
Ask HN: Best Talks of 2019? - ignoramous
2018: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=18740939" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=18740939</a><p>2017: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=16045859" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=16045859</a><p>2016: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=12637239" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=12637239</a><p>Ever: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=18217762" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=18217762</a><p>Bonus: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;link.medium.com&#x2F;GYN66jgmD2" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;link.medium.com&#x2F;GYN66jgmD2</a><p>Thanks.
======
beefman
The Soul of Erlang and Elixir, by Sasa Juric

video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvBT4XBdoUE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvBT4XBdoUE)

HN discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20942767](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20942767)

Preventing the Collapse of Civilization, by Jonathan Blow

video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW-
SOdj4Kkk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW-SOdj4Kkk)

HN discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19945452](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19945452)

~~~
anderspitman
Jonathan Blow's talk was the first one I thought of.

~~~
tyzerdak
Shit talk. I find it's funny to look at dude that say 1 hour 1 sentence but
can't say clear about alternative / solving this.

~~~
anderspitman
Ok

------
huy-nguyen
“Why isn’t functional programming the norm?” by Richard Feldman. Spoiler: not
on the basis of merits.
[https://youtu.be/QyJZzq0v7Z4](https://youtu.be/QyJZzq0v7Z4)

“React to the future” by Jordan Walke. Why ReasonML is a logical extension of
ReactJS’ programming paradigm.
[https://youtu.be/5fG_lyNuEAw](https://youtu.be/5fG_lyNuEAw)

“Typing the untyped: soundness in gradual type systems” by Ben Weissmann. The
trade offs that various gradual type systems make based on their language
constraints. [https://youtu.be/uJHD2xyv7xo](https://youtu.be/uJHD2xyv7xo)

“Let’s program like it’s 1999” by Lee Byron. How the mutual feedback loop of
abstraction, syntax and mental model drives the evolution of web technologies.
[https://youtu.be/vG8WpLr6y_U](https://youtu.be/vG8WpLr6y_U)

~~~
_hardwaregeek
Maybe I'm missing something but I'm more than halfway through the "Why isn't
functional programming the norm?" and it just seems to be a kind of haphazard
recollection of programming language history. A lot of which isn't what I'd
call entirely correct. Python's killer app was arguably first CGI scripts then
data science. Java succeeded due to offering GC in a non scripting language,
the JVM and possibly lots of marketing. PHP is having a mild renaissance with
Laravel (not that I'd advocate for PHP, but people do seem to love Laravel).

There was quite a bit of time in between the invention of implementation
inheritance and the whole "prefer composition to inheritance". It's quite
possible OOP became popular due to implementation inheritance then realized it
was dumb.

This info is still useful, but what I'd really love from a talk with that
title is an analysis of functional programming languages and how they each
missed the boat through either syntax, lack of tooling, or purity. And compare
it to functional-ish languages like Rust, JavaScript, Swift and Kotlin. Then
chart a way forward for function programming language adoption. Maybe that
happens at the end of the talk.

~~~
kopos
A complete digress, but OOPS still shines in the domain of GUI widgets
programming where there are a limited number of interfaces and a huge number
of widgets (implementations) working with that interface. FP works conversely,
on a limited data and a huge set of functions. Maybe in the context of now
with limited gui programming, FL is more suitable?

~~~
dnautics
Functional ui is arguably saner, as react is slowly proving to junior
programmers worldwide.

------
forgotmyhnacc
Most people in this thread are posting a link and a title of the talk. I think
it would be useful to hear why you thought the talk was the best.

------
majewsky
A bunch of the best talks of the year may still be to come when 36C3 takes
place from the 27th to 30th. The schedule is already up [1]. Speakers include
David Graeber, Edward Snowden, Daniel J. Bernstein, Moxie Marlinspike, and
over a hundred others.

All talks will be livestreamed (and usually become available for download one
day later) at [2].

[1]
[https://fahrplan.events.ccc.de/congress/2019/Fahrplan/](https://fahrplan.events.ccc.de/congress/2019/Fahrplan/)

[2] [https://media.ccc.de/](https://media.ccc.de/)

~~~
atomwaffel
They’ll also be live-translated from German to English (and vice versa) by
volunteers – and often into a third language too!

------
divan
"Performance matters" by Emery Berger on StrangeLoop'19 is a great talk -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-TLSBdHe1A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-TLSBdHe1A)

Also, rest of his talks are also fascinating:

\-
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRAP3lBivYM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRAP3lBivYM)

\-
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyWKxFxyyrQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyWKxFxyyrQ)

~~~
screye
Love Emery.

