The Haskell Interlude
- Episodes
- 89
- Released
- monthly
- Latest episode
- Nov 2, 2026
About the podcast
This is the Haskell Interlude, where the five co-hosts (Wouter Swierstra, Andres Löh, Alejandro Serrano, Niki Vazou, and Joachim Breitner) chat with Haskell guests!
Episodes 89
88: Tom Schrijvers
In this Haskell Interlude, we sat down with Tom Schrijvers, the head of the Functional Programming team at KU Leuven. He has been a prolific contributor to the foundations of Haskell, with many papers pushing …
Show notes
In this Haskell Interlude, we sat down with Tom Schrijvers, the head of the Functional Programming team at KU Leuven. He has been a prolific contributor to the foundations of Haskell, with many papers pushing the boundaries of the Haskell type system, programming with effects, and applications of functional programming.Our conversation was a whirlwind tour through Tom's long and wide publication history, with lots of tangents and ideas about functional programming, logic programming, constraints, DSLs, composition, program calculation, and other great stuff.
87: Edward Kmett
For the new Haskell Interlude, we sat down with Edward Kmett. Ed is the Founder and Chief Scientist of Positron AI. More importantly, he's a legend in the Haskell community for authoring many, many popular …
Show notes
For the new Haskell Interlude, we sat down with Edward Kmett. Ed is the Founder and Chief Scientist of Positron AI. More importantly, he's a legend in the Haskell community for authoring many, many popular Haskell packages, first and foremost lens - and generally turning up the abstraction level to 11. We talk about design principles for Haskell libraries, category theory, cache-oblivious algorithms and his current work involving Haskell, C++, and FPGAs. Ed talks fast, so strap in!
86: Michael Hanus
In this episode, we sat down with Michael Hanus. Michael is a professor at the University of Kiel and is one of the founders of functional logic programming, the combination of logic and functional programming …
Show notes
In this episode, we sat down with Michael Hanus. Michael is a professor at the University of Kiel and is one of the founders of functional logic programming, the combination of logic and functional programming in a single formalism. Michael is also the creator of Curry, a functional-logic language that resembles Haskell, so you can dive right in if you're familiar with Haskell. Naturally, we talked about what functional logic programming is, how it improves over plain functional programming, and the challenges of semantics and implementation. We learned a lot - enjoy!
85: Brent Yorgey
In today’s episode, we’re joined by Brent Yorgey, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Hendrix College and the creator, among other things, of the Diagrams vector graphics library and Swarm, a 2D …
Show notes
In today’s episode, we’re joined by Brent Yorgey, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Hendrix College and the creator, among other things, of the Diagrams vector graphics library and Swarm, a 2D programming and resource gathering game. We talk about teaching, domain specific languages, and competitive coding.
84: Sylvain Henry
In this episode of the Haskell Interlude, we are joined by Sylvain Henry, one of the all-time top contributors to GHC. He tells us about his work on GHC, the bignum library, modularization, and the secret to …
Show notes
In this episode of the Haskell Interlude, we are joined by Sylvain Henry, one of the all-time top contributors to GHC. He tells us about his work on GHC, the bignum library, modularization, and the secret to becoming a top contributor!
83: POPL 2026 - Part 2
This is the first part of a miniseries on this year’s Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages, a.k.a. POPL 2026, hosted by Jessica Foster.In this episode we talk about: symbolic execution monads, what …
Show notes
This is the first part of a miniseries on this year’s Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages, a.k.a. POPL 2026, hosted by Jessica Foster.
In this episode we talk about: symbolic execution monads, what a lazy linear core in Haskell might have in common with Rust, hyperfunctions, the hallway track, and how to deal with rejection.82: Fraser Tweedale
We talked to Fraser Tweedale. Fraser works at Red Hat, and is on the Haskell Security Response Team. We talked about security in the context of Haskell, both technical and organizational issues, and also the …
Show notes
We talked to Fraser Tweedale. Fraser works at Red Hat, and is on the Haskell Security Response Team. We talked about security in the context of Haskell, both technical and organizational issues, and also the political issues involved. Fraser's work is both really important and not well-known in the Haskell ecosystem, so it was high time for him to come on the show.
