Nick Bergson-Shilcock
@nicholasbs.bsky.social
Cofounder and CEO of the Recurse Center (@recurse.com)
Conspiracy theory: Banks and airlines discovered LLMs years ago and this explains their captchas.
idea: captchas that are ~impossible for humans to solve
serve them to bots that you suspect are using AI models to solve captchas. if they solve it successfully they fail the test.
serve them to bots that you suspect are using AI models to solve captchas. if they solve it successfully they fail the test.
January 16, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Conspiracy theory: Banks and airlines discovered LLMs years ago and this explains their captchas.
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
Stumbled upon this programmer’s retreat. https://www.recurse.com/
This looks like a really ethical / inspiring environment in comparison to the many Y-Combinator-esque startup incubators I’ve seen.
Does anyone here have experience with the Recurse Center?
I found it through […]
This looks like a really ethical / inspiring environment in comparison to the many Y-Combinator-esque startup incubators I’ve seen.
Does anyone here have experience with the Recurse Center?
I found it through […]
Original post on mastodon.world
mastodon.world
January 12, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Stumbled upon this programmer’s retreat. https://www.recurse.com/
This looks like a really ethical / inspiring environment in comparison to the many Y-Combinator-esque startup incubators I’ve seen.
Does anyone here have experience with the Recurse Center?
I found it through […]
This looks like a really ethical / inspiring environment in comparison to the many Y-Combinator-esque startup incubators I’ve seen.
Does anyone here have experience with the Recurse Center?
I found it through […]
"How did you spend your time off of work?"
If you're lucky enough to have a chunk of time when you don't need a job, you want to make it count.
Come learn how three Recuse Center alums chose to spend their time off.
How to Make Your Time Off Count: luma.com/zfhxstgy
If you're lucky enough to have a chunk of time when you don't need a job, you want to make it count.
Come learn how three Recuse Center alums chose to spend their time off.
How to Make Your Time Off Count: luma.com/zfhxstgy
January 15, 2026 at 5:40 PM
"How did you spend your time off of work?"
If you're lucky enough to have a chunk of time when you don't need a job, you want to make it count.
Come learn how three Recuse Center alums chose to spend their time off.
How to Make Your Time Off Count: luma.com/zfhxstgy
If you're lucky enough to have a chunk of time when you don't need a job, you want to make it count.
Come learn how three Recuse Center alums chose to spend their time off.
How to Make Your Time Off Count: luma.com/zfhxstgy
Someone really should write this and then never change it.
I was making a list of my favourite programming essays ("parse don't validate", etc.) and I realised I don't know of any that extol the virtues of immutable data structures. Does anyone know of one? Do I need to write one?
January 14, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Someone really should write this and then never change it.
"Choosing learning over autopilot"
A thoughtful, a concrete approach to coding rigorously with LLMs by an RC alum now at Netflix: anniecherkaev.com/choosing-lea...
A thoughtful, a concrete approach to coding rigorously with LLMs by an RC alum now at Netflix: anniecherkaev.com/choosing-lea...
January 13, 2026 at 4:18 PM
"Choosing learning over autopilot"
A thoughtful, a concrete approach to coding rigorously with LLMs by an RC alum now at Netflix: anniecherkaev.com/choosing-lea...
A thoughtful, a concrete approach to coding rigorously with LLMs by an RC alum now at Netflix: anniecherkaev.com/choosing-lea...
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
unicode braille characters are 2x4 rectangles of dots where you can arbitrarily set any of the dots. That's 8x the pixels you normally get in the terminal!
anyway here's a proof of concept terminal SVG renderer using unicode braille:
anyway here's a proof of concept terminal SVG renderer using unicode braille:
January 13, 2026 at 3:14 PM
unicode braille characters are 2x4 rectangles of dots where you can arbitrarily set any of the dots. That's 8x the pixels you normally get in the terminal!
anyway here's a proof of concept terminal SVG renderer using unicode braille:
anyway here's a proof of concept terminal SVG renderer using unicode braille:
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
Wrote about being halfway through the recurse center, beyblades, and bad musical instruments:
www.henryfellerhoff.com/blog/halfway...
www.henryfellerhoff.com/blog/halfway...
Halfway through the Recurse Center
The last six weeks have gone by in a flash - here's what I've been working on!
www.henryfellerhoff.com
January 8, 2026 at 12:12 AM
Wrote about being halfway through the recurse center, beyblades, and bad musical instruments:
www.henryfellerhoff.com/blog/halfway...
www.henryfellerhoff.com/blog/halfway...
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
Heh, sounds delightful.
