Crossword

Sé Reed joins Jonathan and Luke to discuss WordPress contribution, community, dictatorship, leadership, accountability, optimism, exploitation, and what happens next. Sé shares her perspective and the impact that the past few years have had on her experience as a contributor. Jonathan has an "ah ha" moment about trust, Luke suggests a shift in focus, and Sé invites Luke back.

Jonathan and Luke discuss AI usage in the plugin review queue and the impact of increased submission volume. Luke offers an existential question, Jonathan crosses the line, and Luke asks listeners for input on his idea.

Amy Kamala joins Luke and Jonathan to discuss art, poetry, biology, and how decisions get made in the WordPress project. Amy shares her perspective on the human element in automation, Luke expresses his love for contributors over contributions, and Jonathan offers insight into why he and Luke are still together.

Luke and Jonathan discuss the upcoming WordCamp Europe and their mixed feelings about Matt’s latest appeal. Jonathan expresses a dichotomy he’s trying to work through and Luke expresses his disappointment in Jonathan’s latest work.

Luke has a change of heart about Matt’s renewed involvement and Jonathan gushes over Desktop Mode. They discuss the Presence API and the new WordPress.org Janitors channel. Jonathan makes a basketball reference that goes over Luke’s head.

Jonathan and Luke are back and kickoff the season with an uncomprehensive recap of recent events. Luke offers his thoughts on Matt’s reemergence into the project and Jonathan offers his take on where the opportunity is for WordPress in the new world of AI.

Luke goes solo to WordCamp Asia and records a bonus episode of Crossword. He narrates his contributor day experience, monologues delightfully through day one and two, and, sadly, avoids all cricket references. A special thanks to Kinsta for sponsoring this episode.

Luke and Jonathan bring season 10 to a close. Jonathan attempts to reflect on the Crossword decalogy and Luke isn't having it. They end up talking about AI instead which, of course, was much more interesting.

Miriam Schwab joins Luke and Jonathan to discuss the Elementor ecosystem, what other product companies can learn from its growth, and how Elementor thinks about its relationship with the wider WordPress project. Luke asks a question about dependency, Jonathan geeks out about ecosystem thinking, and Miriam welcomes ideas from listeners.

Jonathan and Luke talk through the upcoming end of the Crossword season. They discuss WP Engine’s new offering and offer their speculations. Luke brings up the new Agent Skills project and steps up onto his soapbox.

Jonathan and Luke have a chat with Jonathan Desrosiers , WordPress Core Committer and Principle Software Engineer at Bluehost. They discuss a recent episode of Crossword and a preview of Desrosiers's now published blog post . Wold asks for clarity on do-acracy vs meritocracy and the three discuss the importance of both active and passive contributions. Desrosiers offers his guidance for new contri...

Luke and Jonathan discuss plugin piracy then segue into the WordPress project’s goals for 2026. Luke has mixed feelings about the AI emphasis and Jonathan resurrects the idea of WordPress as an operating system, to Luke’s chagrin.

Luke and Jonathan catch up with Jeff Paul, VP of Open Source Solutions at Fueled and an active contributor to the WordPress project for the past decade. They discuss Jeff's contribution journey, their shared agency experiences, and thoughts on the upcoming 7.0 release. Luke introduces the concept of cool and dodgy versions of WordPress and Jeff shares guidance for newcomers to contribution.

Luke kicks off Crossword with a surprise and Jonathan rolls with it. They discuss fresh WordPress drama, the plugin review team’s use (or non-use) of AI, and Luke shares his take on AI in WordPress plugins.

Luke and Jonathan enjoy a conversation with Rae Morey, publisher of The Repository . Rae shares her origin story and they discuss the top stories of 2025. Luke expresses his optimism for 2026 and Jonathan asks Rae about the sustainability of The Repository itself. Oh, and AI, of course.

Tammie Lister joins Luke and Jonathan to discuss vibe coding, product thinking, and breaking free from a designer typecast into a reputation for product engineering. They also discuss the importance and relevance of WordPress, themes, and cricket.

Luke and Jonathan start talking immediately after the previous episode and decide to record again. Luke geeks out about the Notes feature, his experiments with it, and subsequent contribution attempt. Jonathan enjoys the show.

Luke and Jonathan talk through the WordPress 6.9 update and their highlights. Jonathan attempts to make a point about comparing WordPress updates to other ecosystems and Luke isn’t having it.

Jonathan and Luke discuss Matt’s keynote and the reversal in their expectations going into the event. They share their surprise at a particular data point and Luke offers a few highlights from his recent experience at Enqueue in Sydney.

Luke and Jonathan are back from an unplanned break and pick up with Luke’s growing interest in the FAIR project. Jonathan asks questions about how things work and expresses his present, yet softening cynicism. They also talk about the Internet Archive’s new project with Automattic.

Jonathan and Luke discuss the copying of plugins and the history of doing so in the WordPress ecosystem. Jonathan realizes what’s been bothering him about it all and Luke points out the difference between stated and practiced values. They also start to talk AI browsers.

Luke and Jonathan discuss WooCommerce and the opportunities (and challenges) for newcomers like FluentCart. Luke shares the four things he thinks an ecommerce product needs and Jonathan enjoys Luke’s unexpected breakthrough.

FAIR 1.0 has been released! Jonathan and Luke discuss the implications of the project, modifying the WordPress admin’s “featured plugins”, and the impact of a federated ecosystem. Luke thinks Jonathan failed the challenge.

Jonathan and Luke speak with Matt. Yep, that Matt. They talk about jazz, blogging, photography, and the infuriating, heartbreaking, grey-hair-making drama that’s engulfed the WordPress community over the last year.

Jonathan and Luke discuss their nervousness going in to their recording with Matt Mullenweg. They share the preparation process, the questions they wrestled with, the approach they decided to take, and how the experience went.