
The REPL
Daniel Compton talks to Clojure and ClojureScript developers about the libraries and systems they have built. They dive into the nitty-gritty details and technical challenges the authors faced.
Latest episodes

Jun 13, 2025 • 1h 17min
56: XTDB: A Bitemporal database in Clojure
Jeremy Taylor and James Henderson talk about building XTDB, bitemporality, SQL compatibility, and Apache Arrow
Launching XTDB v2
Grid Dynamics acquires JUXT
LSM Tree
The Generational Hypothesis
JUXT Cast - Viktor Leis
HTAP Processing
Are We There Yet - Rich Hickey
Jepsen Consistency Tree
Jepsen Datomic test
Jepsen Postgres test
Andy Pavlo - CMU Intro to Database Systems
sqllogictest

Oct 18, 2024 • 52min
55: Instant: a modern Firebase in Clojure, with Stepan Parunashvili
Stepan Parunashvili, creator of InstantDB and an experienced engineer, dives deep into building modern applications. He breaks down the unique features of Instant, a Clojure-based real-time database, and discusses its architecture's comparison to tools like Firebase. The conversation touches on innovative data management solutions, including the new query language InstaQL, and the collaboration of TypeScript with Clojure in frontend development. Stepan also shares insights from his startup experience, emphasizing community and open-source contributions.

Sep 17, 2024 • 54min
54: JRuby with Charles Oliver Nutter
Charles Oliver Nutter, a key figure in the JRuby community, shares insights on advancing JRuby and its integration with the JVM. He discusses the evolution of JRuby and its appeal for developers transitioning from Ruby, focusing on performance enhancements through innovations like Invoked Dynamic and Project Loom. Nutter also dives into the upcoming JRuby 10, emphasizing garbage collection improvements and reduced startup times. The importance of community support, particularly from sponsors like Shopify, is highlighted, showcasing JRuby's collaborative spirit.

6 snips
Apr 21, 2024 • 33min
53: Clojure LSP with Eric Dallo
Expert Eric Dallo discusses Clojure LSP, the LSP protocol, and the evolution of language servers. They explore performance optimization, integration with tools like Calva, and utilizing GroVM for efficiency in Closure LSP development. The importance of community contributions and collaboration within the Closure community is emphasized.

13 snips
Apr 14, 2024 • 58min
52: Coding in YAML with Ingy döt Net
Ingy döt Net, creator of YAMLScript, discusses compiling YAML to Clojure, ecmeism in coding, executing YAML scripts with Babaska, and extending YAML scripts across multiple languages. The conversation covers secure execution, transition planning, and the evolution of YAML as a versatile data format.

Mar 5, 2024 • 58min
51: Building a text editor with Nate Hunzaker
Nate Hunzaker talks about building a text editor for the web
Slate
Lexical
beforeInput event
Since the podcast was recorded, Whimsical launched our Grammarly integration

Feb 27, 2024 • 1h 32min
50: Peter Taoussanis
Peter Taoussanis talks about Sente, Timbre, Carmine, Nippy, Tufte, and many more of his libraries
The work of Peter Taoussanis
Encore naming conventions
Paul Graham’s A Plan for Spam
Quivre
Wusoup

Dec 29, 2023 • 32min
49: Clerk with Martin Kavalar
Martin Kavalar, creator of Clerk and Co-Founder of Next Journal, discusses the advantages of Clerk for computation and analysis, the challenges of designing APIs, converting Clerk documents to LaTeX, and presenting at a programming conference. They also talk about their click garden tool, annoyance with crypto mining abuse detection, the success of the card games project, and future plans for Clerk including Clerk Garden and Application Garden.

Sep 16, 2023 • 50min
48: Biff with Jacob O'Bryant
Jacob O'Bryant talks about Biff, XTDB, and building a web framework for small teams
Tools for Online Speech - Jacob’s Personal Site
Biff website
Biff GitHub
Biff’s funding announcement
Clojurists Together funding announcement
XTDB
TailwindCSS
HTMX
Biff upgrade instructions
Yakread

Jan 12, 2023 • 54min
47: Executable textbooks with Sam Ritchie
Sam Ritchie talks about the Mentat Collective, executable textbooks, visual math
Mentat Collective GitHub - read this first to get an overview of all of the pieces.
ThinkFun
Mark Engelberg
Cascalog
Google X
The Dynamic Notebook
Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
SICM free online version
maria.cloud
Brad Feld, John Underkoffler
How to fold a Julia fractal
Clerk
Sicmutils
Scmutils
SICM-utils Scicloj meetup
Road to Reality Substack