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More Than A Refresh

More Than A Refresh
A podcast about data and the people who wrangle it.

Welcome to the More than a Refresh podcast series, now celebrating its fifth year as your uniquely human gateway into the world of data.

In 2025, we bring you an even more eclectic mix of speakers and subject matter experts from diverse industries and backgrounds. Our guests excel in topics such as leadership, networking, DEIA, data protection and privacy, and cutting-edge technology, including healthtech, edtech, and fintech. Additionally, enjoy top-tier content from leading experts in the open-source community.

Where to listen:

MTAR T3D Sessions: Why Code Generation Still Matters
Thu, January 08 2026
00:10:27
MTAR T3D Sessions: Why Code Generation Still Matters

In this episode, Command Prompt Founder Joshua “JD” Drake talks with Andrew Smith, Senior Developer/DBA, about a foundational concept in software engineering that quietly powers modern systems: code generation and single sources of truth.Andrew walks through the evolution of code generation—from early macros and assembly language to modern model-driven architectures—and explains why generating code from a centralized definition is one of the most effective ways to build scalable, maintainable systems. Using practical examples from C, PostgreSQL, and modern frameworks, he breaks down how code generation reduces duplication, prevents drift, and keeps complex systems aligned over time.

MTAR T3D Sessions: Why Monitoring Isn’t Enough: The Case for Full Postgres Logging
Fri, December 19 2025
00:10:27
MTAR T3D Sessions: Why Monitoring Isn’t Enough: The Case for Full Postgres Logging

Welcome back to More Than a Refresh Presents: T3D Sessions.In this episode, Command Prompt Founder Joshua “JD” Drake talks with Justin Graf, Senior DBA & Engineer at Command Prompt, about a topic every Postgres team needs to understand: why monitoring alone isn’t enough—and why full logging is essential for diagnosing database problems. Justin explains how organizations often rely solely on monitoring tools like PGStatStatements, CloudWatch, or Datadog, without realizing that these tools can’t show query parameters, historical performance shifts, or the root cause behind sudden CPU spikes. Without full logging, teams end up blind during outages, wasting hours trying to detect issues that proper logs would have revealed immediately.

MTAR T3D Sessions: How your AWS decisions today shape your flexibility, cost, and vendor dependencies
Thu, December 04 2025
00:12:28
MTAR T3D Sessions: How your AWS decisions today shape your flexibility, cost, and vendor dependencies

In this special AWS-focused T3D segment, Command Prompt Founder Joshua “JD” Drake sits down with Greg Dostatni, Senior DBA at Command Prompt, to unpack a topic that every team running PostgreSQL in the cloud eventually needs to face: how your AWS decisions today shape your flexibility, cost, and vendor dependencies tomorrow.


Drawing on years of experience with platform migrations, cloud transitions, and large-scale infrastructure projects, Greg explains why AWS is powerful and convenient—but not something you should treat as permanent. Whether the trigger is pricing, features, licensing, mergers, or internal strategy shifts, every organization eventually reaches a point where moving away from a vendor becomes necessary.


If you’re building on AWS, evaluating cloud Postgres options, or planning long-term infrastructure strategy, this AWS special segment provides a clear, grounded perspective on navigating cloud choice—and exit—responsibly.


Have a conversation with our guest and his AWS expertise by contacting Command Prompt.

MTAR T3D Sessions: Implementing real-world security and compliance
Thu, November 20 2025
00:13:00
MTAR T3D Sessions: Implementing real-world security and compliance

James breaks down the difference between checking the box for compliance and implementing meaningful, real-world security. From encryption-at-rest misunderstandings to SQL injection vulnerabilities that still plague organizations today, he explains why companies often miss the point — and how to approach security controls in a way that actually protects your data.If you’ve ever felt stuck in endless compliance meetings, wrestled with vague requirements like “encryption at rest,” or questioned whether your MFA strategy makes sense, this short talk is for you.

Learn more about Command Prompt

MTAR T3D Sessions: Stepping away from AWS, Google and databases to explore machine learning
Thu, November 13 2025
00:13:33
MTAR T3D Sessions: Stepping away from AWS, Google and databases to explore machine learning

Welcome to Episode 13 of More Than a Refresh Presents: T3D Sessions!

In this session, Command Prompt Founder Joshua “JD” Drake sits down with Kevin Jernigan, Chief Product Officer at J4 Capital LLC, whose career spans decades across the world’s biggest database and cloud companies.Kevin walks us through his journey from Oracle, AWS (Aurora PostgreSQL), MongoDB (Atlas Serverless), and Google Cloud, reflecting on what it meant to “reinvent the wheel” in database engineering — and why he ultimately stepped away from the database world.

If you’re interested in databases, AI efficiency, brain-scale compute, or the future of machine learning, this short talk is for you.

MTAR T3D Sessions: Experiencing the benefits of Cython to increase Python performance
Thu, October 30 2025
00:10:59
MTAR T3D Sessions: Experiencing the benefits of Cython to increase Python performance

Welcome to Episode 14 of More Than a Refresh Presents: T3D SessionsCommand Prompt Founder Joshua "JD" Drake chats with Valerii Herman, Python Developer at Command Prompt, about Cython — a superset of Python that combines Python’s simplicity with C’s performance.Valerii explains how Cython lets developers keep the readability of Python while selectively compiling performance-heavy sections into C extensions. Beyond speed, he shares how Cython can also be used for code obfuscation, making it harder to reverse engineer intellectual property.


Reach out to Command Prompt to discuss further.