Took 2 courses under him @UMass. An extremely demanding professor, but each of
his classes are an absolute delight.

------
zeusly
Rich Harris - Rethinking Reactivity

Talk about Svelte v3 and the (possible) future of frontend frameworks

Video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdNJ3fydeao](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdNJ3fydeao)

HN discussion regarding Svelte 3:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19719118](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19719118)

~~~
nojvek
I quite enjoyed this talk. I’ve seen Svelte with an eye of skepticism but this
helped me understand some bits better. That hairstyle tho!

------
GVRV
For me, personally, it was David Beazley's Keynote
([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUT386_GKI8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUT386_GKI8))
at PyCon India this year.

~~~
chubot
I also liked this talk! Impressive live coding. For people who want (mild)
SPOILERS, here's a quick summary:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammingLanguages/comments/djx2h...](https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammingLanguages/comments/djx2hk/a_talk_near_the_future_of_python/f49jw1j/)

------
itcrowd
Not a talk from 2019, but discovered it this year: "1177 BC, the year
civilization collapsed (Eric Cline, PhD)" [https://youtu.be/bRcu-
ysocX4](https://youtu.be/bRcu-ysocX4)

Excellent informative and hilarious talk about his (at-the-time) new
scientific hypothesis to explain the end of the Bronze Age ca. 1200 BC.

Multiple civilizations collapsed within a few decades of each other with the
ability to read, write and make high buildings being lost all across the
Eastern Mediterranean _simultaneously_. The Bronze Age is magical and
interesting of itself, the talk gives a great introduction as to why we know
much more about it than we think.. definitely recommended.

Duration ~1 hour (feels like 20 minutes)

~~~
mooreds
The book is great too:

[https://www.amazon.com/1177-B-C-Civilization-Collapsed-
Turni...](https://www.amazon.com/1177-B-C-Civilization-Collapsed-
Turning/dp/0691168385)

------
ollerac
David Rusenko - How To Find Product Market Fit - YC Startup School

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LNQxT9LvM0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LNQxT9LvM0)

I learned so much for this talk. I had a much different idea of the point of
iterating rapidly and what product-market fit meant before this video.

~~~
dethos
Yes, this talk is very good.

------
rsln-s
Scott Aaronson's three Paul Bernays Lectures on computation

1\. The Church-Turing Thesis and Physics 2\. The Limits of Efficient
Computation 3\. The Quest for Quantum Computational Supremacy

[https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=4301](https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=4301)

------
znpy
<fangirl>

I don't know if Bryan Cantrill has done any speeches this year, whenever i see
some speech featuring him on youtube I watch it regardless of the year.

That man is a gold mine. And I always learn something interesting.

</fangirl>

~~~
kapilvt
you might enjoy their new podcast [https://oxide.computer/blog/categories/on-
the-metal/](https://oxide.computer/blog/categories/on-the-metal/)

new startup with Brian, jess frazzle and Steve tuck.

~~~
jppope
I'm pretty excited about that company. I'd like apply for a gig there myself.

------
joaovitor
AWS re:Invent 2019: BPF performance analysis at Netflix (OPN303-R1)

Youtube video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16slh29iN1g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16slh29iN1g)

Blog post: [http://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2019-12-22/bpf-
theremin.htm...](http://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2019-12-22/bpf-
theremin.html)

Why?

Brendan presents news tools and new flows that can be used to analyse
performance bottlenecks.

He get you in the demo and you stay to receive more and more information. It
seems to be a talk that he has been improving over the years. Totally worth
your time seen it.

------
chipz
Rust, WebAssembly, and the future of Serverless by Steve Klabnik video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMB6AlE1QuI&t=1854s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMB6AlE1QuI&t=1854s)

~~~
steveklabnik
Thank you!

------
sktrdie
Append only development:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXuvCMG21Ss](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXuvCMG21Ss)

Shameless plug since I'm the speaker. The reason I'm posting this in "best
talks of 2019" is not because I think it was a good talk (my ego isn't that
big yet) but because I think very few talks exist on the subject of Behavioral
Programming, and it's a subject I'm hoping can get more attention.

------
joshschreuder
I thought this was a pretty good one

[https://youtu.be/jyNqHsN3pEc](https://youtu.be/jyNqHsN3pEc)

Composing music functionally, aka functional composition :)

~~~
btschaegg
Same here. I started watching because I misinterpreted the title and stayed
for the wow effect :)

Also, after seeing what kind of magic he can do with the right representation,
I wondered how many "business domain" models I know could be expressed with
models that "click" in the same way (i.e. are expressed by simple concepts and
compose as well).

