Shows / Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
A podcast about the design, development, and business of great software. Each week thoughtbot is joined by the people who build and nurture the products we love.
Episodes
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
161: Listen to Your Users (Jules Coleman)
Ben and Jules Coleman, founder of Hassle, discuss staying close to the codebase while in a more managerial role, the challenges of rapid growth, and the value…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
160: Unfollowing the Leader (Drew Neil)
Ben and Drew Neil discuss freeing up Vim's leader key, the value of visual learning, and using GitHub to crowd source closed captions. This episode of Giant…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
159: Falling Out of Love With Haskell (Mike Burns)
Ben and fellow thoughtbotter Mike Burns take time out of their Summer Summit schedule to chat about launching offices, the art of classical code, and why Mike…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
158: Producing...Stuff (Thom Obarski)
Ben is joined by trepidatious producer, Thom Obarski, to talk all things media at thoughtbot, compare working in tech to entertainment environments, and bestow…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
157: Between Frustration and Enlightenment (Tom Stuart)
Ben is joined by Tom Stuart to talk about incorporating computer science topics into Ruby, his process of preparing talks, enriching your development career…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
156: It Has to be Valuable (Steve Tooke)
Ben is joined by Steve Tooke to discuss the importance of communication, testing, and building Cucumber 2. This episode of Giant Robots is sponsored by…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
155: CTO Duties (Joe Ferris)
Ben welcomes Joe Ferris, thoughtbot's CTO, to discuss design parity within the company, inversion of control, and solving all the world's problems with monads…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
154: Do it Right the First Time (Samir Talwar)
Ben and Samir Talwar of Codurance discuss the appeal of functional programming, mob programming, and a different take on conferences. This episode of Giant…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
153: Auld Lang Syne (Chad Pytel)
As Giant Robots nears its 3 year anniversary, Ben welcomes back Chad Pytel to reflect on the highs and lows of the previous year at thoughtbot. This episode of…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
152: Providing Positive Change (Denise Yu & Rosa Fox)
Ben welcomes Denise Yu and Rosa Fox of Codebar to discuss the importance of fostering community, mentoring tips, and more. Codebar Denise on Twitter Rosa on…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
151: Open By Default (Aidan Feldman)
Ben discusses consulting and open source from within the government, as well as choosing the right clients, and the value of mentorship, with Aidan Feldman of…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
150: Don't Screw it Up (Derek Prior)
Ben talks with fellow thoughtbotter Derek Prior on conference speaking, code review, and podcasting. Implementing a Strong Code-Review Culture- Derek's…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
149: Try to Stand Out (Chris Toomey)
Ben talks with fellow thoughtbotter Chris Toomey on networking, mentorship, React.js, and sustainable pace. Boston Vim Meetup Upcase React Pete Hunt- React…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
148: We All Want to be Heard (Rebecca Miller-Webster)
Ben talks with Rebecca Miller-Webster, Managing Director of thoughtbot Chicago, on beginners contributing to open-source, organizing conferences, and…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
147: Cry Through it, and Keep Typing (Saron Yitbarek)
Ben welcomes on Saron Yitbarek to talk about creating communities that foster learning and niceness; as well as getting comfortable with being uncomfortable…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
146: Ready For the Real World (Shelby Kelly)
Ben and Shelby Kelly discuss teaching at a coding bootcamp and the future of junior-developer programs. Stick around till the end to catch a sample of her…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
145: YOLO! _push to master_ (Sam Phippen)
Ben talks to Sam Phippen on working on the RSpec core team, new features in 3.3, tips for contributing to open-source, and his favorite parts of Rails. This…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
144: Finding a New Way (Pam Selle)
Ben talks to Pam Selle on the importance of self-impossed structure, voice coding, and living with RSI. Recurse Center Structure and Interpretation of Computer…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
143: Keep an Open Mind (Carin Meier)
Ben talks with Carin Meier on the writer's process, how programming relates to the arts, and the importance of a graduated and immersive approach to learning…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
142: The Power of Play (Justin Gitlin)