MTAR T3D Sessions: Beyond CAPTCHA and honeypots, simplified layered defenses against website spam
Thu, October 23 2025
00:12:01
MTAR T3D Sessions: Beyond CAPTCHA and honeypots, simplified layered defenses against website spam

Welcome to Episode 11 of More Than a Refresh Presents: T3D SessionsCommand Prompt Founder Joshua "JD" Drake chats with Eugene Dubinin, Senior Developer & Project Lead at Command Prompt, about strategies for fighting web application registration spam — a problem they faced firsthand while maintaining the Postgres Conference website.Eugene explains why simple measures like CAPTCHAs and honeypots aren’t enough on their own, and how a pipeline of layered defenses can drastically reduce spam accounts.


Dive deeper into this conversation, contact Command Prompt today.

MTAR T3D Sessions: The death of the Internet and what's at stake
Thu, October 16 2025
00:12:06
MTAR T3D Sessions: The death of the Internet and what's at stake

Welcome to Episode 10 of More Than a Refresh Presents: T3D Sessions

Command Prompt Founder Joshua "JD" Drake chats with Andrew Sullivan — President of Anvil Walrus Den Holdings, Inc. and longtime Internet engineer and policy leader.

Andrew explains how the open, decentralized Internet envisioned by its founders is being reshaped by the dominance of just a handful of tech giants. From Canada’s policy battles with Meta and Google to the way platforms have replaced the open web for billions of people, Andrew highlights what’s at stake.

MTAR T3D Sessions: Thinking outside the box with infrastructure monitoring
Tue, October 07 2025
00:11:00
MTAR T3D Sessions: Thinking outside the box with infrastructure monitoring

Welcome to Episode 9 of More Than a Refresh Presents: T3D SessionsIn this episode, Command Prompt Founder Joshua “JD” Drake sits down with Hunter O’Brien, Jr Sysadmin/Jr DBA at Command Prompt, to talk about why monitoring isn’t one-size-fits-all.They explore how out-of-the-box tools often give shallow insights, and why teams should leverage their QA and test environments to improve production monitoring.Hunter shares examples like catching Postgres sequence wraparound, setting up smarter disk alerts, and customizing metrics so they actually reflect your environment — not just a template.If you’re running PostgreSQL in production, this short talk will help you turn your monitoring from noise into useful signals.


To dive deeper into this content, contact Command Prompt.

MTAR T3D Sessions: 10 things you didn't know about blockchain
Thu, October 02 2025
00:13:31
MTAR T3D Sessions: 10 things you didn't know about blockchain

Welcome to Episode 8 of More Than a Refresh Presents: T3D Sessions.

Command Prompt Founder Joshua "JD" Drake chats with Silona Bonewald, Open Source Standards Pioneer and InnerSource Expert, about 10 things you didn’t know about blockchain. Silona takes a historical and systemic look at how blockchain emerged long before Bitcoin, and why its uses go far beyond cryptocurrency.

MTAR T3D Sessions: Scaling Postgres without breaking the bank
Tue, September 23 2025
00:11:17
MTAR T3D Sessions: Scaling Postgres without breaking the bank

Welcome to Episode 6 of More Than a Refresh Presents: T3D Sessions. Command Prompt Founder Joshua “JD” Drake sits down with his colleague Brian Fehrle, DBA at Command Prompt, to dive into one of the toughest challenges for fast-growing applications: scaling your database without breaking the bank.

Brian shares real-world lessons on what happens when traffic spikes, why simply “throwing more hardware at it” is a dangerous (and expensive) band-aid, and how smarter approaches—like monitoring PostgreSQL catalog stats, tuning autovacuum, and implementing partitioning—can save organizations hundreds of thousands of dollars.


To dive deeper into this discussion contact Command Prompt.

MTAR T3D Sessions: how retention and activation metrics drive real business outcomes
Thu, September 11 2025
00:11:39
MTAR T3D Sessions: how retention and activation metrics drive real business outcomes

Welcome to Episode 5 of More Than a Refresh Presents: T3D Sessions

Command Prompt Founder Joshua "JD" Drake chats with Alan Chavez — Product Engineer specialized in Growth, and Chief Technology Officer at Torta Studios — about the practice of growth engineering and how data-driven decisions shape the success of new products.

Alan shares how retention and activation metrics drive real business outcomes, why retention curves are critical signals of product viability, and how activation benchmarks can determine long-term success.

MTAR T3D Sessions: Why not K8s (Kubernetes) and PostgreSQL
Thu, September 04 2025
00:12:09
MTAR T3D Sessions: Why not K8s (Kubernetes) and PostgreSQL

Welcome to Episode 4 of More Than a Refresh Presents: T3D Sessions
Command Prompt Founder Joshua "JD" Drake chats with Greg Dostatni, DBA at Command Prompt, about the Kubernetes mantra “cattle, not pets” — and why that doesn’t always hold true when it comes to PostgreSQL databases.

They explore why stateless services scale easily in Kubernetes, but databases face serious challenges around failover, replication, and recovery. Greg makes the case that databases must be treated as pets — because when the data is gone, it’s game over.

If you’re running Postgres at scale or evaluating Kubernetes for databases, this short talk is for you.


To dive deeper into this content contact Command Prompt.

MTAR T3D Sessions: The power and performance benefits of set-based processing in relational databases like PostgreSQL
Tue, August 12 2025
00:12:28
MTAR T3D Sessions: The power and performance benefits of set-based processing in relational databases like PostgreSQL

Welcome to Episode 3 of More Than a Refresh Presents: T3D Sessions

Command Prompt Founder Joshua "JD" Drake sits down with Dr. Aaron N. Cutshall, Principal Data Architect at SQLRV, LLC., to discuss the power and performance benefits of set-based processing in relational databases like PostgreSQL.

