Best Ben Rady Podcasts (2025)

1
Factorio 24:12

Play Pause

18d ago24:12

24:12

Ben's new TCP backpressure explanation: conveyor belts full. Matt zooms out and mistakes his factory for a Pentium 2. Ben plans to switch to Linux gaming; Matt's start bar keeps popping up and he's had it.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Vibe Coding and Robot Teammates 42:37

1M ago42:37

42:37

Ben worries replacing juniors with LLMs creates a future hiring crisis - who'll train the robot-wranglers? Matt blames COVID brain fog, then proves it by botching NP-completeness. Capitalism is bad at escaping local minima.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Conference Talks: Some Assembly Required 43:08

2M ago43:08

43:08

Matt returns from CppCon with a cold, three talks, and a keynote title Reddit hates. Ben immediately declares Reddit dumb. The hosts discuss C++ reflection, the unforgivable renaming of the Sears Tower, and why conference attendees should stand like Pac-Man.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Running Programs 41:18

3M ago41:18

41:18

Matt and Ben discuss running in production; from running processes in screen to battling systemd configuration files. Ben sketches out daemonization rituals while Matt channels Tolkien to explain process hierarchies. Our hosts discover that Ansible playbooks are just bash scripts with better PR, and everyone still Googles journalctl syntax.…

1
Squashing Compilers 42:24

5M ago42:24

42:24

Matt uses you as his therapist to vent about three days fighting systemd and boot time. Ben patiently listens while Matt explains why mounting things shouldn't consume 200% CPU. AWS sponsorship news provides a silver lining.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
The Benefits of Experience 33:20

5M ago33:20

33:20

Matt and Ben explore how experience lets you run across water instead of drowning in options. Ben explains why he doesn't need a life preserver when building software. Matt retrofits good practices into Compiler Explorer while lamenting decisions from 10 years ago.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Is Football Possible Anymore? 20:24

6M ago20:24

20:24

Ben recounts his 2007 startup building a database chatbot (before LLMs were cool). Matt tries their methods live with Claude. Ben foolishly uses his phone as a microphone stand.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
C++ and Rust: Different Tools for the Job 30:58

8M ago30:58

30:58

Matt and Ben discuss programming language debates sparked by an old talk that went viral. They explore how Matt's C++ safety tips convinced someone to switch to Rust instead. Matt stays up all night trying four different implementations to prove a point, then loses. Ben introduces the concept of "carpet bubbles" in language design. Matt lists all t…

1
Observable Metrics 39:35

9M ago39:35

39:35

Matt and Ben explore the intersection of testing, metrics, and observability in performance-critical code. They debate push vs pull metric systems, share war stories from financial trading systems, and ponder what to do when your program can't tell anyone it's in trouble.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Pair Programming with HAL? 47:27

9M ago47:27

47:27

Matt and Ben explore the new world of AI-assisted coding: is it like pairing with junior developer? Matt gets the recording working the second time, Ben worries about what happens when your business depends on code you don't understand.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Passing Messages 58:34

10M ago58:34

58:34

Ben and Matt wade into the deep waters of messaging systems, get utterly lost in time synchronization rabbit holes, and discover their new podcast tagline: "We make mistakes so you don't have to." Matt celebrates by getting his car stuck where cars shouldn't go.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Getting CRUFTy 35:14

12M ago35:14

35:14

Ben unveils his latest acronym-based software discussion framework while Matt patiently waits for the punchline. Our hosts explore alternatives to technical debt, debate the value of naming things, and Matt questions his ability to remember five letters for more than fourteen minutes. Ben has written a blog post going into more detail since the rec…

1
Are We Remotely Productive? 26:19

1y ago26:19

26:19

Matt and Ben unpack the mysteries of remote work and programmer productivity, with a side of two's complement philosophy. Featuring unexpected insights, hallway chat nostalgia, and the radical notion that writing less code might actually be winning.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Are Dirty Hands Right? 31:14

1y ago31:14

31:14

Matt and Ben preach the gospel of "dirty hands are right," then spend 30 minutes explaining why that's completely wrong unless you're the right person, with the right skills, at the right time, working on the right thing. Also, don't cook chicken with dirty hands.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Sequence Locks 48:49

1y ago48:49

48:49

Matt talks about a work thing, called a sequence lock. Ben suggests some dumb ideas about that work thing. Then our hosts discuss how to starve a reader, anger the Gods of Volatility, and invoke Sylvester Stallone.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
The Joy of Programming 39:26

1+ y ago39:26

39:26

Matt and Ben realize they love their jobs, and decide to keep doing them. Flow state, to the point where it makes people uncomfortable, is discussed. Also toilet humor. Ben makes an unintentional Sesame Street reference. Matt recalls his level 70 cleric.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Deploy First Development 40:35

