When are you programming, and when are you just pretending ... really, really, well? Cargo cult science is a term Richard Feynman invented to describe one way of doing science wrong. The computer science world has adapted the label to "cargo cult programming". When you copy/pasta from Reddit or Stack Overflow or from a chat bot or from someone else's project, but you don't understand why the pasted code helps or what could prove it wrong, you aren't doing the job. You're not falling down...
17 Oct 2026
39: Sometimes a complete rewrite is the right choice
Episode 39 is the show's 40th, since numbering started at zero. Jim and Wolf ask listeners whether a video version would be worth doing, and Wolf adds "rules" to the values-and-goals framework from episode 36. In their weekly catch-up, Jim sets up his new Mac Studio M5 Max, and Wolf gets PRs merged into direnv and Quarto while recovering from wrist surgery. MAIN TOPIC: REWRITING THE CLINIC DASHBOARD Background Jim's company, Avairis, writes radiology software. His biggest client since 1985...
3 Oct 2026
38: The Claude Shannon Episode: Surprise, Entropy, and Bits
What is Information Theory? Information is not meaningLikely things need very few bits to communicate, maybe less than 1! Unlikely things need more bits.Entropy is in the eye of the beholder. It’s what you already know that informs your ability to extract meaning from a message. To one person, it’s just noise; to one who holds the encryption key, there may be way less information’s, but m much more valuable meaning.This is the plumbing behind everything you rely on: communication, storage, en...
Who has been a guest on Runtime Arguments
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Jim McQuillan
Jane Doe
Dr Alan Cooper
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 23 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
33
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
Host of Runtime Arguments?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