With database experience dating back to the 1980s, Aaron shares why set-based thinking is disappearing from modern education, how treating a database like a file system hurts performance, and why leveraging the database engine for what it was designed to do can yield exponential speed gains.

From clear analogies—like magnets for sorting ball bearings—to real-world performance comparisons, this short talk challenges developers to rethink iterative, row-by-row approaches and embrace the efficiency of set-based operations.If you work with Postgres, big data, or want to sharpen your database fundamentals, this episode is for you.

MTAR T3D Sessions: a platform that instantly turns databases into RESTful APIs
Tue, August 05 2025
00:10:25
MTAR T3D Sessions: a platform that instantly turns databases into RESTful APIs

Welcome to Episode 2 of More Than a Refresh Presents: T3D Sessions

Command Prompt Founder Joshua "JD" Drake chats with Victor Olex, Founder and CEO of SlashDB — a platform that instantly turns databases into RESTful APIs with support for JSON, XML, CSV, and even a full HTML-based UI for exploring and querying data.

They explore how SlashDB stands out in a crowded API ecosystem — including in comparison to tools like PostgREST, which expose PostgreSQL as a RESTful API — by offering a plug-and-play solution for accessing and managing data in multiple formats with no middleware coding needed.

Victor also shares details about SlashDB v2.0, its new React-based front end, enhanced modularity, and connection pooling for performance at scale. If you’re working with legacy systems, SaaS transitions, or data accessibility, this short talk is for you.

Learn more about SlashDB at https://slashdb.com/

MTAR T3D Sessions: Apache Cloudberry -- a new open source, Postgres-based analytics platform designed to scale
Tue, July 22 2025
00:11:21
MTAR T3D Sessions: Apache Cloudberry -- a new open source, Postgres-based analytics platform designed to scale

Welcome to Episode 1 of More Than a Refresh Presents: T3D Sessions

Command Prompt Founder Joshua "JD" Drake chats with Tushar Pednekar, Co-founder of Synx Data Labs, about Apache CloudBerry — a new open source, Postgres-based analytics platform designed to scale from terabytes to petabytes.

They explore how CloudBerry offers a true open-source alternative to legacy systems like Greenplum, the importance of code parity with PostgreSQL, and why stability and governance matter in enterprise-grade analytics. If you're into distributed computing, big data, or Postgres at scale, this 10-minute talk is for you.

MTAR 52: How government cuts affect our forests and how trees are going to save the world
Wed, March 26 2025
01:14:45
MTAR 52: How government cuts affect our forests and how trees are going to save the world

Welcome to episode 52 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Patrick Broderick, Consulting Forester and Founder @ Eastside Forestry.


In this episode, Patrick and JD discuss passion vs. profit, why our forests need a guiding hand, and how both sides of the political aisle are thinking about conservation all wrong.


For educational resources on the state of our forests, to get involved in the conservation effort, or to make a donation to a non-profit that is doing the boots-on-the-ground work, please visit https://www.kittitasconservationtrust.org/donate/

MTAR 51: Buzzword compliance and solutions looking for problems
Thu, October 24 2024
00:43:54
MTAR 51: Buzzword compliance and solutions looking for problems

Welcome to episode 51 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Dotan Horovits, CNCF Ambassador and OpenObservability Talks Podcast Host. This episode is part of our series with The Open Source Observability Day Conference, where we're giving conference speakers an opportunity to speak beyond their abstract.

In this episode, Dotan and JD discuss buzz word compliance, solutions looking for problems, and observability as more than just three pillars.

For more information on The OSOD Conference, please visit ⁠https://osoday.com/

You can listen to The OpenObservability Talks Podcast here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/openobservability 


To discuss further contact Command Prompt.

MTAR 50: Going viral on Github and observability as a fundamental to a health infrastructure
Tue, October 22 2024
00:37:08
MTAR 50: Going viral on Github and observability as a fundamental to a health infrastructure

Welcome to episode 50 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Costa Tsaousis, Founder & CEO @ Netdata. This episode is part of our series with The Open Source Observability Day Conference, where we're giving conference speakers an opportunity to speak beyond their abstract.

In this episode, Costa and JD discuss going viral on GitHub, observability as fundamental to healthy infrastructures, machine learning for instant insights, and loving trouble.

For more information on The OSOD Conference, please visit https://osoday.com/

MTAR 49: The EFF on all things ALPR, the freedom of movement, the normalization of data breaches, and the need for restorative justice.
Mon, September 09 2024
01:11:47
MTAR 49: The EFF on all things ALPR, the freedom of movement, the normalization of data breaches, and the need for restorative justice.

Welcome to episode 49 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Cooper Quintin, Senior Staff Technologist @ The EFF. Listen in as they discuss all things ALPR, the freedom of movement, the normalization of data breaches, and the need for restorative justice.

For more information on The Atlas of Surveillance, or to donate to the EFF, please visit https://www.eff.org/pages/atlas-surveillance

MTAR 48: The value of a strong first impression, psychological profit, the role of culture fit in hiring
Wed, July 24 2024
01:09:52
MTAR 48: The value of a strong first impression, psychological profit, the role of culture fit in hiring

Welcome to Episode 48 of More Than a Refresh! Join JD as he sits down with Super Connector and T-Squared Founder, Marc Nathan, to discuss the value of a strong first impression, psychological profit, the role of culture fit in hiring, and why you don't hear a lot of honking in Texas.

