The Bob Bloom Show
The Bob Bloom Show
The Bob Bloom Show is my monthly commentary passion podcast devoted to PHP, published on the first of the month. Hosted by Bob Bloom.

#43 - Thoughts on a Toronto PHP Symposium

October 5, 2026 · (11:01)

We should skip the rigid conference format in favor of a modest, interactive, grassroots gathering near Union Station focused on hands-on workshops, panel Q&As, and building the local PHP community.

#42 - WordPress - Disaster on the Margin

October 1, 2026 · (31:07)

WordPress is in the midst of a deep, permanent, decline. The statistics behind the boast that "WordPress powers 40% of the web", are now communicating a new reality. This situation might actually help PHP evolve.

#41 - Ditch Pitch, Roughness Smoothing

September 11, 2026 · (08:40)

With the heavy development for my custom podcasting application done, I am now using my new app daily. And, smoothing the rough edges as I go along. My attention is turning to finding my merry group of intrepid sponsors. And, getting my podcasts on a regu

#40 - Sunsetting my PHP Serverless Project Updates podcast show

August 24, 2026 · (04:32)

I am sunsetting my PHP Serverless Project Updates podcast show.

#39 - My New Custom Podcasting Application

August 21, 2026 · (29:51)

After a six month journey, including a big hiatus from podcasting, my new custom podcasting application is ready for my production use. There are rough edges to smooth out, but after several iterations of deployments and early production use, the remain..

#38 - Shocked by Deficiencies with my Post Production Wizards

August 12, 2026 · (11:53)

I thought my podcasting app was finished in June. Then I actually used it to produce an episode. What followed was a shocking tour through broken wizards, incomplete workflows, AI frustrations, hand-coding, and hard lessons.

#37 - Feature Complete Custom Application, Story To Be Told

June 22, 2026 · (16:19)

My new custom podcasting application is feature complete, but needing many tweaks. With it done, I have decided to present my sponsorship by telling my story.

#36 - New Podcasting App, New Podcasting Beginning

May 1, 2026 · (26:52)

I completely rebuilt my entire legacy podcasting platform from the ground up, with the help of AI. I took an immensely productive podcasting hiatus, to build in a calendar quarter what had taken years. I took a "naughty" approach, achieving a streamlined,

#35 - Climbing the AI Coding Ladder

March 10, 2026 · (13:30)

Anthropic decided that they had had enough of me for the week, and cut me off.Instead of availing myself of their entreaties to buy pay-as-you-go credits, I decided to take a break from my new custom application, for my PHP Serverless News podcas

#34 - Fueled By Passion: 15 For 29

January 1, 2026 · (14:55)

Researching general podcasting, and the state of PHP podcasting, was a new, and eye-opening experience. My podcasts impart more inherent value to my potential Umbrella Sponsors than I assumed.

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The Bob Bloom Show comes to you thanks to my wonderful, and intrepid, sponsors of my PHP Serverless Project, which includes this podcast.

Luke Galea
Luke Galea
Restream.io subscription sponsor
Luke Galea is a veteran technology leader who began coding professionally during the dot-com boom. While Ruby, Elixir, and Erlang are his tools of choice, PHP has remained a constant thread throughout his two-decade career spanning healthcare, dating, nutrition coaching, education, and workforce management. His journey includes scaling high volume consumer facing sites HotOrNot and Ashley Madison where PHP powered the core infrastructure. Even when working with other technologies, Luke has consistently leveraged PHP for marketing technology, community forums, and developer resources. A committed community builder, he founded Toronto's Erlang user group and actively supports the Toronto Elixir and GTA PHP communities. Currently focused on leadership coaching and technology advisory, Luke loves solving hard problems with smart people. Call him if you want to riff on something awesome.
Luke Galea's website
Tolga Ercan
Tolga Ercan
Basecamp subscription sponsor
Tolga Ercan is an accomplished technology executive with over two decades of experience leading high-performing engineering organizations across SaaS, fintech, and consumer technology sectors. He currently serves as Director of Engineering at Vetster, a veterinary telehealth platform redefining access to pet care through innovative digital solutions. Tolga has built a career scaling engineering teams, driving cloud migration strategies, and delivering resilient, scalable systems. His leadership experience includes senior roles at Instagram, Edmunds, and early-stage startups, where he has consistently championed technical excellence, operational efficiency, and cultural growth. He has also leveraged technologies such as Laravel to build and scale modern, customer-facing applications in startup environments, applying best practices in software architecture and agile development. As a supporter of the open source community, Tolga believes in the importance of open innovation and actively backs initiatives that advance software transparency, interoperability, and access. He is committed to fostering the future of technology through mentorship, organizational leadership, and community engagement.
Tolga Ercan's website