In this episode of Modern Web, Danny Thompson chats with MelkeyDev, a Machine Learning Infrastructure Engineer at Twitch, about AI’s real-world applications, developer productivity, and the future of careers in Go. They cover everything from the rise of tiny AI-driven teams competing with large enterprises to how system prompts may matter more than model choice. Melkey shares his thoughts on cost-effective LLMs, production pitfalls, and the cognitive downsides of over-relying on AI. The conversa...
Jul 03, 2025•36 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, hosts Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson sit down with Andre Landgraf, Senior Developer Advocate at Neon (now part of Databricks), to explore the evolving role of AI agents in developer workflows. They discuss how more Neon databases are being spun up by agents than humans, what that means for developer and agent experience (DX vs AX), and how tools like MCP and step functions are enabling scalable agent orchestration. The conversation also touches on agent se...
Jul 01, 2025•39 min
On this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson talk with Brian Morrison, Senior Developer Educator at Clerk. They cover the state of authentication today, what makes Clerk stand out for small teams and indie builders, and how thoughtful developer experience design can make or break adoption.Brian shares why bundling tools like auth, billing, and user management is becoming more common, how Clerk handles real-world concerns like bot protection and social login, and why sta...
Jun 23, 2025•40 min
On this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, hosts Rob Ocel, Danny Thompson, and Adam Rackis are joined by Tejas Kumar, host of The Contagious Code podcast, author of Fluent React , and Developer Relations Engineer for Generative AI at DataStax. They unpack the current wave of AI announcements from Google I/O and Microsoft Build, and zoom in on the significance of MCP (Model Context Protocol) as a foundational shift in how AI-powered apps will be built and used. Tejas breaks down what MCP is, why ...
Jun 12, 2025•50 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Rob Ocel, Danny Thompson, and Adam Rackis sit down with Ahmad Awais, CEO and founder of LangBase, to talk about agents, context, and the future of AI-assisted software development. Ahmad shares the origin story of Chai.new, an agent that builds agents, and why he believes context, not code, is the true value layer in the AI era. The group unpacks how "vibe coding" is reshaping who can build software, why Chai isn’t just another AI assistant, and how age...
Jun 04, 2025•47 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Danny Thompson sits down with Reed Harmeyer, CTO of Skylight Social, and Brandon Mathis, React Native engineer at This Dot Labs. They unpack the technical and strategic decisions behind Skylight’s meteoric growth: why they built on the AT Protocol, how they tackled video discovery and scaling challenges, and how a fast-tracked in-app video editor gave them an edge. Keypoints from this episode: Skylight Social was built on the AT Protocol, allowing users...
May 28, 2025•35 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson sit down with Julián Duque, Principal Developer Advocate at Heroku, to talk about Heroku’s evolution into an AI Platform-as-a-Service. Julián breaks down Heroku’s new Managed Inference and Agents (MIA) platform, how they’re supporting Claude, Cohere, and Stable Diffusion, and what makes their developer experience stand out. They also get into Model Context Protocols (MCPs)—what they are, why they matter, and how they’re quick...
May 21, 2025•39 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson talk with Hannes Rudolph, Community Manager at RooCode, to explore how this fast-moving, community-driven code editor is rethinking what AI-assisted development looks like. Hannes breaks down Roo’s agentic coding model, explains how their “boomerang tasks” tackle LLM context limits, and shares lessons from working with contributors across experience levels. Keypoints from this episode: - RooCode's "boomerang" architecture bre...
May 14, 2025•44 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Rob Ocel is joined by Danny Thompson, Adam Rackis, and special guest Coston Perkins for a lively discussion on the evolving role of AI in software development. The group swaps thoughts on everything from the rise of AI agents like RooCode and Claude, to what makes tools like Vercel’s v0 surprisingly powerful for frontend work. They debate Tailwind’s dominance as the styling output of choice for AI tools, unpack the implications of Shopify’s AI-mandate m...
Apr 30, 2025•38 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, host Danny Thompson and co-host Adam Rackis chat with James Perkins, CEO of Unkey, an open-source API management platform built for scale, security, and developer simplicity. James shares the challenges of building globally distributed infrastructure, and why his team ditched serverless and TypeScript in favor of Go and servers. They talk candidly about the realities of API management at scale, how Unkey balances open source transparency with enterprise...