81: Torsten Grust
Mike and Andres sat down with Torsten Grust, who is a professor of DB systems at the University of Tübingen. Even though Torsten loves SQL, he's used functional programming and Haskell to inform his work …
Show notes
Mike and Andres sat down with Torsten Grust, who is a professor of DB systems at the University of Tübingen. Even though Torsten loves SQL, he's used functional programming and Haskell to inform his work on query language design and compilation. We talked about the best way to program databases, how to bridge the gap between regular programming languages and databases, and compiling just about everything to SQL.
80: POPL 2026 - Part 1
This is the first part of a miniseries on this year’s Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages, a.k.a. POPL 2026, hosted by Jessica Foster.In this episode, we talk about: undergrad funding and …
Show notes
This is the first part of a miniseries on this year’s Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages, a.k.a. POPL 2026, hosted by Jessica Foster.
In this episode, we talk about: undergrad funding and participation, the behind the scenes of AV, choreographic programming, quantum languages, conference catering, and the joy of theory. And at one point, you’ll even hear us get kicked out the venue mid interview. Enjoy!79: Peter Thiemann
Peter is a professor at the University of Freiburg, and he was doing functional programming right when Haskell got started. So naturally we asked him about the early days of Haskell, and how from the start …
Show notes
Peter is a professor at the University of Freiburg, and he was doing functional programming right when Haskell got started. So naturally we asked him about the early days of Haskell, and how from the start Peter pushed the envelope on what you could do with the type system and specifically with the type classes, from early web programming to program generation to session types. Come with us on a trip down memory lane!
78: Jamie Willis
In this episode, we focus on a particular part of Haskell: teaching it. To help us, we are joined by Jamie Willis who is a Teaching Fellow at Imperial College London. The episode explores the benefits of live …
Show notes
In this episode, we focus on a particular part of Haskell: teaching it. To help us, we are joined by Jamie Willis who is a Teaching Fellow at Imperial College London. The episode explores the benefits of live coding, and why Haskell is the best language for teaching programming.
77: Franz Thoma
Franz Thoma is Principal Consultant at TNG Technology Consulting, and an organizer of MuniHac. Franz sees functional programming and Haskell as a tool for thinking about software, even if the project is not …
Show notes
Franz Thoma is Principal Consultant at TNG Technology Consulting, and an organizer of MuniHac. Franz sees functional programming and Haskell as a tool for thinking about software, even if the project is not written in Haskell. We had a far-reaching conversation about the differences between functional and object-oriented programming and their languages, software architecture, and Haskell adoption in industry.
76: Jeffrey Young
Welcome to the Haskell Interlude. Today, Matti and Mike talk toJeffrey Young. Jeff has had a long history of working with Haskell andon ghc itself. We talk about what makes Haskell so compelling, thegood and …
Show notes
Welcome to the Haskell Interlude. Today, Matti and Mike talk to
Jeffrey Young. Jeff has had a long history of working with Haskell and
on ghc itself. We talk about what makes Haskell so compelling, the
good and bad of highly optimized code and the beauty of
well-modularized code, how to get into compiler development, and how
to benefit from Domain-Driven Design.
Jeff is currently on the job market - if you want to get in touch,
email him at mailto:[email protected].75: Kathrin Stark
We are joined by Kathrin Stark, a professor at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Kathrin works on program verification with proof assistants, so her focus is not exactly on Haskell, but on topics dear to …
Show notes
We are joined by Kathrin Stark, a professor at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Kathrin works on program verification with proof assistants, so her focus is not exactly on Haskell, but on topics dear to Haskellers' hearts such as interactive theorem provers, writing correct programs, and the activities needed to produce them. We discuss many aspects of proofs and specifications, and the languages involved in the process, as well as verifying and producing provably correct neural networks.
