North Meets South Web Podcast
Jake Bennett and Michael Dyrynda conquer a 14.5 hour time difference to talk about life as web developers
Ten years of the show, conference ticketing, and database access
In this milestone 10-year anniversary episode of North Meets South, Michael and Jake reflect on a decade of podcasting, from their first awkward recordings and early Laravel community connections to the friendships, conferences, and recurring topics that have shaped the show over nearly 200 episodes.Â
A large part of the episode focuses on Michael's work-in-progress event ticketing platform inspired by the challenges of running Laracon AU. He explains the limitations of existing conference ticketing systems, the difficulties of collecting attendee information for multiple conference-adjacent events, and his vision for a more attendee-centric system that manages profiles, dietary r...
Fast Laravel with Jason McCreary
Michael and Jake are joined by Jason "JMac" McCreary to talk the impact of AI on Laravel Shift and modern upgrade workflows, and his latest Fast Laravel course focused on edge caching and application performance.
Jason shares how Laravel Shift has evolved alongside AI-assisted development, why recent Laravel releases have changed the upgrade landscape, and why he still believes there's value in keeping applications aligned with the latest framework conventions rather than simply running composer update. The conversation explores how AI tools are influencing developer workflows, the future of upgrade automation, and new ways Shift is integrating...
Laracon AU CFP, developer storytelling, and audience engagement
Michael shares a behind-the-scenes look at organising Laracon AU 2026, including the new committee-based CFP review process, the tooling built to manage the talk submissions, and how AI-assisted workflows helped shape the final conference schedule. The conversation dives into balancing technical depth with audience engagement, designing conference cadence to avoid cognitive overload, and why advanced technical talks are so difficult to execute well.
Jake and Michael also discuss the realities of crafting technical presentations, from simplifying code examples and avoiding "proof of expertise" syndrome, to using AI tools as collaborative thought partners when preparing talks. Along the way...
Unused APIs, Passport testing traps, and local AI bottlenecks
In this episode, Michael shares details from a major internal platform shift at work, including the decision to completely remove an underused public JSON API and rebuild integrations around real customer needs instead of hypothetical use cases. The conversation dives deep into Laravel Passport, Sanctum, OAuth flows, request authorisation, and some tricky edge cases around testing authenticated APIs.
Jake then broadens the conversation into AI infrastructure, local model hosting, security implications of autonomous AI systems, NVIDIA hardware demand, and the future potential of photonic processors as a solution to the growing power and cooling bottlenecks facing AI...
Gents on Gent with David Hemphill
Michael and Jake are joined by David Hemphill to discuss David's macOS app Gent, a task runner built on the "Ralph loop" pattern for AI-powered coding workflows.
The conversation covers how Gent takes a project requirements document (PRD), breaks it into small tasks that fit within a single context window, and runs them sequentially or in parallel using copy-on-write clones and Git worktrees.
We discuss our own evolving workflows with Claude Code, including plan mode, the "Grill Me" skill for stress-testing plans, managing context windows, and the /rewind command.
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David...Flight booking mistakes, Laracon AU, and dead letters
In this episode, Michael and Jake catch up ahead of Laracon and share a wild travel story involving flight changes, third-party booking headaches, and expensive rebooking.
Jake then shares a fun personal highlight: attending the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship and watching Michigan win.
The conversation shifts into development work, where Jake dives into building a centralised system for managing failed Laravel jobs across multiple applications. He explains the challenges of aggregating failed jobs without Horizon, how they built a custom package to expose APIs for inspecting and retrying jobs, and the nuances of Laravel's queue...
OIDC, bastion hosts, and production safety
In this episode, Jake and Michael dive into modern infrastructure security practices, sparked by an annual audit and the painful process of rotating AWS IAM tokens. That experience leads into a broader discussion on why long-lived credentials in GitHub Actions are risky, and how OIDC (OpenID Connect) enables a more secure, short-lived, role-based alternative.
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Scout SuiteOpenID Connect (OIDC)Laravel ForgeLaravel HorizonScrambleClaudeLoRA (Low-Rank Adaptation)Worktree structures, workflow events, and enum metadata
In this episode, we discuss using `claude --worktree` to spin up parallel feature work, and the unexpected friction that can arise when your editor doesn’t play nicely with nested worktrees.
Jake shares his experience running multiple Claude agents in parallel and problems that surfaced in PhpStorm. Michael explains how he structures worktrees differently, avoiding those issues, and the two compare workflows between PhpStorm and Neovim.
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Charging chaos, corona discharge, and vector embeddings
Michael and Jake discuss Jake's device charging chaos, household optimisation, international power outlets, and vector embeddings.
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OpenClaw, Arbor, and horseless carriages
Michael and Jake catch up on what’s been occupying their time lately, from AI tooling experiments to new developer workflows, before closing with a broader reflection on how new technologies are often misunderstood at first.
