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I was looking for French podcasts recently and found it difficult to find ones that were interesting but still understandable. I thought this would be an interesting programming project, so I created a script to assess the oral comprehension difficulty of French podcasts.

How the script works

1. It takes the Spotify URL for a French podcast link
2. It downloads a 30-60 sec excerpt of the podcast using the Spotify API
3. It transcribes the audio using Google Cloud Speech API (French words only)
4. It checks what % of the words are uncommon. It does this by checking what % of the words are not in a list of the 1000 most common French words. Both the list of 1000 common words and the transcript are lemmatized so that conjugated verbs and plurals are still identified as the same word. E.g., so that “suis” and “es” both match “être”.
5. It estimates the talking speed by calculating how many words were spoken per minute (number of French words in transcript / excerpt duration in seconds * 60)

Output

See output of the script run against 28 popular French podcasts below. Note that the script only transcribes French words. So podcasts that also contain English (e.g., the Duolingo podcast) will have a low amount of French words per minute. However, that still reflects an easier podcast to understand so kept it as is.

To make the podcasts easier to rank I added a score/rank for each metric. So the podcast with the lowest degree of uncommon words/words per min has rank 1 in that metric, the one with the highest has 28. I then combined the ranks/scores for the two metrics into a combined score/rank to make it easier to see which podcasts are easier to understand taking both metrics in account.

Overall this was a fun experiment. I might continue building this out with better logic in the future.

All the code is available here

Name	Combined score/rank	Pct uncommon words	French words per min	URL
Duolingo French Podcast	3	15%	47	Link
One Thing In A French Day	13	21%	126	Link
InnerFrench	16	25%	117	Link
Hondelatte Raconte – Christophe Hondelatte	19	26%	115	Link
L’Heure du Monde	19	22%	140	Link
La société de minuit	20	28%	89	Link
Coffee Break French	21	30%	77	Link
Pépites d’Histoire	23	26%	130	Link
Mythes et Légendes	24	25%	148	Link
La Story	27	30%	124	Link
Easy French: Learn French through authentic conversations | Conversations authentiques pour apprendre le français	27	27%	130	Link
Learn French by Podcast	28	35%	50	Link
Podcast Français Authentique	28	26%	167	Link
HVF – Histoires Vraies et Flippantes	30	34%	109	Link
French Through Stories	32	46%	75	Link
Ces questions que tout le monde se pose	32	22%	245	Link
Les Baladeurs	33	27%	175	Link
Entrez dans l’Histoire	33	25%	189	Link
Transfert	33	23%	200	Link
Le Précepteur	36	35%	127	Link
Le Podkatz	39	33%	144	Link
Canapé Six Places	41	32%	174	Link
Passe le plaid	41	31%	178	Link
BURGER RING	41	29%	191	Link
French with Jeanne	43	37%	141	Link
Little Talk in Slow French : Learn French through conversations	43	31%	181	Link
J’ai peur, donc j’y vais	47	31%	197	Link
Les actus du jour – Hugo Décrypte	48	35%	177	Link

Last year I read 80/20 running by Matt Fitzgerald. The plans were good, but there’s an inconvenient layout where the high-level workout names (e.g. “Hill Repetition 2”) and the details of what to do during the workout (e.g. amount of intervals) are in different sections of the book. This means you end up flipping back and forth a lot every time you want to go for a run. I thought it would be a fun side project to make a web app that could make it more convenient to follow the plans.

In my last project I relied on vanilla JavaScript and jQuery and it was lacking structure. So for this project I wanted to use a more modern framework and settled on React. I also wanted to write my own CSS since I have been relying on Bootstrap for previous web projects.

See GIFs below showing how the application turned out. Overall it was a good project to get started with React and to learn CSS at a more fundamental level. The full code can be found on Github here.

