The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

1. 1
   Number 1: 532: It's Still Real Fire

   Kevin Santo Cappuccio, founder of Architeuthis Flux, joins the show to discuss creating Jumperless, an open-source breadboard that replaces physical jumper wires with software-controlled analog crossbar switches. We explore the need for 445 RGB LEDs on a breadboard, using MicroPython to create scriptable circuits, some of the lessons that can be implemented with the Jumperless, and how it might be used to create new instruments. Kevin also shares the story behind his upcoming Barnacle Board. DISCUSSION RESOURCES & LINKS Jumperless Project & Hardware Resources: Jumperless Docs and Discord Jumperless Shop (Also available via CrowdSupply but any discounts only apply to Kevin's shop) JumperlessV5 · GitHub: Open-source hardware files, schematics, and firmware Barnacle Board - GitHub: The future of jumperless includes a modular breadboard with custom-stamped clips and removable protoboard tops Other Resources and Mentions: Wokwi Simulator: Online browser-based electronic circuit simulator Falstad Circuit Simulator: Kevin's favorite browser-based analog simulator Hackaday Prize 2023: Jumperless took 2nd place in the 2023 contest. Peter Griffin made an Microsoft Excel plugin interface for Jumperless, we discussed it with him in episode 505: Potato in a Number Field. Kevin also talked with Chris Gammell of The Amp Hour with more information about the electrical response, timing, and the crossbars. Giant squid - Wikipedia

   August 20, 2026·1h 10min
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2. 2
   Number 2: 529: The Narwhal Looked Amazing

   Chris Svec returns to the show to discuss the messy, non-linear realities of engineering management and onboarding new college graduates. We explore why companies should bother hiring fresh grads in the first place, how to prevent junior developers from going dark when they get stuck, and why admitting ignorance publicly is an absolute workplace superpower. Along the way, we dive into managing genius firmware engineering hires, battling technical debt and software entropy, and why your development team shouldn't communicate solely through pull request comments. Chris Svec is the Director of Embedded Software Engineering at Insulet. If you're looking for an experienced leadership or management thought partner to help scale your development team, Chris Svec offers private coaching and consulting. You can reach him directly at the email given in the show (or hit the contact link and we'll forward your message along). RECOMMENDED BOOKS FOR ENGINEERING MANAGERS & TECH LEADS The Manager's Path by Camille Fournier – A guide for navigating tech leadership and managing engineering teams. Resilient Management by Lara Hogan – A book dedicated to the human side of engineering management. SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE & EMBEDDED SYSTEMS RESOURCES A Philosophy of Software Design by John Ousterhout – A high-level philosophical perspective on software engineering and architecture. The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas – A classic text on software development best practices. Joel on Software by Joel Spolsky – Insights on software development methodologies and managing tech teams. Making Embedded Systems by Elecia White – A comprehensive guide to firmware design patterns and embedded architecture. Embedded for Everyone by Nathan Jones – A curated repository of accessible embedded system learning resources. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING GAMES Shenzhen I.O. by Zachtronics – An interactive puzzle game for learning assembly programming. Typer Shark! Deluxe – A classic game to improve typing speed and precision for developers. MENTIONS AND EPISODE CONTEXT Embedded.fm blog post: Resilience is a Skill and Embedded Skills Tree The "Meow Meow Beans" episode from the TV show Community (season 5, episode 8), see a snippet. All Systems Red by Martha Wells – The sci-fi novel featured in today's closing quote If you want to dive into Svec's previous appearances on the podcast, be sure to check out: 78: Happy Cows (His very first appearance, discussing empathy in software development) 250: Yolo Snarf (All about version control, gitflow, and D&D) 297: Mice to Do My Bidding (Focusing on attentional focus and workflow psychological tricks) 402: We Are a Lazy Species (Software schedule estimation alongside Philip Johnston) 436: 20 GOTO 10 (Discussing modern kids' programming languages and the longevity of the Joel Test) Transcript

   July 09, 2026·1h 23min
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3. 3
   Number 3: 534: I Think We'll Add a Head

