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 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.