Book Overflow

Latest Episodes:

When Machines Can Code - Reflections on Trusting Trust by Ken Thompson + Coding Machines by Lawrence Kesteloot Feb 16, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Book Overflow, Carter and Nathan discuss Ken Thompson's essay Reflections on Trusting Trust and the short story Coding Machines by Lawrence Kesteloot!

Big thanks to user 0b00101010 from the Book Overflow Discord for the recommendation! Join it here: https://discord.gg/ZwS2fqW7ZZ

-- Want to talk with Carter or Nathan? Book a coaching session! --

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Carter

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/carter-m-1

Nathan

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/nathan-t-2

-- Books Mentioned in this Episode --

Note: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

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Reflections on Trusting Trust by Ken Thompson

https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rdriley/487/papers/Thompson_1984_ReflectionsonTrustingTrust.pdf

Coding Machines by Lawrence Kesteloot

https://www.teamten.com/lawrence/writings/coding-machines/

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00:00 Intro

02:55 About the Authors and Essays

06:14 Initial Thoughts

11:03 The Trusting Trust Attack

22:39 Coding Machines

32:05 AI Trust and Dark Patterns

44:01 AI-Generated Code and the Future

54:52 Stuxnet and Unintended Consequences

1:02:43 Final Thoughts

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5kj6DLCEWR5nHShlSYJI5L

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-overflow/id1745257325

X: https://x.com/bookoverflowpod

Carter on X: https://x.com/cartermorgan

Nathan's Functionally Imperative: www.functionallyimperative.com

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Book Overflow is a podcast for software engineers, by software engineers dedicated to improving our craft by reading the best technical books in the world. Join Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups as they read and discuss a new technical book each week!

The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at https://www.bookoverflow.io

The Ethics of Data-Intensive Applications - Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppman Feb 09, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Book Overflow, Carter and Nathan finish discussing Designing Data-Intensive Application by Martin Kleppman!

Join the official Book Overflow Discord!

-- Want to talk with Carter or Nathan? Book a coaching session! --

----------------------------------------------------------

Carter

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/carter-m-1

Nathan

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/nathan-t-2

-- Books Mentioned in this Episode --

Note: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

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Designing Data-Intensive Application by Martin Kleppman

https://amzn.to/3LNwzSK

00:00 Intro

03:05 About the Book and Author

05:15 Initial Thoughts on DDIA Part 4

11:44 Stream Processing and Message Brokers

20:00 Kafka, Event Sourcing, and Append-Only Logs

43:42 Fault Tolerance in Streaming Systems

49:05 The Future of Data Systems

57:43 Privacy, Surveillance, and Ethics

1:11:42 Final Thoughts

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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5kj6DLCEWR5nHShlSYJI5L

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-overflow/id1745257325

X: https://x.com/bookoverflowpod

Carter on X: https://x.com/cartermorgan

Nathan's Functionally Imperative: www.functionallyimperative.com

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The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at https://www.bookoverflow.io

Time is an Illusion - Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppman Feb 02, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Book Overflow, Carter and Nathan continue discussing Designing Data-Intensive Application by Martin Kleppman!

Join the official Book Overflow Discord!

-- Want to talk with Carter or Nathan? Book a coaching session! --

----------------------------------------------------------

Carter

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/carter-m-1

Nathan

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/nathan-t-2

-- Books Mentioned in this Episode --

Note: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

----------------------------------------------------------

Designing Data-Intensive Application by Martin Kleppman

https://amzn.to/3LNwzSK

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00:00 Intro

05:44 About the Book and Author

07:23 Initial Thoughts on DDIA Part 3

14:03 The Trouble with Distributed Systems

31:47 Byzantine Fault Tolerance

37:35 Consistency and Consensus

53:03 Batch Processing and the Unix Philosophy

1:10:55 Hot Takes and Book Recommendations

1:15:07 Final Thoughts

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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5kj6DLCEWR5nHShlSYJI5L

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-overflow/id1745257325

X: https://x.com/bookoverflowpod

Carter on X: https://x.com/cartermorgan

Nathan's Functionally Imperative: www.functionallyimperative.com

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The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at https://www.bookoverflow.io

Austen McDonald Reflects on Mastering Behavioral Interviews Jan 30, 2026

Show notes

In this special episode of Book Overflow, Carter and Nathan are joined by Austen McDonald, author of Mastering Behavioral Interviews!

