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The Bike Shed

thoughtbot
Software Development
Rails
Ruby
Ruby On Rails
Thoughtbot
Railsconf
Postgres
Git
Javascript
Dungeons and Dragons
Debugging
Large Language Models
Typescript
Project Management
Activemodel
React
Ruby Enumerators
Hotwire
HTTP Basic Authentication
Consulting

On The Bike Shed, hosts Joël Quenneville, Sally Hall, and Aji Slater discuss development experiences and challenges at thoughtbot with Ruby, Rails, JavaScript, and whatever else is drawing their attention, admiration, or ire this week.

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes500Founded12 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
TechnologyNewsTech News

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Artwork for The Bike Shed

Latest Episodes

The Bike Shed celebrates its 500th episode with hosts new and old as they reflect on the show’s history and ask, what’s new in your world?

Our past hosts look back at their time on the show, their favourite moments while hosting, what they took away... more

YouTube

Take a trip through Joël and Aji’s YouTube recommended list as they go over the media that has inspired their work the most over the course of their careers.

Our hosts highlight different creators that feature regularly in their YouTube rotation, th... more

YouTube

Our hosts come together to wrap up season 2 and share some of their highlights along the way.

Our trio expand and recap on some key topics covered over the last few months, Sally and Joël provide updates on their work with typescripts and LLMs, and... more

YouTube

Aji and Joël get into a flow as they discuss the different diagrams that help guide their thought processes when working.

Together they compare their go to diagrams and why they find them so useful, the different analysis tools a diagram can offer a... more

YouTube

Key Facts

Accepts Sponsors
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Recent Guests

Adam McCrea
Founder of Judoscale
Judoscale
Episode: 470: All about queues with Adam McCrea
Jimmy Thigpen
Fellow Thoughtbotter and software developer
Thoughtbot
Episode: 469: How are we using AI? with Jimmy Thigpen
Rémy Hannequin
Developer and presenter focused on astronomy and Ruby development
ThoughtBot
Episode: 464: Modelling the stars with Rémy Hannequin
Elaina Natario
ThoughtBotter and designer with extensive experience in product design.
ThoughtBot
Episode: 463: All about modals with Elaina Natario
Aji Slater
A fellow ThoughtBotter who shares insights on developing with Ruby2D and Typescript
ThoughtBot
Episode: 458: Learning Typescript with Aji Slater
Fritz Meissner
Developer at ThoughtBot
ThoughtBot
Episode: 455: Noisy Animals Kata with Fritz Meissner
Steve Polito
Maintainer of the open-source gem, Suspenders, and a developer at ThoughtBot.
ThoughtBot
Episode: 452: Hotwire Essentials with Steve Polito
Noel Rappin
Co-author of 'The Pickaxe Book' and Ruby expert
Pragmatic Bookshelf
Episode: 441: The Pickaxe Book with Noel Rappin
Trevor Turk
Ruby on Rails consultant and co-founder of Hello Weather
Hello Weather
Episode: 439: Async Ruby & Rails with Trevor Turk

Hosts

Joël Quenneville
Host of The Bike Shed;ThoughtBot (The Bike Shed) / ThoughtBot
Sally Hall
Host of The Bike Shed;Thoughtbot (The Bike Shed)
Aji Slater
Co-host of The Bike Shed;Thoughtbot (The Bike Shed) / ThoughtBot

Reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars from 244 ratings
  • Valuable for All Developers

    I am a Python developer and derive a lot of value and enjoyment from the podcast despite the fact that the hosts are Ruby developers. The podcast does an excellent job in presenting topics of interest to all software developer, so don’t be put off by the hosts “day jobs.”

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Rintel
    United States3 years ago
  • Informative and just plain good radio

    The two co-hosts have chemistry and the show is also well edited. It wouldn't surprise me if somebody on the team has radio experience.

    The show sounds like a bubbly chat ar the coffee machine between two senior engineers.

