Greater Than Code - podcast cover

Greater Than Code

For a long time, tech culture has focused too narrowly on technical skills; this has resulted in a tech community that too often puts companies and code over people. Greater Than Code is a podcast that invites the voices of people who are not heard from enough in tech: women, people of color, trans and/or queer folks, to talk about the human side of software development and technology. Greater Than Code is providing a vital platform for these conversations, and developing new ideas of what it means to be a technologist beyond just the code. Featuring an ongoing panel of racially and gender diverse tech panelists, the majority of podcast guests so far have been women in tech! We’ve covered topics including imposter syndrome, mental illness, sexuality, unconscious bias and social justice. We also have a major focus on skill sets that tech too often devalues, like team-building, hiring, community organizing, mentorship and empathy. Each episode also includes a transcript. We have an active Slack community that members can join by pledging as little as $1 per month via Patreon. (https://www.patreon.com/greaterthancode)

Episodes

277: Joy Is Activism – The Power of Ritual and Intention

00:44 - Pandemic Life * Politics * Healthcare * Society * Work 13:58 - Jay, Happiness, and Fulfillment * Personal Development and Self-Discovery * Brené Brown (https://brenebrown.com/) * Glennon Doyle (https://momastery.com/) * Elizabeth Gilbert (https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/) * Nihilism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism) * Manifestation * Gratitude & Daily Journaling * Morning Pages (https://juliacameronlive.com/basic-tools/morning-pages/) * EarlyWords (https://earlywords.io) 29:09 - ...

Apr 06, 202246 min

276: Caring Deeply About Humans – Diversify The Medical Community with Jenna Charlton

01:09 - Jenna’s Superpower: Being Super Human: Deeply rooted in what is human in tech * The User is Everything 04:30 - Keeping Focus on the User * Building For Themself * Bother(!!) Users * Walking A Mile In Your Users Shoes - Jamey Hampton (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-zYKo8f7nM) 09:09 - Interviewing Users (Testing) * Preparation * Identifying Bias * Getting Things Wrong * Gamifying/Winning (Developer Dogs & Testing Cats) * Overtesting 23:15 - Working With ADHD * Alerts & Alarms * Medicati...

Mar 30, 202256 min

275: Making Change Happen – Why Not You? with Nyota Gordon

01:47 - Nyota’s Superpower: To hear and pull out people’s ideas to make them more clear, actionable, and profitable! * Acknowledging The Unspoken * Getting Checked 07:15 - Boundaries and Harmony 10:35 - News & Social Media * Addiction * Filtering * Bias 18:54 - The Impact of AI 23:00 - Anyone Can Be A Freelance Journalist; How Change Happens * Chelsea Cirruzzo’s Guide to Freelance Journalism (https://docs.google.com/document/d/18rwpMH_VpK8LUcO61czV2SzzXPVmcVhmUigf1_a7xbc/edit) * Casey’s GGWash A...

Mar 23, 202253 min

274: Managing People Versus Servers with Arpit Mohan

02:03 - Arpit’s Superpower: Tenacity * Tenacious D (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenacious_D) 05:03 - Managing People vs Servers * Establish Consistent Language and Shared Level of Understanding * Written Word * Following Up * User Manual (Persona Investigation) * Consensus Algorithms: Single Sources of Truth & Responsibility * Independent Failures: Build and Establish Trust * Conway’s Law (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_law) * Somathesis – Collective Problem Solving: Music, Science, ...

Mar 09, 202242 min

273: Motorcycling Adventures with Kerri Miller

02:28 - Kerri’s Superpower: Having an Iron Butt * The Iron Butt Association (https://www.ironbutt.org/) 06:39 - On The Road Entertainment * FM Radio * Country Music * Community/Local Radio * Roadside Attractions * The World Largest Ball of Twine (http://www.kansastravel.org/balloftwine.htm) * Mystery Spot (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Spot) * Mystery Spot Polka (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYHiGQiAPhI) 15:11 - Souvenir Collection & Photography * Fireweed Ice Cream (https://www.wilds...

