Ready for Merge Ep. 27 👾

In this Ready for Merge episode, Christine D. Kim interviews Philip Ngo, a developer working on the Ethereum consensus layer (CL) client, Lodestar. Phil recounts his transition from the Canadian Armed Forces to working full-time on Lodestar for Chainsafe Systems. He shares what motivated him to make a career jump into crypto and his vision for the future of Ethereum protocol development. This interview was recorded on July 23, 2025.Timestamps:(1:41) Show announcements(3:06) Phil’s biggest contribution to Ethereum(3:47) Phil’s career before Ethereum(13:51) What it’s like project managing the Lodestar client(29:35) The pressures of open-source development(53:07) What Phil plans to do next(54:30) Rapid-fire questionsEnjoying this content? Subscribe to the newsletter: https://christinedkim.substack.com/Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ready4mergeFollow on X: https://x.com/ready4mergeInterested in sponsoring the show? [email protected] Get full access to Christine D. Kim at christinedkim.substack.com/subscribe