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.

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 the C++ features that begin with C, while Ben questions whether Chicago makes popes.

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.

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.

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.

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 recording.

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.

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.

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.

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.