1+ y ago40:35

40:35

Our hosts congratulate themselves on finally having decent microphones. Matt quizzes Ben on his "Deploy First" approach to software development. Ben explains branch-based deployment environments. He assures Matt he's a mortal. Matt promises to be less rubbish.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Programming Under Pressure 46:50

1+ y ago46:50

46:50

Ben and Matt come up with a podcast on the spot, which they do every month but also this month too. Our hosts discuss on-call rotations, fighting (virtual) fires, and working to meet deadlines at the mercy of the world. Ben says the letter 'P' a lot. Matt's brain freezes, but he's OK.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Avoiding Abandonware 40:11

1+ y ago40:11

40:11

Matt and Ben explore the unfortunate death and rebirth pattern of software systems. Ben botches a quote from Bjarne Stroustrup, and then explains why you can't go back in time and kill Hitler. Matt exhibits all the bad things when describing a serialization library.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Is Optimization Refactoring? 37:08

1+ y ago37:08

37:08

In flagrant violation of Betteridge's Law, Ben and Matt consider the question 'Is Optimization Refactoring?' and conclude that the answer is 'probably'. Ben warns our listener about overspecifying in tests. Matt is horrified by his own assumption that other people's code works.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
The Future of Compiler Explorer 26:32

1+ y ago26:32

26:32

Matt ponders the future of his accidentally eponymous hobby project. Ben offers thoughtful consideration while waiting for the right opportunity to crack a joke. No lawyers were harmed in the making of this podcast.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Strong ARM 41:54

2y ago41:54

41:54

Ben and Matt discuss their transition to using ARM-based Apple Silicon laptops for their day jobs. Ben rewrites Bash into Java because it makes his tests run faster. Matt tries to teach VSCode something and winds up writing JSON instead.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
make podcast 37:21

2y ago37:21

37:21

Matt and Ben describe how to build a developer automation interface with Make, a ubiquitous build tool that can be conveniently inflicted on other people. Ben explains a great way to test shell scripts that doesn't work. Matt deletes libbob3.so and then regrets it.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Technical Debts 46:27

2y ago46:27

46:27

Ben and Matt discuss the original definition of technical debt a metaphor created by Ward Cunningham to explain why software designs that were correct when created now need to be changed. Ben invents a new verb, 'to soapbox' and then demonstrates its practical use. Matt reads timestamps in the future.…

1
Copypasta 40:53

2y ago40:53

40:53

Matt and Ben talk about when it's OK to copy and paste code. Matt explains how helpful compilers take the time-saving step of copying and pasting code for you, saving you precious microseconds. Ben recalls things from the 80s, like word processors and Indiana Jones.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Iter-Mental Development 27:23

2y ago27:23

27:23

Ben and Matt compare iterative and incremental approaches to software development. To everyone's astonishment, they turn out to be different. Then they decide we need better names for these things, but it turns out naming things is hard.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Compression 46:13

2y ago46:13

46:13

Matt and Ben talk about how compression works, specifically deflate, which is apparently everywhere. Ben gets particular about compression ratios. Matt explains how to compress /dev/random by sorting it first.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Questionable Comments 42:17

2+ y ago42:17

42:17

Ben and Matt comment on different types of comments in code. Join our hosts and they explore both good and bad types of comments, from the essential to the inexcusable. Matt explains how to bump the failure counter to 99. Ben suggests violence against cats.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Ben Walks A Tree 43:51

2+ y ago43:51

43:51

Ben ventures into the forest, finds a tree traversal problem, and then fails his will save and gets fascinated by a hash map. Matt suggests zombies. Then they come up with a solution and talk about how to test it because of course they do.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Video Games and Other Diversions 44:52

2+ y ago44:52

44:52

Matt and Ben talk about what they would do if they founded a game studio. And ASICs. And testing because why not. Join our hosts as they speculate on whether anyone has made a successful open source video game instead of just taking 5 minutes to Google it.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Yak Shaving, Part 2, Also Live! 1:01:51

2+ y ago1:01:51

1:01:51

Ben and Matt finish shaving the yak from the prior episode. While waiting for DNS certificate validation to complete, our hosts discuss the "branch based environment" approach to infrastructure, and consider how serverless services make that model a bit cheaper.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Yak Shaving, Live! 1:04:32

2+ y ago1:04:32

1:04:32

Matt and Ben hit the record button while shaving a yak and then attempt to pass it off as a podcast episode. Join our hosts as they troubleshoot DNS problems, fiddle with makefiles, and fail to remember the things that their prior selves did.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Integration Tests are a Scam 36:57

