3 days after we published the Side Door episode, a tragic incident injured a loved one of someone from the Side Door community. There's a GoFundMe that the community organized to support them through the hospitalization and recovery.

We're back at Carson's house to discuss a book that has influenced our show's entire first year: Filterworld by Kyle Chayka. Stick around for when we look back at all our recommendations across the first 25 episodes and highlight some of them. See you in 2026!

(0:00) Upsample Wrapped

(11:24) Filterworld

(57:27) Recommendations we made in 2025

(1:08:54) Seasonal wishes & outro

FIND US:

Will

-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/

-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/

-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/

Carson

-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/

-Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/

-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/

Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

After we rage against Spotify Wrapped and follow up on our previous episodes, Carson unpacks three recent stories related by the theme of AI blowback: a maximally high-effort and human album, an anti-AI revival of Vine, and a platform that might get enshittified by its buyer.

(0:00) Intro

(4:11) Does Will do year-end lists?

(5:57) Canada Music Fund $16 million top-up update

(7:42) Side Door correction & updates

(11:38) AI blowback?

(16:59) Lux by Rosalía

(31:34) Jack Dorsey-backed DiVine: bring back Vine?

(53:50) Spotify acquires WhoSampled

(1:03:41) Recommendations

Recs: Will - listen to Strays by Way Ahead Trio, Carson - listen to What of Our Nature by Haley Heynderickx & Max García Conover

FIND US:

Will

-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/

-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/

-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/

Carson

-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/

-Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/

-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/

Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.

We discuss the story of the Canadian live show platform "where every space is a venue" called Side Door, from the company's founding to its coming end, as announced on Nov. 4.

Correction: at about 53 minutes, we say Arlene invested out of Dragon's Den, and we later say that Side Door didn't raise again afterward. Per Simpson's comment on the YouTube version of this episode (Nov. 25), it fell through like many of those DD offers do, but Side Door did raise once more afterward: "Arlene did not actually invest...that's a long story, but just to say Dragon's Den is entertainment first. We did get further investment after this from BDC instead."

(0:00) The World Series, the Grey Cup, & JP Saxe sang the anthem

(3:28) Side Door Access is winding down on Dec. 31

(10:53) Act I: founding to pandemic

(32:08) Act II: covid momentum

(55:13) Act III: end of the runway

(1:04:01) Aftermath & discussion

(1:17:59) Outro & recommendations

Recommendations:

Will – Check out the New Feeling Co-Op of Canadian music journalists

Carson – listen to Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 2 by Chris Thile

FIND US:

Will

-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@williamchernoff/

-Rhythm Changes: https://www.rhythmchanges.ca/

-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamchernoff/

Carson

-YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ctworow/

-Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ctworow.bsky.social/

-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctworow/

Hosted by Carson Tworow & Will Chernoff. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music by Carson Tworow.