Mar 02, 202259 min

272: People First – Self-Awareness and Being Excellent To Each Other with Ashleigh Wilson

02:14 - Ashleigh’s Superpower: Ability To See “The Vision” * The Queen’s Gambit (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Queen%27s_Gambit_(miniseries)) 03:35 - Intentionality: “People First” * Call Me Out: Intention vs Impact * “This Doesn’t Make Sense” Log * Emotional Fitness Surveys * “Dare To Lead” Book Club 10:55 - Listen * Digging in to Defensiveness / Uncomfortableness * Little Things Add Up * Building Connections and Relationships 15:10 - Building Trust – Why is vulnerability not professional? ...

Feb 23, 202255 min

271: EventStorming with Paul Rayner

00:58 - Paul’s Superpower: Participating in Scary Things 02:19 - EventStorming (https://www.eventstorming.com/) * Optimized For Collaboration * Visualizing Processes * Working Together * Sticky (Post-it) Notes (https://www.post-it.com/3M/en_US/post-it/products/~/Post-it-Products/Notes/?N=4327+5927575+3294529207+3294857497&rt=r3) 08:35 - Regulation: Avoiding Overspecifics * “The Happy Path” * Timeboxing * Parking Lot (https://project-management.fandom.com/wiki/Parking_lot) * Inside Pixar (https:/...

Feb 16, 202258 min

270: Trust Building and Authenticity with Justin Searls

How to Trust Again – Justin Searls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu8KmhPa5Oc) Why has trust become so rare in the software industry? Developers don't trust their own ability to program, teammates don't trust each other to write quality code, and organizations don't trust that people are working hard enough to deliver on time. This talk by Justin Searls is a reflection on the far-reaching consequences distrust can have for individuals, teams, and organizations and an exploration of what we sta...

Feb 09, 20221 hr 3 min

269: Being Your Authentic Self – Turning Adversity Into Power with Nikema Prophet

00:51 - Nikema’s Superpower: Connecting To People Through Authenticity & Vulnerability * Background in Dancing * The Ailey School (https://www.alvinailey.org/school) * Shift to Tech * Having Babies * ADHD Diagnosis (Neurodivergence) * Masking (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masking_(personality)) 28:02 - Seeing People For Their Whole Selves; Facilitating Safe Spaces * Nikema’s Founder Journey * Remote Work & Homeschooling * Pop Schools (https://popschools.com/) * School Can Be Damaging to Childre...

Feb 02, 20221 hr 7 min

268: LGBTQA+ Inclusion

01:56 - Episode Intro: Who is Casey Watts (https://twitter.com/heycaseywattsup)? * Happy and Effective (https://www.happyandeffective.com/) 02:25 - “Gay” vs “Queer” * Cultural vs Sexual * Black vs black * Deaf vs deaf 06:11 - Pronoun Usage & Normalization * Greater Than Code Episode 266: Words Carry Power – Approaching Inclusive Language with Kate Marshall (https://www.greaterthancode.com/words-carry-power-approaching-inclusive-language) * Spectrum of Allyship (https://aninjusticemag.com/the-dif...

Jan 26, 202249 min

267: Handling Consulting Businesses and Client Loads

00:36 - Panelist Consulting Experience and Backgrounds * Debugging Your Brain by Casey Watts (https://www.debuggingyourbrain.com/) * Happy and Effective (https://www.happyandeffective.com/) 10:00 - Marketing, Charging, and Setting Prices * Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/) * Chelsea’s Blog (https://chelseatroy.com/) * Self-Worth by Salary 28:34 - GeePawHill Twitter Thread (https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/1478950180904972293) - Impact Consulting * Casey’s Spreadsheet - “Matrix-Based Priori...

