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Artwork for Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

thoughtbot
Artificial Intelligence
Thoughtbot
Software Development
Product Management
User Experience
Sustainability
Ruby On Rails
Entrepreneurship
Health Care
Kinsome
Design Sprints
AI Agents
Generative AI
Telemedicine
European Accessibility Act
Sales
Marketing
Covid-19
Goodz
Open Source

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.

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes637Founded14 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
TechnologyBusinessEntrepreneurship

Listen to this Podcast

Artwork for Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Latest Episodes

Chad is joined on the thoughbot couch this week by Brandon Swalve, CEO of AppSignal (when Chad is a big fan, you know it’s an app you’ve got to check out).

In this episode, they discuss what the application performance monitoring business market is ... more

YouTube

Sami is joined on the thoughbot couch this week by Ed Woodcock, Director and Consultant Developer at Bannermedia Ltd.

They discuss lowdown.today, an AI-Driven Open Intelligence platform that Ed originally developed to break down the day’s news, havi... more

YouTube

Sami talks with Nate Berkopec, owner of Speedshop, about a recent post he made on X and how his business manages to stay ahead of AI and LLMs.

Nate stresses the importance of prioritising quality in code in the age of AI, why your knowledge still ma... more

YouTube

Will is back in the host seat this week to chat to the one and only Kelli Lucas, Co-Founder & Chief Design Officer at LunarLab.

In this episode, Will and Kelli discuss, amongst many things; the push and pull relationship between designers and develo... more

YouTube

Key Facts

Accepts Guests
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Find out how many people listen to this podcast per episode and each month.

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Recent Guests

Ed Woodcock
Engineer and founder, building Lowdown and Plotbeacon
Bannermedia Ltd (via Bannermedia Ltd)
Episode: 624: Using AI to the MAX with Ed Woodcock
Nate Berkopec
Owner at the Speedshop of Ruby on Rails Performance Consultancy
Speedshop of Ruby on Rails Performance Consultancy
Episode: 623: The AI Paradox: Why Consultants Are Busier Than Ever with Nate Berkopec
Kelli Lucas
President and Chief Design Officer at LunarLab
LunarLab
Episode: 622: Six Opinions Wrapped in Code with Kelli Lucas
Doron Birnbaum
Founder/consultant; involved in the charity data project
Bridging the Gap Consultancy
Episode: 621: My twin brother responds… with Doron Birnbaum
Mike McQuaid
Administrates CTPO, Homebrew Project Leader, Engineering and Product Leader with 18 years of experience
Homebrew
Episode: 619: Inside Modern Software Engineering with Homebrew’s Mike McQuaid
Jesse Mecham
Founder of YNAB (You Need A Budget)
YNAB
Episode: 618: 22 Years of Bootstrapping with Jesse Mecham
Jorge Marubia
Principal programmer on the product team at 37signals
37signals
Episode: 617: Lexxy, Basecamp, and the Joy of Building with Jorge Marubia
Victoria Plutshack
Climate and energy specialist, qualitative social scientist with expertise in technology transitions, climate finance, international development, and gender
Independent academic/consultant
Episode: 616: What’s Really Going On with AI Data Centres with Dr. Victoria Plutshack
Joe Cohen
Legal innovation partner at Harvey
Harvey
Episode: 615: Harvey AI and the Future of Law

Hosts

Sami Birnbaum
Co-host who engages in discussions, often adds technical and product perspectives.
Chad Pytel
Co-host who contributes deep engineering and product leadership perspectives.

Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars from 132 ratings
  • Hit or miss, trending towards miss.

    This dude really just claimed that his company has artificial general intelligence. Ok.

    Apple Podcasts
    3
    Nick8090908
    United States3 years ago
  • Worse over time

    I can’t say I’m a fan of the more recent podcast episodes. It’s gone from discussing interesting technical problems to business to solely interviews with clients who hired ThoughtBot. High quality audio, low quality filler content.