   Aaed Musa joins us to talk about building robot dogs, custom actuators, and his YouTube channel. He shares how he moved from 3D-printing servo robots in his parents' garage to designing capstan drives, and how he uses reinforcement learning to train quadrupedal walking gaits. We also talk about his senior design project (CARA 2.0), his Spider-Man web-shooter build, lessons in storytelling and video editing, and why he's starting a company to bring friendly, expressive quadrupeds into the home. Aaed Musa is a mechanical engineering graduate from Purdue University, a hardware creator on YouTube, and co-founder of the robotics startup Mecha. DISCUSSION RESOURCES & LINKS AAED'S CHANNELS & PROJECTS: Aaed Musa on YouTube: Project videos covering quadrupedal robot dogs, Spider-Man web shooters, and custom actuators. Oh, and planetary gears. More detailed project write ups are under projects on his personal site, including CARA 2.0. Github repository Robots Everywhere with Aaed Musa | The Amp Hour ROBOTICS & ACTUATOR TECH: Dyneema DM20: synthetic rope with zero creep used in zero-backlash capstan drives NVIDIA Isaac Sim: simulation and reinforcement learning environment for robotics OpenMV: Very smart MicroPython-powered machine vision modules. Kwabena Agyeman has spoken with us about OpenMV before: 497: Everyone Likes Tiny 477: One Thousand New Instructions 212: You Are in Seaworld SOME YOUTUBE CHANNELS MENTIONED: Good 3d printing youtube channels: 3DPrintingNerd CNCKitchen MadeWithLayers Jeremy_Fielding: great for explaining how things work and coming at engineering from a non engineering direction (Embedded 385: I Just Wanted an Industrial Arm) James Bruton: Robot dogs! Mark Rober has fantastic storytelling and approachable engineering. Stuff Made Here has robots and gadgets, generally a broad scope of engineering.

   September 17, 2026·1h 13min
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4. 4
   Number 4: 533: The Garage Is Open

   Author Susan Lammers joins the show to discuss the 40th anniversary edition of her classic book, Programmers at Work. We discuss what it was like to interview young and pioneering software developers like Toru Iwatani, C. Wayne Ratliff, and Michael Hawley and how the personal computer revolution was built by individuals seeking freedom from corporate mainframes. Susan also shares her experiences as Editor-in-Chief at Microsoft Press, leading Microsoft's early interactive CD-ROM division, founding Headbone Interactive in the 1990s, and why she's bringing retro games like Elroy Goes Bugzerk back to Steam today. SUSAN'S BOOK & WEB RESOURCES: Programmers at Work: 40th Anniversary Edition – Official site featuring updated bios, excerpts, and current career paths of the 19 interviewees Programmers at Work on Amazon or on Simon & Schuster website Overview and list of interviewees on Wikipedia HEADBONE INTERACTIVE & RETRO GAMING: HeadboneInteractive.com Headbone Interactive - Wikipedia Elroy Goes Bugzerk on Steam – The classic 1990s interactive cartoon adventure game brought back for modern platforms SOFTWARE & HISTORICAL MENTIONS: VisiCalc on Wikipedia (The first computer spreadsheet) Ukatsuke Komachi (The automated receptionist robot at Namco in 1985) The Paris Review interview series (The literary inspiration behind Programmers at Work) Transcript

   September 04, 2026·59min
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5. 5
   Number 5: 531: Sequestering the Mess

   Elecia and Christopher celebrate winning the IEEE Educational Activities Board Meritorious Achievement Award in Outreach and Informal Education! A huge thank you to Mark Omo and the wonderful listeners who submitted nomination letters. Chris and Elecia talk about learning Hungarian to qualify Chris for an EU passport. They also cover Cory Doctorow's new book The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI, smart ways to hand off codebases, and the most valuable skills they've relied on through their engineering careers. DISCUSSION RESOURCES & LINKS AWARDS & MILESTONES: IEEE Educational Activities Board Meritorious Achievement Award in Outreach and Informal Education "For creating and sustaining Embedded.fm, a long-running technical engineering podcast that bridges academic theory and industry practice, champions underrepresented groups in STEM, addresses professional ethics, and provides informal technical mentorship to a global audience." Huge thanks to Mark Omo for submitting the nomination and to the other nominators for advocating for our work. To the 450+ guests—artists, makers, educators, entrepreneurs, and traditional engineers—who have generously shared their time and deep expertise with us: this award belongs to you too. And to our incredible global listener community: thank you for tuning in, sharing episodes with your colleagues, and keeping the STEM pipeline strong. If Embedded.fm has ever helped you solve a tricky bug, navigate a career transition, or stay inspired in hardware/software design, we'd love for you to celebrate with us by sharing your favorite episode with an early-career engineer or student this week! Embedded episode 501: Inside the Armpit of a Giraffe, an interview with biologist Meredith Palmer and engineer Akiba, won a Communicator Award for an Individual Episodes-Science & Technology, Distinction 2026. BOOKS & READING LIST: The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI by Cory Doctorow Programmers at Work: Interviews With 19 Developers Who Shaped the Computer Industry by Susan Lammers (1986) Embedded AI: Intelligence at the Deep End by David Such (No Starch Press, Early Access) TECHNICAL & LANGUAGE MENTIONS: The Hungarian phrase "Boldog vagyok" ("I am happy"). Elecia's Duolingo page Zephyr RTOS and embedding Rust libraries into Zephyr environments Memfault observability, CSV data extractions, and battery performance analytics AI models escaping sandboxes (The OpenAI and Anthropic benchmark incidents) Transcript

   August 06, 2026·1h 8min
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