Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this episode of Book Overflow, Carter and Nathan discuss Ken Thompson's essay Reflections on Trusting Trust and the short story Coding Machines by Lawrence Kesteloot!
Big thanks to user 0b00101010 from the Book Overflow Discord for the recommendation! Join it here: discord.gg/ZwS2fqW7ZZ
-- Want to talk with Carter or Nathan? Book a coaching session! --
----------------------------------------------------------
Carter
joinleland.com/coach/carter-m-1
Nathan
joinleland.com/coach/nathan-t-2
-- Books Mentioned in this Episode --
Note: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
----------------------------------------------------------
Reflections on Trusting Trust by Ken Thompson
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rdriley/487/papers/Thompson_1984_ReflectionsonTrustingTrust.pdf
Coding Machines by Lawrence Kesteloot
teamten.com/lawrence/writings/coding-machines
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00:00 Intro
02:55 About the Authors and Essays
06:14 Initial Thoughts
11:03 The Trusting Trust Attack
22:39 Coding Machines
32:05 AI Trust and Dark Patterns
44:01 AI-Generated Code and the Future
54:52 Stuxnet and Unintended Consequences
1:02:43 Final Thoughts
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/5kj6DLCEWR5nHShlSYJI5L
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-overflow/id1745257325
X: https://x.com/bookoverflowpod
Carter on X: https://x.com/cartermorgan
Nathan's Functionally Imperative: functionallyimperative.com
----------------
Book Overflow is a podcast for software engineers, by software engineers dedicated to improving our craft by reading the best technical books in the world. Join Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups as they read and discuss a new technical book each week!
The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at bookoverflow.io
In this episode of Book Overflow, Carter and Nathan discuss Ken Thompson's essay Reflections on Trusting Trust and the short story Coding Machines by Lawrence Kesteloot!
Big thanks to user 0b00101010 from the Book Overflow Discord for the recommendation! Join it here: discord.gg/ZwS2fqW7ZZ
-- Want to talk with Carter or Nathan? Book a coaching session! --
----------------------------------------------------------
Carter
joinleland.com/coach/carter-m-1
Nathan
joinleland.com/coach/nathan-t-2
-- Books Mentioned in this Episode --
Note: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
----------------------------------------------------------
Reflections on Trusting Trust by Ken Thompson
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rdriley/487/papers/Thompson_1984_ReflectionsonTrustingTrust.pdf
Coding Machines by Lawrence Kesteloot
teamten.com/lawrence/writings/coding-machines
----------------
00:00 Intro
02:55 About the Authors and Essays
06:14 Initial Thoughts
11:03 The Trusting Trust Attack
22:39 Coding Machines
32:05 AI Trust and Dark Patterns
44:01 AI-Generated Code and the Future
54:52 Stuxnet and Unintended Consequences
1:02:43 Final Thoughts
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/5kj6DLCEWR5nHShlSYJI5L
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-overflow/id1745257325
X: https://x.com/bookoverflowpod
Carter on X: https://x.com/cartermorgan
Nathan's Functionally Imperative: functionallyimperative.com
----------------
Book Overflow is a podcast for software engineers, by software engineers dedicated to improving our craft by reading the best technical books in the world. Join Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups as they read and discuss a new technical book each week!
The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at bookoverflow.io
