Hey folks,

Big changes coming to Fragmented. Wanted to give you a heads up before Monday’s episode drops.

🎬 The Pivot

When I started Fragmented years ago, there weren't many Android podcasts. I used to listen to iOS shows on my commute, despite writing Android code full-time. There was a gap, and Fragmented filled that gap.

I feel that same energy right now with AI development. That same gap and maybe bigger.

Everyone's talking about AI, but almost no one is talking about it the way working engineers need to hear it. There's a lot of "vibe coding" content (going from 0 → 1 …as they say). But no one's talking about how you go from 1 → 100.

How you take that prototype and turn it into real, maintainable, production-grade software. That's the gap Fragmented is going to fill.

The mission hasn't changed; we're still here to help developers build good software and grow in their craft. But it would be crazy to not see that the ground beneath us is changing.

Not fully convinced? Listen to the episode that drops this Monday and give us a chance. We try to explain it.

🔢 Episode 300

You’ll notice the episode releasing on Monday warps ahead to #300.

I considered switching the podcast format to "seasons" – allowing us to mark the pivot in a clean way. Unfortunately that messes with the backlog in most podcast apps. Renumbering felt cleaner; we can easily say "we made the pivot at episode 300."

Also, we'd be at #258 right now. Skipping ~42 episodes felt fitting. 🐬

🦆 Duck Droid gets an upgrade

You’ll notice our logo has changed as well! You might remember a previous Fragmented mascot — the rubber duck Android that Taylor Ling designed for us years ago.

I absolutely loved that design and a rubber duck feels like the perfect spirit animal for a developer podcast.

But... we're pivoting to an AI show, so I felt like our mascot needed a tweak too.

Affectionately called Duck Droid, but now in AI costume.

🎙️ New cohost

With Donn leaving, it felt a little lonely. But those were big shoes to fill and I wanted someone who was on top of AI and was saying all the right things. Someone who understands the gap between “vibe coding” demos and real engineering work.

I’ve found the perfect host!

Who is it? I'm going to make you wait until Monday's episode to find out 😇.

If you can’t wait... our newly revamped website might just have a breadcrumb in there.

⏱️ Format change: 20 minutes

This one is the one that makes me most nervous.

Here's the thing, we're all busy. It's the worst when you start an episode, can't finish it, and have to resume later. Next thing you know, you're three episodes behind and the backlog guilt sets in.

So we are going to try really hard to stick to the 20 minute limit, which feels like the sweet spot. My new cohost has assured me we can swing it. I don’t think he knows what he signed up for 🤫 .

Of course, there will be exceptions; especially for longer form interviews with guests (which we absolutely want to do). Let us know what you think!

📛 Why still "Fragmented"?

In our world of software engineering, the word "fragmented" feels evergreen. Code fragments. Context fragmentation. Fragmented attention. Fragmented tooling and solutions. The name seems to always fit.

🗣️ We want to hear from you

Seriously. This is a big shift and we want your input.

• Should episodes be longer? Shorter?

• What topics do you want us to cover?

• Strong comments or feelings about topics or the change?

Please, send it all: the best way to contact Fragmented is by replying to this email or visiting our contact page.

We remain grateful for your ears and now your eyes 🙇‍♂️

See you on Monday with the first new episode.

Best,
Kaushik & mystery new cohost.