Episodes

  • Best of the Hedge: 17, Programming Skills for Network Engineers

    Best of the Hedge: 17, Programming Skills for Network Engineers
    Oct 16 2026
    Network engineers do not need to become full-time coders to succeed--but some coding skills are really useful. In this episode of the Hedge, David Barrosso (you can find David's github repositories here), Phill Simonds, and Russ White discuss which programming skills are useful for network engineers.
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    32 mins
  • Hedge 322: AI Crash

    Hedge 322: AI Crash
    Oct 8 2026
    Just about everyone is watching the financial markets, either wondering how much better they can get, or when the AI financing bubble is going to crash. Dough Dawson, from POTs and PANs, joins Tom and Russ to talk about the logic of a coming crash, and consider where engineers should be looking for potential future career fields to weather the storm. https://media.blubrry.com/hedge/content.blubrry.com/hedge/hedge-322.mp3 download
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    46 mins
  • Hedge 321: Sockets

    Hedge 321: Sockets
    Oct 2 2026
    There are many "unsung technologies" in the Internet. While we often think of TCP/IP, various models, Ethernet, and DNS, we don't often think about the lowly socket interface. What is the history of the socket, and why is it important in the world of the Internet? George Michaelson joins Colin Doyle and Russ White to discuss the history and importance of sockets. https://media.blubrry.com/hedge/media.blubrry.com/hedge/content.blubrry.com/hedge/hedge-321.mp3
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    57 mins
  • Hedge 320: Service Consolidation

    Hedge 320: Service Consolidation
    Sep 25 2026
    Over time, services like DNS and email have been centralized, leaving the Internet itself much more centralized. In this episode of the Hedge, Doug Jacobson joins Tom Ammon and Russ White to discuss centralization and service consolidation. https://media.blubrry.com/hedge/content.blubrry.com/hedge/hedge-320.mp3 download
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    36 mins
  • Hedge 319: Using AI

    Hedge 319: Using AI
    Sep 18 2026
    AI is everywhere. While there are many questions about whether AI is a bubble, the ethics of AI, and the cultural impact of AI, in this episode of the Hedge Mike Bushong joins Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ to talk about how network engineers can use AI. Are some use cases better than others? Are there pitfalls network engineers should avoid? Listen in and find out. https://media.blubrry.com/hedge/media.blubrry.com/hedge/content.blubrry.com/hedge/hedge-319.mp3 download
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    54 mins
  • Hedge 318: Parkinson’s Law (and Bastiat)

    Hedge 318: Parkinson’s Law (and Bastiat)
    Sep 11 2026
    It's time for Eyvonne, Tom, and Russ to gather round the hedge and talk about various items of interest. In this roundtable, we consider what we can learn about product development from Bastiat, and the various ins and outs of Parkinson's Law. https://media.blubrry.com/hedge/media.blubrry.com/hedge/content.blubrry.com/hedge/hedge-318.mp3 download
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    35 mins
  • Hedge 317: AI Tools and Coding

    Hedge 317: AI Tools and Coding
    Aug 28 2026
    How effective are AI tools--even agentic AI tools placed into a system--at building and testing software? Derick Winkworth and Donald Sharp Join Russ to discuss various projects they've worked on using AI tools, lessons they've learned, and how developers can make effective use of AI.
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    50 mins
  • Hedge Classics 17: Strong Opinions Loosely Held

    Hedge Classics 17: Strong Opinions Loosely Held
    Aug 14 2026
    Strong opinions loosely held? This is probably not as good of an idea as it seems. Instead of producing confidence, it might produce overconfidence. Michael Natkin joins Tom and Russ to discuss the problems with this mantra.
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    32 mins