In today’s episode we are going to talk about the tech podcasts I listen to, to keep myself motivated about learning more about WordPress and all things code right here on Your Website Engineer Podcast, Episode No. 391.

Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Your Engineer Podcast. My name is Dustin Hartzler and I’m coming to you live from Montreal, Canada. Yes, that’s right. This week I am on a team meetup in Montreal and I just didn’t get a chance with all the moving and the packing and everything we’re doing back in Ohio, I just didn’t quite have a chance to record before I left. So, I took my recorder with me and I am sitting in the hotel room on Wednesday… or on Tuesday… and it was before we get ready for the day and so I just wanted to share some of the Tech Podcasts I listen to. It won’t be a full show today. There’s not a lot of news going on. I didn’t find a plugin or whatnot, but I have a whole handful of podcasts. This is what I do on trips. I listen to podcasts. I listen to podcasts ALL the time, actually, because I love continuing to get excited and motivated by listening to podcasts.

There’s a couple of them that really get me excited and want me to, like, force me to, oh, I should write some code today or I should try to fix this or tweak this on my current website. So, let’s go ahead and dive right in. I’ve got a whole bunch of them here, like I said, all of the links to each of the shows are in the Show Notes and you can find that over at yourwebsiteengineer.com/391. I’m going to list them in alphabetical order based on what they are in my podcast player. I use Overcast as my podcast player and it is just a wonderful podcast. I have the ability to speed things up and skip little spaces or little pauses in the audio and, I don’t know, it’s just one of my favorite podcast players. So, that’s what I do and that’s what I use. I normally have about 60 podcasts in the queue because I’m always behind because I don’t have a job.

I DO have a job but I don’t have a commute, so I never drive anywhere and when I DO drive places, I normally have kids in the car and they don’t like listening to podcasts. They would rather listen to music. But, anyways, that’s that. Let’s go ahead and dive in and talk about the podcasts that I listen to. The first podcast I want to talk about today is called the Base.cs Podcast. This is brought to us by the folks over at CodeNewbie.org and we’ll talk about them next because they’re next on the list, but the Base.cs Podcast is a podcast that’s broken down into seasons and it’s basically turning a bunch of the Base.cs blog series into an awesome podcast. It’s mainly about computer science, so they’re talking about the foundation of computer science. They talk about bits, bytes, and binary. They talk all about encoding, what hexadecimal means, what hexadecimal in colors mean, link lists, the Big O notation, how do you make a stack overflow, stacks in real life, queue to queues, all kinds of things.

It’s very much a computer science background. It talks about how things work, how trees work, what is a binary tree and all things along those lines. So, it’s a really interesting podcast. Podcasts run about 25 minutes, or so, and it’s just a really good one if you want to start learning some of the foundational things or the foundational concepts of computer science. So, that’s found over at codenewbie.org/basecs. The next one is Code Newbie and this is a podcast that I stumbled upon a couple of years ago and it is really cool. It goes through and it talks about people and their journey on their way to developing code or becoming a coder or a programmer. The most recent one that I listened to was Episode No. 176 and I talked about how this guy went from a glass blower to a developer. It was just a cool story on how he really wasn’t satisfied with his job. He had to get to work at 3:00 in the morning and he spent the afternoons and evenings and weekends working on code and learning and self-taught himself. It’s just really encouraging and inspiring to see some – a lot of people that have never had any code experience whatsoever, go on and have these great careers with code or being a programmer, or whatnot. So, it’s a really encouraging podcast. I love when this one comes out. This one is based in seasons as well, so there will be 12 episodes, or 12 weeks in a row or so, then there will be a little bit of a break and then they’ll come back.

So, that one is currently available but there are 176 episodes that you can go back to and listen to. So, that’s the Code Newbie Podcast. The next podcast is an actual WordPress Podcast. It’s called the Get Options Podcast and that is with our friends Kyle Maurer and Adam Silver and I have been on the last couple of shows that have been released for them. But it is a podcast where they usually talk about news; they talk about changes, who is moving in the WordPress space, who is moving from one company to another. They talk about what kind of WordPress swagger they’re wearing during the episode. Then they’ve got some questions. Usually they answer a couple of questions, they play a fun game. The questions have to do with just people submitting questions about WordPress or how would you do this with WordPress or what’s this with WordPress, or what’s the best option for this.

