Hidden Figures of Python Podcast

We interviewed Tamara Atanasoska.

Tamara has been contributing to open source projects since 2012. She participated in Google Summer of Code to contribute to projects like Gnome and e-cidadania.

She is now a maintainer of Fairlearn, an open-source, community-driven project to help data scientists improve fairness of AI systems.

Hear how Django helps her feel empowered, and how the PyLadies Berlin community has helped her feel welcomed as a new immigrant in Germany.

In this episode, Tamara shares perspective about open source contributions, maintain, mentorship, and her experience in running beginner-friendly sprints.

Be sure to listen to the episode to learn all about Tamara’s inspiring story!

Topic discussed

• Introductions
• Getting to know Tamara
• Her role at :probabl.
• Her role as an open source maintainer for Fairlearn
• What is Fairlearn and discussion about fairness in AI
• The challenges in getting feedback from the users about the Fairlearn project
• How she get started with Python and Django
• Her political participation that led her to contributing to civic engagement open source project during Google Summer of Code
• How Django helps her feel empowered
• Her experience with hacker spaces
• How the Python and PyLadies Berlin community helps her feel welcomed as a new immigrant in Berlin
• How she gives back to the community by speaking, mentoring, and leading sprints
• How she approaches mentorship, and why it is part of her core values.
• Her ideas about leading beginner-friendly sprints
• Her future endeavors

Links from the show

• Fairlearn: https://fairlearn.org/
• Fairlearn Community Survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeOTRNgAc2RYnDDO5-GE7scMysPHrBLs8XV21ZP--XATr34aA/viewform
• :probabl.: https://probabl.ai/
• scikit-learn: https://scikit-learn.org/
• e-cidadania GitHub repository: https://github.com/cidadania/e-cidadania
• Google Summer of Code 2012: https://opensource.googleblog.com/2012/05/macedonia-google-summer-of-code-meetups.html
• PyLadies Berlin: https://berlin.pyladies.com/en/
• Tamara’s Substack: https://holophrase.substack.com/
• Tamara’s website: https://tamaraatanasoska.github.io/about/

Sneak Peek of our chat with Tamara Atanasoska, hosted by Georgi Ker and Mariatta Wijaya.

Tamara has been contributing to open source projects since 2012. She participated in Google Summer of Code to contribute to projects like Gnome and e-cidadania.

She is now a maintainer of Fairlearn, an open-source, community-driven project to help data scientists improve fairness of AI systems.

Hear how Django helps her feel empowered, and how the PyLadies Berlin community has helped her feel welcomed as a new immigrant in Germany.

In this episode, Tamara shares perspective about open source contributions, maintain, mentorship, and her experience in running beginner-friendly sprints.

Full episode is coming on June 27, 2025! Subscribe to our podcast now!

We interviewed Mojdeh Rastgoo, the newest member of PyPodcats!

Since discovering Python and the open-source community, Mojdeh has been actively involved in the Python ecosystem. She gave her first tutorial in 2018 at EuroSciPy and has since contributed in many ways. She is a member of the PSF Code of Conduct Working Group, a co-organizer of PyLadies Paris, and now a host of PyPodcats!

In this episode, Mojdeh shares more about herself and her passion for the community. We also take a look back at 2024, discuss our plans for 2025, and introduce a few new changes, including our Open Collective account, where you can support us.

Be sure to listen to the episode to hear about our plans and get to know your new host Mojdeh!

Topic discussed

• Introductions
• What are we up to nowadays
• Getting to know Mojdeh
• What Saint-Gobain does and Mojdeh roles in Saint-Gobain
• How did she ended up in Europe
• Her involvement in the community
• PyLadies Paris
• Public speaking and Lightning talks
• Roles of LLM in today’s life
• Personal projects
• Growth mindset and changing perspectives
• Personal interests and hobbies
• PyPodcats reflections and plans for the future
• Funding and supports

Links from the show

• PyPodcats Kickstart 2025
• PyPodcats OpenCollective
• Erasmus+ - Erasmus Mundus Master Program
• Think again by Adam Grant
• PyPodcats episode 1 with Joanna Jablonski
• PyPodcats episode 3 with Vicky Twomey-Lee
• PyPodcats episode 4 with Jessica Tegner

Links for PyLadies Paris

• PyLadies Paris meetup
• PyLadies Paris linkedin

Sneak Peek of our chat with Mojdeh Rastgoo, hosted by Georgi Ker and Tereza Iofciu.

