This week, Robbie and Adam talk with Naman Goel about the origins and evolution of StyleX, how it integrates with React and other frameworks, and the pros and cons of different programming languages like Rust, TypeScript, and Swift. They dive into the challenges of building performant, type-safe styling systems, the surprising complexity of theme APIs, designing for developer experience, and more.
In this episode:
(00:00) - Intro
(02:26) - Whiskey rating & review: Glenfiddich 12 Year Old single malt Scotch
(09:13) - South Park, spy thrillers & sleeper hits you missed
(11:20) - Flow vs TypeScript
(14:59) - How CSS shaped Naman’s perspective on type systems
(18:45) - How StyleX works—and why it’s different from Tailwind
(21:02) - Tailwind Merge vs StyleX props: performance smackdown
(22:16) - Real-world use case: when and why you’d want to merge styles
(25:45) - Inside the making of StyleX and its powerful theming system
(32:56) - Robbie and Adam wrangle Vue transitions in Astro
(36:09) - GIF or JIF? SPA or “spa”?
(40:36) - Building StarPod.dev: streaming audio across pages
(42:30) - Can you reduce client-side router noise?
(46:03) - Should you spec your idea or just blog it?
(47:18) - Naman’s journey into writing web specs
(48:44) - What is link delegation?
(52:39) - Hot Take: Is Rust overrated?
(01:02:17) - The dream language Naman wishes someone would build
(01:04:57) - Are AI-generated programming languages just around the corner?
(01:05:53) - A spicy take on CSS syntax and readability
(01:06:27) - Is CSS finally catching up to StyleX?
(01:07:43) - Plugs & where to follow Naman
Links
Glenfiddich 12 Year Old single malt Scotch: https://shop.us.glenfiddich.com/products/glenfiddich-12-year-old
South Park: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park
Dungeons & Dragons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_&_Dragons
Alien Earth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien:_Earth
Ozark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozark_(TV_series)
Jason Bateman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Bateman
Black Rabbit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Rabbit
Slow Horses: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Horses
Slow Horses: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Horses
Typescript: https://www.typescriptlang.org/
StyleX: https://stylexjs.com/
React: https://react.dev/
Tailwind CSS: https://tailwindcss.com/
SolidJS: https://www.solidjs.com/
Svelte: https://svelte.dev/
Vue: https://vuejs.org/
Astro: https://astro.build/
QuickJS: https://github.com/quickjs-ng/quickjs
Ember: https://emberjs.com/
Angular: https://angular.dev/
Vanilla Extract: https://vanilla-extract.style/
Chrome: https://www.google.com/chrome/
PHP: https://www.php.net/
Figma: https://www.figma.com/
Theme UI: https://theme-ui.com/
Stitches: https://stitches.dev/
Starpod.dev: https://starpod.dev/
Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/
Rails: https://rubyonrails.org/
Livewire: https://laravel-livewire.com/
Jason Miller - Application Holotypes: A Guide to Architecture Decisions: https://jasonformat.com/application-holotypes/
morphdom: https://github.com/patrick-steele-idem/morphdom
HTMX: https://htmx.org/
React Miami: https://www.reactmiami.com/
CSS-Tricks: https://css-tricks.com/
Swift: https://www.swift.org/
Python: https://www.python.org/
C++: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp
Go: https://go.dev/
esbuild: https://esbuild.github.io/
OCaml: https://ocaml.org/
Prettier: https://prettier.io/
Haskell: https://www.haskell.org/
Elm: https://elm-lang.org/
CoffeeScript: http://coffeescript.org/
LightningScript: https://lightningscript.dev/
Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/
Chris Coyier: https://x.com/chriscoyier
React Summit: https://reactsummit.com/
Solenoid: https://github.com/nmn/solenoid
Connect with Naman
Website: https://nmn.sh/
X / Twitter: https://x.com/naman34
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/nmn.bsky.social
Connect with the hosts
Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner
Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd
Adam Argyle: https://x.com/argyleink
Subscribe and stay in touch
Website: https://whiskey.fm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot
Whiskey Web and Whatnot MerchEnjoying the podcast and want us to make more? Help support us by picking up some of our fresh merch at https://whiskey.fund.
