We explore two notebooks by Ricky Reusser: (1) Toiletpaperfullerenes and Charmin Nanotubes (2020) https://observablehq.com/@rreusser/toiletpaperfullerenes-and-charmin-nanotubes and (2) Geodesics in Kerr Spacetime (2026) https://rreusser.github.io/notebooks/kerr-geodesics/ (self-hosted using Notebook Kit). The first was hand-coded; the second was vibecoded. What did he learn from making each of them?

Visnu and Toph give a preview of the new notebook listings and editor by surveying some trending community notebooks and highlighting the tiny touches that make the new experience simpler, faster, and more robust.

Julio joins Mike to explain Observable’s mission to make computation universally accessible and understandable. They talk about the value of open source and community, the challenge of designing social collaboration platforms, and the promise and risks of AI.

Mike and Toph return for the second episode to talk reactivity and making code easier for humans to understand. They show the quirky syntax of Notebooks 1.0, and how Notebooks 2.0 brings reactivity to standard (vanilla) syntax.