Two's Complement

Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

If you come to a fork in the road, take it! Two’s Complement is a programming podcast, hosted by Matt Godbolt and Ben Rady; two programmers who both grew up wanting to make video games. One of them did, one of them didn’t, but now they both work together despite coming from very different backgrounds.

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20 episodes
monthly
Avg 39 min
English

Episodes 20

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August 15 · 38 min
The Tinfoil House
Ben's friend is locked out of their AWS account and Matt's AI has decided he's a hacker. The escape route runs through a cheap computer, a mesh network, and Neal Stephenson.
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July 10 · 44 min
Never Twice the Same Color
Matt records from the wrong continent and explains how he taught his computer to be a 1950s television. Ben guesses his way to the secret of the colo(u?)r burst and wins today's podcast.
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June 14 · 31 min
Programming in English
Ben sets out to learn Rust by only reading it, while Matt wonders if you can learn to land a plane from a book. Also: is snark a portmanteau?
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May 25 · 43 min
The Rabbit Was Always There
Ben asks what happens when you curl google.com, and Matt peels back HTTP until the rabbit turns out to have been in the hat all along. Then a USB hub stages a dramatic intervention.
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April 11 · 49 min
Speed of Thought
Ben has stopped talking to Claude directly. Matt hasn't opened his editor in days. They try to work out whether this is fun, programming, or a very expensive slot machine.
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March 9 · 46 min
Measure Twice, Optimize Once
Ben asks a simple question about performance and Matt talks for 46 minutes. The one true use case for linked lists is revealed, and a part three is threatened.
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February 14 · 45 min
How Fast Is Fast?
Ben interviews Matt with a deceptively simple question: make my program go fast. 44 minutes later, robot dogs are falling over, Grace Hopper's wire makes an appearance, and Matt still hasn't gotten the job.
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January 10 · 27 min
Gaming on Linux
Ben wipes his PC over Thanksgiving and installs Ubuntu for gaming. Matt recalls the dark days of himem.sys and IRQ conflicts. The universe was created last Thursday, and someone gets a hangover.
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Dec 6, 2025 · 24 min
Factorio
Ben's new TCP backpressure explanation: conveyor belts full. Matt zooms out and mistakes his factory for a Pentium 2. Ben plans to switch to Linux gaming; Matt's start bar keeps popping up and he's had it.
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Nov 13, 2025 · 42 min
Vibe Coding and Robot Teammates
Ben worries replacing juniors with LLMs creates a future hiring crisis - who'll train the robot-wranglers? Matt blames COVID brain fog, then proves it by botching NP-completeness. Capitalism is bad at escaping local minima.
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Oct 12, 2025 · 43 min
Conference Talks: Some Assembly Required
Matt returns from CppCon with a cold, three talks, and a keynote title Reddit hates. Ben immediately declares Reddit dumb. The hosts discuss C++ reflection, the unforgivable renaming of the Sears Tower, and why conference attendees should stand like Pac-Man.
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Sep 12, 2025 · 41 min
Running Programs
Matt and Ben discuss running in production; from running processes in screen to battling systemd configuration files. Ben sketches out daemonization rituals while Matt channels Tolkien to explain process hierarchies. Our hosts discover that Ansible playbooks are just bash scripts with better PR, and everyone still Googles journalctl syntax.
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Aug 10, 2025 · 42 min
Squashing Compilers
Matt uses you as his therapist to vent about three days fighting systemd and boot time. Ben patiently listens while Matt explains why mounting things shouldn't consume 200% CPU. AWS sponsorship news provides a silver lining.
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Jul 18, 2025 · 33 min
The Benefits of Experience
Matt and Ben explore how experience lets you run across water instead of drowning in options. Ben explains why he doesn't need a life preserver when building software. Matt retrofits good practices into Compiler Explorer while lamenting decisions from 10 years ago.
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Jun 12, 2025 · 20 min
Is Football Possible Anymore?
Ben recounts his 2007 startup building a database chatbot (before LLMs were cool). Matt tries their methods live with Claude. Ben foolishly uses his phone as a microphone stand.
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May 9, 2025 · 30 min
C++ and Rust: Different Tools for the Job
Matt and Ben discuss programming language debates sparked by an old talk that went viral. They explore how Matt's C++ safety tips convinced someone to switch to Rust instead. Matt stays up all night trying four different implementations to prove a point, then loses. Ben introduces the concept of "carpet bubbles" in language design. Matt lists all the C++ features that begin with C, while Ben questions whether Chicago makes popes.
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Apr 10, 2025 · 39 min
Observable Metrics
Matt and Ben explore the intersection of testing, metrics, and observability in performance-critical code. They debate push vs pull metric systems, share war stories from financial trading systems, and ponder what to do when your program can't tell anyone it's in trouble.
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Mar 16, 2025 · 47 min
Pair Programming with HAL?
Matt and Ben explore the new world of AI-assisted coding: is it like pairing with junior developer? Matt gets the recording working the second time, Ben worries about what happens when your business depends on code you don't understand.
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Feb 14, 2025 · 58 min
Passing Messages
Ben and Matt wade into the deep waters of messaging systems, get utterly lost in time synchronization rabbit holes, and discover their new podcast tagline: "We make mistakes so you don't have to." Matt celebrates by getting his car stuck where cars shouldn't go.
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Jan 12, 2025 · 35 min
Getting CRUFTy
Ben unveils his latest acronym-based software discussion framework while Matt patiently waits for the punchline. Our hosts explore alternatives to technical debt, debate the value of naming things, and Matt questions his ability to remember five letters for more than fourteen minutes. Ben has written a blog post going into more detail since the recording.
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