Since discovering Python and open source communities, Mojdeh has been actively involved in the Python community. She gave her first tutorial in 2018 and has since contributed in many ways. She is a member of PSF CoC working group, co organizer of PyLadies Paris and now a host of PyPodcats!

In this session, we shared a recap about our podcast series from last year. We also introduced our new member, Mojdeh, and talk about our plans for 2025.

Full episode is coming on April 15, 2025! Subscribe to our podcast now!

We interviewed Anna Makarudze from Zimbabwe to hear about her inspiring journey.

Since discovering Python and Django in 2015, Anna has been actively involved in the Django community. She helped organize PyCon Zimbabwe, and she has coached at Django Girls in Harare and Windhoek.

She served on the Board of Directors at Django Software Foundation for five years, and she is currently a Django Girls Foundation Trustee & Fundraising Coordinator.

During her journey in tech, Anna became aware of the lack of representation of women in tech industry, something that became more evident as she attended Django Under the Hood in 2016 where most of the attendees were white men, and only a few are women. That’s when she realized the importance of communities like Django Girls in supporting more women in the Django Community.

In this chat, Anna shared ways on how you can contribute and help support Django Girls+ Foundation.

She is currently studying her master’s degree in Blekinge Institute of Technology in Karlskrona, Sweden.

Be sure to listen to the episode to learn all about Anna’s inspiring story!

Topic discussed

• Introductions
• Her role in Django Girls+ Foundation
• Moving from Zimbabwe to Sweden, and adjusting to her new life
• Django Girls tutorials and website
• How to contribute to Django Girls website
• Discovering Python, Flask, and Django in 2015
• Attending Django Under the Hood in 2016
• Representation of women in tech
• The role of Django Girls+ in tech
• How to help and support Django Girls+
• What to expect from Django Girls+ in 2025 onwards

Links from the show

• Django Girls+: https://djangogirls.org/en/
• Blekinge Institute of Technology: https://bth.se/
• Muzinda Hub: https://x.com/muzindahub
• Treehouse: https://teamtreehouse.com/
• Django Software Foundation: https://www.djangoproject.com/foundation/
• Django Under the Hood: https://djangounderthehood.com/

Links from Django Girls+

• Coach at an event: https://coach.djangogirls.org/

• Organize an event: https://organize.djangogirls.org/

• Work on the website: https://github.com/DjangoGirls/djangogirls

• Contribute to our resources:

  • https://github.com/DjangoGirls/tutorial
  • https://github.com/DjangoGirls/coach-manual
  • https://github.com/DjangoGirls/organizer-manual

• Translate our resources:

  • https://github.com/DjangoGirls/translation-guide

• Donate to us:

  • https://www.patreon.com/djangogirls
  • https://donate.stripe.com/14kdTJ8PT6Fa3CwaEF
  • https://djangogirls.org/en/donate/donate/

• For corporate companies: https://djangogirls.org/en/donate/

Sneak Peek of our chat with Anna Makarudze, hosted by Mariatta Wijaya and Cheuk Ting Ho.

Since discovering Python and Django in 2015, Anna has been actively involved in the Django community. She helped organize PyCon Zimbabwe, and she has coached at Django Girls in Harare and Windhoek.

She served on the Board of Directors at Django Software Foundation for five years, and she is currently a Django Girls Foundation Trustee & Fundraising Coordinator.

Anna became aware of the lack of representation of women in tech industry, something that became more evident as she attended Django Under the Hood in 2016 where most of the attendees were white men, and only a few are women. That’s when she realized the importance of communities like Django Girls in supporting more women in the Django Community.

In this chat, Anna shared ways on how you can contribute and help support Django Girls+ Foundation.

Full episode is coming on November 27, 2024! Subscribe to our podcast now!

We interviewed Niharika Vadluri from India to hear about her inspiring journey.

Graduated during COVID from a women’s university, Niharika faced challenges in finding her dream job, but the Python and open source community gets her going.

