I'd Rather Be Writing Podcast
Technology Podcasts
A technical writing podcast about the latest trends and practices in the field of technical communication. Technical communication includes topics like technical writing (software help), AI, information architecture, usability, API documentation, information design, web design, illustration, DITA, structured authoring, content strategy, visual communication, and more. If you're a technical writer or interested in technical writing, this is the one of few podcasts in this niche. I also have a blog at https://idratherbewriting.com where the podcasts and other blog topics are published. For an index of all podcasts, see https://idratherbewriting.com/podcasts.
Location:
United States
Description:
A technical writing podcast about the latest trends and practices in the field of technical communication. Technical communication includes topics like technical writing (software help), AI, information architecture, usability, API documentation, information design, web design, illustration, DITA, structured authoring, content strategy, visual communication, and more. If you're a technical writer or interested in technical writing, this is the one of few podcasts in this niche. I also have a blog at https://idratherbewriting.com where the podcasts and other blog topics are published. For an index of all podcasts, see https://idratherbewriting.com/podcasts.
Twitter:
@tomjohnson
Language:
English
Contact:
408-781-2129
Website:
https://idratherbewriting.com
Episodes
Recording of AI Book Club discussion about Kai-fu Lee's AI Superpowers
8/19/2025
This is a recording of our AI Book Club session discussing Kai-Fu Lee's AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order. There are 4 people in this book club discussion, and our conversation focuses on the emerging AI duopoly between the US and China. We share our own US-centric blind spots and weigh the political and cultural implications of China potentially winning the AI race. We also talk about Kai-Fu Lee's prediction of mass job displacement and his proposed social investment stipend, questioning both its feasibility and its potential drawbacks. The discussion also explores how our own professional...
Duration:01:01:01
Will your next user be an AI agent? The future of content delivery with Fabrice Lacroix, founder of Fluid Topics
7/5/2025
In this podcast, I chat with Fabrice Lacroix, founder of Fluid Topics, about the evolution of technical communication. Fabrice describes the industry's progression from delivering static, monolithic PDFs to using Content Delivery Platforms (CDPs) that provide dynamic, topic-based information directly to users, to then engineering content not just for human consumption, but for AI agents that will use this knowledge to automate complex tasks and workflows.
Duration:00:44:05
AI Book Club recording and notes for The Singularity is Nearer, by Ray Kurzweil
6/15/2025
This is a recording of our AI Book Club session discussing Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity is Nearer podcast: When We Merge With AI. You can watch the recording on YouTube, listen to the audio file, read some summary notes, browse discussion questions, and even listen to a NotebookLM podcast (based on the summary). There are 5 people in this book club discussion, and we focus a lot on the topics of acceleration, especially as we see it happening in the workplace. We also weigh in on Kurzweil's techno utopianism and how persuaded we are by the arguments about AGI landing...
Duration:00:55:53
Notes and discussion for Suleyman's The Coming Wave: AI, Power, and Our Future
5/17/2025
This post describes the key arguments and themes in The Coming Wave: AI, Power, and Our Future, by Mustafa Suleyman, for the AI Book Club: A Human in the Loop. This post not only breaks down the logic but also jumps off into some themes (beyond the book) that might be more tech-writer relevant, such as potential future job titles, areas of focus for tech writers to thrive now, questions for discussion, and more. It also contains the book club recording.
Duration:00:59:33
Notes and discussion for Jonathan Warner's More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI
4/15/2025
This post has notes and questions for discussion for More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI, published in February 2025 by Jonathan Warner. Warner's book, which explores what we lose when we outsource writing to AI, is the first book in the AI Book Club: A Human in the Loop.
Duration:00:59:40
Rethinking traditional approaches to release notes -- recording of WTD Australia presentation
2/17/2025
I gave a presentation to the Write the Docs Australia group on using AI to write release notes using file diffs, on Feb 16, 2025. Here's the recording, presentation description, and transcript.
Duration:00:56:52
My 2025 trends predictions for tech comm
1/5/2025
It's that time of year again when we take to analyzing trends. If you know me, you're probably gearing up for a load of AI-optimistic predictions because, as I've noted in previous posts like Unpacking the issues from AI, I'm an AI optimist. However, my AI optimism isn't based on hype or the current tech zeitgeist. Rather, I'm an AI optimist because my daily experiences using AI for technical documentation, especially API docs, throughout 2024 has shown it to be invaluable.
Duration:00:21:17
[Podcast] GenAI and Document360: Conversation with Saravana Kumar
10/6/2024
This podcast explores GenAI in technical documentation scenarios, highlighting the AI features and capabilities provided in Document360. I talk with Saravana Kumar, CEO of Kovai.co, which makes Document360, about how AI is changing search functionality and reducing support costs in knowledge bases. We discuss practical applications of AI for technical writers, including automated tagging, SEO optimization, glossary creation, and more. Saravana shares about AI agent workflows, conversational search experiences, automating screenshot captures, and much more.
Duration:00:49:36
Podcast: Task decomposition and complex tree diagrams
7/28/2024
This tutorial will help you understand task decomposition by guiding you through the process of creating a complex tree diagram that's too sophisticated for an AI tool to create at once. Whether you're creating tree diagrams or not, it doesn't matter. This is just an example of how to break down complex information into smaller chunks and pass it into AI.
