R Weekly Highlights

An exciting new way to search and discover R packages wrapping novel technology, how the new checktor package finds the key issues standard checks will miss, and yes, you can play Doom in R (what?)

Episode Links
This week's curator: Ryo Nakagawara - @R_by_Ryo@mstdn.social (Mastodon) & @rbyryo.bsky.social (Bluesky) & @R_by_Ryo) (X/Twitter)
Searching the R Ecosystem by Function, Not Package Name
The Check Passed. The Reviewer Didn’t.
{rdoom} is a playable version of Doom for R.
Entire issue available at rweekly.org/2026-W29

Supplement Resources
The Warehouse https://rwarehouse.netlify.app/
Warehouse GitHub repository https://github.com/kylieainslie/warehouse
checktor https://r-pkg.thecoatlessprofessor.com/checktor/
tigerfb Interactive Framebuffer for R https://github.com/coolbutuseless/tigerfb

Supporting the show
Use the contact page at https://serve.podhome.fm/custompage/r-weekly-highlights/contact to send us your feedback
R-Weekly Highlights on the Podcastindex.org - You can send a boost into the show directly in the Podcast Index. First, top-up with Alby, and then head over to the R-Weekly Highlights podcast entry on the index.
A new way to think about value: https://value4value.info
Get in touch with us on social mediaEric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) and @theRcast (X/Twitter)
Mike Thomas: @mike_thomas@fosstodon.org (Mastodon), @mike-thomas.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @mike_ketchbrook (X/Twitter)

Music credits powered by OCRemix
On Wings of Steel - After Burner - Juan Medrano - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03405
Black Genesis - Final Fantasy 6 - Brandon Strader, Rexy - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02796

A set of principles to enhance testing APIs created inside R, and the engine behind automatic reloading of rendered Shiny apps becomes available for new use cases.

Episode Links
This week's curator: Jon Calder - @jonmcalder@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @jonmcalder (X/Twitter)
Testing Your Plumber APIs from R
watcher 0.2.0: filesystem watching for R, and the engine behind Shiny auto-reload
Entire issue available at rweekly.org/2026-W28

Supplement Resources
{plumber2}: https://plumber2.posit.co/
{httr2}: https://httr2.r-lib.org/index.html
{mirai}: https://mirai.r-lib.org/index.html
{nanonext}: https://nanonext.r-lib.org/index.html
roxygen2 @exampleIF tag https://roxygen2.r-lib.org/articles/rd-functions.html#examples
{watcher}: https://watcher.r-lib.org/
fswatch https://emcrisostomo.github.io/fswatch/

Supporting the show
Use the contact page at https://serve.podhome.fm/custompage/r-weekly-highlights/contact to send us your feedback
R-Weekly Highlights on the Podcastindex.org - You can send a boost into the show directly in the Podcast Index. First, top-up with Alby, and then head over to the R-Weekly Highlights podcast entry on the index.
A new way to think about value: https://value4value.info
Get in touch with us on social mediaEric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) and @theRcast (X/Twitter)
Mike Thomas: @mike_thomas@fosstodon.org (Mastodon), @mike-thomas.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @mike_ketchbrook (X/Twitter)

Music credits powered by OCRemix
Relm's Weepy Loop - Final Fantasy 6 - MkVaff - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00178

The R Core team receives a prestigious award in the world of Statistics, a month-long recognition of the rOpenSci package maintainers, and a collection of helpful tips for obtaining robust R code from AI agents.

Episode Links
This week's curator: Eric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon) & @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) & @theRcast (X/Twitter)
2026 Rousseeuw Prize for Statistics Awarded to R Core Team for Transforming Statistics Computing Worldwide
Celebrating Our Maintainers during Maintainers Month
10 tips for getting better R code from your AI coding agent
Entire issue available at rweekly.org/2026-W26

Supplement Resources
The Rousseeuw Prize for Statistics 2026 https://www.rousseeuwprize.org/2026
{btw} A complete toolkit for connecting R and LLMs https://posit-dev.github.io/btw/

Supporting the show
Use the contact page at https://serve.podhome.fm/custompage/r-weekly-highlights/contact to send us your feedback
R-Weekly Highlights on the Podcastindex.org - You can send a boost into the show directly in the Podcast Index. First, top-up with Alby, and then head over to the R-Weekly Highlights podcast entry on the index.
A new way to think about value: https://value4value.info
Get in touch with us on social mediaEric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) and @theRcast (X/Twitter)
Mike Thomas: @mike_thomas@fosstodon.org (Mastodon), @mike-thomas.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @mike_ketchbrook (X/Twitter)

Music credits powered by OCRemix
Super Buck II - Super Mario Brothers 2 - Estradasphere - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00577
Escape Route - Cave Story - Corran - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01513

The evolution of Posit's data science agents, robust approaches to unnamed parameters in R functions, and the power of math and visualization collide in an unexpected way.

Episode Links
This week's curator: Sam Parmar - @parmsam@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @parmsam_ (X/Twitter)
A brief and biased history of Posit data science agents
Three small dots for more readable code
Little useless-useful R functions – Ulam Prime Spiral
Entire issue available at rweekly.org/2026-W25
Supplement Resources
Ulam Spiral Animation Function https://github.com/tomaztk/Useless_R_functions/blob/main/functions/ulam_spiral_animation.R
Eric's new Quarto Terminal Theme https://github.com/rpodcast/quarto-revealjs-terminal
Supporting the show
Use the contact page at https://serve.podhome.fm/custompage/r-weekly-highlights/contact to send us your feedback
R-Weekly Highlights on the Podcastindex.org - You can send a boost into the show directly in the Podcast Index. First, top-up with Alby, and then head over to the R-Weekly Highlights podcast entry on the index.
A new way to think about value: https://value4value.info
Get in touch with us on social mediaEric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) and @theRcast (X/Twitter)
Mike Thomas: @mike_thomas@fosstodon.org (Mastodon), @mike-thomas.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @mike_ketchbrook (X/Twitter)

Music credits powered by OCRemix
Suco de Melancia - Final Fantasy 7 - Red Tailed Fox - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01671
The Quick and the Blue - Mega Man 2 - The Megas - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02090

A friendly reminder on checking customization when upgrading R, how refactoring may not be so tedious when using the Jarl utility, and honest takes on various code smells you can prevent in your next testing suite.
Episode Links
This week's curator: Batool Almarzouq - @batoolmm.bsky.social (Bluesky) & @batool664 (X/Twitter)
The Lurking Dangers of the R Version Update
Refactoring with Jarl: a coffee chat
11 Test Smells That Make Your Tests Lie to You
Entire issue available at rweekly.org/2026-W24

Supplement Resources
{renv} - Project environments in R https://rstudio.github.io/renv/index.html
rig - The R installation manager https://github.com/r-lib/rig

Supporting the show
Use the contact page at https://serve.podhome.fm/custompage/r-weekly-highlights/contact to send us your feedback
R-Weekly Highlights on the Podcastindex.org - You can send a boost into the show directly in the Podcast Index. First, top-up with Alby, and then head over to the R-Weekly Highlights podcast entry on the index.
A new way to think about value: https://value4value.info
Get in touch with us on social mediaEric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) and @theRcast (X/Twitter)
Mike Thomas: @mike_thomas@fosstodon.org (Mastodon), @mike-thomas.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @mike_ketchbrook (X/Twitter)

Music credits powered by OCRemix
Vamo alla Django - Final Fantasy 9 - AndyP, Dan Bryant, Fishy - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03579
Gurgling Desert Pond - Final Fantasy 1 - blackguitar - https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02555