Dan Paul Benjamin (born October 26, 1972) is an American software developer, user interface designer, writer, and podcaster.[1] He founded the podcast network 5by5 and the podcast-hosting platform Fireside.fm, and later became chief technology officer of Spooler Media.[2]
Career
Benjamin graduated with a B.A. in technical writing with a computer science focus from the University of Central Florida in 1994.[3]
Earlier in his career, Benjamin co-founded the websites Cork’d and Playgrounder, wrote the content management system behind A List Apart,[4] and produced educational screencasts through PeepCode.[5][1] He appeared several times on the Fox News program Strategy Room – Gadgets and Games.[6]
In 2010, Benjamin founded 5by5, a podcast production network whose shows included several he co-hosted, such as Back to Work with Merlin Mann and The Ihnatko Almanac with Andy Ihnatko. On the strength of these podcasts, Philip Elmer-DeWitt of Fortune and CNN called him “the king of Apple talk radio”.[7] The final episode of Back to Work, its 644th, was published in April 2024,[8] and in 2025 the company 5by5 Productions was listed as inactive in Texas business records.[9]
In 2016, Benjamin released Fireside.fm, a platform for podcasters, which was acquired by Very Good Software in 2024.[10] In February 2022, he became chief technology officer of Spooler Media, an audio publishing tools company.[11] In October 2025, he launched a project called The Unusual Newsletter.[12]
References
- ^ a b “Dan Benjamin”. danbenjamin.com.
- ^ “Dan Benjamin’s favorite pencil, microphone, blender, and standing desk”. Boing Boing. May 26, 2016.
- ^ “Gallery: R. Glenn Hubbard, Alex Ohanian, Disney Parade and More”. Pegasus Magazine. Archived from the original on February 10, 2025. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
- ^ “A List Apart – A List Apart 4.0”. August 22, 2005.
- ^ “Dan Benjamin – A List Apart”. Archived from the original on December 25, 2010. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
- ^ “Gadgets and Games: 7/01 – Fox News Video – FoxNews.com”. July 2, 2010. Archived from the original on July 19, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
- ^ “The King of Apple Talk Radio”. CNN. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
- ^ 5by5. “Back to Work”. Back to Work. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. “Franchise Tax Account Status”. comptroller.texas.gov. Archived from the original on July 21, 2025. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
- ^ “Acquiring Fireside”. John Nunemaker. September 27, 2024. Archived from the original on April 14, 2025. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
- ^ “Spooler.fm – Spooler Press Release”. www.spooler.fm. Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
- ^ “The Unusual Newsletter”. The Unusual Newsletter. October 30, 2025. Retrieved November 18, 2025.
External links
- 5by5
- fireside.fm
- Hivelogic
- Bacon Method
- Cork’d
- PeepCode
- Playgrounder
- Dan Benjamin on 5by5 Archived May 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- Interview with Dan about his Network Creation Archived March 30, 2019, at the Wayback Machine