We’re often looking for ways to expand our knowledge, whether by reading a book, visiting a conference, or engaging in code reviews. A recent discussion in our Slack channel last week revealed that many of us also listen to podcasts, and we couldn’t think of a better inaugural engineering blogpost than to share that info with you.
So here are our picks. Let us know if you agree or suggest your own in the comments!
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Ruby Book Club - English
The Ruby Book Club does what it says on the tin. Each week, Saron Yitbarek and Nadia Odunayo talk through the latest chapter of a programming book that they’re reading together and discuss it in incredibly accessible and entertaining detail. Currently they’re working their way through Ruby Under a Microscope, but have also dissected Refactoring Ruby and 99 Bottles.
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The Bike Shed - English
The Bike Shed is great for Rubyists. The podcast plays host to many Rails developers and provides insights into codebase constraints. Sean Griffin, full time Rails contributor, makes frequent appearances to discuss ActiveRecord internals and his own ORM for Rust - Diesel. Definitely worth listening to if you are curious about open source and databases.
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Elixir Fountain - English
Elixir is the new big thing in the Ruby community, and it’s a language we’re excited to be using (and learning about) here at Liefery. If your interest has also been piqued, check out Elixir Fountain, a weekly podcast containing interviews with people related to the Elixir community, from Elixir creator José Valim, to some familiar faces like Chad Fowler and Dave Thomas.
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Software Engineering Radio - English
SE Radio is an educational resource for professional software developers. Despite the sometimes patchy audio quality, the incredibly wide range of topics presented are well worth a listen. Looking to learn about Docker, Elasticsearch, Machine Learning, Rust, or Sonic Pi? SE Radio has everything.
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The Changelog - English
The Changlog is a great general podcast about tech, no specific programming language required! Learn about Let’s Encrypt from Senior Staff Technologist at the EFF in episode #243, hear the latest from Sandi Metz in episode #225, or deep dive into Prometheus with Julius Volz in episode #168.
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Giant Robots - English
Thoughtbot CEO Chad Pytel hosts this podcast together with a number of developers, designers and entrepreneurs. Interested in the business side of our industry as well as code? This podcast is for you.
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The Art of Product - English
The Art of Product is hosted by former Giant Robots hosts, and its premise is similar. Follow hosts Derrick ad Ben through their journey of creating products, learning from their mistakes, and staying focused on the goal at hand.
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SoftwareArchitekTOUR - German
Given we’re in Germany, we thought we’d add a German podcast to the list. SoftwareArchitekTOUR is a podcast for developers and gives their listeners a ‘tour’ of important software architecture themes such as functional programming, testing, the internet of things, and micro-services.
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Start Up - English
Start Up from Gimlet Media made its way onto the list, not because it discusses the hottest new developer trends, or because of interviews with our favourite Ruby people, but because it provides a fascinating insight into the world of start ups. In season one, follow Alex Blumberg, CEO and co-founder of Gimlet Media (a podcasting company with lots of other great podcasts under its belt as well) fumble his way through initial pitches, finding a co-founder, making his first hires and, of course, making his first mistakes. Later, co-host Lisa Chow takes over to interview other start ups, occasionally checking back in with her boss and colleagues. No previous programming experience required!
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Bits of Berlin - English
Bits of Berlin is a podcast about anything loosely related to tech in Berlin. They invite panelists to dive into their topics of choice, and then chat with them about it, so you can learn about local projects like sending satellites into space, robots playing football and the “Freifunk”. They also often gets in touch with initiatives for learning such as FrauenLoop and Rails Girls Summer of Code. Our very own Tam is one of the creators of this one!