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The Peterman Pod

Ryan Peterman
Meta
Software Engineering
Career Growth
Instagram
Google
Startups
Amazon
Mentorship
Facebook
Claude Code
Engineering Career
Tech Acquisitions
Networking
Mozilla Firefox
Uber
Career Development
Anthropic
Microsoft
Kubernetes
Product Management

Sharing the transparent career stories of technical people. Hosted by an ex-Staff engineer at Instagram

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes61Founded2 years ago
Number of ListenersCategory
Technology

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Artwork for The Peterman Pod

Latest Episodes

Roberto Ierusalimschy is the creator of the Lua programming language. I interviewed him about Lua's unique strengths, programming language design and predictions for how AI will impact programming languages.

• My ergonomic keyboard project I mention... more

Judea Pearl is a Turing Award winner and a pioneer in artificial intelligence and causal reasoning. We talked about how he got into science, his major breakthroughs and his predictions for AI today.

• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you c... more

YouTube

Xavier Leroy (creator of OCaml) is an expert in compilers, formal verification of software and functional programming. This interview should be an approachable resource if you're curious about formal verification of software since I was learning that... more

YouTube

David Patterson is a Turing Award winner famous for his contributions to computer architecture. I interviewed him about his past work, thoughts on GPU/TPUs and career advice from half a century of experience.

• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentio... more

YouTube

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Recent Guests

Roberto Ierusalimschy
Creator of the Lua programming language
Lua
Episode: Creator of Lua: Scripting, Programming Languages, Predictions | Roberto Ierusalimschy
Judea Pearl
Turing Award winner; AI researcher and causal inference pioneer
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Episode: Turing Award Winner: Early AI, LLM Predictions, Causality | Judea Pearl
Xavier Leroy
Creator of OCaml, computer scientist
Inria / OCaml project
Episode: Creator of OCaml: Functional Programming, Formal Verification, Programming Languages | Xavier Leroy
David Patterson
Turing Award–winning computer architect and professor, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
Episode: Turing Award Winner: TPU vs GPU vs CPU, Computer Architecture, RISC vs CISC | David Patterson
Ryan Williams
MIT complexity theorist, Gödel Prize winner
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Episode: MIT Complexity Theorist: Why You Can Do Better Than “Optimal” On Leetcode & SAT | Ryan Williams
Charlie Marsh
Founder of Astral, Python DevTools startup
Astral/OpenAI
Episode: OpenAI Eng & Dev Tools Founder: How Software Engineering Is Changing | Charlie Marsh
Vlad Feinberg
Google DeepMind pre-training area lead
Google DeepMind
Episode: Google DeepMind Pre-Training Lead: How To Land a Job at a Frontier Lab | Vlad Feinberg
Simon Peyton Jones
Co-creator of Haskell
University/research in programming languages (as discussed)
Episode: Co-Creator of Haskell: Functional Programming, Thinking in Types, Useless Languages | Simon Jones
James Cowling
Formerly the most senior engineer at Dropbox, now CTO at Convex
Convex
Episode: Dropbox’s Former Most Senior Eng: Building Great Systems and Advice for the AI Era | James Cowling

Host

Ryan Peterman
Ex-Staff engineer with experience at Instagram; co-host facilitating candid conversations about tech careers and engineering leadership

Reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars from 329 ratings
  • super awesome

    never thought I am gonna hear the people with algorithms named after them talking. So amazing!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Pete_pod2022
    Canada3 months ago
  • Huge fan

    Been a fan of Ryan Peterman content since the email newsletter years ago and have kept up with the pod ever since it came out. Love hearing stories and wisdom of these experienced guys.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    dusty-exe
    United States6 months ago
  • My go to podcast for long drives

    Quality production, quality content. Can’t complain.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Hankimproduction
    Canada9 months ago
  • Awesome conversations!!