Jan 19, 20221 hr 2 min

266: Words Carry Power – Approaching Inclusive Language with Kate Marshall

01:48 - Kate’s Superpower: Empathy * Absorbing Energy * Setting Healthy Energetic Boundaries * Authenticity * Intent vs Impact 10:46 - Words and Narratives Carry Power; Approaching Inclusive Language * Taking Action After Causing Harm * Get Specific, But Don’t Overthink * Practice Makes Progress * Normalize Sharing Pronouns * No-CodeConf (https://webflow.com/nocodeconf) * No-CodeSchool (https://nocodeschool.co/) * Gender Expresion Does Not Always Equal Gender Identity 21:27 - Approaching Inclusi...

Jan 12, 202258 min

265: Computer Science Education – Forge Your Own Path with Emily Haggard

00:54 - Emily’s Superpower: Being a Good Teacher * Greater Than Code Episode 261: Celebrating Computer Science Education with Dave Bock (https://www.greaterthancode.com/celebrating-computer-science-education) * CyberPatriot (https://www.uscyberpatriot.org/) 06:24 - Online College Courses vs In-Person Learning / Emily’s Community College Path * Network Engineering (https://www.fieldengineer.com/blogs/what-is-network-engineer-definition) * Virginia Tech (https://vt.edu/) * Guaranteed Transfer Prog...

Jan 05, 202253 min

264: #BlackTechTwitter and Black Tech Pipeline with Pariss Athena

00:54 - Pariss’ Superpower: Being Vocal and Transparent * #BlackTechTwitter (https://twitter.com/ParissAthena/status/1068873547005812737?s=20) * The Villian Origin Story * Deadpool (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadpool_(film)) 08:01 - #BlackTechTwitter (https://twitter.com/ParissAthena/status/1068873547005812737?s=20) & Black Tech Pipeline (https://blacktechpipeline.com/) * Job Board (https://blacktechpipeline.com/jobs) * Labor Compensation 15:56 - Being Okay with Losing Opportunities * Announ...

Dec 22, 20211 hr

263: Security Education, Awareness, Behavior, and Culture with Kat Sweet

02:01 - Kat’s Superpower: Terrible Puns! * Puns & ADHD; Divergent Thinking (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divergent_thinking) * Punching Down (https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=punching%20down) * Idioms (https://www.ef.edu/english-resources/english-idioms/) 08:07 - Security Awareness Education & Accessibility * Phishing * Unconscious Bias Training That Works (https://hbr.org/2021/09/unconscious-bias-training-that-works) * Psychological Safety * 239: Accessibility and Sexuality with...

Dec 15, 202147 min

262: Faith, Science, Truth, and Vulnerability with Evan Light

00:59 - Evans’s Superpower: Talking about topics that aren’t interesting to whomever he’s talking to at the time * ADHD (https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/facts.html) * Diagnosing as an Adult * Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (https://addadult.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ASRS-v1.1_Form.jpg) * QbCheck: ADHD Self-Check Test (https://www.qbcheck.com/) * Why seek a medical diagnosis? * Almost everything that you know about “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder” is probably wrong (https://elight.me...

Dec 08, 20211 hr 19 min

261: Celebrating Computer Science Education with Dave Bock

Catch Dave on Episode 006 of Greater Than Code! Getting Technology Into the Hands of Children with David Bock (https://www.greaterthancode.com/getting-technology-into-the-hands-of-children) 02:10 - Dave’s Superpower: Ability to Reevaluate and Drop Ideas – Onto The Next! * Star Trek: The Next Generation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation) * Impostor Syndrome (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome) 07:10 - The Acceptance of Ruby; Using Ruby as a Teaching Langua...

Dec 01, 20211 hr 14 min

260: Fixing Broken Tech Interviews with Ian Douglas

01:01 - Ian’s Superpower: Curiosity & Life-Long Learning * Discovering Computers * Sharing Knowledge 06:27 - Streaming and Mentorship: Becoming “The Career Development Guy” * The Turing School of Software and Design (https://turing.edu/) * techinterview.guide (https://techinterview.guide/) * twitch.tv/iandouglas736 (https://www.twitch.tv/iandouglas736) 12:01 - Tech Interviews (Are Broken) * techinterview.guide (https://techinterview.guide/) * Daily Email Series (https://techinterview.guide/daily...