I had a very fun moment at Recurse Center where I was showing code to someone to discuss. He leaned in to look closer, “Is that Inconsolata?” and I said “Yeah, wow, good eye” and he said “I made it.”
I had a very fun moment at Recurse Center where I was showing code to someone to discuss. He leaned in to look closer, “Is that Inconsolata?” and I said “Yeah, wow, good eye” and he said “I made it.”
January 8, 2026 at 1:51 PM
Heh, sounds delightful.
I had a very fun moment at Recurse Center where I was showing code to someone to discuss. He leaned in to look closer, “Is that Inconsolata?” and I said “Yeah, wow, good eye” and he said “I made it.”
I had a very fun moment at Recurse Center where I was showing code to someone to discuss. He leaned in to look closer, “Is that Inconsolata?” and I said “Yeah, wow, good eye” and he said “I made it.”
What companies (in any domain) have done the following?
Around for decades
Profitable and growing
Privately held, run by founders
Expanded into new areas while maintaining a core mission
Maintained positive, good brand
Punch above their weight
Around for decades
Profitable and growing
Privately held, run by founders
Expanded into new areas while maintaining a core mission
Maintained positive, good brand
Punch above their weight
January 8, 2026 at 5:14 PM
What companies (in any domain) have done the following?
Around for decades
Profitable and growing
Privately held, run by founders
Expanded into new areas while maintaining a core mission
Maintained positive, good brand
Punch above their weight
Around for decades
Profitable and growing
Privately held, run by founders
Expanded into new areas while maintaining a core mission
Maintained positive, good brand
Punch above their weight
Tech hiring in 2021: Awesome, this candidate is an 8/10. Let's hire!
Tech hiring now: Unfortunately, this candidate is a 9/10. We'll pass.
Tech hiring now: Unfortunately, this candidate is a 9/10. We'll pass.
January 6, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Tech hiring in 2021: Awesome, this candidate is an 8/10. Let's hire!
Tech hiring now: Unfortunately, this candidate is a 9/10. We'll pass.
Tech hiring now: Unfortunately, this candidate is a 9/10. We'll pass.
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
@recurse.com's local host last night was awesome. Great talks, wonderful company. Frederic Kettelhoit's Komucha lang (github.com/fkettelhoit/...) was particularly inspirational. Love me a lang with an effect system.
GitHub - fkettelhoit/kombucha: Minimal & malleable language for symbiotic end-user programming
Minimal & malleable language for symbiotic end-user programming - fkettelhoit/kombucha
github.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:05 PM
@recurse.com's local host last night was awesome. Great talks, wonderful company. Frederic Kettelhoit's Komucha lang (github.com/fkettelhoit/...) was particularly inspirational. Love me a lang with an effect system.
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
you're telling me a duck typed this code?
November 20, 2025 at 4:53 PM
you're telling me a duck typed this code?
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
New Yorkers hate dogs 🚫🐕 (we have the data)
It's pairing jam day at RC and Chris, Brittney, Wilson, and Tajairi made a 311 noise complaint heat map of NYC.
It's pairing jam day at RC and Chris, Brittney, Wilson, and Tajairi made a 311 noise complaint heat map of NYC.
November 12, 2025 at 9:19 PM
New Yorkers hate dogs 🚫🐕 (we have the data)
It's pairing jam day at RC and Chris, Brittney, Wilson, and Tajairi made a 311 noise complaint heat map of NYC.
It's pairing jam day at RC and Chris, Brittney, Wilson, and Tajairi made a 311 noise complaint heat map of NYC.
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
🌱 Interested in coming to RC? Have any burning questions? Join us to learn more about what attending is like! You'll get to ask questions and hear directly from faculty and current Recursers about their experiences.
We’re hosting an info session on Tues, Oct 21 at 5:15 ET.
⬇️
We’re hosting an info session on Tues, Oct 21 at 5:15 ET.
⬇️
October 16, 2025 at 4:27 PM
🌱 Interested in coming to RC? Have any burning questions? Join us to learn more about what attending is like! You'll get to ask questions and hear directly from faculty and current Recursers about their experiences.
We’re hosting an info session on Tues, Oct 21 at 5:15 ET.
⬇️
We’re hosting an info session on Tues, Oct 21 at 5:15 ET.
⬇️
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
A fellow Recurser, Ivan Savov, just finished a book on Stats and has a post on it with some freebies:
minireference.com/blog/noBSsta...
#stats #recurseCenter #RC #math
minireference.com/blog/noBSsta...