Apr 24, 2025•37 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson talk with Corbin Crutchley — founder of Playful Programming, Microsoft MVP, GitHub Star, and maintainer of multiple TanStack libraries including TanStack Form, Store, and Config.They dive into Corbin’s work maintaining open source at scale, what makes TanStack Form different (and a bit esoteric), and why the design decisions behind it matter, especially for enterprise teams. They also unpack the tradeoffs of abstraction, type...
Apr 16, 2025•43 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, host Danny Thompson sits down with Ben Peeri, Lead Solutions Architect and Entrepreneur, for a candid and energetic conversation on how AI tools are reshaping the way developers build software. They explore the strengths and tradeoffs of platforms like v0, Bolt, and Replit, diving into how these tools fit into modern dev workflows—from quick POCs to potential production use.Ben shares his unique approach to local LLMs, including how he uses them for pen...
Apr 09, 2025•41 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson get real about the current state of AI in software development. They talk about what’s working, what’s frustrating, and why so much of the conversation around AI feels repetitive or disconnected from reality. They explore how AI is actually being used day to day—and where it still falls short. They also discuss the risks of relying too heavily on AI, especially for junior devs, and why understanding fundamentals still matters...
Apr 03, 2025•34 min
Join hosts Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson for another episode of the Modern Web Podcast, where they sit down with Brad Garropy, senior front-end engineer at Stripe, YouTuber, and all-around tech enthusiast. Brad shares insights from his journey through big tech—from Dell to Adobe, Atlassian, and now Stripe—while discussing the challenges of scaling front-end engineering across different companies. The conversation covers TypeScript’s major performance boost, the Go vs. Rust debate, and how engineer...
Mar 26, 2025•40 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, hosts Rob Ocel, Adam Rackis, and Danny Thompson, examine the technical side of modern web development with guest Dennis Ivy, a developer advocate at Appwrite. The discussion explores HTMX, its approach to extending HTML for dynamic UIs, and how it challenges the dominance of JavaScript-heavy SPAs. They examine where HTMX fits in the web ecosystem, its strengths and limitations, and its potential for enterprise applications. The conversation then shifts ...
Mar 19, 2025•39 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, hosts Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson chat with Søren Bramer Schmidt, CEO and Founder of Prisma, about the evolution of Prisma to a widely adopted ORM used by 50% of Fortune 2000 companies. Søren shares insights on balancing open-source growth with enterprise adoption, optimizing ORM performance, and addressing concerns like N+1 queries and vendor lock-in.The discussion also covers the launch of Prisma Postgres, a managed database designed to make provision...
Mar 12, 2025•47 min
On this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Rob Ocel and Adam Rackis talk with Noah Harris, Senior Engineering Manager at Launch, to discuss the impact of mob programming and how it can transform engineering teams. Noah shares how pairing and mobbing helped him rapidly level up in his early career, how it fosters stronger communication, and why it’s particularly valuable for remote teams. The conversation also explores engineering leadership, breaking past career plateaus, and the importance of s...
Mar 05, 2025•41 min
On this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson sit down with Marc Backes, a freelance full-stack engineer with a wild journey through Vue.js, Nuxt, and DevRel. Marc shares what makes the Vue community stand out, why DevRel often misses the mark, and how Wikipedia uses Vue 3 to scale content across thousands of languages.Then, things get real. Marc opens up about a $250,000 startup disaster that changed his view on business forever. Meanwhile, Danny breaks down what it tak...
Feb 26, 2025•42 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Danny Thompson and Adam Rackis talk with Abdel Sghiouar, Cloud Developer Advocate at Google, Kubernetes Podcast co-host, and CNCF Ambassador. Abdel shares insights from his global tech journey, from Morocco to Google's largest data center in Belgium, and now Sweden. They discuss cloud computing trends, including WebAssembly, AI-driven serverless workloads, and the shifting lines between frontend and backend. They also explore AI’s impact on cloud develo...
Feb 19, 2025•35 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, hosts Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson sit down with Mariano Cocirio, Staff Product Manager at Vercel, to discuss Fluid Compute, a new cloud computing model that blends the best of serverless scalability with traditional server efficiency. They explore the challenges of AI workloads in serverless environments, the high costs of idle time, and how Fluid Compute optimizes execution to reduce costs while maintaining performance. Mariano explains how this approa...
