Carol Willing, a veteran programmer with a passion for making technology accessible, shares her journey from mainframe computers to the world of Python and Jupyter Notebooks. She emphasizes the importance of generalist skills, critical thinking, and building up the next generation of engineers.

How does one pick up the maintainership baton? Turns out that you can ask for it! Jessica Tegner tells the story of how she went from contributing to pypandoc to being the maintainer of it, and of the pressures that come from maintaining a widely used project.

If you find yourself curious about what’s running your software, then you’re in good company! Many Makers before you have cultivated our current open hardware opportunities to make it easier to start. Python Software Foundation Fellow Thea Flowers invites us to think beyond open source software to the vibrant community of open hardware. Bodge your way to greatness! In this episode, explore the right to repair, mid-scale manufacturing, and vinyl for video game soundtracks. Join Open Source Stories in finding your people.

How do we incorporate ethics into open source and software development at large? Dawn Wages describes some of the ways that she embraces ethical open source engineering, including exploring her guiding principles around how she makes technology decisions. Learn about how she works to bring anti-racist practices to the open source ecosystem.

Elana Hashman recounts her first contribution to open source, the ecosystem’s potential, how norms have changed over the years, and what keeps her involved and contributing.

Samson talks with amanda about his lifelong journey in open source, why growing a culture of sharing is so important, and how his early experiences influenced where and how he has directed his energy into re-centering the nexus of open source.

Russell Keith-Magee connects with Open Source Stories to talk about his earliest memories of technology, recount how he got involved with the Django ecosystem, and share his thoughts on open source contractualism.