Launch School Podcast

Launch School Podcast

A podcast about coding, education, and mastery. We'll interview current Launch School students, employers in the tech sector, and industry veterans to talk about how to succeed on a journey to mastery and becoming a professional software engineer. Conversations will revolve around learning, programming, expertise, study habits and many other topics related to mastery based learning.

Episodes

Capstone 2026 Updates: Adapting to a Changing Market

August 18, 2025 • 62 mins
Launch School has been investing in students and AI while adapting to the evolving software engineering landscape. In this episode, we sit down with Chris to discuss what Capstone students can expect in 2026. Tune in for a discussion on: Moving from three Capstone cohorts per year to two New open source initiatives and internship opportunities to help grads build experience Strategies and logistics for managing a longer job hunt Ho...
Mark as Played

Major Curriculum Updates with Chris

April 26, 2025 • 61 mins
In this session, we covered three big updates happening at Launch School. First, we introduced the new LSBot feature, which provides code reviews for exercies to help fill in support gaps. Chris touches on interesting questions surrounding both LSBot and AI in general, like if LSBot is intended to replace human TAs. Next, we talked about the shift away from written assessments. Instead, students will now complete quizzes and interv...
Mark as Played

S5E16: Student Spotlight - Battling Self-Doubt, A Student Transformation with Sherece

June 10, 2024 • 36 mins
In this episode, Brandi has a conversation with Sherece, a current student nearing the end of the core curriculum. They spend the first part of the conversation discussing how Sherece managed to overcome her extremely low confidence to not just progress through the core curriculum, but to even enroll amid self-doubt and fear of failure. Though she was an incredibly curious and eager-to-learn child, life circumstances meant that She...
Mark as Played

S5E15: Daniel Nalesnik - Founder of HackChinese and Core Graduate

May 27, 2024 • 81 mins
In this episode, Chris interviews Daniel Nalesnik, the creator of Hack Chinese and a core curriculum graduate. Daniel used the fundamentals learned in the core program to build his own business. They spend the first part of the episode discussing Daniel's winding journey to Launch School in which he left a successful career behind. Daniel quit his job to pursue Launch School full-time, driven by a long-held vision to create an appl...
Mark as Played

S5E14: Student Spotlight - The Ups and Downs of the Core Curriculum with Patrick

May 13, 2024 • 58 mins
In this episode, Brandi chats with current student Patrick about his journey thus far through the core curriculum. They discuss what it's like coming from a background of feeling completely incompetent with a computer to gaining the confidence to lead SPOT sessions and encourage other students to do the same. Patrick also shares some of the more difficult hurdles he's faced. His initial plan and schedule for moving through the core...
Mark as Played

S5E13: Setting Students up for Success - Smooth Start Program with Karis

April 29, 2024 • 56 mins
Sign-ups for Smooth Start 5 are open now! Read more and Apply here (https://public.launchschool.com/smooth-start) In this episode, Brandi has a conversation with Karis about Smooth Start. Karis is part of the Launch School staff and is largely responsible for creating Smooth Start, an introductory program to help students overcome common hurdles that are often faced at the early stages of Launch School. They discuss why Smooth Star...
Mark as Played

S5E12: Missy Lovegren - From Fine Arts to Software Engineering

April 15, 2024 • 80 mins
In this episode, Chris interviews Missy Lovegren, a Capstone grad and software engineer at New Relic. Missy was a TA at Launch School and part of a 2022 Capstone cohort. They spend the first part of the episode discussing Missy's transition into software. She comes from a background in fine arts and went through several difficult, low paying, and, as she described, dead-end jobs. Even so, the decision to leave fine arts and transit...
Mark as Played

S5E11: Student Spotlight - From Coasting to Excelling, a Student Transformation with Nick

April 1, 2024 • 41 mins
In this episode, Brandi has a conversation with Nick Perry, a current student and active member of the Launch School community. Nick shares his background and how he was never a 'good' student previously in high school and university. When he began Launch School, like many students, he wasn't sure if he could succeed and had to reevaluate his perception of his abilities both technically and as a dedicated student. He discusses resh...
Mark as Played

S5E10: Felicia Bacon - A Lifelong Learner Thriving at Starbucks

March 18, 2024 • 86 mins
In this episode, Chris has a conversation with Felicia Bacon, a Capstone grad and Software Engineer at Starbucks. Felicia made a trajectory change after studying to be an architect for several years. Her core curriculum journey was one of perseverance, spanning three and a half years. She shares candidly about her experience receiving a 'not yet' on the first Launch School assessment and her all-in approach to mastery-based learnin...
Mark as Played

S5E9: Student Spotlight - Climbing the Learning Curve as a New Student, with Katelyn

March 4, 2024 • 40 mins
In this episode, Brandi interviews Katelyn, a current student finding her footing in the first few courses of the core curriculum. Katelyn is in a career transition, with a background in project and construction management, having majored in civil engineering in college. We reached out to Katelyn to see if she wanted to share her story after she wrote and shared an article about her experience receiving a 'Not Yet' on an assessment...
Mark as Played

