When Machines Can Code - Reflections on Trusting Trust by Ken Thompson + Coding Machines by Lawrence Kesteloot
When Machines Can Code - Reflections on Trusting Trust by Ken Thompson + Coding Machines by Lawrence Kesteloot  
Podcast: Book Overflow
Published On: Mon Feb 16 2026
Description: In this episode of Book Overflow, Carter and Nathan discuss Ken Thompson's essay Reflections on Trusting Trust and the short story Coding Machines by Lawrence Kesteloot!Big thanks to user 0b00101010 from the Book Overflow Discord for the recommendation! Join it here: https://discord.gg/ZwS2fqW7ZZ -- Want to talk with Carter or Nathan? Book a coaching session! ------------------------------------------------------------Carterhttps://www.joinleland.com/coach/carter-m-1Nathanhttps://www.joinleland.com/coach/nathan-t-2-- Books Mentioned in this Episode --Note: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.----------------------------------------------------------Reflections on Trusting Trust by Ken Thompsonhttps://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rdriley/487/papers/Thompson_1984_ReflectionsonTrustingTrust.pdfCoding Machines by Lawrence Kesteloothttps://www.teamten.com/lawrence/writings/coding-machines/---------------- 00:00 Intro 02:55 About the Authors and Essays 06:14 Initial Thoughts 11:03 The Trusting Trust Attack 22:39 Coding Machines 32:05 AI Trust and Dark Patterns 44:01 AI-Generated Code and the Future 54:52 Stuxnet and Unintended Consequences 1:02:43 Final ThoughtsSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5kj6DLCEWR5nHShlSYJI5LApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/book-overflow/id1745257325X: https://x.com/bookoverflowpodCarter on X: https://x.com/cartermorganNathan's Functionally Imperative: www.functionallyimperative.com----------------Book Overflow is a podcast for software engineers, by software engineers dedicated to improving our craft by reading the best technical books in the world. Join Carter Morgan and Nathan Toups as they read and discuss a new technical book each week!The full book schedule and links to every major podcast player can be found at https://www.bookoverflow.io