The most useful learning resources I found during the project were:

• React crash course. Good intro to React by building a task manager. A lot of the concepts in this tutorial ended up being very relevant for my application. Especially how to use json-server to mock an API for development.
• Kevin Powell’s Youtube channel. Very clear explanations of CSS fundamentals such as display grid, absolute vs. relative position and more.
• Miguel Grinberg. Great tutorials for how to make Flask and React work together. I also used this tutorial of his to deploy the app to Linode.
• This blog post was very useful to understand how to work with databases when using React and Flask. There’s some odd code in there, but seeing how to serialize query results using Marshmallow was very useful.

GIFs of the application

During the pandemic, my board game group moved online. That meant we couldn’t play Arboretum, one of my favorite board games. As a learning project, I’ve now built a multiplayer online version of the game.

I’ve been playing the game with my friends, but I’m not hosting it anywhere since I don’t own any of the rights to the game. See the full code here and some screenshots below.

Arboretum is a card-playing game where you place cards to build the most beautiful arboretum. Since only one player can score for each tree type, a key part is figuring out the strategy of the other players and adjusting accordingly.

This year I decided to try to qualify for the NYC Marathon through the 9+1 program.

The 9+1 program is a way to qualify for non-complimentary entry to the marathon by running 9 NYRR races and volunteering at one. Apart from 9+1, it’s also possible to qualify on time, by raising ~$2,500 for a charity, or by winning the lottery. Having lost the lottery twice and qualifying on time not being feasible for me 🙂 , I settled for the 9+1 option.

Races ran

Month	Race	Distance	Cost
Jan	NYRR Joe Kleinerman 10K	10 km (6.2 miles)	35$
Jan	NYRR Fred Lebow Half-Marathon	21.1 km (13.1 miles)	35$
Feb	NYRR Manhattan 10K (volunteered)	–	–
Feb	NYRR Gridiron 4m	6.4 km (4 miles)	25$
Feb	NYRR Al Gordon 4m	6.4 km (4 miles)	25$
Mar	NYRR Washington Heights Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5k	6.4 km (4 miles)	30$
April	RBC Race for the Kids 4m	6.4 km (4 miles)	25$
May	RBC Brooklyn Half	21.1 km (13.1 miles)	90$
May	Virtual NYRR Global Running Day 5k	5 km (3.1 miles)	25$
June	Front Runners New York LGBT Pride Run	6.4 km (4 miles)	25$

Total cost

Total total cost for the races was 315$. The required annual NYRR membership is 40$. Signing up for the 2023 NYC Marathon will be ~255$, which brings the total to ~610$. I think it’s well worth it for the value you’re getting (the races themselves, gear, post-race bagel). It’s also a great way to stay motivated to run.

Best races

All races were really well run by NYRR. I liked the Joe Kleinerman and the Brooklyn Half races the best.

I loved Kleinerman since it was a race I prepared for several months in advance, which made the race feel special. Since it takes place in January it was pretty cold, but I like that much better than the summer races. It also stands out for being a 10K. Since NYRR offers so many 4 mile races they stand out less.

The Brooklyn Half stood out because it was the only NYRR “flagship” race ran. Because it was a flagship the roads were closed. The race goes around Prospect Park and then down to Cony Island. Having never been to Cony Island before, it was a cool experience to run there. I got placed in a corral that was way faster than I could manage so the race was quite tough, but it was still very memorable.

