Talk Python to Me is a weekly podcast hosted by developer and entrepreneur Michael Kennedy. We dive deep into the popular packages and software developers, data scientists, and incredible hobbyists doing amazing things with Python. If you're new to Python, you'll quickly learn the ins and outs of the community by hearing from the leaders. And if you've been Pythoning for years, you'll learn about your favorite packages and the hot new ones coming out of open source.
#561: TonIO, a Multi-threaded Async Runtime for Python
September 04, 2026
1:15:47
12.75 MB ( 60.22 MB less)
Downloads: 0
How many cores does your machine have, 10, 18? Your async Python code uses just one of them. That isn't a bug in asyncio. That's the design, and optimizing event loops to be faster by 20% doesn't change it. So Giovanni Barillari started over. Joe is the creator of Granian, the Rust-based server that powers Talk Python. His new project is TonIO, an async runtime written from scratch for free-threaded Python. Real threads, a handful of primitives instead of asyncio's pile of them, and it flat out refuses to start if the GIL is on.
Episode sponsors
Sentry Error Monitoring, Code talkpython26
Python in Production
Talk Python Courses
Giovanni Barillari: github.com
Granian: github.com
Hyper: github.com
Free threaded Python: docs.python.org
Sort of: labs.quansight.org
did a whole course: training.talkpython.fm
uvloop: github.com
rloop: github.com
TonIO: github.com
your EuroPython 2026 talk: www.youtube.com
Michael's Cutting Python Web App Memory Over 31% Article: mkennedy.codes
Watch this episode on YouTube: youtube.com
Episode #561 deep-dive: talkpython.fm/561
Episode transcripts: talkpython.fm
Theme Song: Developer Rap
🥁 Served in a Flask 🎸: talkpython.fm/flasksong
---== Don't be a stranger ==---
YouTube: youtube.com/@talkpython
Bluesky: @talkpython.fm
Mastodon: @talkpython@fosstodon.org
X.com: @talkpython
Michael on Bluesky: @mkennedy.codes
Michael on Mastodon: @mkennedy@fosstodon.org
Michael on X.com: @mkennedy
Episode sponsors
Sentry Error Monitoring, Code talkpython26
Python in Production
Talk Python Courses
Links from the show
GuestGiovanni Barillari: github.com
Granian: github.com
Hyper: github.com
Free threaded Python: docs.python.org
Sort of: labs.quansight.org
did a whole course: training.talkpython.fm
uvloop: github.com
rloop: github.com
TonIO: github.com
your EuroPython 2026 talk: www.youtube.com
Michael's Cutting Python Web App Memory Over 31% Article: mkennedy.codes
Watch this episode on YouTube: youtube.com
Episode #561 deep-dive: talkpython.fm/561
Episode transcripts: talkpython.fm
Theme Song: Developer Rap
🥁 Served in a Flask 🎸: talkpython.fm/flasksong
---== Don't be a stranger ==---
YouTube: youtube.com/@talkpython
Bluesky: @talkpython.fm
Mastodon: @talkpython@fosstodon.org
X.com: @talkpython
Michael on Bluesky: @mkennedy.codes
Michael on Mastodon: @mkennedy@fosstodon.org
Michael on X.com: @mkennedy