Ever wondered what it is about open source software that makes people want to give so freely of their time?
Well, this podcast for open-source contributors, future, past and present, by open-source contributors, is your one-stop shop to answering that question. We meet to discuss all things open-source; everything from the work itself to the communities we find ourselves in. Expect insight, ideas and idle chatter from four experienced developers: Lotte Pitcher, Carole Logan, Laura Weatherhead and Emma Burstow.
Live from Spark 2026: AI, Play and the Human in the Loop
Live from the Umbraco Spark Innovation Conference in Bristol! Emma, Laura and Lotte were joined by Phil Whittaker, AI Staff Engineer at Umbraco HQ - someone who's been thinking and talking about AI in development for longer than most. Together we talk about play as a superpower for developer learning, what returning from maternity leave looks like in an AI-transformed workplace, why developers approaching retirement are finding a second wind, and why augmentation beats automation every time.
A massive thank you to our live audience for missing out on the sunshine and making it so fun to record!
Links:
Umbraco Spark: https://umbracospark.com/ (https://umbracospark.com/)
Phil Whittaker's blog: https://dev.to/phil-whittaker (https://dev.to/phil-whittaker)
10 Nov 2025
Live from Umbraco in the City Manchester!
All four of us were together in-person - for the first time over two years - at Umbraco in the City, a community-organised event in Manchester. We talked about what contributions look like to a mature open-source product with a team of full time engineers working on the codebase. Are code contributions still the “gold-standard”, were they ever? We discuss this and what other types of contrubitions make a meaningful difference to the Umbraco CMS in front of a wonderful live audience.
Thanks to our guests - Michael Latouche, Paul Seal and our new best friend Kieron McIntyre - for taking the microphone and sharing their contribution stories.
High five to them and the audience, we had a lot of fun!
Links
Umbraco in the City (https://www.umbracointhe.city/)
Core collabs team page (https://community.umbraco.com/learn-about-the-community/community-teams/the-core-collaborators/)
Paul Seal’s starter kit (https://our.umbraco.com/packages/starter-kits/clean-starter-kit/), and post about the PR from Andy (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-seal-3064892_umbraco-activity-7386779278002003969-SoU-?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAW74_YBV3u9EQnwiLbNY-AGuarbE2fo6O0)
UMB.FYI (https://umb.fyi/)
Umbraco Spark (https://umbracospark.com/)
29 Aug 2025
Community, Parenthood & Change
In this episode we get personal about what it means to be part of open source and tech communities while navigating major life changes. From returning to work after maternity leave and balancing "mum guilt", to speaking at conferences while seven months pregnant, we explore the realities of contributing through parenthood.
We also discuss how brain changes in motherhood can affect our work, how ageing shapes the way we give back, and why normalising conversations about menopause at work matters.
Candid, honest, and full of lived experience - this episode shines a light on the evolving nature of contribution and community.
Links:
Carole's blog post (https://carole.dev/blog/returning-from-maternity-leave-sustainable-community-involvement/) that inspired this episode!
If you have any feedback, comments or questions you can email hello@candidcontributions.com or join the Umbraco Discord server (https://discord.umbraco.com) and find this episode in the #news channel!
Who has been a guest on Candid Contributions
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Richard Ockerby
Andy Boot
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