I feel as if many of us often give up way too early in the search for good
models for our data. Myself included, of course.

------
abraham
The main thread is overworked & underpaid

[https://developer.chrome.com/devsummit/sessions/the-main-
thr...](https://developer.chrome.com/devsummit/sessions/the-main-thread-is-
overworked-and-underpaid/)

~~~
melenaos
Great talk, thanks for sharing

------
gitgud
A [1] video essay about modern art by Jacob Geller. For me, it completely
reversed my opinion on modern art and it's worth.

This [2] talk about building worlds in Blender by Ian Hubert.

[1] [https://youtu.be/v5DqmTtCPiQ](https://youtu.be/v5DqmTtCPiQ)

[2] [https://youtu.be/whPWKecazgM](https://youtu.be/whPWKecazgM)

~~~
gppk
I just watched [2]. Can thoroughly recommend, very watchable presenter & I
feel like although I had no idea what he was doing half the time it was very
cool. Technological Magic!

------
Stormwalker
My favorite talk of this year is Raymond Hettinger talking about mental
gymnastics which helps you to structure your problems into ones that which you
can solve. The mental game of Python: youtu.be/UANN2Eu6ZnM

------
bitofhope
For the Unix history fans, BWK's interview of Ken Thompson:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY6q5dv_B-o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY6q5dv_B-o)

------
lawrenceyan
Caltech Guest Lecture: Quantum supremacy using a programmable superconducting
processor - Professor John Martinis, Chief Scientist Google Quantum Computing
Division

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FklMpRiTeTA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FklMpRiTeTA)

------
doubleg
"Solving Problems the Clojure Way" by Rafal Dittwald at Clojure/north.
Comparing a simple JS cardgame the imperative, OOP and functional way.

~~~
lgas
Here's the link, FWIW:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK1DazRK_a0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK1DazRK_a0)

------
alecco
ZFS for newbies
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oG-1U5AI9A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oG-1U5AI9A)
main ideas behind ZFS and why it blows out the competition in many scenarios

Making C Less Dangerous in the Linux Kernel
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY9SbqTO5GQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY9SbqTO5GQ)

NUMA optimizations in the FreeBSD stack (Netflix)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NSzkYSX5nY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NSzkYSX5nY)

How we fit a NES game in 40KiB
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWQ0591PAxM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWQ0591PAxM)

------
generalpass
NLNOG 2019 - DNS over HTTPS considerations - Bert Hubert

[https://youtu.be/pjin3nv8jAo](https://youtu.be/pjin3nv8jAo)

------
stazz1
Paul Stamets 2019:

not, the survival of the fittest. it is:

the extension of generosity of surplus

to other members in the ecological community

to build biodiversity

not the individual that survives but the community that survives

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBkg70fhV2A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBkg70fhV2A)

------
Ylodi
Kyle Kotowick - The 737 MAX: Human Factors in Complex Systems

[https://2019.webcampzg.org/talks/the-737-max-human-
factors-i...](https://2019.webcampzg.org/talks/the-737-max-human-factors-in-
complex-systems/)

------
mister_hn
The closing Keynote of Meeting C++2019

Crazy Code, Crazy Coders

[https://youtu.be/OAmWHmwlMwI](https://youtu.be/OAmWHmwlMwI)

~~~
thisgoodlife
I closed the tab when he says people who write code like this "for (int k=0; k
< N; k++)" are stupid.

------
teddyc
I thought this talk about Async in Rust was pretty cool (RustLatam 2019 -
Without Boats: Zero-Cost Async IO):
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skos4B5x7qE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skos4B5x7qE)

~~~
teddyc
Why I thought it was cool: Gives a good overview of Async implementations
without getting too deep in the weeds. Talks about "greenthreads" in other
languages vs a zero-cost abstraction in Rust.

------
haecceity
Future of mathematics [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp-
mQ3HxgDE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp-mQ3HxgDE)

------
arminiusreturns
I've got a few in the queue I haven't gotten to, but I immediately thought of
Alice Goldfuss's recent talk at LISA19 "The Container Operator's Manual"

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm2tDgf40ss](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm2tDgf40ss)

------
adait
Pretty great talk about Kafka at Tesla: [https://www.confluent.io/kafka-
summit-san-francisco-2019/0-6...](https://www.confluent.io/kafka-summit-san-
francisco-2019/0-60-teslas-streaming-data-platform)

------
scottLobster
Professor Mark Blythe: Gobal Trumpism and the Future of the Global Economy

[https://youtu.be/KGuaoARJYU0](https://youtu.be/KGuaoARJYU0)

