From FAANG to Fired: The Illusion of Stability in Big Tech w/ Adam Argyle

This week, Robbie and special guest co-host Adam Argyle talk about life after layoffs, the myth of job security at big tech companies, and what it really means to build meaningful things on the web.

In this episode:

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:23) - Whiskey: Chicken Cock Rye
• (02:45) - From FAANG to fired: the illusion of stability in Big Tech
• (14:49) - How HTML and CSS are replacing JavaScript, one feature at a time
• (23:13) - Robbie’s role at HashiCorp
• (26:47) - What is AI actually good at?
• (53:30) - Taste, tools, and the art of building with (or without) AI
• (57:32) - Waking and baking
• (58:54) - Robbie on raising twins
• (01:03:05) - Why Robbie left Amazon
• (01:04:25) - Where tech is headed: AI, burnout, and the future of creativity
• (01:09:20) - Plugs

Links

• Chicken Cock: https://chickencockwhiskey.com/
• Seinfeld: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinfeld
• Norlan Glass: https://norlanglass.com/
• Chrome: https://www.google.com/chrome/
• South Park: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park
• Amazon: https://amazon.com
• TanStack: https://tanstack.com/
• Netlify: https://www.netlify.com/
• Shopify: https://www.shopify.com
• Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/
• Lady Bird: https://ladybird.org
• Mozilla: https://www.mozilla.org/
• Brilliant: https://brilliant.org/
• Duolingo: https://www.duolingo.com/
• Apple: https://apple.com
• Westworld: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westworld_(TV_series)
• Dead Space: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Space
• Awwwards: https://www.awwwards.com/
• Vue: https://vuejs.org/
• Safari: https://www.apple.com/safari/
• Tailwind CSS: https://tailwindcss.com/
• Figma: https://www.figma.com/
• Lodash: https://lodash.com/
• HashiCorp: https://www.hashicorp.com/
• Ember: https://emberjs.com/
• Windsurf: https://windsurf.ai/
• Cursor: https://www.cursor.com/
• Firebase Studio: https://firebase.studio/
• Zed: https://zed.dev/
• NotebookLM: https://notebooklm.google.com/
• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/
• Claude: https://claude.ai
• Cline: https://cline.bot/
• Deno: https://deno.com/
• Sam Altman: https://x.com/sama
• DeepSeek: https://www.deepseek.com/
• Dia: https://www.diabrowser.com/
• Warp: https://www.warp.dev/
• Honda Accord: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Accord
• Silicon Valley: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley_(TV_series)
• Bitcoin: https://bitcoin.org/en/
• Catch Me If You Can: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_Me_If_You_Can
• Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot
• Ken Wheeler: https://x.com/ken_wheeler/
• MySpace: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace
• GitHub: https://github.com

Connect with Adam

• Website: https://nerdy.dev/
• X / Twitter: https://x.com/argyleink

Connect with Chuck and Robbie

• Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner
• Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd

Subscribe and stay in touch

• Website: https://whiskey.fm
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf
• Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot

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Veteran web developers RobbieTheWagner and Charles William Carpenter III host this informal, whiskey-fueled fireside chat with your favorite web devs. They discuss all things web development including JavaScript, TypeScript, EmberJS, React, Astro, SolidJS, CSS, HTML, Web3, and more. They take a unique approach and focus on getting to know the human side of developers and their hobbies outside of work, all while sampling a new whiskey that they rate on their unique tentacle scale.