The Limeleaf Podcast

Steve Giordano from Interstitial and Ethan Winn from Obran join us to talk about one of our favorite topics: worker co-ops! What they are and, more importantly, why we think they are a great corporate structure for tech startups. Also...Henhouse is in Beta! Henhouse, our new privacy-focused, small-tech web hosting co-op, is in private beta. If you want to test it out, contact us. If you want to support Henhouse, donate on Open Collective. Show Notes and Links Guests Steve Giordano, Interstitial Technology Ethan Winn, Obran Cooperative Podcasts and Media Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff Stuff You Should Know, "How Worker Co-Ops Work" The Laura Flanders Show Upstream Podcast Cool Co-ops To Check Out Colab Colorado Drivers Cooperative Comp.coop CoTech (UK tech co-op network) Hypha Worker Co-operative Igalia IOCoop Platform Cooperativism Consortium Organizations and Networks Cotech Cooperation Works! Cooperative Economics Alliance of New York City Democracy at Work Institute ICA Group Launch.coop National Cooperative Business Association New York City Network of Worker Cooperatives Patio, Patio chat Project Equity Start.coop US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, USFWC Slack channel Worker's Co-Op Legal CoopLaw.org Edward P. Swyer Justice Center at Albany Law School DRGA (Argentine cooperative law firm) Jason Wiener, PC (cooperative attorney) Sustainable Economies Law Center Financial LIFT Fund Seed Commons Shared Capital Cooperative The Working World Transform Finance Events 2026 Worker Co-op Conference (September 26-27, Boston) Co-Op Events Calendar Platform Cooperativism Conference USFWC Upcoming Events Books Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice by Jessica Gordon Nembhard Humanizing the Economy by John Restakis Humanocracy by Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini Ours to Hack and to Own edited by Trebor Scholz and Nathan Schneider Owning Our Future by Marjorie Kelly The Making of a Democratic Economy by Marjorie Kelly and Ted Howard We Should Own The Economy by Elle Griffin

This month, software engineer and systems builder Corey Snipes joined us to talk about small tech, digital sovereignty, LLMs, and why he's optimistic about the future of tech. Corey has 25 years of experience across security, cloud, and web-facing technologies. He likes to fix things, spend time in the woods, and play music. He's also a founding member of our Henhouse Computing Co-op. Listen to all our episodes at limeleaf.coop/podcast. Join us at ATmosphereConf 2026! We're headed to Vancouver, BC, Canada from March 26-29 for ATmosphereConf 2026! If you'll be there, too, say hi. Links to Stuff We Mention in the Show Corey's links His personal blog Mastodon (also bridged to Bluesky) His consultancy, Twomile Heavy Industries, Inc. His product, Review Star The Laptop Rehabilitation Project Other stuff we discussed Henhouse “Now is the time to be digitally sovereign” letter to EC EU Digital Markets Act Aral Balkan on the Small Web Small Tech Foundation Kitten Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere (POSSE) Molly White on POSSE and Digital Sovereignty Molly White at SXSW 2025 US hits record 2.1 million new business applications atproto.com Activity Pub freeourfeeds.org Eurosky.social Mastodon Bluesky Ghost publishing platform Micro.blog (Easy publishing and POSSE-style sharing to other platforms) Bruno for API testing and the Bruno vs Postman comparison

This month, we reflect on some 2025 highlights here at Limeleaf and look ahead at our plans for 2026. Topics include: Bluesky, ATProtocol, apply.coop, owning tech vs. renting it (i.e., SaaS), Silicon Valley's devolution from cuddly unicorn to bloodthirsty monster, tech ICs are the new working class, and more. ATmosphereConf 2026 Tickets Are On Sale! ATmosphereConf 2026 is happening in Vancouver in March! Attend in person or online for two days of AT Protocol-focused learning, networking, and fun. Limeleaf will be there, as will folks from Bluesky PBC, Graze, Blacksky Algorithms, Streamplace, Tangled, and many other AT Protocol enthusiasts. Get your tickets now!! Links Bluesky Directory apply.coop Source Cooperative Means Media Panther Peak Studios Comp.coop Farox Cooperative You Deserve a Tech Union by Ethan Marcotte Seven Myths About AI and Productivity: What the Evidence Really Says Beyond the politics of nostalgia: What the fall of the steel industry can tell us about the future of America The Tech Workers Coalition