~~~
mosiuerbarso
I love anything by Professor Blythe. If you enjoy his lectures you should
check out Adam Tooze

~~~
aguyfromnb
> _check out Adam Tooze_

I purchased his book, _Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the
World_ without really knowing much about it (or him) and found it to be a
great, semi-technical story about the financial crisis (and its politics) from
the _global_ perspective.

------
PascLeRasc
Behind the scenes of iOS and Mac Security:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3byNNUReyvE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3byNNUReyvE)

Good talk behind the reason for the T2 chip and some other Apple security
stuff

------
tphan
This video by Mark Dalgeish got me really thinking about design systems from a
developer of view.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnV1u67_yVg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnV1u67_yVg)

------
rayslinky
Depression Memes for Devops Teens: Self-Care for Server Janitors and Other
Humans: [https://youtu.be/TcvWEbaOg-Q](https://youtu.be/TcvWEbaOg-Q)

------
marios
EuroBSDcon 2019 Keynote by Patricia Aas: Embedded Ethics
([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfNIiitVFtc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfNIiitVFtc)
/ slides: [https://www.slideshare.net/PatriciaAas/embedded-ethics-
eurob...](https://www.slideshare.net/PatriciaAas/embedded-ethics-
eurobsdcon-2019))

Because, sometimes you need to worry less about the gritty details of the tech
and take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

------
berkayozturk
Objectionable Content (Python Object Model) by James Powell

James Powell never disappoints :)

[https://youtu.be/AmHE0kZhLIQ](https://youtu.be/AmHE0kZhLIQ)

------
james33
Building Distributed Systems with Node.js - James Simpson (Nordic.js 2019)

Video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUtd-
zEDgjQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUtd-zEDgjQ)

Slides/Code: [https://github.com/goldfire/Building-Distributed-Systems-
Nod...](https://github.com/goldfire/Building-Distributed-Systems-Node.js)

------
Fazel94
Ask the Ecosystem: Lessons from 200+ FOSS Applications - Mahmoud Hashemi

Basically made an awesome list of applications written in Python(now is 380+),
then answered the frequently asked questions by the community about how to
develops applications using Python.

The data is also available.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1lvsmcPEcE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1lvsmcPEcE)

------
whoisstan
Chairman Bruce at SXSW2019 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV1XMAP-
Uh8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV1XMAP-Uh8)

Bruce Sterling has been around in the intersection of art and technology since
the dawn of the internet. His gothic, villain, medival high tech scifi world
are a hilarious inspiration.

------
ttttodayjunior
Big Business Hates Your Family, by Tucker Carlson:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXGoWtK1NnY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXGoWtK1NnY)

Most interesting development for me in 2019 were the ongoing political
realignments - the right no longer sees the free market as compatible with
their social values.

------
techman9
Build Impossible Programs - Julia Evans:
[https://jvns.ca/blog/2018/09/18/build-impossible-
programs/](https://jvns.ca/blog/2018/09/18/build-impossible-programs/)

~~~
dagurp
Good talk and thanks for sharing but it's from 2018 though.

------
winrid
Related thread (computing related videos):
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21737922](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21737922)

------
andrei_says_
Richard Wolf’s Global Economic Update from November 2019 changed how I
perceive the US tax system, US political candidates and their proposals on how
to fund various solutions. He also speaks about political parties and their
purpose in the context of capitalism, and separately, libertarianism.

Lastly, covers the US/China “trade war”.

Fascinating and very well structured talk, revealing the hidden (to me) forces
behind economic structures and decisions.

[https://youtu.be/THwqz5dTzkA](https://youtu.be/THwqz5dTzkA)

~~~
merciBien
For those who were curious, this is a lecture by Richard Wolff, who Wikipedia
describes as an “american Marxist economist”

His recent Twitter posts suggest that economic inequality in the US can be
achieved through taxing the rich, which while not an original thought, seems
sensible.

------
weishigoname
This one is pretty good :
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otoCxbZel1o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otoCxbZel1o)