Then they normally have a funny answer that’s just kind of off the cuff and has nothing to do with the actual answer and they actually answer the question. So, that’s the Get Options Podcast. Fifty-four podcasts there that’s been released, so if you’re interested in a fun podcast like that you can check out the getoptionspodcast.com. The next podcast in my queue is also a podcast that is a WordPress one or kind of a WordPress foundational podcast and it’s called How I Built it. This is one all about – Joe, the main host of the show goes in and he asks people how they built it. So, they talk about some of these plugins. The one I recently listened to was one by Nancy Hildebrandt about creating great documentation for Beaver Builder and it talks how she went ahead and – she was a big fan of Beaver Builder but there wasn’t a lot of documentation, so she’s really helped out the team create this very robust, searchable documentation for the Beaver Builder Plugin and whatnot.

So, they’ve got that. They talk about and do interviews with all kinds of people talking about content strategy. We talk about all kinds of things… trademarks, and so while it’s not 100 percent WordPress, most of the folks are involved in the WordPress space in some way, shape, or form. They talk about memberships and how to create things online, how to build a WooCommerce shop with Patrick Rawlings, lots of really cool things. I like to listen to this one because it does give you some of the behind-the-scenes of how people work and whatnot. So, that’s over at howIbuilt.it and, again, in the link in the Show Notes for all of these. A podcast that I like that is a little bit over my head – I don’t quite always get it but it’s called JavaScript for WordPress and this is by Educator Zac Gordon. His goal is to help people learn JavaScript for deeply, so he’s got a few courses that are out there but he does have the podcast. The podcast doesn’t come out super, super often but it is one that is really, really nice and it talks to developers who are very much involved in the JavaScript for WordPress space. They’re building things FOR WordPress within JavaScript. You can learn an awful lot and a lot of times I just listen to try to soak in as much information that I can. It’s one that I enjoy but, again, it’s one that comes out maybe once a month or so. It doesn’t come up very, very often. So, that is a podcast that you may want to take a look at. The next podcast that I love to listen to is called learntocodewith.me.

It is put on by Laurence Bradford and she is a self-taught techie and she has been teaching her skills for over three years. So, she just goes through and does interviews. Kind of like the Code Newbie Podcast but with a different spin and just asks people how they learned to code. She walks through and, on her website, has a lot of different resources to learn to code with the online boot camps or classes, or whatnot. It’s just a really fun podcast. You really get excited about learning to code when you listen to this one because that’s what the whole thing is about is learning to code. The next podcast… the next two, actually, have nothing to do with WordPress or coding, or whatnot, but they are tech podcasts. I love listening to MacBreak weekly and that’s hosted by Leo Laporte. Then Andy Ihnatko, Alex Lindsay, and Rene Ritchie are always on the show as well.

It’s the latest in Apple News. They talk about Macs and iPads and iPhones and all the “i” things. It’s hosted as a live podcast every Tuesday and I typically will listen to this one – I don’t listen to this one very often just because I don’t have time for a two-hour show every week, but usually around the Big Apple announcements I will tune into their podcasts live when they’re doing the Apple Keynote. You can listen to their commentary as it’s happening. Then I also like to listen to this one AFTER those announcements and when new stuff is coming out. When there is a big something in the Apple Ecosphere I like to listen to this podcast. It’s a tech podcast so they talk all things tech, all things Apple and then they share some recommendations and whatnot, so I like that one. The next podcast, again like I said, it’s an Apple one called Mac OS10 and this is a podcast I’ve been listening to since I started listening to podcasts way back in I think it was 2007.

When I started listening to podcasts this is one of the first podcasts that I listened to on my commute to my quote unquote day job when I was working as an engineer at Whirlpool. This is one that basically is anywhere between 8 to 15-minute podcast and it just shares the latest news from Apple. So, it’s a short podcast but it just keeps me updated and it’s about the only news podcast that I follow anywhere. So, at least I know what’s happening in the Mac space and the Apple News. That’s Mac OS10. I’ve got one called Mac Report. It’s a podcast that is brought to us by Mac and from the Mac Report, but basically, he has broken his down into seasons as well. It talks to different folks about business. It’s more of a WordPress Business Podcast. So, he will interview the people that are behind Backup Buddy and how that works and the folks at 10up and if you have your own business, or Troy Dean over at his WP Elevation or RockStar Empires. It just talks all about the business side of WordPress, so this is one that I was listening to when I had my own business and it was super helpful to see what other people were using and solutions, and whatnot, but this is a great podcast. Again, it’s in seasons so it comes and goes but there are tons in the archives and tons that you can learn from if you are running a WordPress business and that’s at macreport.com. The next one is called Kitchen Sink WP and this one is by my friend Adam Silver. He has a short podcast. It’s no more than 15 minutes every Monday. He talks about things that are happening in the news and then a short segment, usually what he’s learning as part of this WordPress development background. He is a full-time WordPress developer. He helps people build their websites.