In this episode, we discuss AT Protocol, a technology that underpins Bluesky and many believe is the future of social media. ATProto pioneer Boris Mann @bmann.ca educates us about AT Protocol, where it's used, why so many people are excited about it, and even how it's pronounced. Breaking news: In the episode, we discuss software patents as they relate to ATProto standardization. Today, Bluesky published a patent pledge vowing to "not enforce any of the patents on any software invention Bluesky Social owns now or in the future." The pledge includes IP related to ATProto. Progress! AT Protocol Software Development Do you have an idea for a Bluesky or AT Protocol product? Build it! Our team can guide you through every step, from defining requirements to launching your product, scaling your infrastructure to handle millions of users, and beyond. Learn more. Links Overview of the ATmosphere's potential from Dan Abramov AT Protocol Specification AT Protocol on Github Free Our Feeds, "A campaign to support open, people-powered social media" Blacksky, "Decentralized tools for creating safe, independent online spaces" Boris' "Beyond Microblogging: AT Protocol for Building Unique Social Apps" post Alex Russell's post about web standards Toronto User Directory Some Cool ATProto Apps Leaflet - online publishing Tangled - source code management Graze - custom feed creator Streamplace - video livestreaming Spark - decentralized social networking Germ - secure chat Semble - social knowledge network for researchers Smoke Signal - event planning Flushes - uh, wtf? Anisota - experimental social media interface Recipe Exchange Roomy Chat - group chat Grain Photos - photo storage Anchor - geo checkins Find many more at blueskydirectory.com

This month, we talk about the state of computer science instruction in higher education, and how it's changing. What even is "computer science" these days? Do tech workers really need a degree in it? Should schools develop new degrees in topics like application development instead of coding and algorithms? Naturally, AI comes up in the conversation. We also cover some clever new robot slurs that have been making the rounds online. Don't be a clanker, give it a listen! apply.coop, our privacy-first job board for values-driven organizations, is in production! Visit apply.coop and use promo code "solidarity" for free job postings! Show Notes and Links Slopsquatting How ‘Clanker’ Became the Internet’s New Favorite Slur Coding is dead: UW computer science program rethinks curriculum for the AI era

In this episode, we explore paradigms in psychology and software development, with guest Laurie Smith, a human services expert and applied behavior analyst. The discussion traces psychology's evolution from behaviorism to cognitive approaches, and software's progression from procedural to object-oriented and functional programming, and, of course, artificial intelligence. We also explore emerging paradigms in psychology, computer science, and economics, emphasizing the need to measure success beyond traditional metrics. apply.coop, our privacy-first job board for values-driven organizations, is in production! Visit apply.coop and use promo code "solidarity" for free job postings! Show Notes and Links New paradigm for psychology just dropped Kuhn’s phases of science Valuing What Counts: United Nations System-wide Contribution on Beyond Gross Domestic Product (GDP) start.coop - Our mission is to scale the next generation of cooperatively owned businesses

It’s Mubs! The newest owner-member of Limeleaf joins us to discuss his career, his past collaborations with Blain and Erik, and his experience launching over 100 digital products. In our “Explain It to Me Like I’m John” segment, we learn about AT Protocol (the tech that powers Bluesky), the pain of moving your “social graph” to a new social platform, and how AT Protocol might help solve it. For links, socials, and more info about Limeleaf Worker Cooperative, visit limeleaf.coop. Show Notes and Links Bluesky Directory Mubs’ website AT Protocol Bluesky Phone Number Portability

We started Limeleaf on March 18, 2024. To celebrate our one-year anniversary, we'll take a look back at what we've accomplished and where we want to go in 2025 and beyond. Show Notes Tech Jobs for Good comp.coop Farox Camplight Patio Colab Rushdown Studios Rocket Science Piton Labs For links, socials, and more info about Limeleaf Worker Cooperative, visit limeleaf.coop.

This month, we have a special episode with Mavreen Smiel. Mav is a Senior Test Automation Engineer and long-time veteran of the video gaming industry. She gives us an insider’s view on software testing past, present, and future. (Yes, including the impact that “AI” is having on software quality assurance folks.) Show Notes Mavreen Smiel on LinkedIn The TLA+ Home Page Selenium Never Use Floats for Currency Formal Methods Logic in Computer Science Logic for Programmers

In our inaugural episode, we introduce ourselves and talk about the conniving grubs at Grubhub and why fining Big Tech companies is useless. We talk about the fine public service work being done by Trifecta Tech. In our "Explain it to Me Like I'm John" segment, Blain and Erik go deep into the Meta "View As" security breach and resulting EU fine. Show Notes "The No-Win 'Mystery Drone' Clusterf*ck" by 404 Media Underunderstood episode about Grubhub Trifecta Tech - Open infrastructure software in the public interest Prossimo Krugman on the health insurance racket "Meta Fined $264M for Security Breach in Facebook's 'View As' Feature" Mealeo, a meal delivery service based in Latham, NY Limecast, a Privacy-First Podcasting Platform Send us a donation!