Original book discussion: https://youtu.be/ZA_rG3O46Bw

Join the official Book Overflow Discord! https://discord.gg/ZwS2fqW7ZZ

-- Want to talk with Carter or Nathan? Book a coaching session! --

----------------------------------------------------------

Carter

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/carter-m-1

Nathan

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/nathan-t-2

-- Books Mentioned in this Episode --

Note: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

----------------------------------------------------------

Mastering Behavioral Interviews by Austen McDonald

https://amzn.to/4k3jnpF (Paid Link)

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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5kj6DLCEWR5nHShlSYJI5L

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-overflow/id1745257325

X: https://x.com/bookoverflowpod

Carter on X: https://x.com/cartermorgan

Nathan's Functionally Imperative: www.functionallyimperative.com

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The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at https://www.bookoverflow.io

Replication, Partitioning, & Transactions - Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppman Jan 26, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Book Overflow, Carter and Nathan continue discussing Designing Data-Intensive Application by Martin Kleppman!

Join the official Book Overflow Discord!

-- Want to talk with Carter or Nathan? Book a coaching session! --

----------------------------------------------------------

Carter

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/carter-m-1

Nathan

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/nathan-t-2

-- Books Mentioned in this Episode --

Note: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

----------------------------------------------------------

Designing Data-Intensive Application by Martin Kleppman!

https://amzn.to/3LNwzSK

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00:00 Intro

01:53 About the Book and Author

03:12 Initial Thoughts on DDIA Chapters 5-7

19:10 Chapter 5: Replication

43:00 Chapter 6: Partitioning

52:39 Chapter 7: Transactions

1:05:12 Hot Takes

1:11:59 Final Thoughts

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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5kj6DLCEWR5nHShlSYJI5L

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-overflow/id1745257325

X: https://x.com/bookoverflowpod

Carter on X: https://x.com/cartermorgan

Nathan's Functionally Imperative: www.functionallyimperative.com

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The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at https://www.bookoverflow.io

Reliability, Scalability, and Maintainability - Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppman Jan 19, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Book Overflow, Carter and Nathan begin discussing Designing Data-Intensive Application by Martin Kleppman!

Join the official Book Overflow Discord!

-- Want to talk with Carter or Nathan? Book a coaching session! --

----------------------------------------------------------

Carter

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/carter-m-1

Nathan

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/nathan-t-2

-- Books Mentioned in this Episode --

Note: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

----------------------------------------------------------

Designing Data-Intensive Application by Martin Kleppman!

https://amzn.to/3LNwzSK

00:00 Intro

02:04 About the Book and Author

06:31 Initial Thoughts on DDIA16:39 Reliability, Scalability, and Maintainability

21:45 The Twitter Scalability Problem

33:52 Maintainability and AI-Generated Code

37:31 Data Models and Query Languages

47:20 LLMs as CNC Machines for Engineers

54:40 Storage Engines and Indexing

58:35 OLTP vs OLAP

1:05:08 Encoding and Evolution

1:13:16 Final Thoughts

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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5kj6DLCEWR5nHShlSYJI5L

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-overflow/id1745257325

X: https://x.com/bookoverflowpod

Carter on X: https://x.com/cartermorgan

Nathan's Functionally Imperative: www.functionallyimperative.com

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The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at https://www.bookoverflow.io