He has a maintenance services that he offers as well. This is a podcast that I listen to every week. Again, it’s a short one. It usually tells what’s happening in the news, where the next Word Camp is and where the closest Word Camp is happening and just an overall good podcast for a quick hit on WordPress and learning things WordPress. The next podcast is called Shop Talk Show. It’s a shop talk show and it is brought to you by Dave Rupert and Chris Coyier. Chris Coyier is the one from CSS-Tricks and this is a longer show. It’s usually about an hour. It usually has a lot of things that I don’t understand but it’s one of those ones that I like to soak myself in and be immersed and learn just as much as I can. So, some of the recent podcast episodes is Humidity API. I have no idea what that is.

I haven’t had a chance to listen to that one yet. Dev Confessionals CSS in JavaScript addition and twitching and prototyping… a lot of these things I have no idea what it is, like I said. I just listen to it and try to grasp some information and I feel like if I’m listening to smart people talking about code, maybe I’ll get smarter too. So, that’s the Shop Talk Show. One that stopped recently but I really liked. It’s got 700 plus shows back in the archives. It’s called the Simple Programmer Podcast. This one is usually a pretty show as well. It just talks all things becoming a programmer and getting ready for a career in programming. So, not only did they talk about how to learn things and how to pick up different tech tools, and whatnot, but it talks about the side of interviewing and preparing for an interview and how to do a technical interview and all that kind of stuff.

Again, this one stopped as of January, I think, of 2018 but there were 700 shows that you go back and listen to. They were happening when they were going out on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. So, there was a lot of content there to soak up. So, that’s over there at simpleprogrammer.com. Two more here on my list. One of my new favorite podcast is called Syntax and that’s at syntax.fm. This is a podcast they call tasty treats for podcast website developers and it’s brought to you by Wes Bos and Scott Tolenski. These two – I don’t know – they have been teaching in the code space. These aren’t specific WordPress podcasts but it’s all about JavaScript, how to get better at debugging, how to learn new things quickly, a lot of things when it comes to JavaScripting. Both of these have online courses to teach you different things. So, Wes Bos has some classes talking about react and a bunch of JavaScript, different frameworks, and whatnot.

Scott Tolenski has some cool classes as well. There’s one that’s developing JavaScript for WordPress and these two just are really, really smart and I always pick something up during one of their shows. Again, this is like the Shop Talk Show where a lot of things when they’re talking really geeky tech stuff just goes right over my head, especially like the day that they talked about 20 JavaScript array and object methods to make you a better developer. I had no idea what most of that was but I sat through it and I continued to learn. There were certainly some things that I picked up that are definitely going to be helpful in the future. So, I really like Syntax.fm. If you want to get into the JavaScript space, and want to learn more about JavaScript, I definitely recommend Syntax.fm.

Then the last one that I have got here on my list is called the Draft WordPress Podcast, Post Status Draft and it is the podcast brought to you by Brian Krogsgard who runs Post Status and then he has got cohost Brian Richards. They talk all about all things WordPress. Again, it’s a podcast. They talk about the history of WordPress. That was the most recent episode because of the 15th anniversary and the 15th birthday of WordPress. They talk about making WordPress and WordSess. Brian Richards is the one that’s in charge of and is running the WordSess that’s happening in July. He just talks about how that’s all set up and how the calendar would pull in the correct dates and time for people no matter where they were based on geolocation. They talk all about privacy, basically, the big things that are in the news. It’s kind of a dialogue between those things and then they usually have some sort of topic for the show as well.

I REALLY like this one. They really dive deep into topics within the WordPress space and it’s a weekly show now that comes out every week. So, those are the podcasts that I listen to, especially when I’m traveling, but when I get a chance when I’m at home and doing things around the house, mowing the grass, and doing the dishes, and stuff. I try to sneak in some learning time and those are the podcasts that I listen to. Those aren’t the ONLY ones in my queue. There’s a bunch of other ones. I try to learn about leadership and books and all kinds of things but these are the tech podcasts. These 14 shows are what I consider the tech podcasts in my podcast feeder over there in Overcast. So, that’s what I wanted to share with you this week.

It’s a shorter show and, again, I’ll be back in the office next week and you can hear more – I’ll give you a recap of what happened on my team meetup, how we bonded as a team, the things we did, and what a team meetup looks like. So, that’s what I wanted to share with you this week. Take care and we’ll talk again soon. Bye-bye.