S5E8: Alex Strick van Linschoten - Open Source Machine Learning, based in Europe

February 19, 2024 • 55 mins
In this episode, Chris interviews Alex Strick van Linschoten, a Capstone grad working in machine learning. They spend the first part of the interview discussing his background and Capstone experience, and later on discuss the field of machine learning. Alex had a full career before he transitioned into machine learning. He has a PhD in history and spent over 15 years doing research in Afghanistan. When he was ready for a change, he...
Mark as Played

S5E7: Launch School Explained with Chris Lee

February 5, 2024 • 83 mins
In this episode, recorded at the end of 2023, Brandi asks Chris the most frequently asked questions that current and potential students have. Chris starts the episode with a recap of the story of Launch School, and how his journey into teaching software over 10 years ago led to the Launch School curriculum as we know it now. This story explains how the curriculum is chosen and why adding assessments was a necessary step in the evo...
Mark as Played

S5E6: Julia Martin - The Journey from JS101 to Databricks

January 22, 2024 • 52 mins
In this episode, Chris interviews Julia Martin, a Capstone graduate and software engineer working at Databricks. Julia shares her story about deciding to make a career transition from business to software. Her interest in software was piqued during her work as a business analyst, where working with SQL was part of her role. She spent some time considering various bootcamps before finding Launch School, and ended up quitting her job...
Mark as Played

S5E5: Student Spotlight - Imposter Syndrome and Recovering From a 'Not Yet', with Trisha

January 8, 2024 • 35 mins
In this episode, Brandi interviews Trisha, a current student who is about two-thirds finished with the core curriculum. Trisha opens up about receiving a 'Not Yet', a non-passing grade, on her first assessment over a year ago. She talks about the aftermath of doubt and insecurity. Trisha's trajectory changed drastically when she immersed herself into the community, finding a supportive group of peers to help her stay motivated, pus...
Mark as Played

S5E4: Jon Kulton - From Software Engineering to SRE

December 25, 2023 • 57 mins
In this episode, Chris interviews Captsone Graduate Jon Kulton, a software engineer at Datadog. Before Launch School, Jon was a UX designer in a role that included some programming. Ultimately, Jon decided he wanted to transition into a more software-centric role. Jon was part of the 2019 fall cohort and began his job hunt at the start of Covid. Between being based in Ohio and the challenges that came with Covid, Jon had a tough jo...
Mark as Played

S5E3: Student Resources - The SPOT & GatherTown

December 11, 2023 • 54 mins
In this episode, Chris meets with JD and Daniel, two SPOT Admins and current students. They chat about what the SPOT is, who it's for, and how it can complement your Launch School studies, both technically, but also as a jumping-off point for joining the community. The SPOT, which stands for Study, Practice, Overlearn, Teach, is a student-led community within Launch School that facilitates virtual study sessions for every course in...
Mark as Played

S5E2: Student Spotlight - ADHD and Parenthood with Benjamin

November 27, 2023 • 37 mins
In this episode, Brandi has a conversation with Benjamin Walker, a current student, nearing the end of the back-end portion of the curriculum. They discuss Benjamin's approach to balancing full-time parenthood and his journey as a neurodivergent student. Benjamin was a high school math teacher for 12 years. After becoming a father, he decided he was ready for a career change. He talks about how he decided to study at Launch School ...
Mark as Played

S5E1: Ginni Pinckert - Ancient Greek to AI

November 13, 2023 • 68 mins
In this episode, Chris interviews Ginni Pinckert, a software engineer at Sudowrite. Ginni is a recent capstone graduate, finishing in early 2023. She has a diverse background pre-Launch School, having studied classical languages, literature, and linguistics with a mild obsession with Greek mythology and Sci-Fi. She worked in the fashion industry for several years and then worked as a small business owner creating organization syste...
Mark as Played

S5E0: Welcome to Season 5!

November 10, 2023 • 1 min
A quick introduction to this season with a peek at what's to come.
Mark as Played

S4E8: Capstone Salary Reflections

December 19, 2022 • 27 mins
In this episode Chris and Karis discuss the latest Capstone Salaries page update. Chris shares important data to look out for on the new salaries page, and provides advice when comparing other career-launching programs out there on the market. This discussion is to be used as a companion guide to the salaries page, and is especially helpful for those looking to have more clarity on Capstone. The episode finishes with some announcem...
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    Stuff You Should Know

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Dateline NBC

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

    CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

    It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.

    The Breakfast Club

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

    Crime Junkie

    Crime Junkie

    Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

Explore

iHeart

Live Radio

Podcasts

Artist Radio

Exclusives

News

Features

Events

Contests

Photos

Information

About

Advertise

Blog

Brand Guidelines

Contest Guidelines

Subscription Offers

Jobs

Get the App

Automotive

Home

Mobile

Wearables

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.