Pursuit Podcast

This week's episode features Jenn Schiffer talking about the aesthetics and creative community of the Glitch platform. This online platform allows code newbies and experts to remix and share their web and node.js projects and invites meaningful community collaboration. Learn more about the value of creativity in tech education and exploration.

The Guild of Makers came out of an idea: what if there was a way for makers of all manner of physical objects could come together, share knowledge and professionalize their work building beautiful, useful, sometimes strange things. Lucy Rogers joins us to talk about the Guild of Makers as well as a look at some of her work as a host of Robot Wars.

For folks looking to enter the tech industry, learning to code is often presented as the one sure fire route in. But what happens when learning to code doesn't work out? We're joined by tech journalist and accessibility technology specialist Kit Englard to talk about her experiences. As a Deaflblind student Kit found materials and working practices in physics and programming poorly adapted for her needs. She went on to carve out her own space in the tech industry.

This episode is part of a cross over special with the Hanselminutes podcast. Scott Hanselman and Jessica Rose air some of the worst advice listeners have sent in and talk about bad advice in technology. To listen to the first half of this podcast, visit hanselminutes.com

For people learning to code, feeling alone on their learning journey can be one of the biggest challenges. Join Saron Yitbarek, the founder of the CodeNewbies community to learn about how emerging developers are getting together to support each other on their journey. Learn more about CodeNewbies, learning to code and creating your own supportive communities.

Learning a new skill can be a daunting task, with programming being especially tricky. But what can you do when most learning materials and tools aren't accessible to you? Blind backend developer Parham Doustdar joins us to talk about how he taught himself to program, the challenges he faced and his advice for other visually impaired developers. We also look at the ways educational resources and programming as a whole can be made more accessible, opening up technology to eager new learners and makers.

For people learning programming languages for the first time moving beyond in browser tutorials can be a major hurdle to success. Quincy Larson joins us to look at his free, open source learning platform FreeCodeCamp.org and talks us through the challenges he faced founding the project. We also look at common challenges to learners and how the tech industry can better support new coders.

As part of our series looking at working for yourself, the founder of WeddingLovely and publisher of the popular Hello Web Books series Tracy Osborn joins us to talk about balancing writing a book while working for yourself. Tracy talks us through the logistics of writing, publishing and marketing a book in detail while sharing how she balances running her own business alongside her writing.

Thinking about getting into freelancing and wondering what the long term impacts of working for yourself might be? Or perhaps you've been working for yourself for some time and want to see how your experiences stack up? Battle-scarred veteran freelancer Remy Sharp of Left Logic joins us to talk about the challenges of working for yourself long term. We'll look at isolation, avoidance and motivation, offering tips and tricks to help you do more.

Pivoting: Kim Crayton

Want to start working for yourself but not sure how to fit it all into a workday? Or you're already working for yourself and want to better manage your busy schedule? Expert consultant, internationally recognized speaker and co-founder of Perch CMS Rachel Andrew joins us to talk about being busy, fitting it all in and work/life balance.

Ever wanted to quit your job and work for yourself, on projects of your choosing? International speaker, trainer, consultant and front end expert Sara Soueidan joins us to talk about the benefits and challenges of becoming a contractor. We'll look at contracting advice born of her experiences that you can apply to your escape from the rat race or just to learn more about tech contracting. https://www.sarasoueidan.com/

Ever wonder how to walk away from the open source project you've built, loved and maintained? John Resig, the creator of jQuery, joins us to talk about how to say goodbye. We'll look at what leaving your project feels like, how to do it in a healthy way and what moving on to new challenges can bring to your life.

Dan Abramov a maintainer and of the popular React JavaScript library joins us to talk about the challenges and rewards of maintaining a popular open source project. He offers insights into the way the Facbook react team works to support React and respond to user needs, while offering you advice for your own large or small open source projects.

Love open source? Looking to break into the tech industry? Oracle's Vaishali Thakkar joins us to talk about how you can leverage your open source involvement to find work in the tech industry. We'll look at programs like Rails Girls Summer of Code and Outreachy that could be able to pay you as you upskill intro the industry alongside Vaishali's own professional journey.