PODCAST · education
Launch School Podcast
by Launch School
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
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2024 Capstone Salary Data Insights with Chris
In this episode, Chris shares insights from the most recent salary data for Capstone graduates who began Capstone in 2024. He highlights notable trends, including the return to office and the significant salary gap for roles based in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area. We then open the...
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Capstone 2026 Updates: Adapting to a Changing Market
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...
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Major Curriculum Updates with Chris
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…
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S5E16: Student Spotlight - Battling Self-Doubt, A Student Transformation with Sherece
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...
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S5E15: Daniel Nalesnik - Founder of HackChinese and Core Graduate
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...
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S5E14: Student Spotlight - The Ups and Downs of the Core Curriculum with Patrick
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...
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S5E13: Setting Students up for Success - Smooth Start Program with Karis
Sign-ups for Smooth Start 5 are open now! Read more and Apply here 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...
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S5E12: Missy Lovegren - From Fine Arts to Software Engineering
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...
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S5E11: Student Spotlight - From Coasting to Excelling, a Student Transformation with Nick
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…
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S5E10: Felicia Bacon - A Lifelong Learner Thriving at Starbucks
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...
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S5E9: Student Spotlight - Climbing the Learning Curve as a New Student, with Katelyn
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...
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S5E8: Alex Strick van Linschoten - Open Source Machine Learning, based in Europe
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…
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S5E7: Launch School Explained with Chris Lee
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...
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S5E6: Julia Martin - The Journey from JS101 to Databricks
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…
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S5E5: Student Spotlight - Imposter Syndrome and Recovering From a 'Not Yet', with Trisha
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...
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S5E4: Jon Kulton - From Software Engineering to SRE
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...
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S5E3: Student Resources - The SPOT & GatherTown
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…
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S5E2: Student Spotlight - ADHD and Parenthood with Benjamin
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…
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S5E1: Ginni Pinckert - Ancient Greek to AI
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...
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S5E0: Welcome to Season 5!
A quick introduction to this season with a peek at what's to come.
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S4E8: Capstone Salary Reflections
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...
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S4E7 Bytes: Biggest Takeaways This Year
In this bytes episode Karis asks Chris and the Launch School community "What was some of their biggest takeaways this year at Launch School?" After the students and staff share their takeways, Karis closes with some Launch School announcements and upcoming events. to listen to the podcast click…
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S4E6: Programming Essentials Workshops Q&A and Catchup with UK Capstone Graduate Kelvin
In this episode Chris and Karis conduct a Q&A session about Launch School's new Programming Essentials Workshops, what they are why new programmers would want to attend. Karis then catches up with Launch School Alumnus Kelvin, who shares his experiences as a UK Capstone student and what it's like...
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S4E5: Transforming at Launch School
In this episode Chris and Karis discuss a recent inspirational talk given by Core graduate student Jake. Chris answers some additional Launch School-related questions including how ISAs work. Karis interviews Capstone graduate and Launch School Alumna Catherine, who shares what life has been like...
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S4E4: Capstone Salaries, Recession & The Younger Students of Launch School
In this episode Chris discusses the latest 2021 Capstone salaries, and provides some advice for students that have concerns about the recession. Karis catches up with younger students, Ethan and Tyler, and learns how their Launch School studies are already making an impact on their software...
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S4E3: The Story of Launch School
In this episode Launch School Student Felicia interviews Chris as he shares the origin story of how Launch School came to be. He also offers his unique perspective on how Launch School approaches learning, coding education and software engineering. The show includes several new announcements that...
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S4E2: Latest News, Interviews and Catch-up with Mandy
This episode Karis and Chris discuss the all the latest Launch School interviews and presentations. Karis also catches up with the co-host from last season Mandy who now works at Mozilla. Finally they leave you with a number of new announcements that students should be aware of. Intro Agenda...
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S4E1: Welcome to Season 4!
This season Chris kicks off our first episode by introducing Launch Schools new podcast format and new co-host Karis. Together they discuss the latest events happening at Launch School and some quick reminders students should be aware of. Karis also catches up with previous host Callie in a 1 on…
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S3E10: Season 3 Final Episode
In today's episode, our podcast hosts Chris, Callie, and Mandy share their end of the year reflections on Season 3, new updates on where Mandy and Callie are going, upcoming ideas for season 4, and ambitious goals for Launch School in the New Year and beyond. Chris, Callie, and Mandy wishes...
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S3E9: Getting to Know Pete
In today's episode, Callie chats with Launch School TA Pete about his journey to and through Launch School. He shares about his beloved cats we see glimpses of, what brought him to Launch School, and why he enjoys being a part of this community. He also sheds light on what makes a good Core…
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S3E8: Bytes — Gratitude
In this Thanksgiving episode, Mandy talks to students who have been at Launch School for over a year. These students share what they are grateful for and how the community has helped them throughout their journey at Launch School. Special thanks to the stories shared by the wonderful students:...
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S3E7: Bytes — Life Stages
In today's episode, Callie chats with three Launch School students in three very different life stages. They share how they came to Launch School, what seemed to come easy to them, and what was harder. Without hearing one another's interviews, they paint similar pictures that are still unique....
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S3E6: Getting to Know Srdjan
In today's episode, Callie chats with Launch School TA Srdjan as he shares his journey to and through Launch School. He generously shares about a wide range of experiences, from how his cats lovingly torture him to what scared him the most as a student/TA at Launch School. He shares lessons…
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S3E5: Women Who Code (WWCode) at Launch School
In today's episode, students from Women Who Code share what the group is, what the meet-ups are like, and how they've found a sense of belonging and community. These students talk about the importance of having a supportive community while going through the ups and downs of online learning at...