74: Lennart Augustsson
This episode is a deep dive into the evolution of Haskell and functional programming with one of its pioneers, Lennart Augustson. It reflects on decades of work in language design and compiler implementation …
Show notes
This episode is a deep dive into the evolution of Haskell and functional programming with one of its pioneers, Lennart Augustson. It reflects on decades of work in language design and compiler implementation. Lennart speaks about his early involvement in the creation of Haskell, shares thoughts on type systems, performance, and the balance between purity and practicality. The conversation ranges from personal history to big-picture views on the evolution of programming languages, with plenty of insight into what makes Haskell both powerful and challenging. A rare opportunity to hear from one of the foundational voices in the functional programming world.
73: Jean-Philippe Bernardy
In this Interlude, we’re joined by Jean-Philipe Bernardy, a Senior Lecturer at University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology. We discuss letting types be your guide, getting into AI to feed …
Show notes
In this Interlude, we’re joined by Jean-Philipe Bernardy, a Senior Lecturer at University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology. We discuss letting types be your guide, getting into AI to feed yourself, and never testing your programs.
72: Manuel Chakravarty
In this episode, we talk to Manuel Chakravarty - specifically, his work on the ghc backend such as data-parallel Haskell and the FFI and how that work segued into type system design. We also discussed …
Show notes
In this episode, we talk to Manuel Chakravarty - specifically, his work on the ghc backend such as data-parallel Haskell and the FFI and how that work segued into type system design. We also discussed Manuel's perspective on Haskell from the language design of Swift.
71: Stefan Wehr
Stefan Wehr is a professor at the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences. Before becoming a professor, Stefan worked in industry on a large Haskell codebase - specifically one that's not a compiler and …
Show notes
Stefan Wehr is a professor at the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences. Before becoming a professor, Stefan worked in industry on a large Haskell codebase - specifically one that's not a compiler and not a blockchain. So of course we talked about using Haskell in large projects, software architecture, modularity, type classes and data modeling and the suppression of sums outside of functional programming, and also about teaching Haskell at his current job.
70: Phil Wadler
We sat down with Phil Wadler, one of the most influential folks in the Haskell community, functional programming, and programming languages, responsible for type classes, monads, and much more. We take a stroll …
Show notes
We sat down with Phil Wadler, one of the most influential folks in the Haskell community, functional programming, and programming languages, responsible for type classes, monads, and much more. We take a stroll down memory lane, starting from Haskell's inception. We talked about the difference between research and Phil's work on impactful industrial projects and standards - specifically XML and the design of generics in Java, as well as Phll's teaching at the University of Edinburgh using Agda.. Phil is a fountain of great ideas and stories, and this conversation could have gone on for hours. As it is, we hope you enjoy the hour that we had as much as we did.
69: Jurriaan Hage
Today’s guest is Jurriaan Hage. Jurriaan is a professor at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh who’s worked with and on Haskell for many years. He’s known for the Helium Haskell compiler, specifically designed …
Show notes
Today’s guest is Jurriaan Hage. Jurriaan is a professor at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh who’s worked with and on Haskell for many years. He’s known for the Helium Haskell compiler, specifically designed for teaching, and he has plenty of other projects related to Haskell, including improvements to the type system, the generation of better error messages, or detection of plagiarism.
68: Michael Snoyman
In this episode, we’re joined by Michael Snoyman, author of Yesod, Conduit, Stackage and many other popular Haskell libraries.We discuss newcomer friendliness, being a Rustacean vs a Haskellasaur, how STM is …
Show notes
In this episode, we’re joined by Michael Snoyman, author of Yesod, Conduit, Stackage and many other popular Haskell libraries.
We discuss newcomer friendliness, being a Rustacean vs a Haskellasaur, how STM is Haskell’s best feature and how laziness can be a vice.67: Alex McLean
Mike and Andres speak to Alex McLean who created the TidalCycles system for electronic music - implemented in Haskell of course. We talk about how Alex got into Haskell coming from Perl, how types helped him …
Show notes
Mike and Andres speak to Alex McLean who created the TidalCycles system for electronic music - implemented in Haskell of course. We talk about how Alex got into Haskell coming from Perl, how types helped him think about the structure of music and patterns, the architecture and evolution of TidalCycles, about art, community and making space for new ideas, and lots of things in between.
