Fear-Driven Everything (with Justin Searls)

On this episode of Dead Code, Jared talks with Justin Searls, co-founder of Test Double, about programming workflows, decision-making, and the evolving role of developers. They explore how the order and tempo of thought matter more than static code, why tackling the riskiest problems first can shape better outcomes, and how Justin’s idea of the “full-breadth developer” expands a programmer’s role to include product vision and context. The conversation touches on Agile and XP roots, consulting realities, and how AI coding agents can both accelerate and complicate work. The episode wraps with Justin encouraging blogging and direct connection, while Jared reflects on building a “grand unified theory” of how programmers decide their next step.

Links:

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Test Double

Justin Searls: Find his writing, projects, and podcast Breaking Change at justin.searls.co

Growing Object-Oriented Software, Guided by Tests by Steve Freeman & Nat Pryce

Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck

The Secrets of Consulting by Jerry Weinberg

Clojure REPL

Solidus

SwiftData

CloudKit

Cursor

Claude Code

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Episode Transcript

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