Breaking Change

The promise of Breaking Change is that with every major version (this being the 60th episode of the program, but only the 53rd such release), I will break something . Well, I finally did it. I think I broke the show. Find out how by listening for yourself! Want to be my friend? Drop me a line at justin@searls.co . Want to file a complaint with my supervisor? Forward your concerns to podcast@searls...

Today, we're joined by a very special guest, Len Testa ! You might know him from The Disney Dish podcast or from his excellent theme park travel planning app Touring Plans . Or you might not know him at all! No wrong answers. This episode is all about Disney's ill-fated Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser live action role-playing hotel—which we both had the opportunity to experience right when it firs...

Sure feels like some combination of AI, the US military, and the AI military could bring an end to the world any day now, so I figured I'd better record one last show for posterity. Welcome me on this version's speedrun to the apocalypse! So long as the EMP blasts don't nuke all our ham radios, write in to podcast@searls.co and I'll read it on the next release of the program. Over. Be sure to clic...

I feel like I'm getting saltier, and it's concerning. If you want me to tone it down and/or up, let me know. It'll go a lot better if you just write to podcast@searls.co instead of yelling at your phone. As usual, I brought the goods. Now here are the receipts: prove_it is doing its job, mostly Aaron's puns, ranked Starsand Island studio confused by alleged 'praise-bombing' attack Sony is consider...

Elon has combined 3 of his 4 businesses and everything makes sense. Also, I went to Japan and all I came back with was another weird story about animal sperm. Other stuff happened too, but let's be honest, it's the typical AI schlock you've come to expect from this decade. Write in with your own takes to podcast@searls.co . Please. Really! Do it. Citations needed? 白子揚げ = 🐟🍆💦🍟 scrapple scra...

I'm about to get on a plane and will be gone for a couple weeks, but didn't want to leave you Breaking Changeless so I did the thing where I stand up in front of a microphone and talked at you. Again. Like I do. Fun fact: this is the first and only time I've taken a phone call live, on-air! I was just too lazy to edit that out gracefully. Whenever I go to Japan solo, I experience moments of loneli...

During the end-of-year podcasting doldrums, I'm pleased to bring you this Feature Release , in which I eschew my tradition of eschewing traditions and present a second annual sorting of the puns. As 2025 (a.k.a. Season 2) of Breaking Change comes to a close, Aaron Patterson once again joins the show to execute our latest iteration of the punsort algorithm. Following along at home? Here's a spoiler...

I'm experiencing what breathing out of my nose properly feels like for the first time. Everything is new and wondrous and I've never felt so optimistic. This sensation lasted for two days and now I'm used to it and existence is once again pain. Share your existential musings at podcast@searls.co and I'll nod and sigh along. I might even nod and sigh performatively for you on the show! Important gr...

Had a little pep in my step this time. Maybe it's because I decided to start recording after 7 AM for once. Maybe it's because I can finally fucking breathe out of my nose holes. Tell me about what you do while you continue to draw breath at podcast@searls.co . Things you can read if you're bored: Beckygram.com Aaron's puns, ranked Steam Frame and Steam Machine Xbox reportedly warning of yet anoth...

I'm back and I'm angry. My power went out, which caused my Internet to go down, which broke my favorite mug. And that's just the shit that happened before 7 AM. By 9 AM my doorbell was continuously chiming for no fucking reason. Join me in the struggle. We shall persevere. Tell me how your morning went by writing in to: podcast@searls.co . Here 4 U: Kudos to Adam Mcrea and Judoscale for solving my...

This may be the version 45 release of Breaking Change, but when you factor in its Hotfixes and Feature Release entries, this is somehow the 50th episode of the show! Why? Why are we still doing this to ourselves? Write in your answer and how you feel about yourself as a result to podcast@searls.co . Seriously, I need some new material. The web runs on links, so have some: KnightCite's Wikipedia pa...

Post-recording update: As I've been lobbying for (both publicly and behind the scenes), it has been announced that the RubyGems and Bundler client libraries are being transferred to Matz and the Ruby core team . Mike McQuaid (of Homebrew fame) and I scheduled this episode of Hot Fix a week before the Ruby community exploded . Hot Fix is all about getting spicy, but even we were a little wary of th...