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1:11:10
Is CSS a Programming Language? w/ Kevin Powell
This week, Robbie and Adam talk with Kevin Powell about the quirks and complexities of CSS, from Tailwind and Flexbox to AI’s failure to write decent styles. While sipping some Crown Royal Black, they dig into weird web history, emerging CSS specs, toast milestones, and the beauty of clean code.
In this episode:
(00:00) - Intro
(02:51) - Whiskey rating & review: Crown Royal Black
(07:54) - Hot Take: Is CSS a programming language?
(09:54) - Hot Take: Was CSS-in-JS a mistake?
(10:53) - Hot Take: Grid vs Flexbox
(12:31) - Hot Take: Tailwind vs vanilla CSS?
(16:05) - Kevin's favorite place to write CSS
(17:45) - What CSS feature scares Kevin the most?
(19:20) - Kevin's first CSS pre-processor
(22:40) - CSS features that are taking too long to ship
(27:22) - text-box-trim vs margin-trim
(29:53) - Why attr() is a game-changer for CSS
(31:18) - NPM package chaos and security concerns
(32:16) - The “billion laughs” CSS attack
(33:19) - Why can't AI write CSS?
(36:52) - Wake-and-bake? Kevin’s sourdough & kombucha hobby
(38:42) - Kevin’s homebrewing and water shortage woes
(40:28) - Hobbies, football, and making time for fun
(42:44) - What would Kevin do if not in tech?
(44:41) - Kevin's favorite CSS typo
(45:58) - Rebuilding Tailwind from scratch
(46:53) - Vanilla CSS vs. Tailwind: Who wins a coding race?
(50:08) - Plugs
Links
Crown Royal Black: https://www.crownroyal.com/canadian-whisky/crown-royal-black
All Things Open: https://allthingsopen.org/
General Musings: https://www.youtube.com/@GeneralMusings
Frontend Masters: https://frontendmasters.com/
Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/
Ken Wheeler: https://x.com/ken_wheeler/
JavaScript: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript
Figma: https://www.figma.com/
CSS Grid: https://www.w3schools.com/css/css_grid.asp
Flexbox: https://www.w3schools.com/css/css3_flexbox.asp
Tailwind CSS: https://tailwindcss.com/
Grok: https://grok.com/
CodePen: https://codepen.io/
VS Code: https://code.visualstudio.com
Emmet: https://emmet.io/
Vue: https://vuejs.org/
Saas: https://sass-lang.com/
Stylus: https://www.npmjs.com/package/stylus
TypeScript: https://www.typescriptlang.org/
CoffeeScript: http://coffeescript.org/
Sarah Soueidan: https://twitter.com/SaraSoueidan
Shepherd: https://www.shepherdjs.dev/
NPM: https://www.npmjs.com/
Swatch: https://swatch.dev/
Colorzilla: https://www.colorzilla.com/
TinyColor: https://bgrins.github.io/TinyColor/
CrowdStrike: https://www.crowdstrike.com/
Ember: https://emberjs.com/
GitHub: https://github.com/
Chris Coyier: https://x.com/chriscoyier
Virginia Tech: https://www.vt.edu/
The Eagles: https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/
Saquon Barkley: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saquon_Barkley
Adam Wathan: https://x.com/adamwathan/
Kevin on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/kevinpowell
Connect with Kevin
Website: https://www.kevinpowell.co/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/kevinpowell.co
Courses: https://www.kevinpowell.co/courses/
Connect with the hosts
Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner
Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd
Adam Argyle: https://x.com/argyleink
Subscribe and stay in touch
Website: https://whiskey.fm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot
Whiskey Web and Whatnot MerchEnjoying the podcast and want us to make more? Help support us by picking up some of our fresh merch at https://whiskey.fund.
