QR Podcast

A collection of interviews I’ve either hosted on my Spreaker channel or given on various other shows focusing on talking to interesting people in or around the technology business about stuff I want to know. Hope you enjoy…cheers!

Episodes

Alessandra Moreira

Ale Moreira is one of my oldest friends in the testing world, we got to know each other when we were elected to the Association for Software Testing Board of Directors together and then hung around in NYC while we worked at various companies and consultancies. Listen in as we talk selling testing to the business, life after testing “death”, and what it takes to lead quality engineering teams in this brave new world…enjoy!

Santosh Tuppad

Santosh Tuppad has been leading from the front since I first met him as a rising star at Moolya and through his workshops on security testing. Come take a listen as we talk about the current state of testing skills training in our business, cyber security in the age of AI, and travel far off the beaten path into philosophy, true happiness as a tester, and how many cheese fries is enough…enjoy!

James Christie

I first got to know James in 2014 when the Context-Driven community was organising (including your truly) against the rent seeking of the ISO 29119 test standard, and as co-chair of CAST for the Association for Software Testing, I invited him to give a talk on Standards – promoting quality or restricting competition? Enjoy!

Ash Hynie

I’ve been friends with Ash Hynie for over 10 years ever since we started hanging out in NYC working in QA engineering and developer advocacy. She has since gone on to greatness through various consulting gigs and heading up the DEI program at Credit Karma to now founding CountrPT, an AI powered career management platform. Check out our chat about career development, performative DEI, being a good manager, and a lot about how to look out for yourself in today’s job market…enjoy!

James Bach

James Bach and I have had too many conversations about testing to remember in our over 20 years of working together, but we finally found some time to sit down and record one. If you’ve got the time (to listen or watch), in the 2+ hours we reminisce and discuss Rapid Software Testing, the testing industry, AI, context-driven testing, ethics, and training horses! Below are links to some of the different people and stuff we mentioned…enjoy!

Elizabeth Zagroba

Heya – Finally found time to spill some tea with one of my favorite people in the testing industry, Elizabeth Zagroba. We cover off all the essentials from moving into a technical testing role, idealism, and our favorite musical theater. Enjoy!

Ethics Panel

Very happy to dusting off the QR Podcast with my pals Fiona Charles, Dan Billing, Ash Coleman, and our returning champion Michael Bolton to discuss ethics in technology, the responsibilities of software testers, and all that “big brother” noise lately about contact tracing apps in the age of COVID-19.

Test Automation Panel

Really enjoyed this panel session talking about all things test automation with Angie JonesBas DijkstraPaul Grizzaffi, and Ashley Hunsberger. Check us out discussing managing business expectations, what to look for in test automation engineers, planning for maintenance and playing a couple rounds of “Rate that Vendor Claim”. Enjoy!

Michael Bolton (Part II)

Back for part two of our discussion, is my good friend, Michael Bolton. Michael has been consulting and training people on software testing all over the world and is the co-author with James Bach of Rapid Software Testing. Join us as we talk about training testers, community leadership, and common problems all testers face. Enjoy!

Michael Bolton (Part I)

What more can I say about Michael Bolton. Michael has been consulting and training people in software testing all over the planet for as long as I’ve been in this business. When he’s not traveling around the world teaching Rapid Software Testing, he’s writing, speaking, and consulting about all things software quality. Check out the first half our our chat as we discuss all things testing! Enjoy!

Rob Lambert

Writing, podcasting, running conferences, keynoting, workshops – is there anything Rob Lambert doesn’t make look “blazingly simple”? Check out the newest QR Podcast where Rob and I catch up on testing, moving into management, his new company Cultivated Management, and how to strike a balance in your career and life. Enjoy! 

Jeff Perkins

Jeff Perkins is the Chief Marketing Officer QASymphony. Prior to that, he’s spent time in senior marketing and sales roles at PGi and AutoTrader.com, and previously worked on some of the biggest brands in the world Volvo, HBO, Sirius Satellite Radio, Michelin, Office Depot and Hasbro. We had a great time talking about the testing tool market, what clients want out of testing, developing your own personal brand, and what’s behind some of those unverifiable vendor claims! Enjoy!

