That's Girl Code

In this episode, Eden and Ellen step away from their usual technical topics and analyze how tech startups are portrayed in popular media. They break down three startup origin stories: The Social Network (Facebook/Meta), Super Pumped (Uber), and Swiped (Whitney Wolfe Herd, Tinder, and Bumble).

For each film or series, they play Two Truths and a Lie to compare what actually happened versus what was dramatized for storytelling. Along the way, they discuss founder mythology, lawsuits, venture capital influence, workplace culture, and how gender dynamics are often reshaped or simplified on screen.

The conversation covers real events behind Facebook’s early lawsuits, Uber’s cultural failures and regulatory battles, and Whitney Wolfe Herd’s departure from Tinder and the founding of Bumble. They also call out common technical misrepresentations in movies and where these productions surprisingly got things right.

A discussion on startup history, media dramatization, and how pop culture shapes the public’s understanding of the tech industry.

On this episode of That’s Girl Code, Ellen breaks down how data actually moves through modern applications, from the moment you tap your screen to the systems that learn from that behavior and quietly reshape what you see next.

Using Instagram as a running example, she walks through the full data ecosystem of an app, explaining why different types of databases exist, how OLTP and OLAP systems serve completely different purposes, and how events turn user behavior into data. The episode covers relational databases, NoSQL, object storage, graph and vector databases, and how analytics platforms like Databricks power insights, models, and decisions behind the scenes.

This episode is a practical, systems-level look at how frontend, backend, and data architecture work together — and why understanding data flow is essential for building scalable, high-performing applications.

In this episode of That’s Girl Code, we explore agentic AI systems that go beyond traditional generative models to perceive their environment, reason about goals, take action, and learn over time.

We define what an AI agent is, how agentic systems differ from standard large language model applications, and break down the core components that enable autonomous behavior: perception, cognition, action and execution, and learning and adaptation.

We then examine key agentic design patterns—including Reflection, ReAct, Planning, Multi-Agent Collaboration, ReWOO (Reasoning Without Observation), and CodeAct—discussing when to use each, their tradeoffs, and the risks of misapplication. We then touch on implementation, highlighting how frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, CrewAI, and platforms like AWS Bedrock support orchestration, tooling, memory, and production deployment.

Finally, we address the broader implications for software engineers and organizations, including emerging roles, evolving developer workflows, and critical considerations around security, governance, auditability, and ethical responsibility.

This episode provides a practical, technical introduction to agentic AI and its impact on the future of software engineering.

Github Copilot Agentic demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onVn-lnHZ9s

In this episode of "That's Girl Code," Eden takes the mic solo to explore the concepts of "Technofeudalism" as presented by Yanis Varoufakis in his book Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism. Delving into the evolution from capitalism to a new economic structure, Eden discusses the role of cloud capitalists and the impact of digital interconnectedness on our society. With insights into historical economic shifts and the influence of modern tech giants, this episode offers a thought-provoking look at our current economic landscape. Tune in for a deep dive into the future of our economy and the potential paths forward.

Part two of our deep but digestible conversation on AI, social media, and the incentives shaping the future. Inspired by The Social Dilemma and Tristan Harris’ interview on Diary of a CEO, we unpack how tech moved from monetizing attention to monetizing intimacy - and what that means for mental health, misinformation, privacy, and who’s actually accountable when things go sideways.

We pull back to look at the forces driving all of this - profit incentives, weak regulation, massive infrastructure bets, and global competition. From mental health and data privacy to national security and the AI arms race, we connect the dots between the social media era and the futures we’re building with AI right now.

Season 2 kicks off with a deep, but digestible, two-part conversation on AI, social media, and the incentives shaping the future. Inspired by The Social Dilemma and Tristan Harris’ interview on Diary of a CEO, we unpack how tech moved from monetizing attention to monetizing intimacy - and what that means for mental health, misinformation, privacy, and who’s actually accountable when things go sideways.

We pull back to look at the forces driving all of this - profit incentives, weak regulation, massive infrastructure bets, and global competition. From mental health and data privacy to national security and the AI arms race, we connect the dots between the social media era and the futures we’re building with AI right now.

In this episode of That’s Girl Code, Eden and Ellen pull back the curtain on what it really means to be a woman in tech — not just through personal experience, but through decades of data. They trace the fictional journey of “Hannah,” a composite of every woman who’s ever written code, sat through a bias-laced meeting, or been told she’s “too opinionated.” From her first math class to her first pull request, Hannah’s path reveals how stereotype threat, subtle bias, and structural inequities shape who stays in the pipeline and who burns out trying to prove they belong.

Eden and Ellen dive into studies showing that gender-diverse teams literally build better software — faster fixes, cleaner code, fewer bugs — while also exploring why women’s work still faces harsher scrutiny and smaller rewards. They unpack everything from the silent politics of code reviews to the glass cliff of leadership, asking the bigger question: if the data proves diversity makes tech stronger, why is progress still so fragile? This isn’t a pity party; it’s a data-driven reality check — equal parts stats, story, and solidarity.

This week, Ellen and Eden sit down with Michelle Meyer—a seasoned technology executive who’s been both a role model and a mentor to women in tech. From sports to sales to the boardroom, Michelle shares stories of grit, growth, and leadership, plus a few unexpected detours. Together we unpack how to sell the vision when you’re not the one coding, build credibility at the right altitude, and keep your energy for the work that matters. We cover mentorship, making tough calls, and finding your lane without playing the comparison game—then detour into a charming, very Michelle side project.

A chaos in comfort episode: Ellen and Eden trade their most mortifying corporate and studio slip-ups—from double-joining a C-suite call to starting class 10 minutes early—plus internet gems from Slack gone wrong to interview fumbles. Come for the trauma bonding, stay for the reminder that it’s rarely that deep and always fixable.

WWDC: Past, Present, and the Very Glassy Future. Eden calls this her personal Super Bowl, Ellen brings the history tea, and together we connect Apple’s June WWDC promises to what actually shipped. We break down iOS 26’s Liquid Glass glow-up, the skinny-iPhone discourse, and why some “wow” features hit while others… might be for someone else’s life. Then Eden gets delightfully nerdy: VisionOS fundamentals (windows, volumes, spaces), what’s new for spatial web and media, SwiftUI vs. UIKit in 2025, Swift Assist in Xcode 26, containerization, and the rumor-mill about Swift on Android. It’s equal parts fangirl and critical friend—because we love Apple, but we’re not drinking the Kool-Aid without reading the release notes.