MTAR 47: Tending to databases vs tending to applications and the 80-20 rule.
Thu, June 13 2024
01:02:13
MTAR 47: Tending to databases vs tending to applications and the 80-20 rule.

Welcome to Episode 47 of More Than a Refresh! Join JD as he sits down with Peter Zaitsev, Co-Founder @ Coroot & Founder @ Percona, and Nikolay Sivko, Founder and CEO @ Coroot. In this episode, the trio of founders talks about tending to databases vs. tending to applications, consuming vs. delivering information, and The 80-20 Rule.


To discuss this topic deeper, contact Command Prompt.

MTAR 46: Elizabeth McCormick, Former US ARMY Black Hawk Helicopter Pilot and the intricate relationship between confidence and self-worth, and the power of rhinestone flak jackets.
Tue, April 02 2024
01:18:49
MTAR 46: Elizabeth McCormick, Former US ARMY Black Hawk Helicopter Pilot and the intricate relationship between confidence and self-worth, and the power of rhinestone flak jackets.

Welcome to Episode 46 of More Than a Refresh! Join JD as he sits down with Elizabeth McCormick, a former US ARMY Black Hawk Helicopter Pilot turned Inspirational Speaker specializing in Leadership. In this episode, they explore the power of choice in dissatisfaction, the intricate relationship between confidence and self-worth, and the power of rhinestone flak jackets.

MTAR 45: Pragmatic perfectionsim and why Machine Learning should happen in databases
Tue, February 20 2024
01:05:28
MTAR 45: Pragmatic perfectionsim and why Machine Learning should happen in databases

Welcome to episode 45 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Montana Low, Founder and CEO @ PostgresML. Listen in as they discuss pragmatic perfectionism, why ML should happen in databases, and the difference between "hype beast" AI vs. "get shit done" AI.

MTAR 44: Differentiating between failure an opportunity and the link between advertising and UX
Tue, February 06 2024
00:59:45
MTAR 44: Differentiating between failure an opportunity and the link between advertising and UX

Welcome to episode 44 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Lindsey Simon, VP Engineering at Vercel. Listen in as they differentiate between failure and opportunity, discuss the link between advertising and UX, and explain why "the long road" is actually just "the road." Plus, JD finally gets Rickrolled.

MTAR 43: Investing in humans, not assets wile having a fixed mindset vs a growth mindset.
Tue, January 23 2024
01:11:38
MTAR 43: Investing in humans, not assets wile having a fixed mindset vs a growth mindset.

Welcome to episode 43 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Leta Keane, Experienced Front End Engineering Instructor. Listen in as they discuss investing in humans, not assets; having a fixed mindset vs. a growth mindset; and why "luxury" isn't just another yacht - it's childcare.


https://www.linkedin.com/in/letakeane/

MTAR 42: SXSW, collaborative problem solving and that time Barack Obama back-channeled to speak at SXSW
Tue, January 09 2024
01:03:13
MTAR 42: SXSW, collaborative problem solving and that time Barack Obama back-channeled to speak at SXSW

Welcome to episode 42 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Hugh Forrest, Co-President & Chief Programming Officer @ SXSW. Listen in as they discuss collaborative problem solving, how humans parse authenticity, and that time Barack Obama back-channeled to nab a speaking slot at SXSW.

MTAR 41: Production readiness, "Gutenberg moments" and Dude Bros
Thu, December 14 2023
01:27:41
MTAR 41: Production readiness, "Gutenberg moments" and Dude Bros

Welcome to episode 41 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with jack of all trades (and master of many), Silona Bonewald, Founder & President @ Leadingbit Solutions. Listen in as they discuss production readiness, "Gutenberg moments," dude bros, and why the OSS community needs to get involved in standards.

MTAR 40: Privacy as a human right, mining children for data and how law enforcement violates the 4th amendment legally
Fri, December 08 2023
01:10:45
MTAR 40: Privacy as a human right, mining children for data and how law enforcement violates the 4th amendment legally

Welcome to episode 40 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Cooper Quintin, Senior Staff Technologist @ The EFF. On Thursday, December 7th, Meta announced the roll out of default end-to-end encryption on all messages on Facebook. Listen into a high-octane discussion of privacy as a human right, mining children for data, and how law enforcement leverages capitalism to circumvent your 4th Amendment rights.


Click here to donate to EFF⁠, and if you're looking for other ways to get involved, the EFF has ⁠this helpful page⁠ of suggestions.

MTAR 39: Postgres vs. MySQL and maintaining "boring" but vital OSS
Thu, November 16 2023
01:03:34
MTAR 39: Postgres vs. MySQL and maintaining "boring" but vital OSS

Welcome to episode 39 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Dave Stokes, Technology Evangelist @ Percona. Listen in as they discuss Postgres vs. MySQL, maintaining "boring but vital" OSS projects, and how to save a piece of data for 100+ years.

MTAR 38: The Enshitification of the Internet with Cooper Quintin, Senior Staff Technologist @ The EFF
Wed, October 11 2023
01:23:59
MTAR 38: The Enshitification of the Internet with Cooper Quintin, Senior Staff Technologist @ The EFF

Welcome to episode 38 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Cooper Quintin, Senior Staff Technologist at The Electronic Frontier Foundation. Listen in as they discuss the "enshitification" of the internet, including how governments circumvent privacy laws to get to your data, rehabilitation vs. discipline in the legal system, why the Metaverse is already a dead mall, and how the stock market secretly owns everything.