Nov 24, 20211 hr 5 min

259: Continuous Iteration, Continuous Improvement – Always Evolving Over Time with Rin Oliver

01:42 - Rin’s Superpower: Writing, Public Speaking, and Being Neurodivergent + Awesome! 02:18 - GitHub Actions (https://github.com/features/actions) * Concurrent Actions * CICD (Continuous Improvement, Continuous Deployment) * Security * Trivy (https://aquasecurity.github.io/trivy/v0.17.0/) * Building Secure Open Source Communities From the Ground Up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtDitJyd-3s) * Camunda Community Hub (https://github.com/camunda-community-hub) * community-action-maven-release (...

Nov 17, 202143 min

258: Nerd Therapy with Michael Keady

01:53 - Michael’s Superpower: Networking and Community Building * Being Driven to Fulfill Needs * Mental Health First Aid (https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/) * Working in Proximity / Keeping In Touch * MAPS at Burning Man (https://maps.org/news-letters/v15n3/burningman.pdf) 10:36 - Defining Mental Health * Self-Invalidation & Dialectics (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel-dialectics/) * Money buys happiness, but euphoria comes dear (https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/02/05/m...

Nov 10, 20211 hr 17 min

257: Putting Accessibility Into Action with Dr. Michele A. Williams

01:03 - Not Giving Into Peer Pressure 02:31 - Reaching Outside of the Accessibility World (Demystifying Accessibility) * Everyday Accessibility by Dr. Michele A. Williams (https://www.a11yproject.com/posts/2021-06-14-everyday_accessibility/) * Thinking About Disability Until It’s Everyone’s Normal Way of Thinking * Power Structures and Erasing Innovation * Recognizing Specialty * Cormac Russell: Four Modes of Change: To, For, With, By (https://www.skybrary.aero/bookshelf/books/4510.pdf) 12:37 - ...

Nov 03, 20211 hr

256: Unbreaking the Web with Chris Ferdinandi

Greater Than Code Episode #170: The Case for Vanilla JavaScript with Chris Ferdinandi (https://www.greaterthancode.com/the-case-for-vanilla-javascript) 02:50 - Project Gemini (https://gemini.circumlunar.space/) and Text Protocols * Always Bet on JavaScript 07:05 - Overusing Analytics & Tracking Scripts * Be An Advocate For Your Users / Ethical Obligations 12:18 - Innovations: Making Accessibility The Default 14:48 - Ad-Tech and Tooling * Partytown (https://partytown.builder.io/) * Fathom (https:...

Oct 27, 20211 hr 1 min

255: Building Global Love Bubbles with Anne Griffin

02:47 - Anne’s Superpower: Empathy & Collaboration * Feeling Accepted & Creating a Sense of Safety * Creating Happy Bubbles * Making People Feel They Matter on Teams * No Matter Status (i.e. Employees vs Contractors) * No Matter Geographical Location/Timezone * Equivalence in Remote Work 17:45 - Framing and Shaping Relationships + Communication * Changing Company Culture * Sharing Concerns with Upper Management * “We are all on the same team.” * Silence IS a Response * Working Through Challengin...

Oct 20, 20211 hr 20 min

254: Transitioning Into Tech with Danielle Thompson

01:17 - Danielle’s Superpower: Empathy & Communication 01:56 - Going From the Hospitality Industry => Tech * @CodeSchoolQA (https://twitter.com/codeschoolqa) / twitch.tv/thejonanshow (https://www.twitch.tv/thejonanshow) 04:58 - Education Technology (https://tech.ed.gov/) (EdTech) * Disruption = Reinvention 07:18 - Anthropology + Tech / Working With People * Anticipating Needs 10:25 - Making Education Fun + Inclusive * Cultural Relevance * Revamping Outdated Curriculum * Connecting With Kids 16:1...