Duration:00:18:38
Podcast: Using long-token contexts to quality check an entire API doc set
7/28/2024
One of the advantages of recent Gen AI updates is the massive token input context. When you can pass in an entire set of documentation as an input, you have a much stronger possibility for powerful prompts. In this tutorial, I share some quality-control prompts you can use that deal with entire doc sets as inputs, as well as explain some of the challenges in passing in an entire doc set.
Duration:00:21:58
Podcast: Using file diffs for better release notes in reference docs
7/28/2024
You can use AI prompts when creating release notes for APIs by leveraging file diffs from regenerated reference documentation. The file diffs from version control tools provide a reliable, precise information source about what's changed in the release.
Duration:00:17:31
Podcast: Populating documentation templates using AI
7/28/2024
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use AI to populate documentation templates with the source material you've gathered. For example, API overviews often follow a highly structured template. This technique can be a quick way to get an initial draft of documentation, which you can then edit and review with SMEs.
Duration:00:22:47
Podcast: Gathering source material for context input
7/28/2024
One of the most successful strategies for using AI is to pass in an abundance of source material that can augument and inform the AI's responses. In this tutorial, I cover strategies for gathering this material, including what types of documents to look for, optimal ordering, pitfalls to look out for such as outdated or slanted information, and more.
Duration:00:18:02
Podcast: Creating high-fidelity, thematically organized notes from engineering meetings using AI
7/28/2024
For AI tools to generate accurate information for documentation you're writing, you need to pass in source material. This usually means meeting with engineers and product managers to gather information about the product. In this tutorial, I share prompts for turning those meeting transcriptions into organized, readable meeting summaries. These cleaned up summaries can then function as input context for documentation-oriented prompts.
Duration:00:15:29
[Podcast] Uncovering and communicating the value of your tech comm teams' work, with Keren Brown
5/30/2024
In this podcast episode, I talk with Keren Brown, VP of Marketing and Value at Zoomin Software, about strategies for technical writers to demonstrate their value within their organizations, especially in light of recent layoffs in the tech industry. We discuss aligning documentation work with high-priority initiatives, quantifying the impact of technical writing, and making this work visible to executive leaders. Keren also shares insights on the changing landscape of technical writing skills in the age of AI and the role of translation in modern documentation workflows. Overall, this podcast will show you how to establish yourself as a highly...
Duration:00:47:32
[Podcast] Breaking ground: New API documentation course at UW, with Bob Watson
1/5/2024
In this podcast, I chat with Bob Watson about an upcoming API documentation course he'll be teaching at the University of Washington. Bob has extensive experience working as an API technical writer at big tech companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. The UW reached out to Bob to develop this new course offering. The 14-week evening course will cover fundamentals like understanding developer behaviors, working with various types of APIs, publishing workflows, as well as hands-on practice. A key component is having students create API documentation portfolios they can use to demonstrate their skills.
Duration:00:53:05
My 2024 technical writing trends and predictions
1/1/2024
I've been mulling over whether to write a trends post this year. There's so much uncertainty, it's hard to feel confident about how the tech writing profession will play out. But little trends-related ideas keep surfacing in the back of my mind, so I decided to write out some of my thoughts. Before I jump into this, I want to say that I’m much more agnostic and unsure about directions this year. 2024 could be amazing, it could also be terrible. Or everything could be overblown and remain more or less the same. One thing is for sure: in predictions,...
Duration:00:28:28
Podcast: Notes and themes from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
12/15/2023
These are some notes and thoughts from reading Robert Pirsig's classic philosophical novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, published in 1974. My reading here focuses more on the technical writing aspects and themes from the book. Some themes include Classic versus Romantic modes of thought, the concept of Quality, our relationship with technology, doing your own maintenance, caring about the work, peace of mind, systems thinking, multiple paths through a problem, troubleshooting, being in-the-scene versus removed, the road trip, effortless action, going with the flow, traveling along the backroads, and presence in the moment. I also include some...
Duration:01:03:29
Webinar recording: Experiments and use cases for AI from a tech writer’s perspective
12/13/2023
I recently gave a webinar titled 'Experiments and use cases for AI from a tech writer’s perspective' on December 8, 2023. The webinar was sponsored by the STC Washington, DC - Baltimore Chapter. In this presentation, I shared some personal experiences in using AI for different writing-related use cases, explaining what I’ve found helpful. These use cases and takeaways were all experiential, based on my experiments with using AI both in the workplace for documentation-related scenarios and writing on my blog.
Duration:01:02:34
30+ ways I’m using AI in everyday writing life as a technical writer, blogger, and curious human
12/4/2023
In this post, I provide over 30 real-life examples of how I'm using AI on a daily basis, not just for technical writing tasks but more broadly in life, including summarizing content, explaining concepts, answering questions, troubleshooting problems, and having engaging conversations for a variety of tasks and scenarios. In my view, AI use cases are ubiquitous, equivalent to the use cases for computers or the Internet in general.
Duration:00:44:33