Click here to donate to EFF, and if you're looking for other ways to get involved, the EFF has this helpful page of suggestions.

MTAR 37: The Open Source Seed Initiative, the importance of food over patents, and the relationships between soil health and human health
Wed, September 13 2023
01:15:33
MTAR 37: The Open Source Seed Initiative, the importance of food over patents, and the relationships between soil health and human health

Welcome to episode 37 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Tom Michaels, Co-Founder @ Open Source Seed Initiative and Horticultural Science Professor at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Listen in as they discuss the relationship between soil health and human health, why the food system is flawed, and why we should treat cannabis like any other plant.

MTAR 36: Why DEI is failing, why IDE would succeed, and white privilege vs class privilege
Wed, August 23 2023
01:16:28
MTAR 36: Why DEI is failing, why IDE would succeed, and white privilege vs class privilege

Welcome to Episode 36 of More than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Dr. Lauran Star, Workforce DE&I Psychologist, Strategist, & Speaker. Listen in as they discuss being diverse "enough," white privilege vs. class privilege, and why evidence-based research should guide us into a new phase of IDE.

MTAR 35: Why private companies "owe" Open Source software and creating a culture of work that is good for employees
Thu, August 10 2023
01:30:02
MTAR 35: Why private companies "owe" Open Source software and creating a culture of work that is good for employees

Welcome to Episode 35 of More than a Refresh, where JD sits down with his old friend, Michael Meskes, Senior Director of Cloud Products @ NetApp. Listen in as they discuss what private companies "owe" Open Source Software, monetizing distribution, and creating a culture of work that's good for employees - and the environment.

MTAR 34: The role of AI in Postgres deployments and simplifying vs "dumbing down" deployments
Wed, July 26 2023
01:04:28
MTAR 34: The role of AI in Postgres deployments and simplifying vs "dumbing down" deployments

Welcome to Episode 34 of More than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Phillip Merrick, CEO @ pgEdge, Serial Entrepreneur, and Technologist. Listen in as they discuss the relationship between latency across geographies and node placement, the role of AI in Postgres deployments, and simplifying vs. "dumbing down" processes.

MTAR 33: The benefits of asynchronous work and the under-celebration of Postgres Extensions
Thu, July 13 2023
01:16:03
MTAR 33: The benefits of asynchronous work and the under-celebration of Postgres Extensions

Welcome to Episode 33 of More than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Ry Walker, Founder at Tembo. Listen in as they discuss the benefits of asynchronous work, the under-celebration of Postgres extensions, and why your Open Source competition is actually one of your greatest partners in development.

MTAR 32: Change management, why you need to understand your end user and making the London Underground sing with Kafka
Wed, June 28 2023
01:25:19
MTAR 32: Change management, why you need to understand your end user and making the London Underground sing with Kafka

Welcome to Episode 32 of More than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Kris Jenkins, Developer Advocate, Podcast Host, Hacker, Speaker, Geek. Listen in as they discuss change management, why you need to understand your end user, and making the London Underground sing with Kafka.

MTAR Panel: Digital Privacy, data leaks and proposed legislation that introduces new levels of threat to everyone from CTOs to laypeople
Tue, June 13 2023
01:07:29
MTAR Panel: Digital Privacy, data leaks and proposed legislation that introduces new levels of threat to everyone from CTOs to laypeople

The landscape of digital privacy is changing. While cloud adoption and ethical hacking create new opportunities for all, data leaks and proposed legislation introduce new levels of threat to everyone from CTOs to laypeople. But what are these threats and what danger do they pose? Fully understanding the factors that influence digital privacy is about to be vital in protecting yourself, while continuing to benefit from living in a digital age.


Join More than a Refresh host, Joshua “JD” Drake, for a roundtable with Jon Callas, Director of Public Interest Technology @ Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Dan Frechtling, CEO @ Boltive, to discuss the state of digital privacy in the US and beyond.

MTAR 31: Day, Night and Dream jobs; the reality of technical heckling and when to rethink panel organization
Thu, June 01 2023
01:02:52
MTAR 31: Day, Night and Dream jobs; the reality of technical heckling and when to rethink panel organization

Welcome to Episode 31 of More than a Refresh, where JD sits down with mega multi-hyphenate, Bobbie Carlton, Founder @ Innovation Women + Founder @ Carlton PR & Marketing. Listen in as they discuss day, night, and dream jobs; the reality of technical heckling; and when to rethink panel organization.


For more information on Innovation Women, to search for speakers, or to add yourself to the Innovation Women database, please visit their website at https://innovationwomen.com/.

MTAR 30: Independence as the crux of accessibility, social structures vs brain patterns and why accessible design is good for all users
Thu, May 18 2023
01:17:23
MTAR 30: Independence as the crux of accessibility, social structures vs brain patterns and why accessible design is good for all users

Welcome to Episode 30 of More than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Glenda Sims, "the good witch of accessibility" and Chief Information Accessibility Officer at Deque Systems. Listen in as they discuss why independence is the crux of accessibility, social structures vs. brain patterns, and why accessible design is good for all users.


Please click here to access a transcription of this episode.

MTAR 29: How channel sales set up Paul Kochanski to succeed in the music industry
Fri, May 12 2023
01:21:12
MTAR 29: How channel sales set up Paul Kochanski to succeed in the music industry

Welcome to Episode 29 of More than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Paul Kochanski, Founder, President, and Keyboardist @ Foreigners Journey. Listen in as they discuss how a career in channel sales set up our guest to succeed in the music industry, advice on how to pivot your career, and the striking similarities between software sales and running a band.