During her final year’s project, she made an energy monitoring system for her whole campus connected to a Raspberry Pi. Hear all about her work and all the contributions she’s made to the Python and open community.

Niharika shared personal stories dealing with mental health in her family, and how communities like PyLadies and the Python has showed her that those with mental and physical challenges can succeed in this community.

She shared advice and encouraged women to participate and contribute to the Python and open source communities.

Be sure to listen to the episode to learn all about Niharika’s inspiring story!

Topic discussed

• Introductions
• Graduation during COVID from women’s University/Institute
• Getting introduced to open source in college
• Dealing with mental health
• Her dream job, entrepreneurship
• Attending PyCon India
• PyLadies
• Discovering more open source communities and contributing through FOSSASIA
• Learning the different ways to contribute beyond code
• Growing skills and getting opportunities through open source community
• Her experience with GSoC (Google Summer of Code)
• Being an electrical engineer, and working with hardware, Raspberry Pi
• Her project at IIT (Indian Institute of Technology)
• Comparing experience in college vs. working in corporate
• Her advice to other women

Links from the show

• PyCon India: https://in.pycon.org/2024/
• BVRIT Hyderabad College of Engineering for Women: https://bvrithyderabad.edu.in/
• FOSSASIA: https://fossasia.org/
• PyLadies: https://pyladies.com
• Google Summer of Code: https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/
• Indian Institute of Technology: https://iitsystem.ac.in/
• Campus Energy Monitoring System (CEMS): https://drive.google.com/file/d/14eEk1fL-5HbHs8eEnq903hCJEBFxxPa5/view

Sneak Peek of our chat with Niharika Vadluri, hosted by Mariatta Wijaya and Cheuk Ting Ho.

Learn about Niharika’s journey. Graduated during COVID from a women’s university, Niharika faced challenges in finding her dream job, but the Python and open source community gets her going. During her final year’s project, she made an energy monitoring system for her whole campus connected to a Raspberry Pi. Hear all about her work and all the contributions she’s made to the Python community.

Full episode is coming on September 20, 2024! Subscribe to our podcast now!

We interviewed Mona Obedoza from The Philippines to hear about her inspiring journey.

Mona started learning to program when she was about five years old, first using block-based programming language like Scratch, and she then advanced to text-based programming languages like Python, C#, and Java.

Even though she knows various programming languages, Python remains her favorite, not only for the programming language itself, but because of the Python community. Her first public speaking engagement was in the Python Philippines when she was 10 years old, and the support from the Python community has encouraged her to continue. She has now spoken at many Python events and conferences, including at PyLadiesCon 2023.

Mona has been teaching other kids to code through workshops and hackathons. Being young makes her in the best position to connect with other kids.

Mona created Project TEDDY, an AI powered-program that helps school counsellors detects signs of distress in students, so that the counsellors could reach out to the students in time and prevent mental health concerns from escalating.

Mona was encouraged by her mom since young to pursue tech and coding. Even though she is still in highschool, she has big dreams and aspires to study abroad in the future.

Be sure to listen to the episode to learn all about Mona’s inspiring story!

Topic discussed

• Introductions
• Python Philippines
• Learning to code after kindergarten.
• Learning Block-based programming like Scratch, then text-based programming like Python, C#, Java.
• Her favorite programming language.
• Using Python for data science, AI, teaching workshops to kids.
• Dinosaurs
• Speaking at Python Philippines at 10 years old
• Teaching and encouraging other kids to code, conducting workshops, and hackathons
• What inspires her to start teaching other kids to code
• How being young is an advantage to her
• Project TEDDY: Text-Based Early Distress Detector for Youth
• Her aspirations to speak at more Python conferences
• How her mom encouraged and supported her with programming and technology
• Other hobbies
• Her goals for the future, going to school abroad

Links from the show

• Purposeful Mochii: https://www.facebook.com/purposefulmochii/
• PyLadiesCon: https://conference.pyladies.com
• Project TEDDY talk at PyLadiesCon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB7xxXHH-mo

Sneak Peek of our chat with Mona Obedoza, hosted by Georgi Ker and Tereza Iofciu.

Learn about Mona’s journey. She started learning to code at five years old by making video games using Scratch and Python. Even though Mona is still in high school, she is already a frequent public speaker at Python and tech conferences, and is inspiring other kids to code.

