At [2026-04-30 Thu 10:30] (America/Toronto): Yay Emacs: Sacha and Prot Talk Emacs

In which I follow up on https://sachachua.com/blog/2026/03/thinking-about-coaching-goals-with-prot/

Watch livestream playlist

Next: #22

Times are in America/Toronto. If you have Javascript enabled, click on a time to translate it.

• [2026-04-30 Thu 10:30] Yay Emacs: Sacha and Prot Talk Emacs

  Notes: https://sachachua.com/blog/2026/04/yay-emacs-sacha-and-prot-talk-emacs-newbies-starter-kits/

  I will livestream it and share the recording.

  2026-04-30 Thu 10:30–2026-04-30 Thu 11:30 (America/Toronto, UTC-4) = Thu Apr 30 1030H EDT / 0930H CDT / 0830H MDT / 0730H PDT / 1430H UTC / 1630H CEST / 1730H EEST / 2000H IST / 2230H +08 / 2330H JST

  The Emacs Carnival theme for April 2026 is newbies/starter kits https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/CarnivalApril2026. I'd like to chat with Prot about not only helping people get into Emacs but also supporting lifelong learning.

  Prot had some notes on how he started with Emacs in 2019 in All about switching to Emacs (video blog) | Protesilaos https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2019-12-20-vlog-switch-emacs/. These notes were just a few months after he started, so his experience was pretty fresh.

  In Computing in freedom with GNU Emacs | Protesilaos https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2026-03-13-computing-in-freedom-with-gnu-emacs/ (2026), he said:

  Remember that I started using Emacs without a background in programming. … I learnt the basics within a few days. I started writing my own Emacs Lisp within weeks. And within a year I had my modus-themes moved into core Emacs.

  Prot has several projects that might be of interest to many newcomers to Emacs:

  • modus-themes https://protesilaos.com/emacs/modus-themes, which are part of Emacs core and are therefore just a `M-x load-theme' away
  • Emacs Lisp Elements https://protesilaos.com/emacs/emacs-lisp-elements, a book that helps people learn Emacs Lisp
    • Where does this fit into people's learning journeys? How can they come across it and use it?
  • perhaps Denote https://protesilaos.com/emacs/denote
    • What would it take for people to learn enough to be able to use this?

  He also offers Emacs coaching https://protesilaos.com/coach/. I wonder if any newbies have taken advantage of that. There are a few other coaches https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsCoaching listed on the EmacsWiki. (Ooh, Emacs buddy, that was neat.)

  Other possible topics: Philip suggested the following general themes for the Emacs Carnival:

  • What are your memories of starting with Emacs?
  • What experiences do you have with teaching Emacs to new users?
  • Do you think if starter kits are more of a hindrance in the long term or necessary for many users to even try Emacs?
  • What defaults do you think should be changed for everyone (new and old users)?
  • What defaults do you think should be changed for new users (see NewcomersTheme)?
  • What is the sweet-spot between starter-kit minimalism and maximalism?

• [2026-05-04 Mon 14:00] Emacs Chat: Amin Bandali

  On May 4, I'll chat with Amin Bandali about Emacs and life.

  https://youtube.com/live/ZiTQt8q1Ybc

  2026-05-04 Mon 14:00–2026-05-04 Mon 15:00 (America/Toronto UTC-4) = Mon May 4 1400H EDT / 1300H CDT / 1200H MDT / 1100H PDT / 1800H UTC / 2000H CEST / 2100H EEST / 2330H IST / Tue May 5 0200H +08 / 0300H JST

  • Amin Bandali https://kelar.org/~bandali/
  • The People of Emacs - bandali https://kelar.org/~bandali/people-of-emacs.html
  • .emacs.d - configs https://git.gnu.ca/~bandali/configs/tree/.emacs.d?id=ffd0084f8612a11de7263b1dc627a3ed8f97d923

  This session will be recorded, and I'll update this blog post with notes. https://sachachua.com/blog/2026/05/emacs-chat-with-amin-bandali/

  Find more Emacs Chats or join the fun: https://sachachua.com/emacs-chat

• [2026-05-07 Thu 10:30] Emacs Chat: Shae Erisson

  On May 7, I'll chat with Shae Erisson about Emacs and life.

  https://youtube.com/live/Ovya0O2otbU

  2026-05-07 Thu 10:30–2026-05-07 Thu 11:30 (America/Toronto UTC-4) = Thu May 7 1030H EDT / 0930H CDT / 0830H MDT / 0730H PDT / 1430H UTC / 1630H CEST / 1730H EEST / 2000H IST / 2230H +08 / 2330H JST

  • Shae Erisson: Haskell, Python, Swedish, knitting, mountain unicycling, contact juggling
  • Shae Erisson's blog - 1. DO SOMETHING 2. BRAG ABOUT IT http://www.scannedinavian.com
  • Shae Erisson (@shapr@recurse.social) - recurse.social https://recurse.social/@shapr
  • shapr/markovkeyboard: keyboard layout that changes by markov frequency · GitHub https://github.com/shapr/markovkeyboard

  This session will be recorded, and I'll update this blog post with notes. https://sachachua.com/blog/2026/05/may-7-emacs-chat-with-shae-erisson/

  Find more Emacs Chats or join the fun: https://sachachua.com/emacs-chat

• [2026-05-21 Thu 10:30] May 21: Emacs Chat with Raymond Zeitler

  On May 21, I'll chat with Raymond Zeitler about Emacs and life. https://youtube.com/live/ro6BZI0Z64I

  2026-05-21 Thu 10:30–2026-05-21 Thu 11:30 America/Toronto = Thu May 21 1030H EDT / 0930H CDT / 0830H MDT / 0730H PDT / 1430H UTC / 1630H CEST / 1730H EEST / 2000H IST / 2230H +08 / 2330H JST