#stats #recurseCenter #RC #math
No Bullshit Guide to Statistics prerelease – Minireference blog
minireference.com
October 10, 2025 at 6:22 PM
A fellow Recurser, Ivan Savov, just finished a book on Stats and has a post on it with some freebies:
minireference.com/blog/noBSsta...
#stats #recurseCenter #RC #math
minireference.com/blog/noBSsta...
#stats #recurseCenter #RC #math
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
🟢 This month we held Breakpoint: An Evening of Projects and Demos!
10 Recursers and alums demo'ed their work, including games, camera-based apps that read your feelings and scramble your face, a NY shadow-henge finder, a Chinese idiom finder, a fractal painter, custom programming language, & more!
10 Recursers and alums demo'ed their work, including games, camera-based apps that read your feelings and scramble your face, a NY shadow-henge finder, a Chinese idiom finder, a fractal painter, custom programming language, & more!
September 16, 2025 at 4:06 PM
🟢 This month we held Breakpoint: An Evening of Projects and Demos!
10 Recursers and alums demo'ed their work, including games, camera-based apps that read your feelings and scramble your face, a NY shadow-henge finder, a Chinese idiom finder, a fractal painter, custom programming language, & more!
10 Recursers and alums demo'ed their work, including games, camera-based apps that read your feelings and scramble your face, a NY shadow-henge finder, a Chinese idiom finder, a fractal painter, custom programming language, & more!
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
📝 Interested in applying to RC? Join us to learn & ask questions about what attending is like: spending 6 or 12 weeks sharpening your programming skills and following what excites you in a collaborative community!
We’re hosting an info session Mon, Oct 6th from 12:30-1pm ET
RSVP: luma.com/mn3kjnkj
We’re hosting an info session Mon, Oct 6th from 12:30-1pm ET
RSVP: luma.com/mn3kjnkj
Recurse Center Info Session · Zoom · Luma
Thinking about applying to a Recurse Center (RC) batch? If you want to spend 6 or 12 weeks building what excites you (compilers! games! languages! research!…
luma.com
September 16, 2025 at 5:25 PM
📝 Interested in applying to RC? Join us to learn & ask questions about what attending is like: spending 6 or 12 weeks sharpening your programming skills and following what excites you in a collaborative community!
We’re hosting an info session Mon, Oct 6th from 12:30-1pm ET
RSVP: luma.com/mn3kjnkj
We’re hosting an info session Mon, Oct 6th from 12:30-1pm ET
RSVP: luma.com/mn3kjnkj
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
🦠Watch Peter Whidden's first public talk on Mote: an interactive ecosystem simulation!
Mote uses a custom GPU-based physics engine to model hundreds of thousands of organisms, leading to fascinating emergent phenomena: a sandbox that is part game, part research.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hju0...
Mote uses a custom GPU-based physics engine to model hundreds of thousands of organisms, leading to fascinating emergent phenomena: a sandbox that is part game, part research.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hju0...
Localhost: Peter Whidden's Mote: An Interactive Ecosystem Simulation
YouTube video by Recurse Center
www.youtube.com
August 22, 2025 at 4:18 PM
🦠Watch Peter Whidden's first public talk on Mote: an interactive ecosystem simulation!
Mote uses a custom GPU-based physics engine to model hundreds of thousands of organisms, leading to fascinating emergent phenomena: a sandbox that is part game, part research.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hju0...
Mote uses a custom GPU-based physics engine to model hundreds of thousands of organisms, leading to fascinating emergent phenomena: a sandbox that is part game, part research.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hju0...
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
Thinking about applying to a Recurse Center (RC) batch? If you want to spend 6 or 12 weeks building what excites you (compilers! games! languages! research! machine learning! art!) within a community of thoughtful, curious peers, come join our info session this Thursday!
lu.ma/86a0fqdn
lu.ma/86a0fqdn
Recurse Center Info Session · Zoom · Luma
Thinking about applying to a Recurse Center (RC) batch? If you want to spend 6 or 12 weeks building what excites you (compilers! games! languages! research!…
lu.ma
August 25, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Thinking about applying to a Recurse Center (RC) batch? If you want to spend 6 or 12 weeks building what excites you (compilers! games! languages! research! machine learning! art!) within a community of thoughtful, curious peers, come join our info session this Thursday!
lu.ma/86a0fqdn
lu.ma/86a0fqdn
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
This is a thoughtful post that echoes conversations I've had IRL with colleagues and friends. Also:
"You should use AI-powered tools to complement or increase your agency, not replace it."
^ This is where I've landed for my own work so far.. Should help me do & think *more* deeply, not less.
"You should use AI-powered tools to complement or increase your agency, not replace it."
^ This is where I've landed for my own work so far.. Should help me do & think *more* deeply, not less.
We spent two months talking with RC alums and thinking deeply about how LLMs are changing programming and learning.
Here’s what we learned, and how we're currently thinking about AI at RC: t.co/ddFj486ch8
Here’s what we learned, and how we're currently thinking about AI at RC: t.co/ddFj486ch8
https://www.recurse.com/blog/191-developing-our-position-on-ai
t.co
July 24, 2025 at 10:06 AM
This is a thoughtful post that echoes conversations I've had IRL with colleagues and friends. Also:
"You should use AI-powered tools to complement or increase your agency, not replace it."
^ This is where I've landed for my own work so far.. Should help me do & think *more* deeply, not less.
"You should use AI-powered tools to complement or increase your agency, not replace it."
^ This is where I've landed for my own work so far.. Should help me do & think *more* deeply, not less.
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
We spent two months talking with RC alums and thinking deeply about how LLMs are changing programming and learning.
Here’s what we learned, and how we're currently thinking about AI at RC: t.co/ddFj486ch8
Here’s what we learned, and how we're currently thinking about AI at RC: t.co/ddFj486ch8
https://www.recurse.com/blog/191-developing-our-position-on-ai
t.co
July 23, 2025 at 7:22 PM
We spent two months talking with RC alums and thinking deeply about how LLMs are changing programming and learning.
Here’s what we learned, and how we're currently thinking about AI at RC: t.co/ddFj486ch8
Here’s what we learned, and how we're currently thinking about AI at RC: t.co/ddFj486ch8
This is one of my favorite projects anyone has ever done at RC.
Join us on August 13 for Localhost!
🦠 Peter Whidden will present Mote, an interactive ecosystem simulation with hundreds of thousands of organisms. His custom GPU physics engine models many simple behaviors at a massive scale, producing fascinating emergent phenomena.
RSVP below ⬇️
🦠 Peter Whidden will present Mote, an interactive ecosystem simulation with hundreds of thousands of organisms. His custom GPU physics engine models many simple behaviors at a massive scale, producing fascinating emergent phenomena.
RSVP below ⬇️
July 18, 2025 at 5:18 PM
This is one of my favorite projects anyone has ever done at RC.
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
Join us on August 13 for Localhost!
🦠 Peter Whidden will present Mote, an interactive ecosystem simulation with hundreds of thousands of organisms. His custom GPU physics engine models many simple behaviors at a massive scale, producing fascinating emergent phenomena.
RSVP below ⬇️
🦠 Peter Whidden will present Mote, an interactive ecosystem simulation with hundreds of thousands of organisms. His custom GPU physics engine models many simple behaviors at a massive scale, producing fascinating emergent phenomena.
RSVP below ⬇️
July 18, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Join us on August 13 for Localhost!
🦠 Peter Whidden will present Mote, an interactive ecosystem simulation with hundreds of thousands of organisms. His custom GPU physics engine models many simple behaviors at a massive scale, producing fascinating emergent phenomena.
RSVP below ⬇️
🦠 Peter Whidden will present Mote, an interactive ecosystem simulation with hundreds of thousands of organisms. His custom GPU physics engine models many simple behaviors at a massive scale, producing fascinating emergent phenomena.
RSVP below ⬇️
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcock
⭐️ We're hiring a Career Facilitator!
This is a full-time, onsite role in Brooklyn with meaningful work, good benefits, great colleagues, clear goals, and a healthy culture.
Please share with kind, extroverted, and curious colleagues who have a background and interest in recruiting!
bit.ly/4nku9ZI
This is a full-time, onsite role in Brooklyn with meaningful work, good benefits, great colleagues, clear goals, and a healthy culture.
Please share with kind, extroverted, and curious colleagues who have a background and interest in recruiting!
bit.ly/4nku9ZI
Career Facilitator | Recurse Center
Join the Recurse Center as a Career Facilitator. Work as a recruiter and transform lives by helping people direct themselves.
bit.ly
July 1, 2025 at 5:27 PM
⭐️ We're hiring a Career Facilitator!
This is a full-time, onsite role in Brooklyn with meaningful work, good benefits, great colleagues, clear goals, and a healthy culture.
Please share with kind, extroverted, and curious colleagues who have a background and interest in recruiting!
bit.ly/4nku9ZI
This is a full-time, onsite role in Brooklyn with meaningful work, good benefits, great colleagues, clear goals, and a healthy culture.
Please share with kind, extroverted, and curious colleagues who have a background and interest in recruiting!
bit.ly/4nku9ZI