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52:25
TalkShop Show w/ Macho Man Randy Standards
This week, Robbie and Adam talk with Dave "Macho Man Randy Standards" Rupert about whiskey, web culture, and the quirks of building side projects. They dive into the shifting landscape of the web—AI-driven development, spec-driven workflows, RSS’s decline, and the joy (and pain) of creative tinkering.
In this episode:(00:00) - Intro(03:21) - Whiskey rating and review: Suntory World Whiskey Ao(16:30) - Is the open web in decline?(17:16) - How we search and learn in 2025(22:31) - Discovering Strudel(24:44) - Dave’s Strudel vibe-coding experiment(27:15) - The promise and limits of AI in programming(28:39) - Getting into spec-driven development(34:11) - The pain of publishing apps(36:51) - Weird camera quirks across platforms(40:19) - Could you code on a horse?(41:35) - Voice-based vibe-coding(42:45) - Making coding approachable for kids(45:54) - Side hustles and money outside tech(52:04) - Dave's shoutout to Storybook(58:49) - Plugs
Links
ShopTalk Show: https://shoptalkshow.com/
Suntory World Whiskey Ao: https://house.suntory.com/ao-whisky
Jim Beam Pineapple: https://www.jimbeam.com/en-us/bourbons/jim-beam-pineapple
Descript: https://www.descript.com/
Taco Bell Chili Cheese Burrito: https://www.tacobell.com/newsroom/taco-bell-rewinds-to-the-2000s-with-decades-y2k-menu-featuring-iconic-fan
McDonald's McRib: https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/product/mcrib.html
Pringles: https://www.pringles.com/
JavaScript: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript
Astro: https://astro.build/
Vue: https://vuejs.org/
Svelte: https://svelte.dev/
Mitosis: https://github.com/BuilderIO/mitosis
React: https://react.dev/
SolidJS: https://www.solidjs.com/
Trent Walton: https://trentwalton.com/
CSS: https://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/
Google Amp: https://developers.google.com/amp
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/
The Verge: https://www.theverge.com
Google Amp: https://developers.google.com/amp
Kottke: https://kottke.org/
GitHub: https://github.com/
Strudel: https://strudel.cc/
Lincoln Park: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linkin_Park
Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/
Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot
Bolt: https://bolt.new/
Lovable: https://lovable.dev/
Cursor: https://www.cursor.com/
Deloitte: https://www.deloitte.com/
Intel: https://www.intel.com/
Coder: https://coder.com/
Kiro: https://kiro.dev/
Peppeteer: https://pptr.dev/
Electron: https://www.electronjs.org/
MacOS: https://www.apple.com/macos/
Linux: https://www.linux.org/
Fuji: https://global.fujifilm.com/
Lomography: https://www.lomography.com
iPad: https://www.apple.com/ipad/
Vim: https://www.vim.org/
Warp Code video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3jFHfIvyf8
Pico 8: https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php
Lua: https://www.lua.org/
COBOL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBOL
Spike LEGO Education: https://spike.legoeducation.com/
South Park: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park
Jeff Bezos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos
Elon Musk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk
Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/
Hassle Free Home: https://myhasslefreehome.com/
Storybook: https://storybook.js.org/
Brad Frost: https://x.com/brad_frost
Riverside: https://riverside.com/
FAST: https://fast.design/
Obsidian: https://obsidian.md/
Notion: https://www.notion.com/
All Thing Open: https://2025.allthingsopen.org/
Connect with Dave
Website: https://daverupert.com/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/davatron5000.bsky.social
Connect with the hosts
Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner
Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd
Adam Argyle: https://x.com/argyleink
Subscribe and stay in touch
Website: https://whiskey.fm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot
Whiskey Web and Whatnot MerchEnjoying the podcast and want us to make more? Help support us by picking up some of our fresh merch at https://whiskey.fund.
