Two's Complement

Hosted by Ben Rady and Matt Godbolt

Technology

Website RSS feed

Episodes

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

About the show

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.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

October 11, 202643 min

Lightning Round

Ben gives his house to an AI named after GLaDOS, and Matt makes the compiler build a Z80. A dying USB dock threatens to end it all.

September 11, 202643 min

Is Programming Still Fun?

Ben asks a question that violates Betteridge's law. Matt rediscovers the joy of coding like a caveman on a plane with no WiFi.

August 15, 202638 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.

July 10, 202644 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.

June 14, 202631 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?

May 25, 202643 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.

April 11, 202649 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.

March 9, 202646 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.

February 14, 202645 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.

January 10, 202627 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.