Smol Der - The Professional Applied AI Podcast

Jim Duffy and Host James Wagenheim ring in the New Year with a two part series covering great moments in the Smol Der podcast in 2025. We AI use in eveything from developing apps, robotics, creative writing, cyber security, magic, education, and music. If you like this episode, please hit the like button or subscribe. Or if you want to support the podcast, you can find us on patreon. https://patre...

In this episode of Smol Der – the professional’s applied AI podcast, host James Wagenheim sits down with Will Mason (digital entrepreneur and musician) for a practical conversation on what generative AI is actually changing and what it still cannot replace. Will argues that iteration is the root of creativity, explains why humans still win on taste and originality, and shares a hard-earned lesson:...

Penetration testing is changing fast—but not always in the ways the hype suggests. James Wagenheim sits down with fiction author and pentest lead Alex Fox to unpack modern pentesting, real-world escalation paths, and what LLMs mean for both attackers and defenders. We also discuss how LLMs are a poor substitute for human creativity. In this episode, James and Alex zoom in on what “penetration test...

Today’s guest, Art Director and Filmmaker Ian Pullens, who also happens to be my brother-in-law. It’s not nepotism that drove me to invite Ian today, it’s the fact that Ian is a hugely inspiring creative with a keen eye for quality and a sharp mind for process. Ian has produced some of the coolest and most thoughtful films and creative pieces for companies and deploys a wide range of skills to bri...

Inventor, magician, and former Google prototyper Seth Raphael joins James to explore how AI can spark real wonder—not slop. Seth cofounded Hello Wonder, an AI platform that reshapes the internet for kids in real time based on parent values and each child’s interests. After two and a half years building the product, Hello Wonder was acquired by Noggin (home to Blue’s Clues and Bill Nye the Science...

How does AI transform learning without killing curiosity? In this episode, I sit down with Lucas Ames of Global Online Academy (GOA) to unpack what actually works—and what doesn’t—when bringing AI into K-12 classrooms. *Core themes* Curiosity first: Tech should increase student curiosity. If tools switch off active thinking, you’ve gone too far. From rote to higher-order: Like calculators, AI shif...

When setting out to produce Smol Der, my goal was to create at least 12 episodes in my first gambit and this is the halfway mark and so today I have a special treat for everyone listening because I’ve asked Jim Duffy from Episode 1 to come back as my co-host. Jim as you may know is a delightful and intelligent developer with Hubspot and a personal friend and he and I talk with Adam Hanson, an auto...

Today’s guest, John Draper a CAM Automation Software Developer With Hexagon. He is a talented, Machinist with deep experience in Computational Geometry and Precision Manufacturing and a close personal friend of mine. Automation has been a cornerstone of manufacturing since the industrial revolution and in today’s discussion John and I will explore how AI, the successor to early robotics and automa...

Peter is a Roboticist and a robotics consultant with Vairc, and as you will hear, he has a ton of experience and expertise across a wide range of disciplines in the field. He shares insight into what is happening on the bleeding edge of robotics and physical and artificial intelligence. Peter traces a nonlinear path into robotics: early exposure building ultra-precise gyroscopes for NASA’s Gravity...

Practical Conclusions for Macro AI Trends on Smol Der, The Professional's Applied AI Podcast with Charles Drew of Autodesk - Episode 02

Learn what it is like to use multiple Claude Code instances at once to unlock your capacity with generative, Agentic AI. Learn how planning mode can help keep you organized as you advance work with agentic tools without the risk.