This week, Robbie and Adam talk about the ethics and economics of AI, and why “stealing with extra steps” feels like the right metaphor for where things are headed. They dig into open source burnout, whether AI replaces developers or just reshapes the job, how tooling and multi-agent systems fit in, and whether the future belongs to niche expertise—or just better prompts.

Presented by CodeRabbit: http://coderabbit.link/whiskey

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro
(01:56) - Whiskey rating & review: Old Forester 1897
(04:50) - Music taste, Spotify ages, and feeling old
(07:29) - Is AI just stealing with extra steps?
(19:09) - Ralph vs. Gastown and the rise of agent chaos
(28:04) - What is an AI harness?
(31:36) - How to stay valuable in an AI-shaped future
(36:25) - Does vibe coding feel as satisfying?
(39:47) - Is the web heading somewhere dark?
(42:02) - Cursor wars, animations, and UX pet peeves
(48:48) - Will GitHub projects go full Vibe Kanban in 2026?
(54:41) - Holiday reflections and unplugging
(58:18) - Staying up late and old routines
(01:00:00) - Remembering Robbie’s dog
(01:00:58) - 2026 plans, goals, and resolutions

Links

Old Forester: https://www.oldforester.com/
Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/
Mayday Parade: https://maydayparade.com/
Teddy Swims: https://www.teddyswims.com/
Post Malone: https://www.postmalone.com/
JavaScript: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript
Grok: https://grok.com/
Adam Wathan: https://x.com/adamwathan/
Tailwind CSS: https://tailwindcss.com/
GitHub: https://github.com/
Primeagen: https://x.com/ThePrimeagen
Gas Town: https://github.com/steveyegge/gastown
Ralph: https://github.com/snarktank/ralph
Claude: https://claude.ai
OpenCode: https://opencode.ai/
Matt Pocock - Ship working code while you sleep with the Ralph Wiggum technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IK18goX4X8
Python: https://www.python.org/
Oh-my-opencode: https://github.com/code-yeongyu/oh-my-opencode
Bolt: https://bolt.new/
Warp: https://www.warp.dev/
ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/
Lovable: https://lovable.dev/
Same: https://same.new/
Ember: https://emberjs.com/
Expedition 33: https://www.expedition33.com
Destiny 2: https://www.bungie.net/7/en/destiny
Anything: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anything-ai-app-builder/id6751247034
Swach: https://www.swach.io/
Electron: https://www.electronjs.org/
Swift: https://www.swift.org/
Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot
The Polar Express: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Polar_Express_(film)
React Miami: https://www.reactmiami.com/
Render ATL: https://www.renderatl.com/
CascadiaJS: https://cascadiajs.com/
All Things Open: https://allthingsopen.org/
CSS Day: https://cssday.nl/

Connect with the hosts

Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieWagner
Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/ChuckCarpenter
Adam Argyle:

Is AI Just Stealing with Extra Steps? (Presented by CodeRabbit)