith. Special thanks to Avery Trufelman and This Wachter.

Illustration by Rachel Maves.

This is part 3️⃣ in a mini-series on emoji. If you haven't already heard parts 1️⃣ and 2️⃣, go listen to that first.

How emoji are designed and the decisions behind them. And, what happens when they reach the real world?

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• Away: First Class luggage at Coach prices. Use promo code 'MACINTOSH' to save $20 on a suitcase. 
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Members can hear exclusive deleted scenes from this episode about another person smitten by the idea of proposing an emoji, and Unicode's love of completion. If you're not already a member, sign up here.

Credits:

Music in this episode is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder and Mark Bramhill. Theme music is by Terique Greenfield. Editing by Rob McGinley Myers. 

Illustration by Rachel Maves.

This is part 2️⃣ in a mini-series on emoji. If you haven't already heard part 1️⃣, go listen to that first.

In part one, we learned the process of creating an emoji. But why would someone want to make an emoji in the first place? (Besides making a podcast mini-series about it, of course.) For some people, the emoji they want is more than an ornament for their tweets and Instagram posts. It's their identity. 

And, for people proposing a new emoji, who are the gatekeepers that they have to face?

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Instead of doing ads for this episode, I'm asking listeners to please donate to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. It would really mean a lot to me.

Since they arrived on our keyboards five years ago, emoji have changed how we communicate. Our texts are all dotted with 😊 and 😂 and ❤️, maybe even some 🍆. But, where do they come from? How are new emoji created? 

In this mini-series on emoji, I answer that question. I go on a quest to create an emoji of my own, and chronicle every step of the way. In part 1️⃣: the proposal.

You can read my full proposal for "Person Meditating" on the Unicode website.

Brought to you by:

• Fracture: Photos printed in vivid color directly on glass. Tweet a link to this episode with #YogaEmoji to enter the giveaway for a print the beautiful artwork for this episode (featured above).
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Members can hear exclusive deleted scenes from this episode about another person smitten by the idea of proposing an emoji, and Unicode's love of completion. If you're not already a member, sign up here.

Credits:

Music in this episode is by the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder and Mark Bramhill. Theme music is by Terique Greenfield. Editing by Rob McGinley Myers. 

Season 3 of Welcome to Macintosh starts on August 18th, with new episodes coming out every other Friday. Take a listen to hear what's in store this season.