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1:00:37
Agents of Chaos: Whiskey Experiments and the Future of IDEs
This week, Chuck and Adam talk about flavored whiskeys, offbeat experiments, and the chaos of tech culture. They discuss AI workflows, Warp vs. IDE debates, and the realities of coding culture, from bleeding-edge hype to WordPress drudgery. Plus, Chuck shares updates on life in Italy.
In this episode:
(00:00) - Intro
(03:33) - Whiskey rating and review: Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple and Honey
(13:57) – Experimenting with mixing whiskeys
(18:16) – Honey on the rim: a sweet idea?
(19:15) – Food, culture, and Chuck’s life in Italy
(28:44) – FOMO on agents and AI hype
(31:32) – Current AI workflows
(32:04) – Warp Code update and its bizarre promo video
(37:27) – IDEs vs. plugins: what’s the future?
(44:29) – Chuck and Adam on their current jobs
Links
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple: https://www.jackdaniels.com/whiskey/tennessee-apple
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey: https://www.jackdaniels.com/en-us/whiskey/tennessee-honey
MythBusters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBusters
Jim Beam Pineapple: https://www.jimbeam.com/en-us/bourbons/jim-beam-pineapple
Wild Turkey American Honey: https://www.americanhoney.com/
Hudson House Distillery: https://www.thehudsonhouseny.com/
Burt Bacharach: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Bacharach
Mike's Hot Honey: https://mikeshothoney.com/
Claude Code: https://claude.com/product/claude-code
Windsurf: https://windsurf.ai/
Cursor: https://www.cursor.com/
Warp: https://www.warp.dev/
LM Studio: https://lmstudio.ai
Mac Mini: https://www.apple.com/mac-mini/
Opencode: https://opencode.ai/
Dax: https://x.com/thdxr/
Warp Code: https://www.warp.dev/blog/introducing-warp-code-prompt-to-prod
Zed: https://zed.dev/
WordPress: https://wordpress.org
Django: https://www.djangoproject.com/
Joomla: https://www.joomla.org/
JavaScript: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript
Rust: https://www.rust-lang.org/
BMW: https://www.bmwusa.com/
Tesla: https://www.tesla.com/
Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/
Remix: https://remix.run/
React: https://react.dev/
Darknet Diaries: https://darknetdiaries.com/
Jack Rhysider: https://x.com/jackrhysider
All Thing Open: https://2025.allthingsopen.org/
Connect with the hosts
Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner
Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd
Adam Argyle: https://x.com/argyleink
Subscribe and stay in touch
Website: https://whiskey.fm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot
Whiskey Web and Whatnot MerchEnjoying the podcast and want us to make more? Help support us by picking up some of our fresh merch at https://whiskey.fund.
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48:52
DevRel, Linux, and the Shrinking Path for Junior Developers w/ Ali Diamond
This week, Robbie and Chuck talk with Ali Diamond about her journey through tech, cybersecurity, and community building. They sip tequila, swap hot takes on programming languages and developer culture, and dig into the realities of junior engineering paths, DevRel’s evolution, and how passion—not tools—shapes meaningful work.
In this episode:
(00:00) - Intro
(02:39) - Tequila rating & review: Espolon Tequila Blanco
(13:46) - From tequila to other favorite drinks
(16:11) - Hot Take: Why junior engineers should focus on - fundamentals
(18:57) - Hot Take: MacOS or Linux?
(22:25) - Ali’s take on Linux flavors (and her own twist)
(25:22) - Hot Take: Is DevRel really dead?
(27:28) - Software developer vs. software engineer: does it matter?