MTAR 28: Equality vs Equity, the magic of blue paper and why the core value of diversity is diverse perspectives
Thu, April 27 2023
01:11:37
MTAR 28: Equality vs Equity, the magic of blue paper and why the core value of diversity is diverse perspectives

Welcome to Episode 28 of More than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Dr. Lauran Star, Workforce DE&I Psychologist, Strategist, & Speaker. Listen in as they discuss equality vs. equity, the magic of blue paper, and why the core value of diversity is diverse perspectives. Plus, a challenge to "the glass ceiling." For more information, or to get in touch with Dr. Star, please visit her website --> https://www.drlauranstar.com/


MTAR 27: Products vs projects, the responsibility of cloud providers, and why Google is betting on Postgres
Tue, April 04 2023
01:05:07
MTAR 27: Products vs projects, the responsibility of cloud providers, and why Google is betting on Postgres

Welcome to Episode 27 of More than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Ravi Murthy, Senior Director of Engineering at Google. Listen in as they discuss products vs. projects, the responsibility of cloud providers, and why Google is betting on Postgres.

MTAR 26: Why sovereignty is freedom + responsibility and what happy people have in common
Thu, February 23 2023
00:59:05
MTAR 26: Why sovereignty is freedom + responsibility and what happy people have in common

Welcome to episode 26 of More than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Laura DiBenedetto, Chief Executive Officer @ Sovereign Ammo. Listen in as they discuss why sovereignty  is freedom + responsibility, what happy people have in common, and the problem with treating the symptom instead of the root cause.


Editor's Note

The opinions expressed in this episode by out guest are those of the individual. They do not purport to reflect the opinions of More than a Refresh, our host, or our producer. 

For more information on COVID-19, the vaccine, or the the anti-viral, please visit The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at CDC.Gov.

MTAR 25: The intersection of cutting edge technology and the marketplace. Open Source vs Open Standards and the cloud as the reinvention of the wheel
Wed, December 14 2022
01:05:20
MTAR 25: The intersection of cutting edge technology and the marketplace. Open Source vs Open Standards and the cloud as the reinvention of the wheel

Welcome to episode 25 of More than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Ajay Kulkarni, Co-Founder and CEO @ Timescale. Listen in as they discuss the intersection of cutting edge technology and the marketplace, open source vs. open standards, and the cloud as the reinvention of the wheel.

MTAR 24: The value of long-term partnership, data automation and legacy planning
Wed, December 07 2022
01:02:12
MTAR 24: The value of long-term partnership, data automation and legacy planning

Welcome to episode 24 of More than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Peter Zaitsev, Founder @ Percona. Listen in as they discuss the value of long-term partnership, data automation & legacy planning, and why OSS is the best

MTAR 23: Finding a tribe, maintaining company culture in the face of M&A, and the Goldilocks Rule of communication
Tue, November 29 2022
01:12:10
MTAR 23: Finding a tribe, maintaining company culture in the face of M&A, and the Goldilocks Rule of communication

Welcome to episode 23 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Divya Bhargov, Senior Director Of Engineering, Greenplum R&D, VMware. Listen in as they discuss finding a tribe, maintaining company culture in the face of M&A, and the Goldilocks Rule of communication.

MTAR 22: ethical Open Source licenses, being "addicted" to Postgres and maintaining a community in the face of war
Wed, October 26 2022
00:59:59
MTAR 22: ethical Open Source licenses, being "addicted" to Postgres and maintaining a community in the face of war

Welcome to episode 22 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Nikolay Samokhvalov, Founder @ Postgres.ai – Database Lab. Listen in as they discuss ethical Open Source licenses, being "addicted" to Postgres, and maintaining a community in the face of war.

MTAR 21: AdTech as a tool for counterespionage and the humble origins of the Internet Cookie
Wed, October 12 2022
01:25:50
MTAR 21: AdTech as a tool for counterespionage and the humble origins of the Internet Cookie

Welcome to episode 21 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Dan Frechtling, CEO @ Boltive. Listen in as they discuss dark signals, AdTech as a tool for counterespionage, and the humble origins - and eventual exploitation - of the internet cookie.

MTAR 20: EFF, Why paper is magical, International threats to privacy and the problem with never-ending emergencies.
Wed, September 21 2022
01:20:56
MTAR 20: EFF, Why paper is magical, International threats to privacy and the problem with never-ending emergencies.

Welcome to episode 20 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Jon Callas, Director of Public Interest Technology at Electronic Frontier Foundation. Listen in as they discuss why paper is magical, international threats to privacy and security, and the problem with never-ending emergencies. Click here to donate to EFF, and if you're looking for other ways to get involved, the EFF has this helpful page of suggestions.



MTAR19: Debian, why competition yields better software, the difference between free and open source and how to attract the next generation of developers to Postgres.
Wed, August 31 2022
01:13:29
MTAR19: Debian, why competition yields better software, the difference between free and open source and how to attract the next generation of developers to Postgres.

Welcome to episode 19 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with old friend and Senior Director Cloud Products @ credativ, Dr. Michael Meskes. Listen in as they discuss Debian, why competition yields better software, the difference between free and open source, and how to attract the next generation of developers to Postgres.

MTAR 17.01: Industrial hemp: legislation and economics, how hemp could save the U.S. water system and why it is always important to have a fire extinguisher on your combine
Tue, August 02 2022
01:21:10
MTAR 17.01: Industrial hemp: legislation and economics, how hemp could save the U.S. water system and why it is always important to have a fire extinguisher on your combine

Welcome to the second episode in our AgData series of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down for a second time with Tom Michaels, Co-Founder @ Open Source Seed Initiative and Horticultural Science Professor at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Listen in as they discuss industrial hemp in all its glories: legislation and economics, how hemp could save the US water system, and why it's always important to have a fire extinguisher on your combine.

