Modern Web

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 poten...

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 rel...

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. Th...

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 str...

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. Th...

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 conve...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 corp...

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 opp...

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, sh...

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 insigh...

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, balancin...

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 datab...

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 t...

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 cu...

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 lik...

In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, recorded backstage at All Things Open, hosts Rob Ocel and Tracy Lee sit down with Bermon Painter, Composable Platforms Leader at Slalom, to explore how behavioral economics shapes ethical UX design. They discuss real-world examples like continuous glucose monitors, AI-driven personalization, and tackling dark patterns while balancing user trust and busine...

In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, recorded at All Things Open in Raleigh, NC, Rob Ocel talks with Tobie Morgan Hitchcock, co-founder and CEO of SurrealDB , about redefining databases. SurrealDB consolidates the complexity of using multiple database models—relational, graph, document, and more—into a single platform, enabling advanced queries and features like time travel. Toby shares insi...

Hosts Tracy Lee and Rob Ocel talk with Jesse Hall , Staff Developer Advocate at MongoDB , about the future of databases, web frameworks, and the evolving role of developers. They explore how MongoDB's latest release is transforming data storage and access patterns, the mindset shift required for adopting document databases, and the rise of vector databases. The conversation also covers the current...

In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast , recorded live at All Things Open in Raleigh, NC, hosts Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson sit down with Dr. Sally Wahba , Principal Software Engineer at Splunk. Dr. Wahba shares her experience tackling on-call burnout, offering insights into reducing fatigue through better observability, automation, and thoughtful team practices. The conversation also touches o...

In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Danny Thompson sits down with Ferdinand Como and Baptiste Leproux from Nuxt Labs to uncover the story behind Nuxt Studio, a tool that's transforming how developers and non-technical users interact with Nuxt applications. Ferdinand and Baptiste share how Nuxt Studio bridges the gap between developer customization and user-friendly content management. Built...

In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson chat with Lawrence Lockhart, Developer Advocate at Vaadin, about using Java on the front end. Lawrence introduces Vaadin’s frameworks, Flow and Hilla, which empower Java developers to build full-stack applications without needing JavaScript. They discuss Vaadin's web components, built-in accessibility, seamless integration with...