(31:45) - Hot Take: Rails vs Laravel
(35:14) - The shrinking path for junior developers
(47:34) - Life outside coding: Ali’s passions and projects
(54:34) - Ali’s journey into tech and family background
(57:40) - Plugs & where to find Ali online
Links
Espolon Tequila Blanco: https://www.espolontequila.com/
Minecraft: https://www.minecraft.net/
Java: https://www.java.com/
Lua: https://www.lua.org/
Spindrift: https://drinkspindrift.com/
Costco: https://www.costco.com
All Things Open: https://allthingsopen.org/
The Net Gala: https://x.com/_thenetgala
1942 Tequila: https://www.donjulio.com/our-tequilas/don-julio-1942-tequila
Clase Azul: https://claseazul.com/
Fresca Mixed: https://www.frescamixed.com/
LaCroix: https://www.lacroixwater.com/
Diet Coke: https://www.coca-cola.com/us/en/brands/diet-coke
Monster: https://www.monsterenergy.com/
Celsius: https://www.celsius.com/
Django: https://www.djangoproject.com/
Rails: https://rubyonrails.org/
MacOS: https://www.apple.com/macos/
Linux: https://www.linux.org/
Andriod: https://www.android.com/
iPhone: https://www.apple.com/iphone/
Vim: https://www.vim.org/
VS Code: https://code.visualstudio.com/
Omarchy: https://omarchy.org/
DHH: https://x.com/dhh/
Arch Linux: https://archlinux.org/
Debian: https://www.debian.org/
Ubuntu: https://ubuntu.com/
Kali: https://www.kali.org/
Twitch: https://twitch.tv
CactusCon: https://www.cactuscon.com/
Ep 114: Privacy, Cyber Crime Stories, and Tech with Jack Rhysider: https://whiskey.fm/privacy-cyber-crime-stories-and-tech-with-jack-rhysider
Laravel: https://laravel.com/
PHP: https://www.php.net/
Scala: https://www.scala-lang.org/
Guillermo Rauch: https://x.com/rauchg
Vercel: https://vercel.com/
Taylor Otwell: https://x.com/taylorotwell
Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/
WordPress: https://wordpress.org
React: https://react.dev/
LeetCode: https://leetcode.com/
NPM: https://www.npmjs.com/
Mark Zuckerberg: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg
Mad Money: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Money
Bill Gates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates
Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/
Kubernetes: https://kubernetes.io/
YAML: https://yaml.org/
Smiski: https://smiski.com/
Brandon Sanderson: https://www.brandonsanderson.com/
Game of Thrones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_Thrones
Lore Olympus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lore_Olympus
Webtoon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webtoon
Invincible: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invincible_(TV_series)
The Boys: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boys_(TV_series)
Burning Man: https://burningman.org/
Coachella: https://www.coachella.com/
Nine Inch Nails: https://www.nin.com/
Go: https://go.dev/
MIT: https://www.mit.edu
Pokemon Go: https://pokemongolive.com/
Stanford University: https://www.stanford.edu/
UC Berkeley: https://www.berkeley.edu/
Harvard University: https://www.harvard.edu/
Connect with Ali
Website: https://ali.dev/
X / Twitter: https://x.com/endingwithali
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/endingwithali
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hak5
Connect with the hosts
Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner
Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd
Adam Argyle: https://x.com/argyleink
Subscribe and stay in touch
Website: https://whiskey.fm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot
Whiskey Web and Whatnot MerchEnjoying the podcast and want us to make more? Help support us by picking up some of our fresh merch at https://whiskey.fund.
Über Whiskey Web and Whatnot: Web Development, Neat
Veteran web developers RobbieTheWagner, Charles William Carpenter III, and Adam Argyle host this informal, whiskey-fueled fireside chat with your favorite web devs. They discuss all things web development including JavaScript, TypeScript, EmberJS, React, Astro, SolidJS, CSS, HTML, Web3, and more. They take a unique approach and focus on getting to know the human side of developers and their hobbies outside of work, all while sampling a new whiskey that they rate on their unique tentacle scale.