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OpenClaw / Clawd Bot / MoltbotArborAI horseless carriagesWhen AI clicks, automation at home, and developer workflows
Jake and Michael return for 2026 and talk about their evolving experiences with AI; what it’s good at, what it’s not, and how it’s changing the way they work.
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OpenAI / ChatGPTAnthropic / Claude (Sonnet & Opus)OpenCode (multi-provider AI coding interface)Home AssistantZigbee temperature sensorsGitHub CopilotOllama (local LLM runner)NVIDIA DGX SparkAmp CodeMiniMax M2.1 modelSoftware for an audience of oneArborOpenCode Desktop has workspaces supportOpus 4.5 is going to change everythingChoose your hard
Michael and Jake open with retro arcade serendipity (a Mortal Kombat cabinet sighting!) and tumble into family bowling, kid-approved card games, and why tactile gadgets are back in style.
Then they pivot hard into dev-mode: shadcn/ui (and shadcn-vue), Inertia, React-ish forms, and the age-old tradeoff between “batteries-included” simplicity and modern real-time UX.
Highlights:
Mortal Kombat cabinet & mini arcades, gift ideas for Laracon AUDuckpin bowling explainer and family bowling stories (plus UNO, Yahtzee, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza)The “analog is cool again” thread: mechanical keyboards, a Keychron board, and a retro 3D-printed mouse shell fo...Controllers and Middleware, Grok vs. Claude, and Developer Value
Jake and Michael dive into a wide range of topics, from coding practices in Laravel to the evolving role of AI in software development. They kick things off with daylight savings and weekend updates before moving into technical discussions on authorization, policies, and form requests in Laravel.
The conversation expands to cover recent changes in middleware and controller patterns, contextual attributes in the service container, and practical approaches to request validation.
Later, the focus shifts toward AI tools like Claude, Grok, and Cursor, including their strengths, frustrations, and industry-wide adoption pressures. We reflect on the...
LawnHub, Saloon, and Salesforce
In this episode, Michael and Jake catch up on life and code. They talk about fatigue, seasonal shifts, lawn adventures, and the return of hay fever.
We dive into replacing a legacy Salesforce integration with Saloon, frustrations with mocks, and how Saloon fakes have improved testing workflows. Michael walks through his experiments with AI tools like Claude and opencode to prototype fake gateways - treating AI as a “junior dev” pair. The discussion covers gateway patterns, middleware, registry-based response handling, and strategies for testing Salesforce without polluting production environments.
From weeds and soil temp...
Soccer terror, conference swag, and Omarchy (btw)
In this episode, Jake and Michael catch up on life, family, and tech.
Michael shares proud stories about his son Eli turning into a “soccer terrorist” on the field, while Jake recounts his own stint as a stand-in soccer coach. They dive into Laracon AU updates — from speaker announcements and Road to Laracon podcasts, to quiz night and swag planning.
Other highlights include experiments with AI-generated artwork, Bruce’s new social media adventures, sponsor promotion, and even a tangent on coding tools like PHPStan and how AI can help fix issues in the backgrou...
Laracon recap, eleven stations, and Laravel meetups
In this episode, Michael and Jake reflect on their recent time at Laracon US 2025 in Denver - catching up in person after six years, reconnecting with the Laravel community, and sharing behind-the-scenes stories from the conference floor.
They also cover:
Why this Laracon felt like a true “homecoming”Building Laravel meetups and fostering communityThe book (and tv show) Station Eleven (and how different things might have been)The value of attending conferences, particularly as a non-speakerContinued discussion on the complexities of handling roles and permissionsThe episode weaves together community highlights, technical challenges, and personal refl...
Laracon, controller middleware, and permissions
In this episode, Michael and Jake kick things off with some Laracon travel talk, sharing their hotel plans, coffee quests, and even jokes about pillow fights at the conference hotel. Michael reveals his precise coffee scouting for the Vib by Best Western hotel, determined not to survive three days on Starbucks alone.
Should you define middleware in a controller’s constructor?Michael explains why he avoids it - preferring to keep all middleware in route definitions for better visibility and maintainability. Jake explores the pros and cons and why he’s still tempted to use it for cert...
Flavours of busy, restrained features, and variable static views
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss the nuance of being “busy”, saying no to features (and why), handling user feedback early, Laravel-powered static views with dynamic data, and building tools that stand the test of time.
Liquid glass, video thumbnails, and children growing up
In this episode, Jake and Michael reflect on parenting, discuss Apple's new Liquid Glass UI, finding smarter ways to use video on the web, plus share thoughts on AI overload, Laracon prep, and why Wistia might be your next favourite video tool.
In this episode:
- Apple’s Liquid Glass UI
- Kit.com and Wistia for video
- Reflections on AI, tech bubbles, and accessibility
- Laracon US and vox pop interviews
- The emotional ride of watching your kids grow up
Stealth grills, metric takeover, and selecting conference talks
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss Jake's new stealth grill, his eldest son's takeover of the state finals (and metric's takeover of measurement), and Michael goes through the process of refining over 150 talk submissions down to the final Laracon AU schedule.