66: Daniele Micciancio
Niki and Mike talked to Daniele Micciancio who is a professor at UC San Diego. He's been using Haskell for 20 years, and works in lattice cryptography. We talked to him about how he got into Haskell, using …
Show notes
Niki and Mike talked to Daniele Micciancio who is a professor at UC San Diego. He's been using Haskell for 20 years, and works in lattice cryptography. We talked to him about how he got into Haskell, using Haskell for teaching theoretical computer science and of course for his research and the role type systems and comonads could play in the design of cryptographic algorithms. Along the way, he gave an accessible introduction to post-quantum cryptography which we really enjoyed. We hope you do, too.
65: Andy Gordon
Andy Gordon from Cogna is interviewed by Sam and Matti. We learn about Andy’s influential work including the origins of the bind symbol in haskell, and the introduction of lambdas in Excel. We go onto discuss …
Show notes
Andy Gordon from Cogna is interviewed by Sam and Matti. We learn about Andy’s influential work including the origins of the bind symbol in haskell, and the introduction of lambdas in Excel. We go onto discuss his current work at Cogna on using AI to allow non-programmers to write apps using natural language. We delve deeper into the ethics of AI and consider the most likely AI apocalypse.
64: Sandy Maguire
In this episode Mike Sperber and Niki Vazou talk with Sandy Maguire, lead compiler engineer at Manifold Valley. They talk about the benefits of using Haskell of course, about all the books Sandy has written, on …
Show notes
In this episode Mike Sperber and Niki Vazou talk with Sandy Maguire, lead compiler engineer at Manifold Valley. They talk about the benefits of using Haskell of course, about all the books Sandy has written, on effects and the problem with monads, on combinator libraries and programming with laws.
63: Farhad Mehta
On this episode of the Haskell Interlude, Andres Löh and Mike Sperber are joined by Farhad Mehta, a professor at OST Rapperswil, and one of the organizers of ZuriHac. Fahrad tells us about formal methods …
Show notes
On this episode of the Haskell Interlude, Andres Löh and Mike Sperber are joined by Farhad Mehta, a professor at OST Rapperswil, and one of the organizers of ZuriHac. Fahrad tells us about formal methods, building tunnels, the importance of education, and the complicated relationship between academia and industry.
62: Conal Elliott
In this episode Wouter Swiestra and Niki Vazou talk with Conal Elliott. Conal discusses doing things just for the poetry, how most programs miss their purpose, and the simplest way to ask a question. Conal is …
Show notes
In this episode Wouter Swiestra and Niki Vazou talk with Conal Elliott. Conal discusses doing things just for the poetry, how most programs miss their purpose, and the simplest way to ask a question. Conal is currently working on a book about his ideas and actively looking for partners.
61: Sam Lindley
Sam Lindley is a Reader in Programming Languages Design and Implementation at the University of Edinburgh. In this episode, he tells us how difficult naming is, the different kinds of effect systems and …
Show notes
Sam Lindley is a Reader in Programming Languages Design and Implementation at the University of Edinburgh. In this episode, he tells us how difficult naming is, the different kinds of effect systems and handlers, languages *much* purer than Haskell, and Modal logic.
60: Tom Ellis
Tom Ellis works at Groq, using Haskell to compile AI models to specialized hardware. In this episode, we talk about stability of both GHC and Haskell libraries, effects, and strictness, and the premise of …
Show notes
Tom Ellis works at Groq, using Haskell to compile AI models to specialized hardware. In this episode, we talk about stability of both GHC and Haskell libraries, effects, and strictness, and the premise of functional programming: make invalid states and invalid *laziness* unrepresentable!
59: Harry Goldstein
Sam and Wouter interview Harry Goldstein, a researcher in property-based testing who works in PL, SE, and HCI. In this episode, we reflect on random generators, the find-a-friend model, interdisciplinary …
Show notes
Sam and Wouter interview Harry Goldstein, a researcher in property-based testing who works in PL, SE, and HCI. In this episode, we reflect on random generators, the find-a-friend model, interdisciplinary research, and how to have impact beyond your own research community.
These are the latest 40 of 89 episodes. You’ll find older episodes in the podcast’s feed.
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