MTAR 17: copyleft, the hallmarks of healthy Open Source communities, the value of diversity and DNA as source code
Wed, May 25 2022
01:15:53
MTAR 17: copyleft, the hallmarks of healthy Open Source communities, the value of diversity and DNA as source code

Welcome to episode 17 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Tom Michaels, Co-Founder @ Open Source Seed Initiative and Horticultural Science Professor at University of Minnesota- Twin Cities. Listen in as they discuss copyleft, the hallmarks of healthy open-source communities, the value of diversity, and DNA as source code. 


MTAR 16: Solving real problems for real people, idea validation and why ideas without passion will lead to failure
Wed, April 20 2022
01:09:25
MTAR 16: Solving real problems for real people, idea validation and why ideas without passion will lead to failure

Welcome to episode 16 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Jeff Mains, five-time founder and current CEO @ Intelligent Contacts and CEO @ Champion Leadership Group. Listen in as they discuss solving real problems for real people, idea validation, succession planning, and why ideas without passion will lead to failure.

MTAR 13.01: the price of convenience and the complexities of children being online
Tue, April 05 2022
01:12:24
MTAR 13.01: the price of convenience and the complexities of children being online

Welcome to a bonus episode of More than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Andrés Arrieta, Director Consumer Privacy Engineering @ EFF. Listen in as they pick up where they left off in their last conversation, chatting about the price of convenience, the complexities of  children being online, and the inherent dangers of passing legislation without understanding the technology behind the laws.

MTAR 15: The closed source giant, why Postgres is the Linux of databases and the politics of the rental housing market
Fri, March 18 2022
01:24:46
MTAR 15: The closed source giant, why Postgres is the Linux of databases and the politics of the rental housing market

Welcome to episode 15 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Jacque Istok, Vice President, Data at VMware. Listen in as they discuss closed source giants, why Postgres is the Linux of databases, and the politics of the rental housing market.

MTAR 14: ERP innovation vs. acquisition as a growth strategy
Fri, March 04 2022
01:04:58
MTAR 14: ERP innovation vs. acquisition as a growth strategy

Welcome to episode 14 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Ned Lilly, President & CEO of xTuple. Listen in as they discuss ERPs, innovation vs. acquisition as growth strategy, and why there's more to xTuple's name than you may realize.

MTAR 13: The EFF and the role of anti-trust policy in mitigating threats, finding a healthy balance with technology in a contemporary society and why Facebook is not actually free.
Wed, February 16 2022
01:23:50
MTAR 13: The EFF and the role of anti-trust policy in mitigating threats, finding a healthy balance with technology in a contemporary society and why Facebook is not actually free.

Welcome to episode 13 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Andrés Arrieta, Director of Consumer Privacy Engineering at Electronic Frontier Foundation. Listen in as they discuss the role of anti-trust policy in mitigating threats, finding a healthy balance with technology in contemporary society, and why Facebook isn't actually free.

MTAR 12: Proactive health management and the line between user privacy and the effective wearable
Wed, November 10 2021
01:11:21
MTAR 12: Proactive health management and the line between user privacy and the effective wearable

Welcome to episode 12 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Geoffrey Gill, President, Shimmer Americas and Co-Founder at The Open Wearables Initiative (OWEAR). Listen in as they discuss proactive health management, the line between user privacy and effective wearables, magic vs. math in neuromarketing, and the necessity of peer review.


MTAR 11: User friendliness vs. engineering correctness, and why any organization's greatest asset is its people
Wed, October 27 2021
01:14:17
MTAR 11: User friendliness vs. engineering correctness, and why any organization's greatest asset is its people

Welcome to episode 11 of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Altinity CEO, Robert Hodges. Listen in as they discuss user friendliness vs. engineering correctness, high speed compression, and why any organization's greatest asset is its people.

MTAR 10: VC Funding, why databases must evolve and why community is vital to the Open Source Ecosystem
Mon, October 11 2021
01:17:44
MTAR 10: VC Funding, why databases must evolve and why community is vital to the Open Source Ecosystem

Welcome to episode ten of More Than a Refresh, where JD sits down with Jim Mlodgenski, Principal Engineer at Amazon Web Services. Listen in as these two old friends discuss the ins and outs of VC funding, why databases must evolve to meet the needs of more complex data, and why community is vital to the Open Source ecosystem.

MTAR 09.01: The foundation of a strong organization, management vs. leadership and the value of leaving your ego at the door
Mon, August 23 2021
00:59:11
MTAR 09.01: The foundation of a strong organization, management vs. leadership and the value of leaving your ego at the door

Welcome to our second bonus episode of More Than a Refresh, where we revisit the topic of engineering culture with Mark Porter, CTO at MongoDB. Listen in as he and JD discuss the foundations of building a strong organization, management vs. leadership, and the value of leaving your ego at the door.


For more discussion on this topic contact Command Prompt.

MTAR 09: The importance of persistence software , the beauty of the ah ha moment, and why organizations need to be built according to Dunbar's Number and Conway's Law
Thu, August 05 2021
00:59:57
MTAR 09: The importance of persistence software , the beauty of the ah ha moment, and why organizations need to be built according to Dunbar's Number and Conway's Law

Welcome to episode nine of More than a Refresh, with Joshua "JD" Drake. Listen in as he and Mark Porter discuss the importance of persistence software, the beauty of the ah ha moment, and why organizations need to be built according to Dunbar's Number and Conway's Law.