Full episode is coming on July 24, 2024! Subscribe to our podcast now!

We interviewed Jessica Tegner from Denmark to hear about her journey in technology, from modding Minecraft games into becoming an open source maintainer.

Playing video games like Minecraft led her to learn programming and to solve problems with coding and technology. She lost her vision in 2018, but it does not stop her from continuing to tinker with tools and technology. In fact, it motivates her into creating and improving tools to be more accessible to the users.

Jessica is the maintainer of the popular PyPandoc library, which is a Python wrapper for the Pandoc library. She was selected as the first cohort of the GitHub Accelerator program.

Jessica has spoken at several conferences but aspires to do more, and especially at Python conferences. She wishes that events and conferences would have more accessibility information openly available.

Be sure to listen to the episode to learn all about Jessica’s inspiring story!

Topic discussed

• Introductions
• Playing video games as a child
• Starting a Minecraft server which turns into one of the biggest server in Denmark
• Learning to mod Minecraft server which in turns brings up her love for programming
• Using Python to program desktop applications
• Becoming the maintainer for PyPandoc
• Difficulties and challenges while coding with visual impairment
• Her superpower: being able to read twice as fast as an average human reader
• Contributing to Poetry
• Why Minecraft is an example of an accessible video game
• Accessibility information at conferences, and advice to conference organizers
• Thoughts on AI and ChatGPT for computer science students
• Her favorite tools, like screen reader, accessible browser, and IDE
• Traveling
• Making her own video game engine because the existing engines are not accessible
• Her aspirations to speak at more Python conferences

Links from the show

• Minecraft: https://www.minecraft.net/
• PyPandoc: https://github.com/JessicaTegner/pypandoc
• Pandoc: https://www.pandoc.org/
• Poetry: https://python-poetry.org/

Sneak Peek of our chat with Jessica Tegner, hosted by Cheuk Ting Ho and Georgi Ker.

Hear about Jessica’s journey in technology, from modding Minecraft games into becoming an open source maintainer. Being fully blind does not stop her from using and creating tech tools. We can’t wait to share her inspiring story with you.

Full episode is coming on June 12, 2024! Subscribe to our podcast now!

We interviewed Vicky Twomey-Lee to hear about how she started learning Python, and becoming involved with the Python community in Dublin, Ireland.

Vicky is an advocate for diversity in tech. She discovered Python (and its community) in 2002 and since then she has been actively involved in building the tech scene in Ireland.

Vicky is a serial starter, having started and co-founded various communities including GameCraft, Coding Grace, and PyLadies Dublin. She was the Maker Advocate for Dublin Maker.

Be sure to listen to the episode to learn about all the amazing things Vicky has done!

Topic discussed

• Introductions
• Discovering Python in 2002
• Getting involved with Python Ireland, PyCon Ireland, and PyLadies Dublin
• Providing safe space for women to learn tech through PyLadies Dublin
• Getting paid to play and research games, going to game festivals, Dublin ComicCon
• How Covid impacts the tech community in Dublin, and challenges in running events after covid
• Making tech events more accessible
• TechFoundHer Boot Camp to help women to become tech startup founder
• Dublin Maker community
• Cupán Tae Conf: virtual talk series
• Her choice of Irish Tea
• Other hobbies: Lino Print, Zines, Gaming, Electronics, Cross-media arts
• Her Make room
• How to get in touch with her
• Making with 3D Pen

Links from the show

• Python Ireland/PyCon Ireland: https://python.ie/
• PyLadies Dublin: https://dublin.pyladies.com/
• TechFoundHer: https://techfoundher.com/
• Coding Grace: https://codinggrace.com
• Cupán Tae Conf: https://cupantaeconf.com/
• GameCraft: https://www.gamecraft.it/
• EuroPython: https://europython.eu/
• Barry’s Tea: https://www.barrystea.ie/
• Dublin Maker: https://www.dublinmaker.ie/
• 3D Pen Pickle Rick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqqenrYyQvQ

Sneak Peek of our chat with Vicky Twomey-Lee, hosted by Georgi Ker and Tereza Iofciu.

