Being a guest on the Developer on Fire podcast

I had the pleasure of being a guest on a podcast called Developer on Fire. In each episode, a developer is interviewed, but, unlike many programming podcasts, the show's interviews are not about any particular technology. It is more like an autobiography in audio format. The episodes cover topics like how the developers got started programming, the aspects of the technology that excites them, and failure stories from their careers.

How did I end up being interviewed?

The list of previous guests includes people I respect: Dave Thomas, Jon Skeet, Sandi Metz, Oren Eini, Alan Cooper, Andy Hunt, Ward Cunningham, etc. So, how did I get onto the guest list?

As a fan of the podcast, I gave constructive feedback on what I liked about the show and the least interesting aspects (there are only a few). The feedback served as the starting point for an email exchange. At some point the conversation, Dave asked me to be on the show. One of the topics that might interested people was 4-day workweek.

What was it like?

As a long time listener of the show, I was fascinated with my involvement in creating an episode. I have always admired the way Dave Rael interviews people. He listens to the guests and then restates and summarizes in a way that brings new insights to the previously heard. He remembers what previous guests said and creates links between these discussions.

Even though I have given meetup talks and spoke at training sessions and workshops, this was something that was outside of my comfort zone. Speaking English (my native language is Finnish) into a microphone while being recorded is something I don't do every day.

Also, I felt a bit anxious about whether I had anything to say that hadn't already been said and whether I would say something stupid.

To summarize the whole experience: If you want to grow, you need to get out of your comfort zone, and this was definitely outside of my comfort zone!

You can find the episode here: Episode 181 | Tatu Tamminen - Making A Mark. All feedback, positive or negative, is highly appreciated!