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S3E4: John and Adam Isom -- Skipping College, CS Degree vs Launch School, and Making Six Figures Together
In this episode, siblings John and Adam Isom come chat about their journeys working together through Launch School. Adam had completed a different coding bootcamp and was in the midst of completing his CS degree when he switched to focus on Launch School. John walked away from a college…
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S3E3: Bytes — Why Did You Choose Launch School?
Today's episode is the first of a new series called Bytes: a collection of sound-bites from the Launch School community that answer a focused question. A question we've all asked at some point or another is why should I go to Launch School? Maybe you're past that point, or maybe you're still…
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S3E2: An update from Gabe, Arthur, and Ben on friendship and teamwork through Capstone, the Job Hunt, and as professional Software Engineers
Previously in Season 2, Chris talked with Gabe, Ben, and Arthur to share their story on how they, as a group, supported one another through the Core curriculum. That episode highlighted the importance of community and friendship. In this episode, Gabe, Ben, and Arthur are back with us to share...
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S3E1: Barbara Oakley on Learning How to Learn & How Fundamentals Make All the Difference
In today's episode, Launch School students Jenae and Mandy interviewed Barbara Oakley. Dr. Oakley is no stranger to Launch School students — her Learning How to Learn course is a required part of the preparation to being a student! The conversation has many gems, including what it’s like being a...
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S2E11: Q&A Capstone, Assessments, DPP, & 2020 Salaries with Chris
In this episode, Staacy and I held a Zoom Q & A. I was happily surprised by the wide-range of topics that we got to dive into. Questions ranged from knowing if you’re on track for Capstone, when and how to get a job, how your age affects a career in tech, how to know if Launch School is for you,...
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S2E10: Conference on Study Habits by The Social Network with Liz, Jesse, and Katarina
In this episode, I caught up with Liz, Jesse, and Katarina to chat about another peer-led community group at Launch School called "The Social Network". We previously chatted with The SPOT community leads here on the podcast, but The Social Network differs in that its mission is geared towards...
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S2E9: Student Panel Discussion
Welcome to another episode of the Launch School podcast. This is a slightly different episode in that it’s a recording of a webinar we did a few weeks ago about our Deferred Payment Program. Now why would we include a webinar in the podcast? Well, the reason is because this webinar is actually a...
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S2E8: Community Learning at The Spot with Leena, Rodney, and Christian
In this episode, I caught up with Leena, Rodney, and Christian who started a peer-based study group within the Launch School community called SPOT, which stands for Study, Practice, Overlearn, and Teach. This is, arguably, one of the most important topics for us as a mastery-based learning…
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S2E7: Sunny Beatteay on Landing a Dream Job and Getting Promoted
Welcome to Season 2, Episode 7 of the Launch School podcast. In this episode, I had a chance to chat with Sunny Beatteay, a senior software engineer at Digital Ocean and Capstone alum. This conversation was recorded a few months ago back in March, 2020. Many of you who hang out in the Launch…
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S2E6: Michael Mentele - From Launch School to making $250k at Facebook
In this episode, I asked one of our very first Capstone graduates to share with us what’s been going on a few years removed from graduating Capstone. Michael joined Launch School in 2016, finished Capstone in 2017, and is now making a “quarter of a million” at Facebook working on the Oculus VR...
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S2E5: Nick Calibey on landing a six-figure remote Software Engineer role
In this episode I got a chance to speak with Nick Calibey, a Capstone graduate and software engineer at TimescaleDB. We talked about how he went from getting his Masters in Theological Studies to now working on Cloud Infrastructure making 6 figures all working remotely from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Nick…
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S2E4: Gabe, Arthur, and Ben on the importance of studying together and community
I asked Gabe, Ben, and Arthur to come on the podcast today to share their story about how they, as a group, are supporting and helping each other through the Core curriculum and talk about the importance of community. To me, they’ve cracked the code with regards to mastery-based learning. There…
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S2E3: Sasha Prodan - 3 year journey to software engineering
I catch up with Sasha Prodan, who describes her multi-year journey to her high-paying software engineering role. Sasha arrived in the US as an immigrant, worked retail jobs to support herself, and spent 3 years completing her transition to a software engineering role in San Francisco.
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S2E2: Julius Zerwick on path to Software Engineer at DigitalOcean, writing a book, and comparing coding bootcamps
Capstone graduate and frequent Launch School Tech Talk speaker, Julius Zerwick comes on the podcast to chat about his Software Engineer job at DigitalOcean, software salaries in NYC, the importance of soft skills, pros/cons of coding bootcamp vs Launch School, and his upcoming book Make Sense of...
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S2E1: Tannr Allard - $120k job first, college after
In this first episode of Season 2 of the Launch School podcast, I chat with Capstone graduate Tannr Allard about his reflections on going from leaving college to a $120K job to working in blockchain development.
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Meet a Student: Letladi Sebesho
In this episode, we speak with Letladi Sebesho, a South African developer who recently completed all (well, most) of the Launch School courses. He talks about how Launch School compares with his computer science courses, his job hunt process, and also how he's been doing now that he's been…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
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.
HOSTED BY
Launch School
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Launch School Podcast have?
Launch School Podcast currently has 57 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Launch School Podcast about?
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,...
How often does Launch School Podcast release new episodes?
Launch School Podcast has 57 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Launch School Podcast?
You can listen to Launch School Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Launch School Podcast?
Launch School Podcast is created and hosted by Launch School.
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