logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2025
55m 59s

Is This the End of Tech Conferences? w/ ...

RobbieTheWagner and Charles William Carpenter III, The Radcast Network
About this episode

This week, Robbie and Chuck talk with Dax Raad about his evolving career from software engineer to open-source advocate and content creator. They dive into his work on SST, explore the bizarre economics of tech conferences, and get into Dax’s next big move—manufacturing drone parts in the U.S. for the military.


In this episode:

  • (00:00) - Intro
  • (02:57) - Whiskey intro and rating: Glenmorangie "A Tale of Tokyo" Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
  • (12:12) - Rails vs Laravel
  • (13:49) - New York vs Miami
  • (15:54) - Meat vs Veggies
  • (19:55) - What is Dax bad at?
  • (24:05) - The real value of conferences
  • (35:14) - APIs and frameworks
  • (38:06) - React Miami
  • (41:59) - Eero routers
  • (44:27) - What would you do if software development went away?
  • (46:41) - Using ChatGPT to create an NPM library
  • (48:00) - Claude vs ChatGPT
  • (50:56) - What should people be learning for job safety?
  • (53:41) - Plugs


Links

  • Glenmorangie "A Tale of Tokyo" Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky: https://www.glenmorangie.com/en-us/products/a-tale-of-tokyo
  • Tomorrow.fm: https://tomorrow.fm
  • Adam Argyle: https://x.com/argyleink/
  • SST: https://sst.dev/
  • Norlan: https://norlanglass.com/
  • Ken Wheeler: https://x.com/ken_wheeler/
  • Rails: https://rubyonrails.org/
  • Laravel: https://laravel.com/
  • Don't Die: https://dontdie.bryanjohnson.com/
  • Oura: https://ouraring.com/
  • Kent C. Dodds: https://kentcdodds.com/
  • React Miami: https://www.reactmiami.com/
  • EmberConf: https://www.emberconf.com/
  • Orbit.js: https://orbitjs.com/
  • Primeagen: https://x.com/ThePrimeagen
  • Eero: https://www.eero.com/
  • ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/
  • Claude: https://claude.ai/


Connect with Dax

  • Website: https://thdxr.com/
  • X / Twitter: https://x.com/thdxr
  • Podcast: https://tomorrow.fm/
  • Coffee: https://www.terminal.shop/


Connect with Chuck and Robbie

  • Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner
  • Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd


Subscribe and stay in touch

  • Website: https://whiskey.fm
  • Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603
  • Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf
  • Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603
  • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot


Whiskey Web and Whatnot Merch

Enjoying the podcast and want us to make more? Help support us by picking up some of our fresh merch at https://whiskey.fund.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next
Yesterday
Is CSS a Programming Language? w/ Kevin Powell
This week, Robbie and Adam talk with Kevin Powell about the quirks and complexities of CSS, from Tailwind and Flexbox to AI’s failure to write decent styles. While sipping some Crown Royal Black, they dig into weird web history, emerging CSS specs, toast milestones, and the beaut ... Show More
52m 25s
Oct 2
TalkShop Show w/ Macho Man Randy Standards
This week, Robbie and Adam talk with Dave "Macho Man Randy Standards" Rupert about whiskey, web culture, and the quirks of building side projects. They dive into the shifting landscape of the web—AI-driven development, spec-driven workflows, RSS’s decline, and the joy (and pain) ... Show More
1 h
Sep 25
Agents of Chaos: Whiskey Experiments and the Future of IDEs
This week, Chuck and Adam talk about flavored whiskeys, offbeat experiments, and the chaos of tech culture. They discuss AI workflows, Warp vs. IDE debates, and the realities of coding culture, from bleeding-edge hype to WordPress drudgery. Plus, Chuck shares updates on life in I ... Show More
48m 52s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2024
809: How To Stay Up To Date with Daily.dev’s Francesco Ciulla
In this episode of Syntax, Scott and Wes talk with Daily.dev’s Francesco Ciulla about the platform's history, community features, and significant growth. They dive into the core ideas behind daily.dev, including its personalized feed for developers, new features like squads, comm ... Show More
45m 17s
Jun 2024
Are Coding Jobs at Risk? AI's Impact on the Future of Coding ft. Python Simplified | Mariya Sha
Episode 12: Are coding jobs at risk with the rise of AI? Matt Wolfe (https://x.com/mreflow) and Nathan Lands (https://x.com/NathanLands) dive into this compelling topic with guest Mariya Sha (https://x.com/mariyasha888), a seasoned coder and the creator of the popular YouTube cha ... Show More
42m 37s
Sep 9
I Typed This… and AI Built the App
Want to build your own apps with AI? Get the prompts here: https://clickhubspot.com/gfb Episode 75: What if you could turn your app idea into a fully functional web application—without writing a single line of code—in under 60 seconds? Nathan Lands (https://x.com/NathanLands) wel ... Show More
40m 57s
Mar 2025
The creator of WordPress opens up about becoming an internet villain, why he’s taking a stand, and the future of open source | Matt Mullenweg (founder and CEO, Automattic)
Matt Mullenweg is the co-founder of WordPress, the open source platform powering a staggering 43% of the internet. He also serves as CEO of Automattic—the parent company of brands like WordPress.com, WooCommerce, and Tumblr—which is worth over $7 billion, with over 1,700 employee ... Show More
1h 34m
Dec 2022
552: Potluck × Twitter Thoughts × Business Models × Senior Developer
In this potluck episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott answer your questions about how to give feedback on the podcast, deciding on a business model for courses, what to do about Twitter, and more. Linode - Sponsor Whether you’re working on a personal project or managing enterprise inf ... Show More
1h 6m
Sep 17
TECH001: AI for Activists w/ Justin Moon and Shroominic (Tech Podcast)
From Oslo's spotlight to global frontlines, Justin and Shroominic share how activists are harnessing AI for storytelling, translation, and rapid response while also navigating threats from authoritarian AI. Explore the core building blocks, decentralized models, and how anyone ca ... Show More
49m 43s
Sep 11
Inside OpenAI Enterprise: Forward Deployed Engineering, GPT-5, and More | BG2 Guest Interview
Open Source bi-weekly convo w/ Bill Gurley and Brad Gerstner on all things tech, markets, investing & capitalism. This week, guest host Altimeter’s Apoorv Agrawal explores how OpenAI is reshaping enterprise with Sherwin Wu, Head of Engineering OpenAI Platform, and Olivier Godemen ... Show More
1h 8m
Sep 24
940: Picking a Fullstack Stack, Is Next.js Too Complex? Services vs Self-Hosted + More
In this potluck episode, Wes and Scott answer your questions about modern full-stack stacks, Node.js backend options, managing database indexes, developer burnout, handling toxic bosses, and more! Show Notes 00:00 Welcome to Syntax! 02:36 What’s your go-to Node.js backend in 2025 ... Show More
1h 5m
Mar 2025
Grok 3 vs Claude 3.7 vs GPT-4.5: Which Update is The Best?
Episode 48: How do the latest updates to large language models stack up against each other? Matt Wolfe (https://x.com/mreflow) and Nathan Lands (https://x.com/NathanLands) are joined by Matthew Berman (https://x.com/MatthewBerman), an expert in deep-diving and testing the nuances ... Show More
46m 59s
Sep 2024
Stack Overflow Signs Deal with OpenAI to Sell User Data
In this episode, we explore the recent partnership between Stack Overflow and OpenAI, detailing how Stack Overflow's vast repository of developer insights and coding solutions will be utilized to enhance OpenAI's models. We'll dive into the implications of this collab ... Show More
6m 12s