Modern CSS tricks for massive performance gains with Michael Hladky

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1. 

   12 Feb 2026 · 46 min

   How developer platforms fail (and how yours won’t) with Russ Miles

   Russ Miles joins the show to unpack why developer platforms fail and how to rethink platform engineering through the lens of flow of value rather than factory-style developer productivity metaphors. Russ explains why every organization already has an internal developer platform, and why treating it as platform as a product changes everything. The conversation explores cognitive load and cognitive burden, how to design around strong feedback loops, and why the OODA loop mindset helps teams make better decisions closer to development time. They discuss the risks of overloading pipelines and…

2. 

   5 Feb 2026 · 41 min

   Rich Harris on fine grained reactivity and async first frameworks

   Rich Harris joins the podcast to discuss his talk, fine-grained everything, exploring fine-grained reactivity, frontend performance, and the real costs of React Server Components and RSC payloads. Rich explains how Svelte and SvelteKit approach co-located data fetching, remote functions, and RPC to reduce server-side rendering costs, improve developer experience, and avoid unnecessary performance overhead on mobile networks. The conversation dives into async rendering, parallel async data fetching, type safety with schema validation, and why async-first frameworks may define the future of…

3. 

   29 Jan 2026 · 39 min

   Tailwind Layoffs, Cloudflare Buys Astro | Panel

   In this mini-panel, Jack, Paige, Paul, and Noel discuss how AI reshaping developer tooling is impacting open source monetization, including the recent Tailwind layoffs and the collapse of Tailwind documentation traffic caused by AI. The conversation expands into broader developer tooling business models and reacts to claims like Ryan Dahl stating that the era of humans writing code is over. They also cover the Astro Cloudflare acquisition, what it means for the Cloudflare developer platform, and how this shapes the frontend frameworks future. Hot takes include light mode vs dark mode SaaS,…

4. 

   15 Jan 2026 · 50 min

   What's new with Tauri | Daniel Thompson-Yvetot

   In this episode of PodRocket, Daniel Thompson--Yvetot joins us to break down what’s new in Tauri 2.0 and how developers are using the Tauri framework to build desktop and mobile apps with Rust and JavaScript. We discuss how Tauri lets developers use frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular for the UI while handling heavy logic in Rust, resulting in smaller app binaries and better performance than Electron alternatives. The conversation covers Create Tauri App for faster onboarding, the new plugin system for controlling file system and OS access, and how Tauri improves app security by reducing…

5. 

   8 Jan 2026 · 36 min

   Angular v21, from signals to testing with Mark Techson

   Paul sits down with Mark Techson to break down Angular v21. They explore how Angular signals power new features like Angular signal forms, improve scalability, and simplify state management. The conversation dives deep into Angular AI tooling, including the Angular MCP server, Angular AI tutor, and the Angular Gemini CLI extension, explaining how Angular is adapting to modern AI-first developer workflows. Mark also shares how Angular Aria introduces Angular headless components with built-in Angular accessibility, reshaping UX collaboration. The episode wraps with updates on using Vitest with…

6. 

   1 Jan 2026 · 40 min

   Anthropic buys Bun, GitHub friction, and AI economics

   In this panel episode, the crew discusses AI platform consolidation, open-source sustainability, and the future of web development. We break down Anthropic’s acquisition of Bun, what it means for the JavaScript ecosystem, and whether open-source projects can remain independent as AI companies invest heavily in infrastructure. We also discuss Zig leaving GitHub, growing concerns around AI-first developer tools, npm security vulnerabilities, and supply-chain risk in modern software. The episode wraps with hot takes on AI infrastructure costs, developer productivity, and practical advice for…

7. 

   16 Jul 2026 · 31 min

   Caching, payloads, and other front-end dark arts with Faris Aziz

   Faris Aziz joins PodRocket to unpack the front-end "dark arts" behind building resilient dashboards under API rate limits and bloated payloads. He walks through front-end caching strategies, why a backend for frontend pattern using Next.js API routes as a proxy solved a 13-second load time, and how TanStack Query resilience patterns hold up differently at fintech scale versus Smallpdf's tens of millions of users. They also dig into defining a retryable error to avoid runaway infrastructure costs. Links Website: https://www.faziz-dev.com/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/farisaziz.com…

8. 

   9 Jul 2026 · 25 min

   Async React with Vercel's Aurora Scharff

   Aurora Sharf joins PodRocket once again to discuss Async React, the pattern behind React 19's transitions, useOptimistic, and Suspense. She explains why "in-between states" are a UX problem, not just a DX one, how Next.js's cache components and App Router fix years of caching confusion, and why perceived performance (INP) matters as much as cumulative layout shift. Plus: the action props pattern, Meta's new Astrix library, and what's still missing before Async React goes mainstream. Links Website: https://aurorascharff.no/about Github: https://github.com/aurorascharff X:…

9. 

   2 Jul 2026 · 41 min

   Rich Harris on fine grained reactivity and async first frameworks [ REPEAT ]

   Rich Harris joins the podcast to discuss his talk, fine-grained everything, exploring fine-grained reactivity, frontend performance, and the real costs of React Server Components and RSC payloads. Rich explains how Svelte and SvelteKit approach co-located data fetching, remote functions, and RPC to reduce server-side rendering costs, improve developer experience, and avoid unnecessary performance overhead on mobile networks. The conversation dives into async rendering, parallel async data fetching, type safety with schema validation, and why async-first frameworks may define the future of…

10. 

    25 Jun 2026 · 38 min

    Yes, and... programming still matters in the age of AI, with Carson Gross [REPEAT]

    Carson Gross, computer science professor at Montana State and creator of htmx, joins the show to cut through the noise around AI and programming. He explains why the jump from high-level languages to LLMs is fundamentally different from past transitions, why junior developers who skip writing code risk being at the mercy of a stochastic system, and why systems architecture and managing code complexity are the skills that will matter most. A grounded, rational take on the future of software development jobs. Resources Yes,and...: https://htmx.org/essays/yes-and/ We want to hear from you! How…

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