    On the technical side it definitely leans toward Ruby on Rails subjects. It doesn't dive deep into any particular topic, so I in that sense can't say I've "learned" anything from it. It's a good way to stay aware of current software trends. It's where I first heard about... more

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    zman603
    United States4 years ago
  • 2 yrs of listening

    One of the best tech podcasts. Highly recommend!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    bnmounir
    United States5 years ago
  • Great mix of fun and depth

    I’m a long time dev and I have to say this is my favourite tech podcast. Both hosts are very humble but experienced. I find myself relating to their challenges and always learn something from their thought process. I appreciate the balance of brevity and diving into the weeds of a meaty technical problem, taking us on the journey with them.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Timwis
    United Kingdom5 years ago
  • Extremely nice hosts and always really fun

    Podcast Addict
    5
    Tiim
    6 years ago

Listeners Say

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

Production quality and a natural, interview-like vibe keep episodes engaging.
Listeners value the hosts' chemistry and practical, project-focused discussions.
Content spans Ruby/Rails but stays accessible with broad software engineering insights.
Guests and internal sourcing add familiarity and depth across diverse tech topics.

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Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

470: All about queues with Adam McCrea
Q: Can you give us the quick elevator pitch of what kind of work you have?
Judoscale is an autoscaler that automatically provisions and deprovisions servers based on job and request queue metrics.
466: All about keynotes with Aji Slater
Q: What is the takeaway for your keynote?
It's mostly a secret but is based on insights from watching previous RailsConf keynotes.
466: All about keynotes with Aji Slater
Q: What tip do you have for someone giving a keynote?
Don't try to give a grandiose keynote. Stick to one or two major ideas that an audience can follow.
464: Modelling the stars with Rémy Hannequin
Q: What are some of the challenges that you've encountered while doing this kind of work?
Rémy expressed that learning astronomy was challenging because he lacks a formal scientific background and struggles with understanding the documentation and algorithms.
456: Typescript with Jimmy Thigpen
Q: What are some best practices for writing Typescript?
Use the Enable Strict Mode flag, trust Typescript to infer types, and utilize helpful utility types.

Audience Metrics

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

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
Location
Interests
Professions
Age Range
Household Income
Social Media Reach

Frequently Asked Questions About The Bike Shed

What is The Bike Shed about and what kind of topics does it cover?

The show repeatedly dives into practical software development topics with a strong emphasis on Ruby, Rails, and JavaScript, while also exploring broader engineering, tooling, and team dynamics. Hosts discuss real-world coding decisions, architecture, testing, open source principles, and how to communicate tech concepts to non-technical stakeholders, often using lightweight banter and hands-on examples. Noteworthy strengths include deep dives on developer experience, a promenade of diagramming and visual storytelling for complex systems, and thoughtful discussion of pedagogy, learning, and content creation within a consulting culture.

Where can I find podcast stats for The Bike Shed?

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How many listeners does The Bike Shed get?

Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for The Bike Shed, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.

What are the audience demographics for The Bike Shed?

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How many subscribers and views does The Bike Shed have?

To see how many followers or subscribers The Bike Shed has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.

Which podcasts are similar to The Bike Shed?

These podcasts share a similar audience with The Bike Shed:

1. CoRecursive: Coding Stories
2. REWORK
3. Remote Ruby
4. The Pragmatic Engineer
5. The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source

How many episodes of The Bike Shed are there?

The Bike Shed launched 12 years ago and published 500 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

How do I contact The Bike Shed?

Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.

Where can I see ratings and reviews for The Bike Shed?

Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for The Bike Shed from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.

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What guests have appeared on The Bike Shed?

Recent guests on The Bike Shed include:

1. Adam McCrea
2. Jimmy Thigpen
3. Rémy Hannequin
4. Elaina Natario
5. Aji Slater
6. Fritz Meissner
7. Steve Polito
8. Noel Rappin

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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