PODCAST · technology
LMNT
by Louie Mantia
Louie Mantia writes LMNT, designs icons for Parakeet, makes playing cards for Junior, and creates fonts for Crown.
Episodes
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Design Drought
I swear to god… no matter where my attention wanders, the world around me seems hellbent on reminding me that the industry doesn’t value the craft of making software, all because of AI-assisted coding. Apparently, “everyone” is using LLMs to write and debug their apps. It’s big companies. It’s...
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Rose-Gold-Tinted Liquid Glasses
This could’ve easily been 12 blog posts, but I opted for one that comprehensively captures how I feel about design on Apple platforms right now. The Pendulum Swing There was immediate criticism of iOS 7’s visual design. Concerns mounted pretty quickly about both style and accessibility. Some…
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Please Make It Stop
Remember The Good Place? The point system for individual decisions lives rent free in my head. You can’t adhere to this concept too strictly. There’s a long list of decisions that lead to the decision you actually get to make. One of the examples from the show was making a salad, but the tomato…
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The Dystopian Dream Team
Well, it’s finally here, the dystopian dream team. Jony Ive and Sam Altman hitched their carts together to create god knows what. While some people are “excited” or “intrigued,” I am frankly “disgusted.” In an intro video with special thanks to the Coppola family and Café Zoetrope for the…
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One-Time
Masa Louie, what does “time” mean when ordering? Me What? Masa Like, “One time cappuccino, one time latte, one time special morning set…” Me …What in the world? “Time”? Who said this? Are you sure they said “time”? Where were they from? Masa I don’t know. But… ヨーロッパ style. Me Hold on. Let me…
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Gravitational Pull of Reese’s
I was roaming the underground shopping area outside Tokyo Station, and walked past a miniature Don Quixote, a discount shop. The normal size one is almost intolerable, so I never ever go there. As I walked by, I saw an orange bag with a Reese’s logo on it, and I finally understood what Peter…
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It’s All Anybody Can See
[Download the video.] Yes, someone in the government is breaking the law, and yes, that other politician is being a hypocrite, and yes again, that one over there is clearly a nazi. It’s all anybody can see. We’re past the point of calling it out. There’s no one left to convince. They’re openly...
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Humane
There’s a lot to take away from Humane’s story, but first, I want to share something I said on Twitter in July 2022, a full year before Humane revealed their product, the Ai Pin: me I can’t imagine that product being successful. Which makes me wonder— is the whole idea for Humane to patent any...
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Gulf of Mexico
Modern cartography should not be determined via political pressure. If we all can’t agree on that, we really should. That’s the basis of why it was so cowardly for both Google and Apple to rename the Gulf of Mexico in their maps. As far as I know, there is no law in the United States that compels...
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Where’s the Line?
Where’s the line that can’t be crossed? Surely there’s something so vile, so intolerable, so universal in its horror that there’s no other choice but to stop and shut everything down. Something where a hashtag would be insulting, where a march or protest would be insufficient. Something that...
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Two and a Half Kids
Bumble, 4:50 PM Julia Everyone here wants to get married and have 2.5 kids. me TELL ME ABOUT IT In Japan, there’s a constant reminder from the government—by way of media amplifying it—that the population is in decline, that birth rates are dropping, and that the aging population will have no...
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Unforgivable
café staff Do you like Harry Potter? me No. Zero percent. café staff Oh. Why? me JK Rowling is an asshole. Louie opens Google Translate She has waged a crusade against transgender people for no reason whatsoever. It’s completely unforgivable, and her words about transgender people made me lose...
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Talking About Money
Ever since my very first website, I’ve had a donate button. And over the years, some people have been very generous and I’m very appreciative of that. I’m no stranger to talking about money. It’s part of my job. For most of my career, I’ve been a contractor, specializing in helping indie…
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Siri Will Never Win the Super Bowl
John Gruber, to Siri Who won Super Bowl 13? I understand that American football—and by extension, the Super Bowl—is a popular subject and that this seems like a simple question, however, I refuse to believe this kind of question represents how most people use or expect to use Siri, aside from...
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Love Limitations
Tinder, 9:02 PM me Do you think there are limitations to love? な No. me Do you think love is limited to one partner? な Yes. To me, yes. When it comes to family—parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews—presumably you’re allowed to love them all. You can love as many...
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Withered Technology
Gunpei Yokoi, a designer of the original Game Boy, described his philosophy as “lateral thinking with withered technology.” Instead of focusing on the newest, shiniest, and often most-expensive components, Nintendo focused on maximizing the potential of more mature and cheaper technology. Despite...
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Or, Instead of All This—
I saw a few posts and headlines that made me do a double-take. Not because they were particularly shocking, but because they are incredibly avoidable. Ghost is a recently-popular (but actually more than a decade old) blogging platform. People have been moving from Substack (nazis) and Wordpress...
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Range
As Mark Zuckerberg changes content moderation policies at Meta, I wanted to re-read my post from last year. me The necessity around content moderation is based on the extended reach provided by platforms. Even the companies that claim to care about decentralization—for some reason—still make…
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This Is Gonna Be Bad
You may have seen Mark Zuckerberg’s five-minute video about how Facebook is doing literal U-turns on many of their content moderation policies. If you didn’t watch it, I guess you could, but you might just come away so upset and disheartened by how a man who initially built a website to rate the...