    Nice work Ryan - keep them coming

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Pwner21
    Canadaa year ago
  • Great pod cast for career development

    One of the best pod casts. I actually look forward to new episodes everyday!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    walk boy
    Canadaa year ago

Listeners Say

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

Guests are high-caliber, with clear, practical takeaways for listeners.
Audiences love the authentic insights into engineering culture and career journeys.
The mix of theory, leadership, and real-world stories keeps listeners coming back.
Production quality and thoughtful questions make episodes consistently valuable for long drives and commutes.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#137
United States/Technology
Apple Podcasts
#85
United Kingdom/Technology
Apple Podcasts
#89
Australia/Technology
Apple Podcasts
#90
France/Technology
Apple Podcasts
#110
Germany/Technology
Apple Podcasts
#191
Italy/Technology

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Turing Award Winner: Early AI, LLM Predictions, Causality | Judea Pearl
Q: Can you explain that causal hierarchy?
The three-level ladder moves from association (what is correlated) to intervention (what happens when we change something) to explanation (why something happened), and each level requires different assumptions, data, or experiments; not every question can be answered from data alone without considering these levels.
Turing Award Winner: TPU vs GPU vs CPU, Computer Architecture, RISC vs CISC | David Patterson
Q: What was the core philosophical tension in the RISC vs CISC debate, and how did it evolve with data?
The core tension was whether higher-level, more complex instructions aided performance and programmer productivity, or whether simpler instructions paired with smarter compilers and more registers would yield better overall performance. Over time, empirical data showed that the supposed gains from complexity didn't always materialize, and the role of the compiler and software ecosystem became decisive in practice.
Turing Award Winner: P vs NP, Zero-Knowledge Proofs, Quantum Computation | Avi Wigderson
Q: In practical terms, how would you explain why P vs NP matters beyond theory?
The discussion emphasizes that P vs NP is about the limits of what we can efficiently compute and recognize; it underpins optimization, verification, and even security, because if P were equal to NP, many intractable problems, including important real-world ones like routing and design optimization, could become tractable, radically altering what is feasible in technology and industry.
OpenAI Eng & Dev Tools Founder: How Software Engineering Is Changing | Charlie Marsh
Q: How did the company get started and what was the fundraising experience like?
Marsh details leaving his job, iterating with a friend, engaging early investors who were interested in software infrastructure, and eventually moving through multiple fundraisers before the acquisition.
OpenAI Eng & Dev Tools Founder: How Software Engineering Is Changing | Charlie Marsh
Q: Why did you choose Rust for Python DevTools tooling, and what are the pros and cons?
He explains choosing Rust largely due to hype and perceived accessibility for high-performance systems programming; over time he finds Rust offers strong tooling via cargo and reliable memory safety, though it has learning curve and trade-offs compared to other ecosystems.

Audience Metrics

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Frequently Asked Questions About The Peterman Pod

What is The Peterman Pod about and what kind of topics does it cover?

A show that centers on transparent, career-spanning stories from senior practitioners in tech. Conversations cover engineering leadership, large-scale systems, research-inspired problem solving, and practical career moves—from code and architecture to management and startup journeys. Notable is a willingness to pull back the curtain on real-world tradeoffs, failures, and lessons learned, often featuring pioneers and senior engineers who've built influential tech stacks or led engineering organizations. This mix makes it helpful for engineers plotting their next career step, leaders seeking authentic operating insights, and sponsors aiming at highly technically literate audiences.

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How many listeners does The Peterman Pod get?

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What are the audience demographics for The Peterman Pod?

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To see how many followers or subscribers The Peterman Pod 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 Peterman Pod?

These podcasts share a similar audience with The Peterman Pod:

1. The Pragmatic Engineer
2. No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups
3. Soft Skills Engineering
4. Training Data
5. Software Engineering Daily

How many episodes of The Peterman Pod are there?

The Peterman Pod launched 2 years ago and published 61 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 Peterman Pod?

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 Peterman Pod?

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What guests have appeared on The Peterman Pod?

Recent guests on The Peterman Pod include:

1. Roberto Ierusalimschy
2. Judea Pearl
3. Xavier Leroy
4. David Patterson
5. Ryan Williams
6. Charlie Marsh
7. Vlad Feinberg
8. Simon Peyton Jones

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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