Hear about Vicky’s journey in the Python community and learn how she has been helping grow the Python and PyLadies community in Ireland!

Full episode is coming on April 12, 2024! Subscribe to our podcast now!

We interviewed Karolina Ladino to hear about how she started learning Python, and becoming involved with the Python community in Colombia.

Karolina has a background in robotics engineer and a master’s degree in data analytics. She has been working in the hardware industry and animatronics.

In this episode, Karolina shared some of the struggles and difficulties faced by women in Colombia, and how she helped shaped the community, making it safer and more welcoming so that more women could have the opportunities in the Python and tech communities.

We learned about Karolina’s mentor, Professor Olmer, who not only supported and encouraged her studies but also served as an inspiration for her to pay it forward by extending her support to other women.

To those who are still learning Python or want to switch their career, Karo shared many useful advices, so be sure to listen to the episode to learn from her!

Topic discussed

• Introductions
• Learning MicroPython in University
• Her background in Robotics Engineering
• Career as project manager and product manager
• Python Colombia
• Learning Python from the community and from online resources
• Becoming involved with Python Colombia and PyLadies Colombia
• The challenges faced by women in Colombia, and breaking that barrier
• Mentorship and allies
• Paying it forward
• Medellin: the Silicon Valley of Latin America
• Growth of tech community in Colombia
• Advices and invitation to join your local Python community

Links from the show

• PyLadies Colombia: https://www.pyladies.co/
• PyCon Colombia: https://pycon.co/
• Professor Olmer Garcia: https://torre.ai/olmerg?r=gH4r6B0W

Sneak Peek of our chat with Karolina Ladino, hosted by Mariatta Wijaya and Cheuk Ting Ho.

Hear about Karolina’s journey in the Python community and learn how she has been helping grow the Python and PyLadies community in Colombia!

Full episode is coming on March 13, 2024! Subscribe to our podcast now!

We interviewed Joanna Jablonski to hear about how she got involved in the Python community, and the various contributions she’s made to Python.

Joanna worked at Real Python as Executive Editor where she ran the curriculum. She has also blogged for the Python Language Summit. Recently Joanna authored a PEP, PEP 732: The Python Documentation Editorial Board.

Joanna is a co-author of the book Python Basics, and was the primary reviewer of the book CPython Internals.

Topic discussed

• Introductions
• PyLadies Vancouver Meetup
• F-strings
• Opportunities in the Python community, and how it helps in her career
• Executive Editor at Real Python
• Her life before Python
• PEP 732: The Python Documentation Editorial Board
• Neolithic and Bronze Age textiles
• Her current project: How to make a Docs Site: Shortcuts for Busy Devs

Links from the show

• PyLadies Vancouver: https://www.meetup.com/pyladies-vancouver/
• PyCascades: https://pycascades.com/
• Real Python: https://realpython.com/
• Python Language Summit 2021: https://pyfound.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-2021-python-language-summit.html
• PEP 732: https://peps.python.org/pep-0732/
• Python Basics: A Practical Introduction to Python 3: https://realpython.com/products/python-basics-book/
• Sally Pointer’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/sallypointer

Sneak Peek of our chat with Joanna Jablonski, hosted by Mariatta Wijaya and Tereza Iofciu.

Hear about Joanna’s journey in the Python community and learn about her contributions to Python through developer education and documentation.

Full episode is coming on February 14, 2024! Subscribe to our podcast now!

The PyPodcats team, Cheuk, Georgi, Mariatta, and Tereza, got together and talked about their origin story. We discussed the name: “Hidden Figures”, what inspired us to start this podcast.

We shared our findings from analyzing data from popular Python podcasts, and wondered about the diversity in the Python community.

Topic discussed

• Introductions
• The name “Hidden Figures”
• “Purplewashing”
• Diversity issues in workplace, conferences, Python community
• Collecting data from Top Python Podcasts, Results
• Where do we go from here

Links from the show

• Hidden Figures book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Figures_(book)
• Hidden Figures film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Figures
• PyPodcats Blog: https://pypodcats.live/blog/python_podcast_gender_diversity_and_representation/
• Contact us: meow@pypodcats dot live
• PyPodcats website: https://pypodcats.live
• PyCon US: https://us.pycon.org