Oct 13, 202151 min

253: Reframing the Value of Open Source with Jen Weber

00:47 - Jen’s Superpower: Being Optimistic * Recognizing Negative Loops * Intentionality & Prioritization * Preventing Security Vulnerabilities 10:13 - Working On Open-Source Projects vs Commercial Software/Products * Gathering Feedback (RFCs) * Baby Steps = Big Impact 12:57 - Major vs Minor Releases * Semantic Versioning * Deprecation Warnings * Advanced Notice * Incremental Rollouts 18:45 - RFC / Feedback Processes * Dealing with Contradictory Feedback * Reaching Consensus * Visionary Leadersh...

Oct 06, 202154 min

252: Designing For Safety with Eva PenzeyMoog

TRIGGER WARNING: Domestic Violence, Abuse, Interpersonal Safety 01:26 - Eva’s Superpower: ADHD and Hyperfocus * Workplace Accommodation * At-Will Employment (https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/at-will-employment-overview.aspx) 08:19 - Design for Safety (https://abookapart.com/products/design-for-safety) * Tech Used For Interpersonal Harm * Might vs When * Eva Penzey Moog | Designing Against Domestic Violence (https://vimeo.com/373462514) * Weaponizing Technology 12:45 - What Engi...

Sep 29, 20211 hr 1 min

251: Diplomatic Accessibility Advocacy with Todd Libby

01:09 - Todd’s Superpower: Advocacy For Accessibility * Getting Started * Designing With Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman (https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Web-Standards-Jeffrey-Zeldman/dp/0321616952) * The A11Y Project (https://www.a11yproject.com/) * W3C (https://www.w3.org/) 06:18 - Joining The W3C * The W3C Community Page (https://www.w3.org/community/) 07:44 - Getting People/Companies/Stakeholders to Care/Prioritize About Accessibility * Making A Strong Case For Accessibility by Todd Libby ...

Sep 22, 202147 min

250: Employee Resource Groups with Adrian Gillem

01:19 - Adrian’s Superpower: Humor * Making People Feel Comfortable Through Humor * Self-Deprecating Humor & Authenticity 04:57 - Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): What are they? * Employees Share Effective, Measurable, Impactful Insights * Connecting New Hires with People Who Look Like Them * Making Employee Experiences Better 09:20 - How ERGs Operate * “Build with not for” * Making Fellow Colleagues Heard 18:03 - Successfully Policy Implementations: Examples * Transgender Healthcare 23:18 - ERG...

Sep 15, 202150 min

249: #TechIsHiring + eSports and Software Engineering with Chad Stewart

01:19 - Chad’s Superpower: Making People Laugh * Using Comedy to Deal with Problems 03:46 - #TechIsHiring (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23TechisHiring&src=typeahead_click&f=live) * Bot: @TechIsHiring (https://twitter.com/TechIsHiring) * Amplifying Others * Using Networks For Good * Being a Bridge/Connector * Actively Working to Benefit Others (Possibly Professionally?!?) * Diversify Tech (https://diversifytech.co/) * @DiversifyTechCo (https://twitter.com/diversifytechco) * Veni Kunche (https://...

Sep 08, 202155 min

248: Developing Team Culture with Andrew Dunkman

01:27 - Andrew’s Superpower: Stern Empathy 03:30 - Setting Work Boundaries * Matrix Organizations * 18F (https://18f.gsa.gov/) * Acknowledging Difficult Situations (i.e. Burnout) * Health Checks * Project Success * Time Tracking * Heart Connection / Motivation * Work Distribution * Greater Than Code Episode 162: Glue Work with Denise Yu (https://www.greaterthancode.com/glue-work) 18:54 - Providing Support During a Pandemic * Stretching/Growth Work * Comfortable/Safety Work * Social Connection 23...

Sep 01, 20211 hr 13 min