Constant interfaces, nested input, and array access
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss using interfaces as a dictionary of constants, working with and testing inputs passed down multiple layers of the application, and refactoring legacy code with PHP's ArrayAccess interface.
Laracon AU, queued batches, and leveraging AI
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss the ramp up of Laracon AU planning, touch base on Jake's unorthodox usage of Laravel Horizon, and Michael finally coming around to using AI.
New setups, Saloon SDKs, and configuring Horizon
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss Michael's new recording gear, building integrations with external APIs using Saloon, and configuring Laravel Horizon.
Concentric circles, eloquent values, and application monitoring
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss circles of influence and information, eloquently handling return of single values from the database, and monitoring tools for your applications.
Succession plans, unused features, and testing living systems
Jake and Michael discuss those features you ship that nobody uses but everybody has feedback for, testing a system where the valid state can change based on user input, and compliance auditing and adherence.
Luka and AD, Laracon US, and pitching our Laracon talks
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss the blockbuster trade of Luka Dončić to the the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, the just-announced Laracon US, and pitch our talks for the very same conference.
Old packages, Laravel upgrades, and breaking changes
Jake and Michael recap their Christmas and New Year break, talk through lingering packages, Laravel 11 upgrades, and breaking changes in PHPUnit.
North Meets South meets Slightly Caffeinated meets David Hemphill Christmas Extravaganza
Join Jake, Michael, David, TJ, and Chris for a merry chat about tech, holiday antics, and the entertaining Wheel of Fortune game!
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Loud coffee machines, Prezet, recursion, and staging environments
Join Michael and Jake as they explore noisy coffee machines, dive into documentation challenges with Prezet, and discuss the nuances of sandbox environments.
(00:00) - Introduction (01:14) - Noisy Coffee Machines (03:06) - Basketball Recap (03:48) - Documentation with Prezet (07:31) - Carrier Documentation Permissions (10:07) - Code Rendering Issues (12:28) - Developer World Update (20:21) - Sandbox Environment Strategy (27:48) - Next Steps (28:16) - ConclusionLaracon AU retro, coffee machines, and dynamic directories
Join Michael and Jake as they dive into Laracon AU highlights, reveal new coffee adventures, and discuss dynamic directories and tenant file storage.
Large file uploads, scrambled spotlights, and preparing for Laracon AU
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss large file uploads without double-handling them, generating API documentation for your app, and the mad rush of the last two weeks before this year's Laracon AU
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Rodecaster DuoMichael's tattooStoplightScrambleVitepressLaracon AUDynamic images, Livewire slots, and API-based file uploads
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss (clever?) ways to generate dynamic images for OpenGraph purposes, how a missing slot variable sent Michael mad, Jake's adventures with API-based file uploads, and some more details about Laracon AU.
Fake drivers with Jason Beggs
In this episode, Jake and Michael are joined by Jason Beggs from the Laravel team to discuss the approaches they're taking to fake interaction with third-party services during development of their upcoming product, Laravel Cloud.
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Jason BeggsLaravel CloudUsing fake providers in developmentDatabase fakeTenanted files, testing batch jobs, and enhanced enumerations
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss potential security considerations around segmenting file uploads per tenant, approaches to testing batch jobs in Laravel, and perhaps the untold power of using enums in PHP.
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Trailer for Mastering PostgresAaron's podcast with Glauber CostaExtending enums with attributesLaracon AURemote pairing around rounding errors with a pint
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss (inadvertently) bathing keyboards, pairing with remote colleagues and friends, using rational numbers to deal with rounding errors (sort of), and running code style fixers in CI or as a pre-commit hook.
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TupleLaramatesAroundbrick/mathbrick/moneyPintRunning Pint on GitHub ActionsHuskyWhiskyThe one with environment config
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss different approaches to configuring a Laravel app, for consistency, security, and shareability among a team and across environments.
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Australian men on the phone to each otherGo ahead, delete your .env.example fileThe one with bubbly water
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss the line between soda and bubbly water, Laracon AU, two-way SMS conversations, and the implications of not knowing maths as a programmer.
The one with feature flags
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss feature flags, particularly the freshly-released before hook, and the perils of incorrect eager loading as your application scales.
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Fool's mateTim MacDonaldIntroduce 'before' hookJSON vs Polymorphism and editable index pages
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss whether you should push polymorphism to the database or settle for a simple JSON field, and we discuss options for rendering multiple edit fields on an index page.
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My User GuideLiquid DeathMusic, feature flags, and making the new one do what the old one did
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss music we're into at the moment, using Pennant for feature flags in Laravel, and the age old set of requirements: "it needs to do everything the old one did"
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Audio ReignLouis ColeVulfpeckBurn the JukeboxLaracon AU