2+ y ago36:57

36:57

Ben and Matt borrow a title from J.B. Rainsberger and talk about how integration tests want to take all your money. Or time. Same thing.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
The Compiler Explorer Problem 31:10

3y ago31:10

31:10

How do you solve a problem like Compiler Explorer sponsors? Matt digs into a surprisingly interesting algorithm problem that is in no way related to compilers. Ben explains how he nearly bankrupted himself by starting a bank.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Slightly Less Terrible Tech Interviews 37:26

3y ago37:26

37:26

Ben and Matt descend like Orpheus into the horrifically awful world of tech interviews, to try and extract some sort of humanity from the process. They fail, of course, but discuss some interesting ideas along the way.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Not Invented, Hear? 36:36

3y ago36:36

36:36

Matt and Ben explore their mutual tendency to favor build over buy. Instead of using open source software that may be free-as-in-puppy, our hosts have sometimes built their own solutions, occasionally with hilariously regrettable results.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Time For Computers 44:10

3y ago44:10

44:10

Ben and Matt examine how fast computers are by comparing them to humans. Turns out they're mind-boggling-ly fast. Or maybe humans are just slow? I don't know, let's not make the humans feel bad. They're trying their best with those adorable squishy meat brains.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
A Bit Rusty 37:19

3y ago37:19

37:19

Matt and Ben discuss the Rust programming language, recall some hobby projects they've used it for, and speculate about where else it might be used, such as embedded rust. Ben tries to remember how Ethereum works, and fails. Matt makes a ray tracer and a Weird Al reference.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Swift (with Doug Gregor) 54:12

3y ago54:12

54:12

Ben and Matt chat about the Swift programming language with special guest (and Swift creator) Doug Gregor. Doug teaches us a thing or two about Swift's design, and how it could possibly be a C++ successor. Matt rambles; Ben asks intelligent questions.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Carbon Footprint 48:47

3+ y ago48:47

48:47

Ben and Matt talk Carbon, the new language backed by Google, designed to be a successor to C++. Matt discusses his involvement with the project. Ben asks questions and cracks wise.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Weird Webapps 49:59

3+ y ago49:59

49:59

Matt and Ben discuss the idiosyncratic way that they learned to build web applications for trading. If latency and correctness were paramount, and you could tell all your users which browser they had to use, what would you do? Here's what we did.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Virtual Infrastructure 52:22

3+ y ago52:22

52:22

Ben and Matt compare container technologies like Docker to virtual machines, and discuss the tradeoffs when deploying applications. Matt explains the scary things that can happen when you share a VM with strangers. A visitor enters through the couch.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Golf for Hackers 40:42

3+ y ago40:42

40:42

Matt and Ben talk, about uh...golf? What? Is this right? Did you check this? Apparently, in this episode, Ben explains how technology and analytical advances in golf have dramatically changed the game. Matt gently prods him on.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Async Whatevers 49:50

3+ y ago49:50

49:50

Ben and Matt talk about various styles of asynchronous programming, ranging from Node.js, Ruby's EventMachine, C++ coroutines, and the new JVM Project Loom. Schedule yourself a listen, won't you?By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Terrible Business Ideas 36:40

3+ y ago36:40

36:40

Matt and Ben both recall their prior adventures founding companies that sold tools for software developers. What's the best approach to this business? Go play a nice video game instead.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Java and/or C++? 39:06

4y ago39:06

39:06

Ben and Matt have a work conversation spill over into podcast. Join our hosts as they compare Java and C++ as two possible languages for a new project.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Compile-Time Programming (with Hana Dusíková) 49:36

4y ago49:36

49:36

Ben and Matt are joined by Hana Dusíková and discuss panoramic photographs, Matt's career peak, and compile-time programming, including her ground-breaking regular expression library. Links from the show: Hana's Panoramic photos CTRE library Hana's slidesBy Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Performance 29:16

4y ago29:16

29:16

Our most efficient podcast ever. Ben and Matt talk performance testing and optimization in fewer than 30 minutes.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Building Games Two Ways 54:08

4y ago54:08

54:08

Matt and Ben talk about their experiences creating games, both digital and analog. Matt recalls building games for the XBox, Dreamcast, and PS2. Ben talks about what makes board games fun, and how to lose your friends through playtesting.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

1
Lint and Other Fuzzy Bits 39:17

4y ago39:17

39:17

Matt and Ben talk about code linters, and meander into various topics. Matt describes the (approximately) 37 different ways to cast variables in C++. Ben argues that continuous integration was better in the 19th century.By Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt