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published: true
layout: post
title: API Evangelist Conversation About Trains, AI, Rich Fat Cats, Big Money, and Politics with Adron Hall
tags:
  - Trains
  - Money
  - Politics
  - Artificial Intelligence
image: >-
  https://kinlane-productions2.s3.amazonaws.com/algorotoscope-master/uncle-sam-nyc-subway-train-125th.jpg
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[Adron Hall came by for a conversation about trains](https://conversations.apievangelist.com/store/2025-02-06-adron-hall/). Adron and I share a love of transit and trains, but also both make their living slinging APIs. Adron had recommended I read [Nothing Like It in the World by Stephen E Ambrose](https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Like-World-Transcontinental-1863-1869/dp/0743203178) and [Empire Express by David Haward Bain](https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Express-Building-Transcontinental-Railroad/dp/0140084991) back a couple of years ago, which I finally did. Then things began happening with AI and the current presidency that kept reminding me of the stories in these books and I found myself thinking it would be fun to have Adron come by to share his view of things. I won't spoil any of his great stories, but both books and Adron's view of them, as well as his ability to apply in this moment is gold. Adron is a great storyteller and he gets the technology, but he also the business and politics of technology in a way few do, making for a very entertaining 30 minutes.

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I am going to have Adron come by again and talk about trains, transit, and politics. He's knowledgable on the same areas of public transit and IT systems, so he gets many of the parallels between them. Adron also gets the social aspects of transit and Internet technology in ways that most engineers don't spend much time thinking about. He is also outspoken and not afraid to call things out for what they are. Which I think makes for good conversations about technology in our lives. It is important for API Evangelist conversations to be about the realities of doing APIs within the enterprise, but also allow us to explore adjacent realms to finda alternate ways we can learn from and apply in meaningful ways across our work. This episode is another double length podcast, as well as being outside the core API echo chamber, but for me shares the stories of our past that very much apply in this moment we find ourselves in today.