Clockwise Ep. 642: A Hierarchy in My Head

Date: February 4, 2026
Hosts: Dan Moren & Mikah Sargent
Guests: Allison Sheridan & Christopher Lawley

Episode Overview

This episode of Clockwise celebrates the 10th anniversary of Stardew Valley by exploring the appeal of “cozy games,” then dives into favorite Finder views on macOS, how AI is empowering personal app development, and the panel's thoughts on rumored Apple devices in 2026. The show wraps with stories of the coolest animals they’ve seen in person. As always, the tone is lively, friendly, and occasionally (playfully) combative.

1. Stardew Valley & Cozy Games

Stardew Valley just turned 10, launching a discussion on cozy games. Do the panelists play them? Why or why not?

• Allison Sheridan [01:57]:

  • Admits that cozy games are outside her wheelhouse:

    “My Cozy game is taking terms I've never heard of, like, Stardew Valley and asking Perplexity to tell me what it is.”

  • Prefers puzzle and word games occasionally (Lex Games’ Collections, Lexicogs, Bival), but gaming is rare for her.

• Dan Moren [02:31]:

  • Used to play some cozy games like Animal Crossing during the pandemic, but quickly became restless:

    “I get too antsy with cozy games...the gameplay loop makes me like, eventually...come out of it and be like, oh my god, what am I doing?...I got plenty of tasks I can do in the real world.”

  • Prefers games with clear narratives or puzzles.

• Christopher Lawley [03:40]:

  • Proud cozy gamer, especially attached to Animal Crossing:

    “If it is 8am in your world, it is 8am in Animal Crossing world...I love Animal Crossing because of its real time.”

  • Completionist by nature, loves gaming as a soothing background activity.

• Mikah Sargent [04:55]:

  • Has played Stardew Valley but finds the “gift-giving” mechanics tedious:

    “I don’t think I’m a fan of cozy games where part of the goal is to learn the favorite item of each of the people...so I tend to kind of go, eh, not for me...”

  • Enjoys that cozy games have shown him new genres, but prefers different gameplay.

2. Finder View Wars: List vs. Column vs. Icon

What’s the best way to view files on macOS: List View, Column View, or Icon View?

• Alison's Bold Prompt [06:18]:

  • “I don't want to get political, but I'm going there...List View or Column View? Support your position.”

• Dan Moren [06:28]:

  • List View fan:

    “My frustration with Column View is always that I don't need the hierarchy as much as I need the metadata.” “The true monsters are the icon view people!”

  • Prefers easy access to sorting & data.

• Christopher Lawley [07:46]:

  • Jokes about loving Icon View (“I started off my computing life as a monster”), but is solidly in the Column View camp:

    “I love being able to...have the layers of different columns...really helpful if you go in and you add specific metadata for file types.”

• Mikah Sargent [08:36]:

  • Strongly List View:

    “I have the hierarchy in my head...there’s too much data [in Column View] on the screen at one point and I'm struggling to remember exactly where I am…”

• Allison Sheridan [09:44]:

  • Passionate Column View defender:

    “I'm so sad you and Dan are so misguided because Column View is the only correct answer.”

    • Loves previews, fast navigation, and points out right-click sorting options.
    • Acknowledges bug with column resizing in macOS “Tahoe”, hoping for a fix.

Memorable Quote:

"I'm sorry, you guys are wrong, but Chris, you. You go, girl." – Allison Sheridan [11:13]
"Yeah, this did get political." – Christopher Lawley [11:25]

3. AI for App Development: Have You Built a “Scratch-Your-Itch” Tool?

Apple just announced new AI coding features in Xcode. Have you ever considered building an app for yourself? What would it do?

• Christopher Lawley [12:34]:

  • Has used Claude and other AI tools to make small, personal utilities—mostly quick scripts for things like YouTube uploads and expense tracking:

    “They are tools that work specifically for me...they are not good at all...but I am really happy with these tools and the fact that they give me...the power to build utilities for myself that don’t exist.”

