Story: The Aging Programmer

Story: The Aging Programmer

Author: Adam Gordon Bell - Software Developer April 2, 2026 Duration: 41:52

Kate Gregory has been writing C++ for over forty years. Books, keynotes, a consulting firm she built from the ground up. At sixty-three, she's one of the most experienced programmers alive.

She surveyed hundreds of software engineers about getting older. What scares you? What's changed? What have you lost? The things people feared most — memory, stamina, keeping up — weren't the real threats. The stuff that was actually breaking down was mostly fixable. A bad knee wasn't aging, it was a torn cartilage. Wrist pain disappeared when she changed how she slept.

But buried in the research was something harder to fix. The single factor that predicted whether you'd age well or badly had nothing to do with your body at all.

The opponent isn't aging. The opponent is the story about aging.

 


In CoRecursive: Coding Stories, host Adam Gordon Bell sits down with software developers to explore the human narratives woven into the technology we build. This isn't a technical interview focused on syntax or best practices, but a deeper dive into the pivotal moments, creative struggles, and personal insights that shape how code comes to life. Each conversation reveals the context behind decisions, the stories of failure and breakthrough, and the often-overlooked human elements that define our craft. As a software developer himself, Adam guides these discussions with genuine curiosity, pulling out anecdotes and reflections you won't hear anywhere else. The podcast lives in the intersection of News, Education, and How-To, but through the lens of lived experience. You'll hear about the origins of influential projects, the rationale behind unconventional solutions, and the personal journeys that lead developers to their philosophies. Listening feels like pulling up a chair with thoughtful peers, offering a richer understanding of the profession that goes far beyond the screen. This is where the abstract becomes concrete, through the stories and people behind the code.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

CoRecursive: Coding Stories
Podcast Episodes
Story: Video Game Programming From Scratch [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Chat: 2020 Year End [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Story: Frontiers of Performance with Daniel Lemire [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:09
Did you ever meet somebody who seemed a little bit different than the rest of the world? Maybe they question things that others wouldn't question or said things that others would never say. Daniel is a world-renowned exp…
Story: The Birth of Unix with Brian Kernighan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:10
As Brian Kernighan said "UNIX since the start has become a vehicle for creating and using programming languages." Brian initiated work on what would become the UNIX system. He helped develop it to run on a minicomputer a…
Story: To The Assembly [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:20
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Story: Memento Mori [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:33
Preparing our minds for the inevitable - death is pressing. After facing terminal cancer, Kate Gregory reminded herself that this event can still become inspiring by focusing on the positive. In this episode, Kate is goi…
Story: We are teaching Functional Programming Wrong [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:40
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Story: Software That Doesn't Suck With Jim Blandy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:17
Building Subversion Software is just the tool and it should get out of your way. In this episode, we will discuss Jim Blandy's insights on how to build and recognize improvements for a great developer tool and find out h…
Story: Unproven Tech Case Study with Sean Allen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:03
Choosing The Right Tool For the Job Choosing the right programming language or framework for a project can be key to the success of the project. In today's episode, Sean Allen Sean shares a story of picking the right too…