Karen Johnson

Karen Johnson has had a fantastic career working, consulting, and speaking all over the globe about software testing and quality. I always enjoy speaking with her whenever I get the chance and then trying (and failing) to mimic her calm, reasoned approach to deal with problems through storytelling. Listen in HERE as Karen flips the script and asks me some questions as well as discuss the state of the testing business, management consulting, storytelling, her new role at Jamf and what really pisses her off! Enjoy!

Jerry Weinberg

What more can I say about Jerry Weinberg than hasn’t already been said? He’s been consulting and writing for over 50 years, including seminal works like The Psychology of Computer Programming, Perfect Software, and The Secrets of Consulting. In the business of software testing, he has influenced ways of thinking about quality, value, and the role of testing in software development. Check out Jerry and I (and his ringing phone!) discussing leadership, diversity, the state of software testing, and how to remain relevant after 60 years in this business. Enjoy!

Mark Tomlinson

Always enjoy catching up system performance guru, bon vivant, and one of the nicest guys in our business, Mark Tomlinson. Aside from discussing his responsibility for getting this “podcast” interview series started, we have an extending discussion on “thought leaders” and expertise, innovation, ethics, and whats with all those “boring” testing conferences! (FWIW I had to cut over 30 mins of laughing, joking, and cross talk at the beginning and end of this!) Enjoy! 

Trish Khoo

Google v Microsoft? Ducks v Fish? Dungeons and Dragons? That means I could only be talking to one person – Trish Khoo! Listen in as we discuss making it as a tester in todays world, mental health, and what to do with all those extra ducks! Check out our chat on the latest QR Podcast! Enjoy!

Damian Synadinos

Polymath? Generalist? Autodidact? A lot can be said about my pal Damian Synadinos, and it’s usually focused on getting better at software testing and communication. In my book, anyone who quotes Kierkegaard in their bio deserves to have a listen, so check us out as we discuss testing, stand up comedy, pedantic arguments and what’s going on over at Ineffable Solutions! Enjoy!

ISO29119 Roundtable

As part of my effort to publish my back catalogue of interviews, here’s a roundtable discussion I hosted between veterans of the software testing industry (James Christie Michael Bolton, Iain McCowatt, Ilari Aegerter, Griffin Jones) to set the context for the opposition to ISO 29119. The quality of some of the audio was pretty sketchy and I’ve tried to limit the background noise as much as possible as the content and participants are extremely good…enjoy!

STAR East – The Viability of Context Driven Testing

I gave this interview before my keynote at the 2016 STAR East conference on all the Lessons Learned Selling Software Testing. We also get into why context-driven testing is viable, as well as how to discern between wants and needs of your clients and testers…enjoy!

Screen Testing at TestBash Philly

Had a great time talking about testing and “Rocky” at TestBash Philly in 2017 with the Neil and Dan from Screen Testing! Yo Adrian…enjoy!

Let’s Test Interview

This is a long interview I did in 2014 with Duncan Nisbet for the Let’s Test Conference which was done while I was running the Global Test Center at Barclays. It captures a lot of the day to day of running that global operation and how we went about trying to balance the business demands with improving testing for everyone…enjoy!

AST James Bach Interview

Driving While Driven: The Way of the Skilled Tester – In 2014 when I was the Executive Vice President of the Association for Software Testing, James Bach and I discussed what it means to be context driven, the role of skills in your development, and how you can become part of the CDT community. This is a long and wide ranging discussion about taking responsibility for your testing, the Context-Driven School of testing, and what it means for every tester to be their own methodologist…enjoy!

Testing in the Pub – Making Better Testers

Talking with Stephen and Dan in 2016 about how we can help testers and the testing community to improve and keep learning including promoting and educating people about better testing practices such as Context Driven Testing and the transition to better testing, particularly in the enterprise…enjoy!