On my first day at Thoughtworks in 2004 my mentor gave me an OPML file: a list of blogs to follow. Java people, agile people, colleagues. It was a terrific gift and this page is my attempt to pass it on.

Each list below is an OPML file you can import into any feed reader. I favour individuals over organisations, and everything here has posted in the last eighteen months. Suggestions and corrections welcome on Mastodon.

all.opml · all 467 feeds in one file

Programming

Programmers writing well about programming. Craft, systems, debugging stories, and the odd long essay. Nearly all individuals.

programming.opml · 37 feeds

Programming languages and types

Programming languages and type theory. Language designers, compiler writers, proof assistants, and the Haskell and OCaml worlds. Some maths leaks in.

plt.opml · 34 feeds

Ruby

Ruby the language, and the people who make it and think about it: core committers, implementers, and the writers who taught a generation of us. Deliberately not Rails.

ruby.opml · 32 feeds

Rails

Rails kept separate on purpose. The useful end of the ecosystem: people writing about performance, Hotwire, deployment and keeping a long-lived app honest, plus a few company blogs that have earned it.

rails.opml · 27 feeds

Elm

A small language with a small, thoughtful community. Everyone still writing about Elm, plus its descendants Gren and Roc and the podcasts and newsletters that hold it together.

elm.opml · 16 feeds

Hardware hacking and making

Hardware hacking and making in the broad sense: electronics, reverse engineering, 3D printing, woodworking, guitar pedals and the people who take things apart to see how they work.

making.opml · 28 feeds

Electronics

Electronics proper, from chip teardowns to synth DIY. Much of this community now lives on YouTube, so several of these are channel feeds.

electronics.opml · 13 feeds

Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi news, tutorials and the handful of independent writers still covering the board. Pi Wars and the Cambridge connection included.

raspberry-pi.opml · 14 feeds

Economics

Mostly UK and mostly heterodox, seeded from Chris Dillow’s blogroll at Stumbling and Mumbling. Macro, money, inequality and the occasional orthodox voice to argue with.

economics.opml · 32 feeds

UK left politics

The British left, broadly: independent writers first, then the magazines and campaign sites. Economics-adjacent voices live in the Economics list.

uk-left.opml · 34 feeds

UK green politics

Green politics in the UK. Party figures with blogs, climate writers, think tanks and the party’s own publications.

uk-green.opml · 24 feeds

US left politics

The American left of Mamdani and AOC, not the Democratic establishment: labour, antitrust, socialist magazines and the New York writers covering the new wave.

us-left.opml · 27 feeds

US Democratic politics

Mainstream Democratic politics and the anti-Trump coalition: the Pod Save America and MS NOW end of things, the data people, and the legal watchers.

us-democratic.opml · 34 feeds

Role playing games

Tabletop roleplaying beyond D&D: the OSR and post-OSR blogosphere, indie design, and the people who think hard about why games work. Seeded partly from the RPG Bloggies finalists.

rpg.opml · 34 feeds

Dungeons and Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons specifically. Running the game, the monsters, the history, and the publishers whose news is worth having.

dnd.opml · 20 feeds

Board games

Board game criticism and design. Reviewers with a point of view, designers’ diaries, and a few UK sites.

board-games.opml · 25 feeds

Crosswords

Cryptic and otherwise. The UK solving blogs, the American constructors, a few setters, and the daily links that feed the habit.

crosswords.opml · 20 feeds

Cambridge UK news

Cambridge, the UK one. Local news, civic life, transport, history and the few people still blogging about the city.

cambridge.opml · 16 feeds