9+1 Learnings

• Book races well in advance as they definitely sell out. I booked most races around two months in advance. For the NYRR Manhattan 10K I tried to book a couple weeks in advance but it was sold out so I had to volunteer for that one.
• Review the NYC race calendar as it updates maybe once per month with new races. There was a virtual race in the beginning of the year with a 9+1 credit that I missed because I wasn’t paying attention.
• Since most races are in Central Park and require a bib pickup at the NYRR Runcenter at 57th street, living close to Central Park really helps.
• For the January and February races: dress for that you’re going to have to stand still in a corral for ~20 min. Especially the Joe Kleinerman was pretty rough with below freezing before the race. Once you start running it’s fine.
• There are female-only races like Shape or Manhattan Mini that you can’t run as a man, but you can still volunteer so those can be great volunteer opportunities.
• The virtual races only make sense as a 9+1 credit. It’s much more fun to run the in-person races.
• It’s definitely possible to complete the program in the first half of the year. I tried completing it as quickly as possible to minimize the risk that I’d lose interest over time, but I was out of town for some races. It’s probably possible to finish in May if you hit every 9+1-eligible race.
• Never bring a bag if you can help it. Bag check is usually a long line. They force you to put everything in a transparent plastic bag that can be picked up in the run center or on-site at the race day.
• Always pick up your bib in advance if you can. Usually there are long lines to get the bib on race day. Getting an extra hour to sleep is definitely work the hour spent picking up the bib in advance.
• You can be pretty late and they will still let you run. It usually takes at least 10 min to get all the corrals past the starting line. And from what I understand they let you start a bit even after the last corral has started. For a couple races I arrived at the corral at starting time and was still able to run.
• The r/RunNYC subreddit is really helpful to learn from other runners doing the program.

Summary

I would definitely recommend doing the 9+1. It kept me running consistently for six months and now I have a cool race to look forward to. Since so many people are doing the program, it’s also a great opportunity to meet other people.

This year was a pretty good year for reading. One reason is the extra time at home due to COVID. I also started giving up on books I couldn’t get into more quickly . That kept me reading since finishing boring books results in procrastination as reading becomes a chore. Below are the best books I read 2021.

History

Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages started in the “dark ages” with the decline of the Roman Empire. It ended around 1000 years later with a Europe that greatly surpassed antiquity. The improvement was driven by new technologies such as the water mill and heavy plough. Many of the new technologies came from Asia. For instance blast furnaces existed in China around 1500 years before they came to Europe. Many of the technologies imported from Asia, such as paper and gunpowder, ended up transforming European society. Another good book on the same topic is “Medieval Technology and Social Change”.

Postwar: Europe after 1945

As someone born after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it’s easy to take a stable and industrialized Europe for granted. This book does a great job of showing the road to get there after 1945 and how it was by no means guaranteed. The knowledge of the author is impressive. I wrote more about it here.

Life in the Medieval Village

It can be difficult to understand the people of the Middle Ages. For instance when reading about customs like trial by ordeal or events like the People’s Crusade. This book does a great job of showing what it was like to live in a medieval village.

Other Non-Fiction

Status Anxiety

Many of us go through a lot of worry comparing ourselves to other people. But what our society considers prestigious (i.e. financial success) hasn’t always been the only measure. This book provides a great perspective on how chasing status is impacting us. It also gives strategies of using philosophy and art to counteract it. The author Alain de Botton is always entertaining and thought-provoking. I would highly recommend his Youtube channel The School of Life.

Almanack of Naval Ravikant

A lot of business books should have been blog posts. This book is the opposite where every page is interesting and thought-provoking. The book is available for free here.

Transforming NOKIA: The Power of Paranoid Optimism to Lead Through Colossal Change

This Forbes cover from 2007 is one of my favorite pictures:

In 2008 Nokia and Apple had around the same market cap. In 2012 Apple’s market cap was 60 times greater. This book is written by a board member during those years and the transformation that followed. It’s a good case study of a culture that got too sure of its’ own success.

Practical Statistics for Data Scientists: 50+ Essential Concepts Using R and Python

This book does a great job of showing how statistics relate to data science in practice. A lot of technical books try to be exhaustive and become too long. This is an admirably concise book.

Fiction

The Road

A father and his son walk alone towards the ocean in a post-apocalyptic America. Amazing writing. It’s hard to let go of this book after having finished it. Truly horrifying.

A Special Providence

Richard Yates is one of my favorite authors and this is a great book. The book follows a young man in the second world war and the relationship with his mother.

The Lost World

Great old time adventure story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle about an expedition in South America. Easy to get hooked into the adventure and keep reading.