  • Notes the empowering feeling, even if output is rough and unreleasable.

• Mikah Sargent [14:43]:

  • Dreams of an app to track D&D fundraiser donations and bonuses per player, but hasn’t tackled it yet:

    “All of this AI magic has led me to believe that maybe, just maybe, it could be, maybe possible.”

• Allison Sheridan [15:53]:

  • Has written two web apps: one for elapsed time math (since spreadsheets “can’t do it easily”) and one for multi-time-zone meeting planning.
  • AI helped her get started on a cross-stitch/geometry planner app:

    “It was immediately incredibly useful and sped me up quite a bit...I keep saying I'm going to go back and finish that.”

• Dan Moren [16:52]:

  • Ponders making inventory or accounting apps, but has deeply customized spreadsheets
  • Uses AI (Claude, ChatGPT) for server scripts and automations:

    “Those are just tools that are...super specific and not going to be something that anybody builds an app for...as I run into problems, [I wonder], could I make an app to fix this?”

4. Rumored Apple Devices: What Would You Insta-Buy?

With rumors swirling about touchscreen MacBook Pros, HomePods with screens, and foldable iPhones, which would the panelists buy immediately?

• Mikah Sargent [19:00]:

  • No true “insta-buy” for him among rumored products, but “closest is the HomePod with a screen” due to curiosity about Apple’s take on the category.

• Allison Sheridan [20:03]:

  • Jokingly claims she’ll somehow end up buying a foldable iPhone despite “seeing absolutely zero reason for a foldable phone.”
  • Genuinely excited about HomePod with a screen:

    “I want a new home pod. It's been too long...I would love to have a home pod with a screen.”

  • Touchscreen MacBook is “intriguing,” but doesn’t need an upgrade.

• Dan Moren [20:52]:

  • Echoes excitement about HomePod with a screen:

    “Having a screen on there that could handle even basic things like showing me my timers or showing me calendar or...controls for my media, like, all of that would be really nice. So I'm very excited about that.”

  • Interested in a foldable phone for novelty, but only if price is reasonable.

• Christopher Lawley [22:12]:

  • First and foremost, wants the foldable iPhone:

    “I am, I'm definitely, like, setting myself up to expect to spend like $2,500 on that thing.”

  • 3D-printed a leaked design prototype, finds the shape odd but exciting. Wants it to replace his iPad mini with “iPad on the inside, iPhone on the outside” functionality.

Memorable & Notable Moments

• “I have the hierarchy in my head.” – Mikah, on Finder preferences [08:36]
• “The main thing I hate about List View is watching people have to clean up after themselves, closing all of those little triangles.” – Allison [09:44]
• “I started off my computing life as a monster. I started off as a Windows user and it's just chaos over there.” – Christopher [07:46]
• “No, I'll be your cheetah dog.” – Dan about interspecies support (bonus topic) [24:22]
• “I am, I'm definitely, like, setting myself up to expect to spend like $2,500 on that [foldable iPhone] thing.” – Christopher [22:12]

Key Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |---|---| | Cozy Games - Stardew Valley | 01:31–06:18 | | Finder View Debate | 06:18–11:28 | | AI-Powered Personal Apps | 12:04–18:31 | | Rumored Apple Devices | 18:31–23:44 | | Bonus: Coolest Animal Seen | 23:44–26:22 |

Bonus Topic: The Coolest Animal You’ve Ever Seen

• Allison: Three young cheetahs in the wild, South Africa [23:56]
• Dan: Cheetah with an emotional support dog at San Diego Safari Park [24:22]
• Christopher: Safari in Africa—elephants, giraffes, hippos up close [25:01]
• Mikah: Riding elephants, camels, and (possibly) a giraffe as a child [25:22]

Closing

A fun, spirited episode of Clockwise, with playful arguments about how to view your files, admiration for the democratizing force of AI in coding, and a skeptical but curious assessment of the next wave of Apple hardware. All wrapped up with personal animal encounters that capture the panel’s sense of awe—and sense of humor.