Mastering Behavioral Interviews by Austen McDonald Jan 12, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Book Overflow, Carter and Nathan discuss Mastering Behavioral Interviews by Austen McDonald!Join the official Book Overflow Discord! https://discord.gg/ZwS2fqW7ZZ -- Want to talk with Carter or Nathan? Book a coaching session! ------------------------------------------------------------Carterhttps://www.joinleland.com/coach/carter-m-1Nathanhttps://www.joinleland.com/coach/nathan-t-2-- Books Mentioned in this Episode --Note: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.----------------------------------------------------------Mastering Behavioral Interviews by Austen McDonaldhttps://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Behavioral-Interviews-Guide-Storytelling---00:00 Intro04:54 About the Book and Author07:58 Initial Thoughts on Mastering Behavioral Interviews16:30 Pitfalls and Anti-patterns - I vs We19:53 The Eight Signal Areas28:20 The CARL Framework35:33 The Big Three Questions38:57 Questions to Ask Your Interviewer56:06 Final Thoughts----------------Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5kj6DLCEWR5nHShlSYJI5LApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-overflow/id1745257325X: https://x.com/bookoverflowpodCarter on X: https://x.com/cartermorganNathan's Newsletter Functionally Imperative: https://functionallyimperative.comNathan's Platform Engineering Newsletter at https://rojoroboto.com/newsletter----------------Book Overflow is a podcast for software engineers, by software engineers dedicated to improving our craft by reading the best technical books in the world. Join Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups as they read and discuss a new technical book each week!The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at https://www.bookoverflow.io

March Madness in December! Comparing Every Book We've Ever Read! Dec 15, 2025

Show notes

In this episode of Book Overflow, Carter and Nathan stick everything they've ever read into a March Madness-style bracket to determine what their favorite thing they've ever read is!

Big thanks to some of our superfans who helped with this episode!

Jose Villalta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jvillalta/

Nick Severinchik: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-severinchik-56463176/

David Johnson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-johnson-09891732/

-- Want to talk with Carter or Nathan? Book a coaching session! --

----------------------------------------------------------

Carter

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/carter-m-1

Nathan

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/nathan-t-2

-- Books Mentioned in this Episode --

Note: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

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The Tao of Programming by Geoffrey James

https://www.talisman.org/tao/

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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5kj6DLCEWR5nHShlSYJI5L

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-overflow/id1745257325

X: https://x.com/bookoverflowpod

Carter on X: https://x.com/cartermorgan

Nathan's Functionally Imperative: www.functionallyimperative.com

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The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at https://www.bookoverflow.io

Will Larson Reflects on Staff Engineer Dec 08, 2025

Show notes

In this special episode of Book Overflow, Carter and Nathan are joined by Will Larson, author of Staff Engineer!

The first ten listeners to tag Book Overflow on LinkedIn and share a link to this interview will receive a free copy of Will's new book, Crafting Engineering Strategy!

-- Want to talk with Carter or Nathan? Book a coaching session! --

----------------------------------------------------------

Carter

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/carter-m-1

Nathan

https://www.joinleland.com/coach/nathan-t-2

or work with Nathan through his consulting practice, rojoroboto. Book Overflow Listeners get 10% off their first engagement https://rojoroboto.com/bookoverflow

-- Books Mentioned in this Episode --

Note: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

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Staff Engineer by Will Larson

https://amzn.to/4p67dOUn (Paid Link)

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00:00 Intro

01:44 Interview with Will Larson

05:00 Anti-patterns - Snacking, Pining, and Chasing Ghosts

18:42 Navigating Senior Roles and Finding Sponsors

36:26 Developing Intuition and Running Migrations

48:47 Writing Staff Engineer - Stories and Archetypes

58:45 Book Recommendations and Closing

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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5kj6DLCEWR5nHShlSYJI5L

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-overflow/id1745257325

X: https://x.com/bookoverflowpod

Carter on X: https://x.com/cartermorgan

Nathan's Weekly Reflections Newsletter: https://rojoroboto.com/newsletter

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The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at https://www.bookoverflow.io

Accountability Check (2025) Dec 01, 2025

Show notes

In this special episode of Book Overflow, Carter and Nathan follow up on all of the changes they promised to make in their careers as a result of having read 2025's books. Let's see how they did!

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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5kj6DLCEWR5nHShlSYJI5L

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-overflow/id1745257325

X: https://x.com/bookoverflowpod

Carter on X: https://x.com/cartermorgan

Nathan's Functionally Imperative: www.functionallyimperative.com

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The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at https://www.bookoverflow.io