    Apple Podcasts
    1
    TravelHardyLlama
    United States6 years ago
  • The human side

    Lindsey is a great host. She keeps the entire conversation moving and ensures that the discussions lead to thought starters for listeners, even when the topics being discussed might be highly technical. You're guaranteed to get something out of every interview. Lindsey's also wickedly funny so you'll never be bored. Give this show a go.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Anuj Adhiya
    United States7 years ago
  • Entertaining, insightful and actionable! 🔥

    Whether you’re well established as someone who can translate creative energy into the impact you want to have on the world, or just getting started as a catalyst for change - this is a must-listen podcast for you! Chad and Lindsey do an incredible job leading conversations that cover a huge breadth of topics related to the ins and outs of building a thriving career and life you can be proud of as a creator - from leaders who’ve actually walked the path. Highly recommend listening and subscribing... more

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    JoshCrist
    United States7 years ago
  • Compelling

    One of a small number of podcasts I will listen to immediately when a new episode releases, skipping over others that have been in my feed longer. And one of an even smaller number of podcasts I will frequently listen to a second (or third) time. Really quality content and guests. I'm not in the software development industry but as a small business owner I regularly derive value.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    snlsn
    United States8 years ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Guests consistently bring practical, actionable insights for builders.
Listeners appreciate the mix of engineering, design, and business topics.
Audio quality is strong and interviews are easy to follow.
The host balances technical depth with engaging storytelling.

Top Technology Podcasts

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

624: Using AI to the MAX with Ed Woodcock
Q: How is this different from traditional newsroom workflows, and do you see people consuming news this way via AI?
The guest explains that Lowdown aims to be more than a news aggregator by modeling an editor-in-chief workflow with multiple departments and strict gates, producing more reliable, sourced briefings rather than live breaking news; the approach is about augmenting human judgment, not replacing it.
621: My twin brother responds… with Doron Birnbaum
Q: Why did you shift from a product to a service model?
A key investor/partner concluded that while the product had value, the real differentiator was the service layer—the ongoing expertise and hands-on help our team could provide to implement and adapt the system for different charities.
619: Inside Modern Software Engineering with Homebrew’s Mike McQuaid
Q: How did you get started in Open Source and what drew you to Homebrew?
Mike describes a long path from KDE involvement to leading Homebrew, emphasizing the habit of fixing personal itch and the joy of making a project better, which sustained his Open Source work for many years.
617: Lexxy, Basecamp, and the Joy of Building with Jorge Marubia
Q: What's next for Lexxy after its initial release?
Jorge describes plans for Lexxy 1.0, collaboration features, and extensibility through official extensions; ongoing community contributions and keeping Lexxy lightweight for core editor needs are emphasized as priorities.
617: Lexxy, Basecamp, and the Joy of Building with Jorge Marubia
Q: What made you go with vanilla Rails instead of adding React or other front-end frameworks?
The host asks about tech stack choices; Jorge explains that Basecamp's history with Rails, Rails internal evolution, and a philosophy of minimizing dependencies guided them to a vanilla Rails plus Hotwire approach, leveraging server-side rendering for speed and simplicity while avoiding the fragility of heavy client-side frameworks.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

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Frequently Asked Questions About This Podcast

What is This Podcast about and what kind of topics does it cover?

Cascading conversations around software design, engineering practices, and the business of building tech products. Episodes frequently cover engineering decisions, product strategy, AI adoption in engineering and design, and leadership topics such as governance, organizational culture, and regulatory perspectives. Noteworthy is the mix of deep technical discussions with practical business insights, guest expertise from engineering leaders, designers, and executives, and a consistent emphasis on actionable guidance for builders, product teams, and startups. Listeners can expect thoughtful debates on code quality, tooling, AI integration, and how to scale teams and products while preserving culture and trust.

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Which podcasts are similar to this podcast?

These podcasts share a similar audience with this podcast:

1. The Bike Shed
2. Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats
3. The Pragmatic Engineer
4. The Daily
5. Software Engineering Daily

How many episodes of this podcast are there?

this podcast launched 14 years ago and published 637 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on this podcast?

Recent guests on this podcast include:

1. Ed Woodcock
2. Nate Berkopec
3. Kelli Lucas
4. Doron Birnbaum
5. Mike McQuaid
6. Jesse Mecham
7. Jorge Marubia
8. Victoria Plutshack

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