For a long time, tech culture has focused too narrowly on technical skills; this has resulted in a tech community that too often puts companies and code over people. Greater Than Code is a podcast that invites the voices of people who are not heard from enough in tech: women, people of color, trans and/or queer folks, to talk about the human side of software development and technology. Greater Than Code is providing a vital platform for these conversations, and developing new ideas of what it means to be a technologist beyond just the code. Featuring an ongoing panel of racially and gender diverse tech panelists, the majority of podcast guests so far have been women in tech! We’ve covered topics including imposter syndrome, mental illness, sexuality, unconscious bias and social justice. We also have a major focus on skill sets that tech too often devalues, like team-building, hiring, community organizing, mentorship and empathy. Each episode also includes a transcript. We have an active Slack community that members can join by pledging as little as $1 per month via Patreon. (https://www.patreon.com/greaterthancode)
061: Destruction-Focused Development with Safia Abdalla
00:53 – Safia’s Superpower: Sight
03:04 – Learning Languages — Both Human and Programming
07:56 – Being Empathetic in an International Perspective and Building Universal and Approachable Tech
11:19 – What does success look like for minorities in the Silicon Valley monoculture?; Being Tokenized
21:59 – Accepting Speaking Engagements Because of Who You Are (i.e. as a woman, minority, etc.)
24:07 – Writing Things Down to Balance Prioritizing Decisions
30:46 – Defining “Happy” and Always Feeling the Need to Do More
37:02 – Destruction-Focused Development
@jessitron
Destruction-Focused Development: write it, delete it, repeat."I don't become obsessed with the code.
I think it's more important to be obsessed with the problem."@captainsafia on @greaterthancode.
43:58 – Safia’s Early Coding “Shenanigans”
Reflections:
Coraline: Being thoughtful about planning finite energy and labor. Also being content vs being happy.
@jessitron
"I often feel like I don't do enough and I haven't defined what 'enough' is."@CoralineAda on @greaterthancode
Jasmine: Exploring feelings about being represented at events.
Jessica: Broadening perspectives that most of us were born into.
Safia: Talking about the Silicon Valley monoculture, being content vs happy, and tokenism.
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Special Guest: Safia Abdalla.