If you know who José Valim is, then you know he probably made a mistake by joining me for our third installment of 🔥 Hotfix 🔥. The inventor of the Elixir programming language is at it again with his colleagues at Dashbit and they've got a new product called Tidewave . It's a coding agent with a twist: it has such a deep level of integration with your web framework that it can get the executable...

Hey, look! Breaking Change now has chapter support for each segment! More on how I did that while still upholding my commitment to laziness later. I didn't get a good job connecting this version's release to what I was referencing, so to be clear I was referring to my heart rate as opposed to any other bodily functions. The other ones are getting up just fine, thank you. Get your head out of the g...

It's an emergency bonus edition of Breaking Change as I take the covers off yet another show-within-a-show. I call it Feature Release , and its job is to fill in that middle number in our semantically versioned series of conversations together. No pun, no news, just some timely content wrapped up in a name, logo, and jingle package that still has that new podcast smell. It's a 1-hour review of the...

Remember it is your civic duty to e-mail me at podcast@searls.co . As of this episode, that address is monitored by Fastmail , so there's a higher probability I'll actually get your e-mail! Some links you won't click: Why I-4 is the most dangerous highway in America The Beak and the Barrel Sign up for Fastmail . It is good. The Gilroy Order Making ChatGPT doubt itself Why I wasn't cut out for mana...

🔥 Hotfix 🔥 is back with a new guest! Scott Werner is the CEO of Sublayer , helps organize the Artificial Ruby meetup in NYC, and is the author of the extremely well-named (and well-written) Substack, Works on my Machine . In this conversation, we jointly grapple with WTF is happening to programming as a career. Did the unprecedented peacetime the software industry experienced from 2005-2022 make...

Thanks for writing so many lovely emails to podcast@searls.co . Hell, thanks even for the unlovely ones. Be sure to look out for me showing up on Dead Code at some point after it records next Tuesday. I'm realizing not all podcasts have a 1-hour-or-less turnaround time like this one does. As promised, some URLs follow: Want a Japanese girlfriend? Better be the right Myers-Briggs type Aaron's puns,...

I've made it! I'm over the hump! I'm actually writing * my language-learning app in Swift! Send an email expressing how proud you are of me to podcast@searls.co . Or if there's any news worth following that isn't about AI. Too much AI stuff lately. * And by "I'm writing", I admit Claude Code is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. Hyperlinks: Girlfriend Reviews of Mario Kart World Mari...

Finally, a recommendation-heavy, full-mailbag show. Been a while. New to the pod are achievements—watch your BreakingScore™ increase each time you write in to podcast@searls.co . The winner will receive nothing, probably. Lynx: Coke BlāK My Full-breadth developers post When I discovered Claude is working for the weekend My latest newsletter that admits why I haven't started yet Aaron's puns, ranke...

Welcome to the first episode of 🔥Hotfix🔥! Breaking Change's first show-within-a-show, wherein I let somebody else talk for once. Each episode will show up as a patch release in the Breaking Change feed and feature guests with Hot takes about a relevant issue and a clear fix in mind for what we can do about it. That first guest is a long-time collaborator and top 5 all-time colleague of mine name...

I have returned to the nation of freedom and tariffs and all my shit has stopped working! Which shit? Why? What did I buy now? Listen and find out. Remember, listeners who write in to podcast@searls.co will be spared on judgment day. Website stuff follows: Hirome Ichiba in Kochi City Japan's ocean whirlpool (渦) boats Indigo La End POSSE Party Tessie Tesla app Aaron's puns, ranked We finally may b...

Spoiler alert: I'm in the same country as I was for v37, but this time from a different nondescript business hotel. Also: I have good personal news! And, as usual, bad news news. I don't get to pick the headlines though, I just read them. This episode comes with a homework assignment. First, watch Apple's keynote at 10 AM pacific on June 9th . Second, e-mail podcast@searls.co with all your takes....

Coming to you LIVE from a third straight week of Japanese business hotels comes me, Justin, in his enduring quest to figure out how to exchange currency for real estate in the land of the rising fun. [Programming note: apologies, as the audio quality at the beginning of the podcast suffered because I fucked up and left the hotel room's air conditioner on (I caught it and fixed it from the pun sect...

I'm going away on a trip for an unexpectedly long time, and you'll never guess why! (You might guess why.) Anyway, here's something to remember me by. If you've ever been worried about whether something you cared about would work out okay, email podcast@searls.co and tell me about it so that I can share your story with a bunch of strangers on the Internet. Video of this edition of the show is up o...