Feb 13, 2025•33 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, host Rob Ocel talks with Mike Chen, Co-founder & CTO of Motivo, about the evolving world of web animations. Mike shares his enthusiasm for tools like Framer Motion (now Motion) and the View Transitions API, discussing how they make complex animations more accessible and intuitive. The conversation explores the practicality of animations in real-world applications, balancing user delight with business value, and avoiding unnecessary complexity. They ...
Feb 12, 2025•36 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, host Rob Ocel, along with co-hosts Adam Rackis and Danny Thompson, explores the sustainability of open source with Chad Whitacre, Head of Open Source at Sentry. Chad discusses the Open Source Pledge, an initiative encouraging companies to fund the open source projects they rely on. He breaks down the challenges maintainers face, the imbalance between corporate benefit and community support, and why businesses need to step up. The conversation touches on...
Feb 05, 2025•40 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Rob Ocel, Danny Thompson, Adam Rackis, and Brandon Mathis discuss the role of abstractions in software development. They explore frontend tools like React and SolidJS, backend abstractions like serverless platforms, and the importance of understanding patterns and learning through mistakes. The group also highlights emerging trends for 2025, including opportunities in platform plugins and developer marketplaces. Key Points for the Episode: The Role of A...
Jan 29, 2025•33 min
In this Modern Web Podcast episode, hosts Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson chat with Bree Hall, developer advocate at HubSpot and content creator known as "Bytes of Bree." Bree shares her journey from front-end engineer to advocacy, offering insights on balancing travel, staying productive, and navigating the pressures of being "always on." They explore creating engaging content, short vs. long-form formats, and how to build trust with an audience. Bree also shares tips on learning, working, and shar...
Jan 23, 2025•42 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, hosts Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson sit down with Pat Clarke, Director of Engineering at Lumen Learning, to explore the evolving state of web development. They discuss everything from the monotony of today’s web design and the rise of cookie-cutter sites to the resurgence of personal websites and the need for creativity in web experiences. Pat shares insights on balancing innovation with business goals, the complexities of front-end development, and why f...
Jan 15, 2025•41 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, host Danny Thompson sits down with David Mytton, founder and CEO of Arcjet and creator of the console.dev DevTools newsletter. They explore what makes a truly successful developer tool, the importance of great documentation, and how Arcjet is redefining "security as code" for modern applications. David shares insights into open-source strategies, balancing speed and innovation in startups, and the evolving role of AI in developer tools. Chapters 0:00 - ...
Jan 08, 2025•34 min
Dive deep into the fascinating world of SQLite and Turso with Gláuber Costa, the founder and CEO of Turso, as he shares insights into the evolution of modern database technologies. Hosted by Danny Thompson and Adam Rakus on the Modern Web Podcast, this episode unpacks SQLite's growing popularity, Turso's innovative managed database services, and how local-first architectures are changing the database landscape. From syncing databases to leveraging SQLite for offline use, discover how these advan...
Jan 07, 2025•35 min
In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, host Danny Thompson interviews Ryan Carniato, creator of SolidJS, about the evolving relationship between client and server technologies in web development. They explore the history of server-side rendering, single-page applications, and how SolidJS bridges these worlds with innovations like single-flight mutations, which cut down on server-client round trips for better performance. Ryan also shares his vision for the future of reactive systems, focusin...
Jan 07, 2025•59 min
Discover how Makeswift empowers developers and marketers with seamless Next.js integration in this episode of the Modern Web Podcast. Hosts Rob Ocel, Adam Rackis, and Danny Thompson talk with James Q. Quick, Head of Developer Experience at Makeswift, about building dynamic web experiences using Next.js. Learn how Makeswift combines a powerful visual builder for marketers with developer-friendly customization through Next.js. James shares insights on bridging the gap between no-code and full-code...
Dec 18, 2024•38 min
Backstage at All Things Open 2024, hosts Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson talk with Max Howell, creator of Homebrew and founder of the Tea Protocol, about making open source sustainable. Max shares his journey from building Homebrew as a passion project to launching Tea Protocol, which uses token-based economics to support maintainers without compromising open source values. They explore challenges like corporate involvement, project monetization, and building resilient open source communities. Chapt...
Dec 16, 2024•28 min
