Programming Podcasts
Becoming a better software developer by listening to others
If you’ve talked to me in person about programming podcasts before, here is what I was trying to say, along with the links I probably forgot to send you. 🎉
Programming podcasts can help you:
- have better conversations about programming
- keep up to date with current tech & trends
- learn up on programming-adjacent topics
My list of the best programming podcasts is below
The Backstory
In my post on Staying Sharp as a Solo Programmer, I mentioned that I filled the gap of not having actual coworkers with listening to programming podcasts. Nowadays I lead a team of programmers in a larger company and I still get value from listening to them. It is this value that I’d like to articulate in this post.
The most practical benefit I’ve received from these podcasts is the ability to talk to others about code. I don’t mean trying to explain to my mother what I do for a living — I mean having a discussion with another programmer about solutions to problems (which generally revolve around code). Whether that is in a leadership meeting discussing long-term projects or with a team member working out how best to implement a feature or in a pull request on an open source project — my capacity to have a productive conversation around programming is directly linked to listening to hours of other people have conversations[1].
Another value of these podcasts is that I get a better awareness of emerging and ameliorated tools, technology and processes — usually from the people who are building them. It is incredibly illuminating to hear directly from a creator of or contributor to a tool I use. On a macro level, it builds empathy for what the creator or maintainer is trying to do and on a local level I now have a larger pool of possible solutions to pull from when I’m thinking through problems I need to solve.
For example, I’m currently enamored with Elixir, which I first heard about listening to its creator, José Valim. Or when io.js split from and later merged back into Node, I heard conversations with both Mikeal Rogers of the Node Foundation and Joyent CEO Scott Hammond (among others). Or when Sean from Bike Shed talks about improving ActiveRecord or building an ORM in Rust. Or when Jessica Lord got us all excited about Electron. Or Ada Rose with WebVR. Or when I wanted to know WTF Elm is? Time to listen to a conversation with Richard Feldman.
The third (and most important long term) value I’ve receive from these podcasts are discussions on non-programming or programming-adjacent issues. Topics like soft skills, empathy, being inclusive, mental health issues, product strategy, stress & burnout, open source governess, hiring, non-tech hobbies, management, startup funding, etc. are all explored. These are all relevant topics in the tech industry and I personally don’t have another source for this kind of education, so thank you to all the folk out there spitting that hot fire into the mic. 🙇
And now on to…
The List
The Bike Shed
Currently my favorite programming podcast. Derek, Sean & Amanda are great hosts. It gets quite technical at times, which I enjoy, and they cover a wide range of ecosystems including Ruby/Rails, Rust, Elixir and Kotlin[2]. Sometimes they have guests, sometimes they just chat about what they’ve been working on, but it is always interesting.
The Changelog
It’s been amazing to watch Adam & Jared grow this single podcast into a media organization that now includes five other podcasts as well as a video series. If there is an emerging or popular open source technology out there, it’s been a topic of the show. As a aside, it’s also nice to hear some non-coastal voices (TX & NE) in this space.
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
The way I categorize this show in my head is as a “less technical, more product-y version of The Bike Shed.” It is also from the nice folks at Thoughtbot and while it’s been around much longer than The Bike Shed, I only started listening to it regularly about a year ago. There are some great conversations on topics like SAAS pricing, running a startup, incorporating user feedback, etc. Note that if you are looking through the back catalog, there was a hosting switch in June 2017, but the content is still great.
The Art of Product
This is a new podcast that was started by Ben Orenstein & Derrick Reimer, the former hosts of Giant Robots. I’m enjoying it: it’s still a chat between Ben & Derrick, but now Ben has left Thoughtbot to start his own thing and Derrick is scaling up his startup after having been acquired. The dynamic of the discussions feel mentor-mentee, but where they keep swapping roles.
Hanselminutes
Hanselminutes is an interview-format show from Scott Hanselman. I started listening to Hanselminutes occasionally a few years ago, but with increased regularity in the last year. What I love about his show is that he strives to have guests from different tribes of the tech community. My only complaint is that every time an episode finishes, I’m all like, “well great, that was fascinating and now I wanna spend my free time on a deep dive into (subject of show).”
Ruby Rogues
Ruby Rogues is the first programming podcast that I listened to regularly. It is a panel-format, usually with a guest. It’s been around for a while — check the back catalog for some fantastic chats. It was those episodes that served as my programming braintrust during the times when I was a solo programmer and I am grateful to Chuck and the crew for that. I’ll note that there was a bit of a falling out among the panel in the autumn of 2016 and so the lineup is different today. It’s still good content, just different.
One other note on both the Devchat.tv podcasts (Rogues & Jabber) in the post: they both end with a “picks” section which is usually a decent list of tech and non-tech things people on the show are currently into.
Javascript Jabber
Another great show from Devchat.tv (like Ruby Rogues), this time with a focus on Javascript. When I found myself alone, building JS embeds that were being placed on huge media properties, it was great to listen to other JS developers talk through new ideas, libraries, and strategies. Now, as I write JS code, with a team, for one huge web app, the discussions are just as valuable (only applied differently). Also, between Javascript Jabber and The Changelog I think I’m at least aware of 90% of the JS frameworks out there 😬
Greater Than Code
Founded by the panelist who left Ruby Rogues, >Code is “a podcast for coders who care by coders who care.” It is a panel-with-a-guest format that essentially discusses humans against the backdrop of programming. I love what they are doing in this show and their guest lineup has been fantastic. Similar to Hanselminutes, I like scrolling through the guest photos and only seeing a fraction of people who look like me (beardy white dude).
Code Newbies
Full disclosure: I haven’t listened to Code Newbies in a while, but I think Saron Yitbarek is fantastic (she is a former Ruby Rogue) and I love what she is doing to support people new to the tech industry. But now, looking through the recent episodes, it will reclaim its place on my playlist.
The Feedback
I’m sure I’m missing some great discussions out there, so hit me up on twitter if you’ve got other recommendations[3] — I’m always looking to get better at computers (and all the organic matter surrounding them).
[1] Don’t get me wrong, not every podcast episode I’ve listened to was amazing, but they all count as “reps” in my development.
[2] Along with a few tangents on mars colonization and space
[3] …unless you’re going to recommend Programming Throwdown. I like to keep my posts positive so I won’t go into details here, but I tried a half-dozen episodes over the course of a year and each time was like, “hard nope.”