Ben talks with Justin Gitlin on changing the experience of a social media platform, as well as shaping game dev to art (and vice versa). Mode Set Ello Facebook…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
141: Don't Say No to Anything (Georgia Dow)
Ben sits down with therapist/writer/podcaster/speaker/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion Georgia Dow to discuss the value of new experiences, the advantages of…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
140: Don't Believe Everything That You Think (Sir John Hargrave)
Ben talks to Sir John Hargrave, CEO of Media Shower, about his new book Mind Hacking on the power of reprogramming one's thoughts to maintain new habits, and…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
139: Learning Oriented Culture (Mike Brittain)
Ben talks to Mike Brittain, VP of Engineering at Etsy, on interacting with the development community, strides in diversity practices, the pros/cons of an open…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
138: Overloading the Home Row (Craig Andera)
Ben talks to Craig Andera, developer at Cognitect, on his latest 20% time project, how Clojure gets made, and driving immutability into a database. Cognicast…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
137: The Haskell Renaissance (Pat Brisbin)
Ben talks with Pat Brisbin on his new book, and the future of Haskell at thoughtbot. Maybe Haskell announcement thoughtbot's books Learn You a Haskell for…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
136: I Think it Was the Altitude (Ben Orenstein)
Chad officially welcomes Ben back to the podcast, discuses the employer/employee ideology that can facilitate a successful sabbatical, and reveals some…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
135: Planning For Change (Ben Arent)
Chad talks with Ben Arent, product manager at Rackspace, on the pros/cons of app acquisition, as well as their favorite Sass tools. Rackspace Airbrake Go…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
134: Growing to Meteor (Paul Dowman)
Chad talks with Paul Dowman, founder of OK GROW!, on replacing Rails with Meteor, and how martial arts has made him a better developer. OK GROW! Meteor…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
133: The DNA of Music (Matt Aimonetti)
Chad talks with Matt Aimonetti, co-founder of Splice, on remote worker strategies, fundraising, and his vision for the future of digital musical collaboration…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
132: Story Tellers (Adarsh Pandit, Kyle Fiedler)
Chad talks with fellow thoughtbotters Adarsh Pandit and Kyle Fiedler on the pros and cons of stories, story points, and job stories. Adarsh’s tweets on points…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
131: The Human-Computer Interaction Umbrella (Irene Ros)
Chad talks with Irene Ros, data visualization practice lead at Bocoup, about her pursuit of making data visualization function in a social context. What is…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
130: Counting all the F-Words (Joanne Cheng)
Chad & developer Joanne Cheng break down thoughtbot's statistical year in review! Data by Design (Giant Robots ep 112) thoughtbot 2014 Report Feltron Reports…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
129: The Engineering of Payments (Ian Logan)
Chad talks with Ian Logan, an Engineering Manager at Airbnb, on the challenges, ideology, implementation, and future of their payments system. Airbnb…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
128: To Attract and Retain (Dan Croak)
Chad talks with thoughtbot CMO Dan Croak about our content marketing strategy, managing the flow of new media, and the origin of our growth team. Bourbon…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
127: Merging Worlds (Meng To)
Jeff Smith talks to Meng To, author of Design + Code about the blurring line between developers and designers, learning tools to better communicate, and the…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
126: Log In to Your Space (Zach Dunn)
Chad talks to Zach Dunn, CPO of Robin, about the future of smart spaces, working with family, and when to shift your company's scope. Robin One Mighty Roar…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
125: Rebooting (Adarsh Pandit)
Chad talks to Adarsh Pandit, thoughtbot SF Managing Director & host of the Reboot podcast, about his personal journey which inspired our newest show. Reboot…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
124: Maintaining Your Legacy (Scott Ford)
Chad talks to Scott Ford, founder & COO of Corgibytes, about the business of software remodeling/retrofitting, and finding value and beauty in old code…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
123: Don't Call It a Codecation (Chris Hunt)
Ben & Chris Hunt catch up on their latest conference talks, podcasts, and things accomplished on their recent coding retreat. Service Oriented Architecture at…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
122: Ruby, the Weird Way (Britt Ballard, Caleb Thompson, Richard Schneeman, Terence Lee)