  This session will be recorded, and I'll update this blog post with notes. https://sachachua.com/blog/2026/05/emacs-chat-with-raymond-zeitler/

  Find more Emacs Chats or join the fun: https://sachachua.com/emacs-chat

• [2026-06-18 Thu 10:30] June 18: Emacs Chat with Ross A. Baker

  On June 18, I'll chat with Ross Baker https://rossabaker.com/ about Emacs and life.

  https://youtube.com/live/_tEcqbi_2o8

  2026-06-18 Thu 10:30–2026-06-18 Thu 11:30 America/Toronto = Thu Jun 18 1030H EDT / 0930H CDT / 0830H MDT / 0730H PDT / 1430H UTC / 1630H CEST / 1730H EEST / 2000H IST / 2230H +08 / 2330H JST

  • Blog https://rossabaker.com/blog/
    • Posts tagged #emacs https://rossabaker.com/tags/emacs/
  • Emacs config https://rossabaker.com/configs/emacs/
    • Emacs Early Init https://rossabaker.com/configs/emacs/early-init/
    • Khlav Kalash Emacs https://rossabaker.com/configs/emacs/khlav-kalash/
    • Crab Juice Emacs https://rossabaker.com/configs/emacs/crab-juice/
    • Starter Emacs configuration https://rossabaker.com/configs/emacs/rab-starter/

  This session will be recorded, and I'll update this blog post with notes. https://sachachua.com/blog/2026/06/emacs-chat-with-ross-a-baker/

  Find more Emacs Chats or join the fun: https://sachachua.com/emacs-chat

• YE20: Emacs Carnival: newbies / starter kits [2026-04-22 Wed] (YouTube)
• YE19: Make an Org Mode file from YouTube upcoming broadcasts [2026-04-21 Tue] upcoming-livestreams.ics
• YE18 putting together Emacs News for 2026-04-20 - YouTube [2026-04-20 Mon]
  • Mentioned bitspook/spookfox: A tinkerer's bridge b/w Emacs and Web Browser (Firefox and Chrome) · GitHub, sacha-spookfox-scroll-up, and sacha-spookfox-scroll-down from my Emacs config
• YE17: Livestream conveniences, editing yesterday's transcript [2026-04-17 Fri]
  • 0:00 Intro
  • 0:58 Scheduling livestreams
  • 4:58 Listing livestreams
  • 9:58 https://sachachua.com/blog/2026/04/ye16-sacha-and-prot-talk-emacs/
  • 15:58 Let's add some code to import chapter comments
  • 38:58 Back to editing the captions
  • 43:58 Getting distracted by wanting to put time in my header-line-format
  • 44:58 Back to captions
  • 47:58 Calculating offset into streamed video
• YE16: Sacha and Prot talk Emacs [2026-04-16 Thu] (YouTube 1:13:00)
  • Emacs config modularization
  • Keyboard shortcuts: C-z, one-shot modifiers, tap vs hold
  • Livestreaming
    • Announcing
      • Converting time zones: Time zones
    • Displaying strings and QR codes
    • Processing the recordings
• YE15: Fiddling with my Emacs config and streaming setup - YouTube [2026-04-15 Wed]
  • obs-websocket-el/obs-websocket-el: Control Open Broadcast Studio from Emacs - temporary repo · GitHub
  • GNU Emacs configuration | Protesilaos Stavrou
  • Background Removal / Virtual Green-screen & Low-Light Enhance | OBS Forums
• YE14: Putting together Emacs News for 2026-04-13 - YouTube [2026-04-13 Mon]
  • 2026-04-13 Emacs news
• YE13: Working on modularizing my config - YouTube (1:23:26)
  • my Emacs configuration
• YE12: Putting together Emacs News for 2026-04-06, epwgraph for Pipewire, learning languages - YouTube (1:19:48)
  • 2026-04-06 Emacs news
  • sachac/epwgraph: Emacs Pipewire graph visualization · GitHub
  • sachac/learn-lang: Some tools for learning languages with Emacs - Codeberg.org
• YE11: Fix find-function for Emacs Lisp from org-babel or scratch (8:19 + post)
• YE10: Emacs coaching with Prot: Emacs workflows and streaming (1:06:30 + post)
• Extract PDF highlights into an Org file with Python (4:27 + post)
• YE9: Trimming/adding silences to get to a target; subed-record-sum-time (0:56 + post)
• Emacs Carnival February 2026: Completion

I want to get better at livestreaming while I tinker with Emacs because:

• Getting into the habit of talking out loud while I code might help me retrace my steps or my logic, like Bookclub tapas.
  • I want to turn those demonstrations or discussions into blog posts with screenshots or video clips. If I note down rough timestamps or capture screenshots, I can use those for chapters, and then I can review the transcript once it's available.
• Other people might notice something that I take for granted and then I can help them learn more about it. I can share more of my implicit knowledge.
• Other people might even help me get unstuck or let me know about things I haven't gotten the hang of yet.
• There might eventually be a time when it will be difficult for me to get outside, so it might be helpful to have more ways to enjoy social interaction and mental stimulation.

A few other Emacs streamers:

• Protesilaos: themes, utilities, community, philosophy; site, Emacs config
• DistroTube
• Andrew Tropin
• Xah Lee
• Divya: Canvas patch / Emacs Reader, sometimes pair-programs via CRDT
• David (System Crafters): Doesn't use Emacs as much these days, interested in AI and LLMs
• lcolonq: Long streams, coding, hanging out; occasionally tweaks Emacs; lcolonq/wasp - Emacs bits for stream setup
• Incidental:
  • bashbunni: Rust, Go
  • tsoding: game dev in C
  • j_blow: gaming, game dev

sources: Reddit