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Refined Clarity
Dan Counsell Can we please have the macOS X Lion UI back? 😍 Yes, I would also like that. I would welcome any standard UI that gives us back some tools we lost. There’s a refined clarity to this version of Aqua. It evolved gracefully to this point, where every element was distinctly different and...
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AI Summaries
I don’t understand the value of AI summaries compared to traditional truncation. While some headlines are indeed long, summarizing them will always remove context the original publisher thought was necessary. (The same is true for personal messages, but that’s not what this is about.) Headlines…
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Our Only Hope
I don’t like how the viability of Star Wars is under constant threat from people who Star Wars can never appease. Some fans—primarily men—have gatekept Star Wars for too long. They like Star Wars, but not Return of the Jedi. They like Star Wars, but not the Special Edition. They like Star Wars…
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Reclamation
My tolerance for the vast majority of the web is so small now. It nearly completely eroded over the last decade. My trust, patience, and willingness to put up with the absolute hostility of modern websites is at an all-time low. Just about every website and every app has seemingly given up on the...
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2024 in Review
A lot of yearly online recaps focus on the consumption and engagement we’ve had in a year, like what music we listened to. But I want to highlight what I’ve done this year, because I’m really, really proud of it. 2024 was the first full calendar year I’ve lived completely in Japan. I didn’t…
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Nowhere Place
In my entire life, I’m sure I only needed to read one post about a lost remote control. After that, they all seem the same. The “unpopular opinions” that resonate with thousands of people are actually popular opinions. Does anyone gain anything from social media posts complaining about gasoline...
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Everything Competes with Everything
There’s this thing that Eddy Cue said during a meeting when I worked at Apple that I keep meaning to write about. I can’t reliably quote him, but it was something like this: The iTunes Music Store doesn’t just compete with CDs, and apps don’t just compete with other apps. Everything competes with...
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What Does Privacy Mean?
“Privacy” is not a new buzzword, but it should be the most scrutinized buzzword in every industry. Whenever a new service, site, or app launches—especially when the words “private” or “privacy” are used—I check the privacy policy. What I find is often truly awful. Data collection, retention, and...
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At the Trolley Switch Again
It’s once again time to consider the Trolley Problem. The classic version is a trolley is barreling down the tracks, about to kill 5 people. You can flip the track switch and kill one person instead. The implications, of course, are that you are actively participating in the death of that one...
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Learn to Code, Don’t Learn to Code
Once again, the topic of designers learning how to code has come up. It doesn’t matter what the reason is this time. It is the same message I’ve heard so many times before. Put simply, I think this discourse has run its course. I’ve been at this a while. I’ve been designing and making art for 20...
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Green Bubbles
The term “green bubbles” is used when referring to SMS messages that are sent and received between an iPhone and a non-iPhone. But beyond the literal meaning, it really refers to the stigma of not using the most popular communication app for your social circle. I saw a remark online that Japan is...
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App Stores and Payment Methods
You know, it would not seem so terrible for developers to distribute via the App Store if Apple had put any effort into making the App Store the best way—not just the only way—to distribute apps. The primary reason Apple is being required to change their policies for specific businesses or...
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Creating for Myself
In my life as an artist, one belief really stands out: When I create for myself, I don’t have anyone to satisfy but me. No one else can meaningfully appraise my personal work. I alone know what I want to make, and only I can judge whether it achieves that standard or not. Feedback from others...
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Adapting to Japan
Japan really only has one rule: Don’t inconvenience others. But when you’re a foreign tourist, you’re not necessarily aware of all the ways that might be happening. By adapting to Japan—rather than expecting Japan to accommodate you—your visit will be smoother for both you and everyone else.…
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Maybe It’s Social Media
This past week has been rough. It’s been tough to be online lately. There’s an overwhelming, dreadful feeling that washes over me whenever I unlock my Mac or iPhone. A heavy sigh, then, “What now?” It’s always something. There’s always something. Someone’s always up to something. And it’s not…
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Steve’s Badge
Steve Jobs was notorious for not following rules. He drove his car without plates. He parked in the handicap spot at Infinite Loop. Many people assumed he didn’t use a badge. But he did. I can personally attest that he carried a badge. While almost every employee had it pinned or on a lanyard,...
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Nothing Left to Solve
I wish there were more browsers, and I wish they were more unique. I appreciate that Arc attempted to innovate, but their ego and hubris are a little frustrating. They believe their product is so great that everyone should use it, including their own family and friends. However, when they don’t,...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Louie Mantia writes LMNT, designs icons for Parakeet, makes playing cards for Junior, and creates fonts for Crown.
HOSTED BY
Louie Mantia
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does LMNT have?
LMNT currently has 311 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is LMNT about?
Louie Mantia writes LMNT, designs icons for Parakeet, makes playing cards for Junior, and creates fonts for Crown.
How often does LMNT release new episodes?
LMNT publishes regularly with 311 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to LMNT?
You can listen to LMNT on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts LMNT?
LMNT is created and hosted by Louie Mantia.
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