MTAR 08: Cockroach Labs, and what drives a successful OSS project.
Mon, July 12 2021
01:14:29
MTAR 08: Cockroach Labs, and what drives a successful OSS project.

Welcome to episode eight of More than a Refresh, with Joshua "JD" Drake. Listen in as he and Jordan Lewis, Director of Engineering, SQL at Cockroach Labs, discuss what drives a successful OSS project, writing a database in Go, and what to eat when you're in New York City.

MTAR 07: Soundscapes, and why the small business is vital to the economy
Tue, June 15 2021
00:58:48
MTAR 07: Soundscapes, and why the small business is vital to the economy

Welcome to episode seven of More than a Refresh, with Joshua "JD" Drake. Listen in as he and Hicham Oudghiri, Co-Founder & CEO at Enigma, chat about soundscapes, breakdown why small business is vital to the economy, and discuss the necessity of democratizing access to credit.

MTAR 03.01: Cattle ranching, nonsensical EMR systems and Breast Cancer
Wed, May 19 2021
01:01:22
MTAR 03.01: Cattle ranching, nonsensical EMR systems and Breast Cancer

Welcome to the first bonus episode of More than a Refresh, with Joshua "JD" Drake. Listen in as we check back in with Karinn Chambers, Breast Cancer Oncologist and Surgeon. In addition to a segue to cattle ranching, where happy cows come from, and calving season, we discuss nonsensical EMR systems and bridging the communication divide between Doctors and Software Developers.

MTAR 06: Human beings are always at the center of data and questioning "could" vs "should"
Wed, May 05 2021
01:25:08
MTAR 06: Human beings are always at the center of data and questioning "could" vs "should"

Welcome to episode six of More than a Refresh, with Joshua "JD" Drake. Listen in as he and Stephanie Kirmer, Senior Data Scientist at Saturn Cloud, discuss why human beings are always at the center of data, questioning "could" vs. "should," and why requiring a data scientist to have a PhD is "bananas."



MTAR 05: Demonstrating value to potential clients, and how automated caching and read/write split are really one and the same
Wed, April 21 2021
01:07:27
MTAR 05: Demonstrating value to potential clients, and how automated caching and read/write split are really one and the same

Welcome to episode five of More than a Refresh, with Joshua "JD" Drake. Listen in as he and Heimdall Data Founder, Erik Brandsberg, discuss demonstrating value to potential clients, visiting 40 countries in 40 years, and how automated caching and read/write split are really one in the same.Erik Brandsberg, Founder and Chief Architect of Heimdall Data


If you would like to dig deeper into this topic contact Command Prompt.

MTAR 04: Psycopg3, Open Source licensing, humble drivers and the nature of adapt or die
Tue, March 16 2021
01:16:31
MTAR 04: Psycopg3, Open Source licensing, humble drivers and the nature of adapt or die

Welcome to episode four of More than a Refresh, with Joshua "JD" Drake. Listen in as he discusses Open Source licensing, "humble" drivers, photography, and the nature of adapt or die with Daniele Varrazzo, Creator of Python Driver Psycopg3.

MTAR 03: Breast Cancer and how data complexities affect patient care in our healthcare system
Thu, March 04 2021
00:49:05
MTAR 03: Breast Cancer and how data complexities affect patient care in our healthcare system

Welcome to episode three of More than a Refresh, with Joshua "JD" Drake. Listen in as he chats with Karinn Chambers, Breast Cancer Oncologist and Surgeon, about how data complexities affect patient care in our healthcare system.

MTAR 02: The Seattle Data Guy, being a digital nomad and how small business can manage their data
Wed, February 17 2021
00:49:09
MTAR 02: The Seattle Data Guy, being a digital nomad and how small business can manage their data

Welcome to episode two of More than a Refresh, with Joshua "JD" Drake. Listen in as he chats with Ben Rogojan, better known as the Seattle Data Guy, about being a digital nomad, how small businesses can manage their data, Wall Street Bets, and his path from chef to data consultant.

MTAR 01: Yugabyte, PostgreSQL, Open Source and the best surf movie ever made
Tue, February 02 2021
00:55:12
MTAR 01: Yugabyte, PostgreSQL, Open Source and the best surf movie ever made

Welcome to episode one of More than a Refresh, with Joshua "JD" Drake. Listen in as he has an honest discussion with Karthik Ranganathan about Yugabyte, PostgreSQL, Open Source, and the best surf movie ever made.


To dig deeper, contact Command Prompt.

MTAR T3D Sessions: Monitoring alone is not enough, full logging is essential for diagnosing database problems
Thu, January 01 1970
00:10:27
MTAR T3D Sessions: Monitoring alone is not enough, full logging is essential for diagnosing database problems

In this episode, Command Prompt Founder Joshua “JD” Drake talks with Justin Graf, Senior DBA & Engineer at Command Prompt, about a topic every Postgres team needs to understand: why monitoring alone isn’t enough—and why full logging is essential for diagnosing database problems. Justin explains how organizations often rely solely on monitoring tools like PGStatStatements, CloudWatch, or Datadog, without realizing that these tools can’t show query parameters, historical performance shifts, or the root cause behind sudden CPU spikes. Without full logging, teams end up blind during outages, wasting hours trying to detect issues that proper logs would have revealed immediately.


For a deeper discussion on this topic, reach out to Command Prompt.