Between the Brackets: a MediaWiki Podcast

Hosted by Yaron Koren

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Episodes

100

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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About the show

A podcast about the people and ideas behind the MediaWiki software. Interviews with developers and users of MediaWiki, both for Wikimedia sites (Wikipedia, Wikidata, etc.) and the many uses of MediaWiki in companies, organizations, government agencies, etc.

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60 recent

October 6, 2026Episode 2161 hr 11 min

Episode 216: Christian Erlinger

🕑 1 hour 12 minutes Christian Erlinger is a digital librarian and GLAM consultant; he is also the general chair for the MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference (MUDCon) Fall 2026, which will be held November 11-13, in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Links for some of the topics discussed: Christian Erlinger homepage MUDCon Fall 2026 KM-A (Knowledge Management Associates) WikiKult – Offene Kulturdaten (GLAM wiki enthusiasts network) NeoWiki demo wiki EpiMedDat "Dancing mania" on EpiMedDat "1374-06-21-Germany" on EpiMedDat

September 22, 2026Episode 2151 hr 24 min

Episode 215: Mahir Morshed

🕑 1 hour 25 minutes Dr. Mahir Morshed is a data scientist at the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) in North Carolina. He is also an administrator on Wikidata and the Bengali-language Wikisource. Links for some of the topics discussed: RENCI Proto-Open Knowledge Network: FRINK Abstract Wikipedia Requests for comment/The future of Abstract Wikipedia "From Abstract Content to Concrete Text with Wikidata Lexemes" (talk by Mahir at Wikimania 2026) "Using Wikidata lexemes and items to generate text from abstract representations" (2024 paper by Mahir Morshed) Ninai statement construction system

September 9, 2026Episode 21424 min

Episode 214: BTB Digest 34

🕑 25 minutes Highlights from five recent episodes! Sandra Fauconnier notes the irony of centralization in the Semantic Web, Ad Strack van Schijndel discusses the workings of Juggel, Daniel Dobriy extols wikis for AI, Cory Massaro praises the translation abilities of Abstract Wikipedia, Shani Evenstein Sigalov discusses the role of nonprofits in AI, and more!

August 25, 2026Episode 2131 hr 31 min

Episode 213: Waldir Pimenta

🕑 1 hour 32 minutes Waldir Pimenta returns to talk about the recent Wikimania, the hackathon-to-development pipeline, unionization and other topics. Links for some of the topics discussed: Wikimania 2026 team challenges Map the Gap (Wikimania hackathon team project) Wikinewsie WISE (semantic image search for Commons) Wiki Fringe at Wikimania 2026 Requests for comment: The future of Abstract Wikipedia Useful functions for article composition at Abstract Wikipedia Wiki Workers United "Wikipedia:WMF Community Tech team has been disbanded, engineers laid off" Outline of episode: 0:00:00 - Intro 0:01:20 - Cape Verde at the world cup 0:10:30 - Recap of recent activity 0:15:00 - Wikimania impressions 0:25:00 - Wikinewsie 0:27:30 - Wikimania Hackathon project: Portrait categorizer 0:28:45 - Team Challenges: Map the Gap 0:40:10 - Experimentation and innovation in the Wikimedia movement 0:48:35 - Lack of UX and design prioritization in Wikimedia projects 0:52:20 - Wikimedia Hackathon 2026 / WISE 0:54:30 - Mechanisms to encourage and facilitate collaboration and consolidation in tool development 0:57:30 - Abstract Wikipedia and Wikifunctions 1:08:30 - Wiki Workers United 1:29:30 - A future Wikimedia Hackathon in Portugal?

August 3, 2026Episode 21231 min

Episode 212: Matthew Shell

🕑 1 hour 1 minute Matthew Shell is an IT project manager who is the creator of the MediaWiki-based wiki farm GoalStriving. GoalStriving is intended for personal, private wikis; it is ad-free and pledges to never sell or share any user information. Links for some of the topics discussed: GoalStriving List of personal wiki software on Wikipedia Page Exchange MediaWiki extension You can also see a video of this interview on YouTube.

July 14, 2026Episode 2111 hr 33 min

Episode 211: Shani Evenstein Sigalov

🕑 1 hour 34 minutes Dr. Shani Evenstein Sigalov is an educator, researcher, and long-standing Open Knowledge advocate, working at the intersection of education, technology, innovation and openness. She is the founder of the AI Bridges project at the Digital Humanities Research Hub at the University of London. She is also a former member and vice chair of the Board of Trustees at the Wikimedia Foundation. Links for some of the topics discussed: Digital Humanities Research Hub AI-BRIDGES "World model (artificial intelligence)" Wikipedia article

June 30, 2026Episode 2101 hr 30 min

Episode 210: Cory Massaro

🕑 1 hour 31 minutes Cory Massaro is a staff software engineer on the Abstract Wikipedia team at the Wikimedia Foundation. Links for some of the topics discussed: Cory Massaro website Abstract Wikipedia Wikifunctions WikiLambda MediaWiki extension "Wikilambda the Ultimate" (2026 paper by Michael Falk) We Can Be Luddites (Cory Massaro Substack account) "The Great Conversation: Complicated Translations of The Odyssey" (Benjamin LaBadie, February 2024)

June 2, 2026Episode 2091 hr 28 min

Episode 209: Daniel Dobriy

🕑 1 hour 28 minutes Daniel Dobriy is the founder and managing director of the company Dobriy AI. He is also a researcher at WU Vienna University and Austria's Bilateral AI Cluster of Excellence. Links for some of the topics discussed: Dobriy AI Daniel Dobriy homepage Agentic Data Catalogue Web of Data Catalogue Search of Engine for the Web of Data WikiApiary ECHOLOT NeoWiki MediaWiki extension GraphHub

May 20, 2026Episode 20826 min

Episode 208: BTB Digest 33

🕑 27 minutes Clips from five recent episodes! Liam Wyatt considers LLMs as a vessel for Wikipedia content; Steve Shattuck weighs Cargo against Semantic MediaWiki; Paul Vodrazka lays out how he became an AI coder; Noam Cohen defends Wikipedia from charges of bias; Wandji Collins recounts becoming a MediaWiki volunteer; and more!

May 5, 2026Episode 2071 hr 34 min

Episode 207: Ad Strack van Schijndel

🕑 1 hour 35 minutes Ad Strack van Schijndel is the founder and CEO of Juggel, a Dutch company whose product, also named Juggel, is an AI-centered MediaWiki distribution. Before founding Juggel, he was the founder and CEO of the MediaWiki-based consulting company Wikibase Solutions. Links for some of the topics discussed: Juggel Wikibase Solutions Juggel AI "MediaWiki for lazy people" - talk by Ad at MUDCon spring 2026 NeoWiki MediaWiki extension