Britt Ballard leads this roundtable discussion on home-growing your own conference and their experiences, from theme and logo selection to scheduling guests…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
121: Prolificness (Allison House)
Guest-Ben Chad Pytel talks with Allison House about maintaining personal growth while freelancing, and her approach to harnessing your capacity to learn…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
120: Open Your World For Commentary (Tom Lehman)
Ben talks with Tom Lehman, creator of Genius, about the power of honesty in corporate culture, and navigating the mores of discussing salary. Genius The Genius…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
119: Create Value or Create Technology? (Pete Hunt)
Ben talks with Pete Hunt, formerly of Facebook & Instagram, on React and what makes this unique JavaScript library tick, as well as shifting from a technical…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
118: Scare Yourself (Dan Martell)
Ben talks with Dan Martell, CEO and founder of Clarity, about self-actualization in business, how life is affected by those around which one surrounds…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
117: Designing Quality (Will Sulinski)
Ben talks with Will Sulinski, founder of Pistol Lake, on translating lessons learned from the tech sector into success in the fashion industry. Pistol Lake Let…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
116: A Model Jellyfish (Carl Smith)
Ben talks with nGen Works founder Carl Smith about alternatives to a "flat" structure, remote management & community building. nGen Works BizCraft Podcast…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
115: There's a Spectrum Involved Here (Brandon Bloom)
Ben talks with Brandon Bloom about finding the right tool for the job, there being too many objects in OO Programing and the importance for a full spectrum of…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
114: Offer Value First (Ryan Delk)
Ben talks with Gumroad grower Ryan Delk about standing out from your peers by adding value before you ask for value. Gumroad Chris Sacca on Foundation: "Create…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
113: Minimum Path to Awesome (Rob Walling)
Ben and Rob Walling, founder of Drip and HitTail, discuss engaging your audience, the path to building new habits and the need to create. Drip HitTail…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
112: Data By Design (Joanne Cheng)
Ben talks to developer Joanne Cheng about lessons learned from the conference circuit, as well as the subject of her latest conf talk, Data-Driven-Documents…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
111: Thinking Outside the Loop (Chris Granger)
Ben talks with Chris Granger, creator of Light Table, about building a better IDE and envisioning a world where all programming happens inside a database and…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
110: Protecting Invisible Things (Eric Mill)
This week Ben talks with former thoughtbotter, and creator of Is It Christmas, Eric Mill about the power of blogging, the personal empowerment offered by the…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
109: Venturing Thru Capital (Alex Taussig)
Ben delves behind the scenes of a VC firm with Alex Taussig of Highland Capital. Highland Capital Partners Alex on Twitter Support Giant Robots Smashing Into…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
108: Picking Your Obsession (Brett Van Zuiden)
Ben talks to Brett Van Zuiden, founder of Filepicker, about the importance of finding your specialization and passion in your industry, as well as his…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
107: The Best Secrets Kept (Sara Haider)
Ben talks to Sarah Haider, Android lead at Secret, about anonymity in social media, her work with Girls Who Code and Android Development. Girls Who Code Secret…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
106: Sprinting Thru Design (Alex Baldwin & Galen Frechette)
Ben is joined by fellow thoughtbotters Alex & Galen to break down their product design sprint workflow. Google Ventures: Design Sprint Recipe Human Centered…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
105: Use Your Info-magination (Marc-André Cournoyer)
Ben welcomes Marc-André Cournoyer of Coded Inc. to discuss self-marketing and sustaining info-product platforms. Thin How to Create Your Own Freaking Awesome…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
104: Maintaining The Meat Machines (Adam Wiggins)
On this weeks Giant Robots Ben welcomes Adam Wiggins, Heroku co-founder and former CTO, to join as more of a guest host than guest. They discuss team…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
103: Consulting the Consultants (Adam Wathan, Chris Keithlin)
Giant Robots welcome Adam & Chris of Vehikl who inquire about project selection / scheduling, portfolio building & customer-facing. Vehikl thoughtbot Playbook…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
102: Put It Out To The World (Peter Cooper)
Ben sits down with Peter Cooper, of Cooper Press, on his evolution from blogger to published author and publisher. Cooper Press Ruby Inside Ruby on Rails vs…