Tag: Podcast

http://www.radiolab.org/story/null-and-void/

This podcast from Radiolab is intriguing. The first half had me hoping for the underdog, then there’s an interview with a very cross older gentleman, who’s clearly had enough of not having his voice heard…. At which point, I realise what is proposed could “burn it [American Civilisation] all down”… And suddenly I don’t want the underdog to win.

And the reason I think this is “one to listen to” is because of that guy. Basically, if you fight so passionately about something that you’re ready to hurt someone over that thing, you need to take a step back and check it’s the right thing to be fighting for. Chances are, it probably isn’t.

This podcast talks about a concept in US (and probably UK) law called “Jury Nullification”, where even if the law clearly defines some act or inaction to be prohibited, the Jury can express their distaste about that law by deciding “Not Guilty”. If that verdict comes down often enough, it “might” send a message to the law makers that there’s something wrong with that particular law, and perhaps it will be re-written.

Today’s recommended podcast listening is from the CodeNewbie podcast, and this episode is about trying to level the playing field for any minority group looking to get into technology. It also discusses how focusing on the “next generation” of [Required Group Of People] is the wrong way to do it, and just pushes back the problem by 10+ years (until *they* get out of school and find there are no jobs for them either!)

The subject of the interview is Ashe Dryden, a woman who, among other things is a diversity consultant and organiser of AlterConf, a conference about Diversity.

As a conference organiser in tech, I’m keen to keep a close eye on how to do things better, and this interview really opened my eyes into how you *can* do better at organising conferences, and I’ll be taking as much of what I can from this interview to do my next conference better.

Today we have a podcast about negotiating salary from the IEEE Software Engineering Magazine. The episode is “Software Engineering Radio Episode 275: Josh Doody on Salary Negotiation for Software Engineers” and mentions that you don’t need to offer your current salary to prospective employers, nor do you need to tell them what salary you want – let them offer you a figure, which gives you the power to negotiate.

Clearly, these are some things I should have learned from when I was applying for my earlier jobs! If you’re looking for a new job, or just looking to maximise your next pay rise, take a listen to this show!

In something of a new concept for me, if I come across a link to a podcast episode that I think has useful content, I’ll link to it here.

In this case, this is the “Magic: The Gathering – Drive to Work podcast“, episode 375 (audio link).

Mark Rosewater, one of the designers of the popular game, explains a little something about the game, whether it’s the design of a card, or a set, or a mechanic, or …. well, any feature of the game really, and he does it twice a week, in the car, on his way to (or from) work.

In this episode, he details about why “Details Matter”, and basically it comes down to a sense of ownership that each little detail on a tiny piece of card, and how that can connect with a player and encourage them to keep playing.

Even if you don’t play Magic, this podcast (like many that I listen to) covers a facet of life that is generally under considered, and in this case, it has turned up something new to include in each design I bring forward from here on out.